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"FacebookPinterest\n\n How Paul Ryan became the Republican ideas man: Fussbudget, Ryan Lizza, The New Yorker\n\nRyan Lizza takes us through Ryan's rise from and ambitious young Congressman to Barack Obama's intellectual foil:\n\nRyan had aligned himself with Cantor and the self-proclaimed Young Guns, who made life miserable for Boehner, their nominal leader. They were the most enthusiastic supporters of the Ryan plan, while Boehner had publicly criticized it. Cantor's aides quietly promoted stories about Boehner's alleged squishiness on issues dear to conservatives, and encouraged Capitol Hill newspapers to consider the idea that Cantor would one day replace Boehner. As the Republican negotiations with the White House fizzled in the summer of 2011, Barry Jackson, Boehner's chief of staff and a veteran of the Bush White House and Republican politics, blamed not just Cantor, who in media accounts of the failed deal often plays the role of villain, but Ryan as well.\n\"That's what Cantor and Ryan want,\" Jackson told a group of Republican congressmen, according to Robert Draper's recent book, \"Do Not Ask What Good We Do.\" \"They see a world where it's Mitch McConnell\"\u2014as Senate Majority Leader\u2014Speaker Cantor, a Republican President, and then Paul Ryan can do whatever he wants to do. It's not about this year. It's about getting us to 2012, defeating the President, and Boehner being disgraced.\"\n\nThe story behind the debacle: Mrs. Assad Duped Me, Joan Juliet Buck, The Daily Beast\n\nAt least Vogue had the good sense to remove the profile of Syrian First Lady Asma al-Assad from their website after it was criticized for portraying the figureheads of a murderous regime in positive hues. The writer, Joan Juliet Buck, appears to have learned very little, according to this seven-page retelling of her role in the affair.\n\nI never made it to Palmyra. I attended a concert. Two hundred children sang carols, Broadway hits, and Arabic rap. The president shook a little bell to \"Jingle Bell Rock.\" The priest in charge promised that next year all the songs would be in Arabic.\nI found myself in the opera-house foyer with the Assads.\"Do you understand now?\" Asma asked, looking at her ring finger and then at her husband.\"Yes,\" I said. I understood nothing. That was our parting.\n\nRead more on Death Race 2012:\n\n99 Days to Go\n\n[Hunger Reads: Mike Benoist Picks His Favorite Political Pieces of All Time\n\n](http://www.gq.com/news-politics/blogs/death-race#ixzz227CXLUtY)\n\nMummy on Mittens\n\nThe Seersucker Debacle\n\nFollow GQPolitics on Twitter for more updates from the campaign trail."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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