Paul Ryan Posts Touching Video of His Kids, Superstar Musician Says "F*** You"
Is the default liberal response to every conservative politician who has children and believes in immigration laws to assail them with vulgarities? Or is it just celebrities who do this?
I ask only because it’s clearly a thing now. We need no recapitulation of Samantha Bee and her peccadilloes. Melania Trump said our immigration laws needed to have a “heart,” which earned her a “F— you” from Kathy Griffin. And now we have the tale of John Legend and Paul Ryan.
You’re all acquainted with Ryan, the Republican speaker who will be stepping down this election cycle to spend more time with his lack of convictions. Legend, for those of you who aren’t familiar with music released during this millennium or who avoid commercial radio, is a middling R&B artist with incredible commercial appeal, a poor grasp of public policy and an inveterate need to speak out about the last count, usually to his detriment.
On Father’s Day, Ryan posted this touching video on his Twitter:
My life changed the day I became a father. Liza, Charlie, and Sam are my highest priority. Wishing all of the dads out there a happy early #FathersDay pic.twitter.com/w3UsSkR4Lf
— Paul Ryan (@SpeakerRyan) June 16, 2018
That seems relatively non-controversial. Unfortunately, the new liberal line is that literally no conservative who believes in upholding the law or is related to someone who does can celebrate having any kids when people who cross into this country illegally with their children have them separated while they’re detained.
“Seriously, f— you,” Legend tweeted to Ryan. “Reunite the families at the border and we can talk about father’s day.”
Legend and his wife, model Chrissy Teigen, have been outspoken opponents of the president’s “zero tolerance” policy toward arresting and detaining individuals caught crossing the border. Just last week, according to The Hill, the couple donated $288,000 to the ACLU in honor of Trump’s birthday.
“John and I are outraged to see and hear the horror stories of immigrant families seeking asylum and refuge in America being ripped apart due to the inhumane policies of the Trump administration,” Teigen tweeted last Thursday. “These actions are cruel, anti-family and go against everything we believe this country should represent.”
Or, as John Legend put it, “Seriously, f— you.” That sounds slightly more constructive, no?
There are a few interesting things about Legend’s vulgar tweet to unpack here. First, Ryan isn’t exactly in a position where he can affect this aspect of the administration’s policy, since it’s more or less enforcing the law. If the Democrats want to come to the table and get serious about immigration, maybe Ryan can have some influence over the process, but until then, Ryan’s options are limited. Legend, it appears, has a tenuous grasp of the process.
He also has a tenuous grasp on what Ryan actually believes. The speaker is one of the handful of Republicans who have come out and said they oppose the Trump administration’s policy of separating children from parents who illegally bring them into this country,
“This is because of a court ruling,” Ryan said Thursday, according to The Hill. “We believe it should be addressed in immigration legislation. So what’s happening at the border with the separation of their parents and their children is because of a court ruling, and so that’s why I think legislation is necessary.”
This is also true — most of this has to do with a court ruling during the Obama era which stipulated that children could only be detained by ICE for 20 days. Had Legend actually read any of this? Or was he just trawling Twitter on Father’s Day, looking for any Republican who might have posted a pic or video with his kids so that he could drop the f-bomb? Legend has two children; surely he can find less dispiriting ways to spend Father’s Day.
Overall, though, the main takeaway is that Legend seems to follow what’s becoming the established protocol for liberal discourse on this issue. Oh, you believe immigration law ought to be enforced and that, due to a court ruling, this means children are temporarily removed from the custody of their parents just like any other parents who have broken the law?
Well, (expletive) you, you (expletive) (slur). Do exactly what I believe and maybe I won’t call you an (expletive)ing (some variation on the first slur).
At the moment, that’s probably an exaggeration. I’m giving 3-1 odds it isn’t by the weekend.
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