DEAR JOHN: “Far be it from me to interrupt the Trumpian chest-beating on the right at Boehner’s announced resignation,” Andrew Klavan writes, “but I still can’t help having some sympathy for the guy:”

I can’t help but notice that under Boehner — and largely because of Boehner, because Boehner outsmarted President Obama in the 2013 budget negotiations — federal spending has declined over a five year period for the first time since the post World War II cutbacks. And because of this, as the economy has struggled to a sputtering recovery despite Democrat mismanagement, the deficit has been sharply reduced…

Also under Boehner — and also largely because of then-minority leader Boehner (and the likewise much-maligned-by-conservatives Mitch McConnell in the Senate) — the disaster of Obamacare is 100% attributable to the Democrats. It hasn’t got a single Republican fingerprint on it.

Serious question: without control of the White House and without a veto-proof majority in the Senate, what would you wanted to have seen from a GOP Speaker?

Related: Boehner: Conservative critics follow ‘false prophets’ with empty promises.

More: Responding to my question at the end of the post, Steve Hayward of Power Line emailed me a link to his recent post, “What’s Next for the House?”