Paul Ryan announces retirement from Congress

Ryan says that wants to spend more time with his family. He doesn't want his growing children to regard him as a weekend dad.

Whatever.

Here's the transcript to his speech at Politico if you care to read it.

The comments that I've read all over the place are not complimentary. Many have fear that Republicans do not have good candidates to replace the number of office holders that intend on retiring. Because of Trump. Because of the shift in political winds. Because they'd rather bow out than fight for their constituencies. Because they're Uniparty and they'd rather have Democrats take over and see Trump impeached while they sit back and watch their party crumble.

I read a lot of ugly speculation and fearful uncertainty along with an abundance of giddy glee.

And the whole time I was thinking, how historical, this is exactly what happened to the Whigs.

We are witnessing remarkable history.

Sometimes Wikipedia can be useful. Sometimes. Almost never useful for anything political. Almost.

A long time ago I read the Wikipedia page on the Whigs, just a short page, and I was stunned how clear the history of that party is explained. It was crucial in forming my political view. It made me appreciate the Democrat party as historic catch basin for all of America's politically disaffected from the very beginning. It is a very old party. They should be called the GOP, they have the history, not the Republicans. The party for everyone who feels a need for government to help them. Anybody with any specific issue, socially speaking, boy do we have a party for you. Got a daddy issue, a man issue, a power issue, an economic issue, a race issue, a sex issue, a class issue? We have a catch-all party for you.

And that has attracted America's crazies along with a lot of other sensible people who joined for other reasons. But make no mistake, they are the party of politically worked up crackpots. They are the source of all political disruption, riots, and damage.

Almost all. Not 100%, but quite nearly.

The Wikipedia page describes it differently, of course, but it also shows that conglomeration forces a counterbalancing opposition party. Before the Whigs there were other counter-conglomerations that arose specifically to check Democrat's fierce government obsession. They came and went under different names, and then that countering force congealed into the Whig party that had good success in countering the crazy, but only for twenty years. They were good until they became part of the problem. The intractable problem being slavery. Too many Whigs owned slaves themselves, so the party became disillusioned and they dissipated, and Republican party developed. Because Whigs could not handle the issue of slavery.

I found it a breathtaking page on a fairly dry dead subject.

I did very well in college American History. Bought and read the textbook then took two CLEP exams and aced them. The Civil War is the dividing line between the two courses. The book is arranged by what happened under each administration, so you get the whole thing in order. Like being taught the Bible, you get in fractured episodes, then when you read it straight through, it's mind-blowing. But even that did not explain the Whigs so well as the Wikipedia page does.

It's probably still a good page unless it has been re-written to appear more damaging to Republicans and more considerate of Democrats. As they do.

And now that exact same thing is happening all over again. Except differently. Different issues, but same phenominon. Republicans were great at checking the crazy, until they suddenly weren't, by becoming the problem themselves. And now they're being changed out. Voters are forcing this. Trump is just one indication. And that process looks like this. The thing that we're living. It looks like Paul Ryan becoming disillusioned and dropping out because it's no longer any fun for him and he can do better elsewhere, less trying on his nerves.  It looks like Republican leader rejecting their party. Rejecting the new thing imposed on them.

With all this power laid at his feet, he wants to spend more time with his kids.

That's lovely.