The 54th Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan, is on a book tour for his latest tome, American Renewal. If the book is anything like his personality, it promises to cure insomnia.

Ryan is also on a tear to be seen as the voice, defining what the Republican Party is all about, and aligning himself with the GOP elite who consider themselves the arbiters of reason and sanity, saving the planet from MAGA world. Ryan took to the equally milquetoast journalist Jake Tapper’s CNN snoozefest to spout his version of conservatism, and of course, to continue to beat the drum of “Never Again Trump.”

From The Washington Examiner:

Former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) said he was not dismayed by the recent lengthy speaker election process. In fact, he admitted that he agreed with some of the concessions, adding that “I think I had too much power as speaker.”

Typical RINO. You totally ruin the party, and then pretend to have regrets.

Precious.

Paul Ryan over here acting like he was a hapless victim in his reign of tyranny. https://t.co/lWQA48hoL8

— Justin Amash (@justinamash) January 13, 2023

In an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper on Thursday, Ryan said, “I like some of those,” referring to some of the concessions Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) made to the group of Republican detractors to secure their votes.

The concessions limited some of McCarthy’s power as speaker, which Tapper explained, but Ryan indicated it might be a good thing.

The former congressman noted omnibus spending bills bothered him the most.

“A bill that thick that four people only decide on,” he described. “No four people should be doing all that.”

[…]

He also noted that many of the concessions being asked for were driven by “fiscal responsibility.”

Ryan described the speaker election saga as “Republicans finally reacquiring their moorings on the party of fiscal responsibility and limited government,” noting it as “the good thing that I see in all of this weird stuff.”

Yet this Ayn Rand disciple never bothered to limit his power or did anything in his time as Speaker to limit government. Ryan spent his four years as Speaker pontificating about how they were going to cut spending and repeal Obamacare. What was the result?

Bupkis. Republicans lost the House of Representatives in 2018, and our budget deficit only ballooned.

Paul Ryan: "Trump is fading fast. He is a proven loser. He cost us the House in '18. He cost us the White House in 2020. He cost us the senate again again. We are moving past Trump. I can't imagine him getting the nomination." pic.twitter.com/IZuR2U9en7

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) January 12, 2023

And no Paul Ryan interview would be complete without the perfunctory trashing of 2024 contender and former President Donald J. Trump:

“Trump is fading fast. He is a proven loser. He cost us the House in ’18. He cost us the White House in 2020. He cost us the senate again again. We are moving past Trump. I can’t imagine him getting the nomination.”

Paul Ryan is still on the board of directors at Fox News, so I guess it would be considered self-serving to have Doocy and the gang, or his best bud Sean Hannity interview him. Yet, self-serving is what these types do best. Ryan is also the Vice Chairman for an organization called Teneo, a global “consulting” firm (read, political influence). The company was founded in June 2011 by Declan Kelly, Paul Keary, and Doug Band. Kelly previously served as a special envoy to Northern Ireland during the Obama administration for then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, until he beclowned himself in a drunken stupor and had to resign. With Kelly, Paul Keary raised $1.5 million for Hillary Clinton’s failed presidential campaigns, and Doug Band was the “body man” to former President Bill Clinton.

Globalists of a feather flock together apparently.

But Ryan wants back on the national stage and is using this book and a GOP House of Representatives to burnish his credentials again. We all know what this is about: Ryan is not-so-subtly mounting his own 2024 run for president. If Ryan is nothing else, he’s an opportunist, so this latest “tour” is just him doing what he does best.