Paul Ryan is a grinning, salt-of-the-earth guy, a real man of the people. When not shoving through a disastrous health care bill that will deprive the poorest and most in-need Americans of life-saving services—an un-vetted, un-read piece of legislation lacking any traditional congressional oversight and with little incentive for its existence besides his almost venal need to save face and “pass a bill,” thus solidifying his completely fictitious reputation as a “policy wonk” and not a blood-sucking rich-guy automaton with the exclusive priority of reinforcing preexisting social hierarchies—he enjoys a pancake or two. Why, just this morning, he popped on over to a Kiwanis pancake breakfast in Wisconsin to pour coffee for the very same honest working folk he has devoted his life to watching die.
In between forcing his face into a convincing impression of a human smile, he posed for a few photos, including this one:
Ryan must have been too busy concealing his contempt for his constituents to read the man’s shirt, which says, “Repeal and go fuck yourself.” It’s one of the slogans from the largely establishment-Democrat podcast network Crooked Media, launched in response to Trump’s election and providing a focal point for center-left Trump antagonism. It is also an accurate description of Trump and Ryan’s health care plan—to follow through on a promise to repeal Obama’s signature domestic achievement without the slightest whiff of empathy for the millions of Americans who rely on it to literally fucking survive. Maybe Ryan read the guy’s shirt after all and just liked the sentiment.