Observations: “The easiest thing in the world to do in a legislature is complain about your leaders’ negotiations and insist that if you had been in charge, you would have gotten a better deal.” —Jim Geraghty

For the record: “Consider that on the day [Paul] Ryan announced his departure, the president of the United States was threatening significant military action that could draw the nation into a confrontation with our leading foe, and no one even bothered to wonder what Congress would say about it.” —Chris Stirewalt

Upright: “The country is in a world of hurt when you can’t acknowledge Paul Ryan’s personal decency because you dislike his politics. None of us are the sum of our political positions.” —Erick Erickson

Alpha Jackass: “Paul Ryan is not even close to being the worst person who has been speaker of the House. Pedophile Dennis Hastert served eight years as the Republican speaker of the House, only to be revealed in his retirement to be a criminal. And before the Civil War, of course, we had slave owners as speakers of the House. But they were all more effective in their job as speaker than Paul Ryan.” —MSNBC’s Lawrence O'Donnell

Virtue: “If I am here for one more term, my kids will only have ever known me as a weekend dad. I just can’t let that happen.” —Paul Ryan

Dezinformatsiya: “On Wednesday, the three broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, NBC) never once mentioned the pro-life walkout during their news shows on the night of the event, April 11. In contrast, the same evening shows devoted more than 10 minutes to the gun walkout the day it happened. This comes after the networks covered the March for Our Lives 13 times more than the pro-life March for Life.” —NewsBusters

And last… “Personally, I don’t trust anyone in Syria. Rebel or not. Let’s start there.” —Chuck Woolery