Another Speaker Steps Down

Much has been written about Speaker Paul Ryan’s announcement that he will not seek reelection and thus will end his term as Speaker and his House membership next January. The impulse of most writers has been a generous one, remembering the things at which he excelled.

If I were to write in praise of Ryan, it would amount to damning with faint praise, so I won’t bother. What I will take away from the Ryan speakership is memory of my frequent frustration with his performance, or lack thereof.

We needed a lion, we got a lamb. Ryan had, I fear, more than a touch of the “Kasich disease,” a RINO-like affliction which has its sufferers acting like Democrats in drag. Ryan’s diffidence with respect to supporting the President’s agenda has been galling.

And so, with the customary hat tip to WSJ’s James Taranto, its popularizer, we offer a bye-ku - a haiku of farewell - to lame-duck Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, who has announced his retirement effective in January, 2019.

Bye Mister Speaker,

Your reluctance was real and

Amply justified.