"Too Late to Save His Reputation"

"The critics who flay Ryan as a coward have never understood that his actions are a form of idealism. To Ryan, the greatest danger to liberty lies not in a president who defies the rule of law but in high tax rates and a functioning social safety net. When Ryan speaks with pride about the policy accomplishments he helped carry out with Trump, he is not spinning. In Ryan's worldview, he has struck a powerful blow for liberty against the socialist hordes. Ryan leaves his endangered majority convinced he has done his job well. It is a triumph of his own propaganda that so few people believe he is actually sincere about this."

Jonathan Chait at New York writes a political obituary for Paul Ryan.

And Alex Shepard at The New Republic describes the end of Ryan's speakership as the "Twilight of the Reaganites."