# Paul Ryan not running for re-election **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [April 11, 2018, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-ryan-not-running-for-re-election/812210 "2018-04-11T12:35:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2018, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-ryan-not-running-for-re-election/812210/181 "2018-04-17T13:39:10Z")
I liked their fries, until Republicans took credit for them. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2018, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-ryan-not-running-for-re-election/812210/182 "2018-04-17T13:40:59Z")
> [@Johnny\_Ace](#): > > I liked their fries, until Republicans took credit for them. Ah, yes, their fries. Such a tragedy. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2018, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-ryan-not-running-for-re-election/812210/183 "2018-04-17T14:00:24Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Ah, to hell with France! Outside of inventing oral sex, what have they ever done for _anyone_? What, that’s not enough for you? :eek: I’d say it rates them a place of honor in the _aprés vie_. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2018, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-ryan-not-running-for-re-election/812210/184 "2018-04-17T14:13:31Z")
I just want to acknowledge **Gyrate** ’s post there. I only wish I had realized that I was setting up such a useful straight line. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2018, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-ryan-not-running-for-re-election/812210/185 "2018-04-17T14:16:19Z")
There’s always room for a Spider-Man joke. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2018, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-ryan-not-running-for-re-election/812210/186 "2018-04-17T15:39:18Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Ah, to hell with France! Outside of inventing oral sex, what have they ever done for _anyone_? > [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > I like their toast. > [@Johnny\_Ace](#): > > I liked their fries, until Republicans took credit for them. Fine, other than oral sex, their toast, and their fries, what have the French done … [listens to off-screen mumbling] …um, yeah, champagne…not to my taste, but I’ll concede… [more mumbling] Cheese? I thought the Swiss…no, no, you’re right, they came up with the ripening process. [even more mumbling] Absolutely not…we are not putting escargot on this list…look, I have to draw a line somewhere, and garlic snails is the line! [dejected mumbling] All right?..Okay. Now, other than oral sex, their toast, their fries, champagne and the process for ripening cheese, what have the French done for _us?_ ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2018, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-ryan-not-running-for-re-election/812210/187 "2018-04-17T16:06:38Z")
Not sure where to put this, but this thread seems (despite the side trip to France) to be the closest to apropos: Quoted from the email alert I received: > [@](#): > > **New England’s biggest GOP donor is funding Democrats** > > Boston hedge fund billionaire Seth Klarman lavished more than $7 million on Republican candidates and political committees during the Obama administration, using his fortune to help underwrite a GOP takeover of the federal government. > > But the rise of Donald Trump shocked and dismayed Klarman, as did the timid response from the Republican-controlled House and Senate, which have acquiesced rather than challenge the president’s erratic and divisive ways. So, in an astonishing flip, Klarman, at one point New England’s most generous donor to Republicans, is taking his money elsewhere: He’s heaping cash on Democrats. > > Read the full story at [BostonGlobe.com](http://www.bostonglobe.com/news/politics/2018/04/14/era-donald-trump-new-england-biggest-gop-donor-funding-democrats/QzyFs3i3Yq3o6Ae7QIkhVP/story.html?p1=BGHeader_SmartBar_Breaking?s_campaign=breakingnews:newsletter). The full article will probably take a subscription to read (I don’t know if the Globe does the ten free articles thing). ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2018, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-ryan-not-running-for-re-election/812210/188 "2018-04-17T16:10:30Z")
Some quotes from the man himself: > [@](#): > > “The Republicans in Congress have failed to hold the president accountable and have abandoned their historic beliefs and values,” Klarman said in a prepared statement to the Globe, opening up for the first time about the reasons behind his change in political giving. “For the good of the country, the Democrats must take back one or both houses of Congress.” > > ```auto > > Klarman said he’s financing his new political donations using his share of the $1.5 trillion tax cut Trump signed into law late last year. > > “I received a tax cut I neither need nor want,” said Klarman, who Forbes estimates is worth $1.5 billion. “I’m choosing to invest it to fight the administration’s flawed policies and to elect Democrats to the Senate and House of Representatives.” > > ``` ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2018, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-ryan-not-running-for-re-election/812210/189 "2018-04-17T16:16:53Z")
> [@CaptMurdock](#): > > Fine, other than oral sex, their toast, and their fries, what have the French done … > > [listens to off-screen mumbling] > > …um, yeah, champagne…not to my taste, but I’ll concede… > > [more mumbling] > > Cheese? I thought the Swiss…no, no, you’re right, they came up with the ripening process. > > [even more mumbling] > > Absolutely not…we are not putting escargot on this list…look, I have to draw a line somewhere, and garlic snails is the line! > > [dejected mumbling] > > All right?..Okay. Now, other than oral sex, their toast, their fries, champagne and the process for ripening cheese, what have the French done for _us?_ Hey, without the French [this scene](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HM-E2H1ChJM) would’ve likely ended with a sorta moving rendition of “Camptown Races.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-ryan-not-running-for-re-election/812210.md?page=9)