Via the Right Scoop, he’s asking the question earnestly — he flatly says he doesn’t know enough about Ryan yet to pronounce judgment — but he’s not thrilled with the attempted rehabilitation of Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson in PR’s recent, much acclaimed speech. And where did he read the passage in question? Why, right here on Hot Air, in CK MacLeod’s post over the weekend crowning Ryan as the vanguard of a new “conservative progressivism.” CK’s been trying to reclaim that particular term for the right for awhile now, but I don’t really get why. Yes, the word “progress” is full of good vibrations, but so was the word “liberal” once upon a time and the left ruined that sufficiently that they had to go looking for another word to describe themselves. If they want to slap the “progressivist” sticker on Obamanomics and let things play out, I’m happy to go along. In 10 years they’ll be calling themselves “compassionists” or whatever to get away from the P-word.

As for Ryan, I’m a fan of anyone who’s thinking seriously about how to solve the entitlement crisis, but he did support both TARP and (initially) the tax on those AIG bonuses. I can deal with that, but Beck fans’ mileage may vary. Exit question: Instead of Ryan, Beck’s candidate of choice is … Rick Santorum?