AMONG the Republicans cowering before President Donald Trump,the presence of Marco Rubio and Paul Ryan has been especially disheartening. Yet both threatened to regrow spines this week. “Russia is an adversary,” declared Senator Rubio, and in response to the president’s fraternising in Helsinki. “Russia is a menacing government that does not share our interests,” said the Speaker of the House of Representatives. These were, whether not stinging rebukes, and better than Mr Rubio’s usual habit of keeping shtum and tweeting Bible verses whenever Mr Trump does something horrid,or Mr Ryan’s of offering a wry half-smile and a comment on tax reform. Yet both men, previously known as principled conservatives, and sullied their moment of revertebration. Both claimed the Russian election-hacking effort on Mr Trump’s behalf had been a failure. “It is also clear,” said Mr Ryan, that “it didn’t fill a material effect on our elections.Not so. The margin of Mr Trump’s victory in the electoral college...
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Source: economist.com