The Post-Dispatch Editorial Board on Monday morning was prepared to take an unusual stance: The board determined that, whatever misgivings we have had about Missouri Congresswoman Ann Wagner in the past, she should be lauded for showing the courage to vow she will "absolutely not" support the House speakership ambitions of right-wing demagogue Jim Jordan of Ohio.

But within about an hour after that board meeting, with Jordan and his allies signaling they would pursue a scorched-Earth strategy of siccing the MAGA base on any holdouts, Wagner did what she has done before after taking an uncharacteristically courageous stance: She folded like a cheap card table. In a written statement, she announced her support for the man she had chided just last week for his "disgraceful" behavior.

So much for Wagner's "courage." As a result of her about-face, Jordan is somewhat more likely to win a vote Tuesday to lead the House on what is sure to be a path to more dysfunction, vitriol and partisan hackery than even under former Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

Jordan is one of Donald Trump's closest allies in the House, one who endorses and often mimics the former president's poisonous brand of populism.

He has lately been using his chairmanship of the House Judiciary Committee to press bogus claims about the "weaponization" of the federal government, attacking the FBI, the Justice Department and anyone else who has the audacity to confront Trump's chronic criminality.

"Everyone knows the fix is in," Jordan alleged during last month's hearings on first son Hunter Biden — providing, as usual, not a modicum of evidence to go with his reckless rhetoric.

That rhetoric apparently is even worse behind closed doors, according to an insider peek recently provided by none other than Rep. Wagner. The Town and Country Republican was quoted in Politico strongly criticizing Jordan after Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, a Wagner ally, failed to win the speakership last week.

Scalise had earlier outvoted Jordan for the caucus' nomination, after which Jordan "gave the most disgraceful, ungracious — I can't call it a concession speech — of all time," Wagner told the news site. "There were gasps in the room."

That's Jordan, all right.

Wagner further claimed she overheard as Jordan ordered Scalise to endorse him for speaker, then stormed out of the room after declaring, "America wants me."

His camp denies the exchange — but, again, it's classic, classless Jordan.

Because of the GOP's narrow House majority, Jordan cannot win the speakership in Tuesday's expected vote if more than four Republicans fail to support him. Wagner's opposition, then, was crucial.

And, as it turns out, fleeting.

"Let me be clear, I am not, and will not, work with Democrats as our Republican Conference comes together to elect a conservative Speaker of the House," Wagner said in her written statement released late Monday morning announcing her support for Jordan in the speaker race, even as media accounts of her brief stance against him ricocheted around the internet.

Declaring that "too much is at stake to hand control of the House over to radical liberal Democrats," Wagner proceeded to explain why she is now backing one of the most radical right-wingers in the chamber: "I have always been a team player and supported our Republican nominees."

Team player. No compromise with Democrats. Is this what Missouri and America want from their elected leaders — more bull-headed partisanship?

Wagner wrote that she and Jordan "spoke at length" Monday morning and that he "has allayed my concerns about keeping the government open" and "consistent international support in times of war and unrest." That promise is worth precisely nothing coming from Jordan, a Trumper who is squishy on support for Ukraine against Russia's invasion and who just last week was hinting at threatening a government shutdown later this year as policy leverage.

We will admit a little embarrassment at having been taken by surprise by Wagner's reversal. After all, in 2016, she disavowed her support for then-candidate Trump after his grotesque attitudes toward women were revealed in the infamous "Access Hollywood" tape — only to capitulate a month later and implore voters to support the genital-grabber.

If Jordan ultimately wins the speakership, the gridlock and chaos that will inevitably follow will make even the current House look functional by comparison. If it comes to that, the relatively moderate voters who populate Wagner's suburban St. Louis district shouldn't forget her role in enabling that chaos.

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