Well said, that’s exactly right in my view.
If Speaker Ryan had in fact done his job and led the Republican House the loss of seats would have been less but I fully believe he didn’t give a whit.
My understanding is that the Speaker’s role is to carry the House business forward not lead a Party. Of course, the Founders were opposed to Parties when they wrote the Constitution.
One does not even have to be a Representative to be Speaker.
They could install any bum off the street should they wish and it might be an improvement.