April Ryan is White House correspondent and bureau chief for American Urban Radio Network. She’s held that position for years, and she’s been in the White House press room, day after day, through a few administrations. She does the Lord’s work, trying to get answers from Sean Spicer and The Mooch and now Sarah Huckabee Sanders, and because Ryan is a woman of color with questions, the Deplorables in and out of government absolutely loathe her. One of those Deplorables is named Lynne Patton. Patton was an event planner for Trump, helping to organize one of the Trump sons’ weddings and putting together golf tournaments on Trump properties. Now Patton works for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, I sh-t you not. And Lynne Patton is a petty, thin-skinned bully, just like her boss.
An event planner appointed by President Donald Trump to a key position at the Department of Housing and Urban Development has apologized after insulting a journalist on Wednesday. Lynne Patton, who oversees billions of dollars in federal funds as head of the agency’s New York and New Jersey office, had called April Ryan “Miss Piggy.”
Patton later apologized, writing: “I deleted my last tweet by choice. No one from this Administration contacted me. It was beneath me & I apologize to @AprilDRyan. My parents raised me to respect others & I regret my response. I apologize to them, @SecretaryCarson & the Trump family. They deserved better.”
However, some of Patton’s other other tweets directed at Ryan remain online, including two calling her a “a blogger working for a bankrupt outlet.”
Is anyone else secretly a little bit grateful that the insult wasn’t super-racist? I guess that’s because Lynne Patton is a woman of color too. But seriously, Lynne Patton is in the Sunken Place. Here’s the now-deleted tweet:
A now deleted tweet from head of @HUDgov New York & New Jersey @LynnePatton pic.twitter.com/Z2fx2O5PWo
— Jacqueline Alemany (@JaxAlemany) January 25, 2018
But the best part was probably April’s clapbacks. This is like an old-fashioned Twitter war of yore.
Fake info girl! Check your facts. I work for American Urban Radio Networks not Sheridan! Whose wedding are you planning now and what wig company do you work for? https://t.co/YtfF4QHzy5
— AprilDRyan (@AprilDRyan) January 24, 2018
Do you also tape conversations like your girl Omarosa who might have a date with Mueller since she has so much to say. https://t.co/PBvzeg0xxv
— AprilDRyan (@AprilDRyan) January 25, 2018
Kick rocks little girl. Find a job! @LynnePatton I ain’t the one! Girl bye. Blogger girl I do news. What do you do? Do you work at HUD or play at it you washed up wedding planner. Girl bye! https://t.co/YtfF4QHzy5
— AprilDRyan (@AprilDRyan) January 25, 2018
Thanks for the support. For the record I don’t know this woman @LynnePattonHUD and don’t know why my name is in her mouth. Since she started targeting me yesterday over my death threats I have found out.
— AprilDRyan (@AprilDRyan) January 25, 2018
Umm @LynnePattonHUD since when did I go bankrupt? Tell me cause I want to know. I find it fascinating you and your girl @Omarosa45 are concerned with my money when yours is questionable. Hmm! I can show my taxes. Can you?
— AprilDRyan (@AprilDRyan) January 25, 2018
Photos courtesy of Getty.
Hahahahahahahahqjajqjajhahahahahajaj.
Dont. Test.
I can’t believe how low the discourse has sunk in this country. It’s appalling.
If this is the example that adults provide, what hope is there for the future? Patton was disgusting but that’s not what I was expecting as a good response from Ryan.
The whole thing reeks of Real Housewives. Appalling indeed.
I didn’t expect it either from her, but she did mention getting death threats, so she might have snapped where this administration is concerned. Twitter does not bring out our best.
Was Ryan suppose to turn the other cheek? People get tired of folks effing with them on social media. Good for her
Comes from the top. So we have an admin full of the scum of the US. Hence why kids also thinks its cool to bully and taught minorities and immigrants. They learn from the best
MTE.
Amazing when the target in a non white woman, the high road is always questioned. We ain’t here to make you feel comfortable.
Right. Everybody is not Michelle Obama. You want to go low, B*tch, I’ll go to the depths of hell. I can’t think of another reporter that consistently gets targeted by name like April by multiple people in 45’s admin.
I want to give her all the shovels in the world to help her dig! She has taken SO MUCH ABUSE!!! WTF?! How on earth is she not allowed to respond in kind?! Also, those idiots wouldn’t know a metaphor if it kicked them in the face (same problem with facts really) so you gotta to talk to them in the only way they can understand it!
Straight up @Tiffany and @Reef. I’m sick and tired of WoC having to tick all these boxes to be a “good minority”. Like damn, if someone wants to play, I’m gonna bring my A game. Why are we always expected to take the high road?
All this “Ryan stooped to Patton’s level – unnecessary” reminds me of an episode of the Still Processing podcast that I listened to discussing Obama’s choice to do that pricey speaking gig on Wall Street. Everyone was up in arms about how he was the first black president and that he shouldn’t be taking sums so large for speaking appearances. The podcast host was like, umm he was already the first black president (and an amazing one at that). Why does he need to go above and beyond after that?
SMDH. STOP TELLING MINORITIES WHAT TO DO WITH THEIR ANGER/EMOTIONS/LIVES.
@Tiffany let the church say Amen! POC always have to take the high road, have to be twice as good, always above it. And wonder why we are tired of it!
Some days I’ll take the high road. and other days I’m out of the f*cks and will be petty. We are not magical in the sense that we will always take whatever crap is dealt with a smile. Those days are OVER
omg this!
“She has taken SO MUCH ABUSE”
So true. And she hasn’t retreated. She has held strong and asked incredibly important questions that other WH journalists aren’t brave enough to ask. I feel grateful that she is so excellent at her job, because a free press and quality journalism are at the core of democracy.
First time commenter just so I can say to reef that “you want to go low b*tch I’ll go to the depths of hell” is one of the best things I’ve ever read.
Thank you Tiffany. Whenever it’s a black woman there are all these, “I’m so disappointed”, “why couldn’t she take the high road?” Forget.That.Noise.
@Tiffany 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
My thoughts exactly. Patton is clearly abhorrent, but April’s responses were too much, IMO. I adore April, but she sort of sunk to Patton’s level, instead of taking the high road. Sigh.
Have y’all not been paying attention? Omarosa, Spicer, trump, and Shuckabee have disrespected her on camera on a weekly basis for a year. I’m surprised it took her this long to lose it on someone. This is pent-up anger finally letting loose.
Right. April Ryan is a journalist, and as a journalist she can’t get personal like this. It’s about her profession, not her race. We are attacked all the time, and our professional obligation is to not engage.
No. How come WOC and Black women in particular are the ones expected to take “the high road”? F that. So sick of it. Take a look at the comments above yours and learn a thing or two.
FWIW, I would have had the same exact reaction if it had been, for example, Kirsten Gillibrand responding like that. It has nothing to do with the fact that she is a WOC, it is just about professionalism. IMO
Again — Patton is clearly the disgusting pig in this situation.
Agree. The race element in those discussions is forced. I apply the same rules to myself and everyone else. I don’t care what colour or race they are. Decency and integrity set the example we always look up to each time we speak of the Obama family. That’s what I seek from myself, my family and is so much needed in the world around us.
I’m team petty. look what’s in the white house! You go lower, baby I’ll go deeper than dirt
I hate when women drag each other through their looks, both women did it. Its petty and sexist. Women will never gain true power & position if we keep crapping on each other.
No. You have to treat a toddler like a toddler. Not like an adult.
She’s a grad school dropout who lied on her linked in profile about having an affiliation with Yale. Her dad is a Yale professor emeritus.
She’s the kind of bitter underachiever who will ride anyone else’s coattails, and probably can’t stand April Ryan’s true respected status. I say throw all the shade at that deplorable woman.
I had my own “don the con” of an x husband (co-parent), who would ALWAYS start random stuff with me. He had school decision making, and attempted to make a case that my “not perfectly organic food” gave our child autism. Seriously, that was his form of bullying. Putting our kid in special needs class for something -I- did to our child. During this very weird bout of bullying, I would defend myself and he would say, “she always wants to fight me”. No. I defended myself for the sake our our child having a better life without the bullying weirdness of his dad. April Ryan had ENOUGH, and yes she hit back. I actually took MY x to court AND WON back all decision making; IT WAS PROVED OUR KID DID NOT HAVE ANY SPECTRUM DISORDER, and haven’t seen that borderline father in a few years, hide nor hair. My point is- Patton bullied the astute and amazing April Ryan- so it’s “discourse” for her to hit back against this filth?? NO. It’s not “real housewives” or whatever. April Ryan will get -better- at defending herself, but this lashing back is NORMAL and Ryan will win sharpen her responses, but seriously, the woman gets DEATH THREATS because of this admin. ENOUGH!
HH – EXACTLY. I find it really distressing. And I don’t think we will ever be able to bring back respectful or polite conversation. It started with Sarah Palin, reached new heights with Trump, and has now seeped up to political appointees and down to children taunting each other. It reflects CONTEMPT coming from ignorant people who think they are so smart.
I’m glad she dragged her. People with shallow intellect always like to go after others looks when they have nothing else. Typical.
That’s a good point. I don’t love that April felt the need to clap back to such pettiness, but at least she did so with facts that actually matter rather than a reality show takedown of looks or character.
She dragged herself, too. So much for taking the high road.
@MamaHoneybadger She gets to defend herself in any way she sees fit. They have been disrespecting her for more than a year and because she went all the way in on her they will think twice before doing it again.
@MamaHoneyBadger see @HK9 Thank you. Let BW defend themselves. We take the most shit from every direction and then y’all on here talking about why didn’t she take the high road. We don’t owe anyone and yes, we do get to defend ourselves.
I always appreciate April Ryan’s reporting. Sorry she is another journalist being forced to take abuse from this regime.
“Kick rocks” is my favorite way to tell somebody to eff off.
Don’t be afraid to add the “with socks” to it.
The “qualifications” of people placed in high-level gov’t positions the past year are astounding. Event planner?
I know. At this rate, I should be holding a cabinet position 🙄
We should run for the top office. Zero political office experience is apparently OK.
I can take dictation, so I’m obviously qualified to be Secretary of State.😎
It’s really appalling how the Trump administration treats lack of experience and ignorance like a virtue.
The deputy chief of staff in the Office of National Drug Control Policy just resigned. He graduated from college in May of 2016 and had no experience (other than working on the Trump campaign). It is beyond comprehension that an Administration would put such extremely inexperienced people in offices that handle such important work as the opioid epidemic.
(Jaw drops).
I’m pretty sure putin’s bloated puppet puts a fox in every hen house to destroy the flock.
What events is she planning with Dirty Donnie?
“what wig company do you work for? ” is going to be my new go-to insult, love it.
😂😂 I laughed out loud when I read Ryan’s tweet! Hilarious.
While part of me wishes she’d taken the high road and ignored that trash, I did LOL at the wig company slam.
Honestly, its a woman resorting to once again trashing another woman’s looks. Both did it. Women, we need to stop doing it because its exactly the stereotype expected from us. Its sexist period.
where did april talk about her looks? and why do you keep commenting the same thing?
Talking about her hair.
Isabelle talking about someone’s wig game to me anyway is not the same as criticizing their looks or beauty.
I absolutely love April Ryan and how she doesn’t wimp out when she’s insulted. She’s one of my favorite commenters on CNN
She’s good on CNN, but she’s been a VITAL force in the WH press room. She’s had so many important moments the past year, asking questions that need to be put on record. Like, “Mr. President, are you a racist?”.
I also love her. She’s smarter than most of the people she has to cover, and the insults from Patton are beneath contempt. Don’t mess with April Ryan.
It troubles me that Patton says nobody from the administration has contacted her. Which means the administration is fine with such unprofessional conduct. Every federal agency has rules about contact with the media. This administration is ignoring those rules. Patton should face disciplinary actions.
This WH behaves worse than this daily. Disciplinary action? What’s that?
She will probably get a promotion. Or perhaps she’ll receive a little gift from Eric’s “charity”, for which she once worked.
Nothing seems to matter anymore. Ethics, experience, professionalism…nothing.
My guess is no one there knows how to work the phones to call other departments.
Not that they’d chastise her if they could.
I feel that someone DID tell her to delete the tweet, and like a child, with chocolate on her face, saying she didn’t eat it, she made that comment. IMO
Nobody in this administration — from the very top, right on down — ever faces any consequences for anything. It’s so infuriating.
I feel bad for April. Glad for her comeback but it’s still gotta hurt.
@lilith- why would it hurt a grown confident woman to be called Miss Piggy by an idiot? Please. April is keeping it moving.
Because it’s mean.
Because she’s a flesh and blood human being with emotions and feelings and she has been insulted and disparaged for a year by this administration and its minions. She can still be a grown and confident woman and be hurt/annoyed/offended by this. Please don’t take away her humanity.
It wasn’t just mean, it’s racist. I’m surprised Kaiser didn’t think it was super racist because making fun of black people’s noses has always been a thing. Pig nose, shotgun barrel nostrils etc. has been used as insults. This woman is a WOC but she’s clearly deep in the sunken place.
Agree. What a thing to say to someone! I don’t care how old or “professional” you are, that would hurt. Glad she lashed back at her. Sometimes taking the high road is wrong.
April Ryan, hero.
Event planner??? Oh, people. People, people. I’m still shocked that nobody is rioting in the streets. Not that I’d encourage it but damn.
General strike has long been appropriate and doesn’t have to mean rioting.
Her BOSS is that moron (in everything outside of his medical field) BEN CARSON!!!! Where in the freaking universe does being a neurosurgeon quailify you to be head of HUD????? NO ONE in the awful bizzaro administration is qualified for anything they do…with maybe the exception of Kelly.
I am a major fan of April Ryan’s. The conversation at the SAGs moved to the treatment of minorities and poc in journalism.
Sterling K Brown had the most genuine and heartfelt reaction when asked about it.
I keep thinking about the reporters that have had to keep walking into the WH since the orange tool and his bunch of a-holes have been there and take the lies and verbal abuse everyday.
Miss Ryan never lets them drag her down. She’s a reporter AND a woman AND black and yet, here she is, the epitome of dignity, poise and professionalism. Megan Kelly could take a few (thousand) notes.
I loved when she clearly and calmly asked if 45 was a racist.
This crazy woman is just the very obvious and cliche Trump supporter. No argument? Just use name-calling! Works like a charm!
Smh… honestly Hillary Clinton coined the euphemism of the century when she called them « deplorable ». Doesn’t even begin to cover it!
April has been singled out over and over by 45 and others. She was even recently rudely accosted by a black trump supporting preacher whilst doing her job at the White House.
I totally agree with your comment, Mel.
There is rock bottom then there is an even lower level Trump and his supporters inhabit.
April Ryan, American hero. Unfortunately, I doubt that the wedding planner is just playing at HUD. The entire administration’s objective seems to be to destroy everything they can, and to irreparably damage anything they can’t destroy. It’s a nice turn that Ryan destroyed the wedding planner, even if only symbolically.
You guys are super indignant over this? Seriously? After all of the things the bloggers that run this site call Trump and other right-leaning politicians and celebrities? Many of you relish those insults. I guess it is a one-way street?
I think she was horribly rude and should be called out on it, but why can’t everyone be civil, regardless of what side of the politics fence you hang out? Don’t call people names!
Curious to hear what names you think people on this site shouldn’t have called Trump – racist, sexist, misogynist, bigot or all of the above – and why?
I call him a walking cluster$uck. A Trump fan would likely consider that objectionable. And I wouldn’t say it in a professional setting. I stand by my description of him, though. He (and his minions) are destroying this country.
I call him a turd. And he’s earned it.
I’m not going to be sorry for calling a Nazi a nazi and worse names. I don’t have an inch of respect for people that believe that I need to be eliminated because of my skin color and gender.
Also alt-right is not a political fence I’m going to pretend is legitimate so…
…maybe call the NYT. they love sympathetic stories about trump supporters and the nazi next door.
@whataboutme, maybe we’ll discuss that once the president that you love so much stops with the nonstop insults and childish name calling.
We are private people commenting privately in a private place. The HUD “official” is a public person commenting in public using public money. Big difference.
We would rather have people to admire and praise running the country but instead they seem to have invited every foul epithet we can muster.
This^^
Exactly.
Exactly! We are commenters on a random gossip website, not government officials FFS. How on earth is this a fair comparison?
Kelly Anne, where have you been?
This is a GOSSIP site. Patton is a high-ranking official for HUD, a federal agency, NOT a gossip site. She is paid with OUR tax dollars. Different rules apply and she had to sign statements acknowledging those rules when she took that job. Federal agencies all have rules about how staffers deal with the media. Her conduct was unprofessional and reflects upon the US as a government.
@LightPurple: exactly. It’s like when Steve Mnuchin’s wife posted that tacky Instagram photo — if Kim Kardashian wants to do that, fine. Go for it. But when it was being billed as a government trip and funded by taxpayers, there are completely different rules.
^^^THIS
I used to believe in not insulting people. But after the Obamas have been attacked for years and called nasty names for years, I changed my mind. The president is a role model. If Trump can criticize people on their looks and attack minorities, it must be OK. I mean, the President is doing it, right? And y’all would only elect a good role model, right? Right?
Thank you.
Snowflake, THIS!! 1,000,000%.
This is an administration that drove a conservative paper, to say that the conservative *PRESIDENT* of the United States of America was not fit to shine the shoes, or wash the toilets of his predecessors.
Just let that sink in.
I also used to hate seeing all the name calling and insults, but now I find that with this man, no name seems bad enough, no insult seems harsh enough to capture the foulness of his essence.
@Whataboutme, you complain about the names we call Trump . This is the man who coins insulting names for everyone. Does Crooked Hillary ring a bell? Or calling Mexicans rapists? Or all the names he called his Republican opponents? He’s an embarrassment as president, tweeting out insults and destroying the dignity of his office.
Considering the WH issued a press release calling Dems “obstructionist losers” last week, I’m not all surprised nobody cares about HUD insulting a black woman.
The high road doesn’t work with bullies. 45’s election proved this. They respond to being checked hard because inside they are wimps who run if you show them you aren’t the one. I didn’t understand that as a child who was bullied, but once I did in my late teens, I found it works. You have to put them firmly on notice.
She won’t go there with April again.
April’s come back was good and hit her in a place that lady doesn’t want to talk about, and that is her shady taxes. That will shut her up.
I have learned that lesson, too. I don’t enjoy having to engage with a manipulator or bully, but it usually is the only way to stop the behavior.
My approach is to stay away from insults and just lay out the cold, hard facts that they don’t want brought to light. I think April did some of each approach in her responses.
Yup. They don’t respect “the high road.” They think of it as weakness and will keep pushing for a response.
April should have said in response “while I may look like Miss Piggy, I didn’t and don’t have to close my eyes and kiss orange *ss every morning in gratitude to keep a job I’m not qualified for” or is that too many characters for Twitter?
For a person who has had to sit through every WH press briefing BS session full of lies, insults, denials, aggression, unprofessional behaviour and obfuscation she was really, really restrained in her response. I would have pointed out that the real Muppets are Spicer, Mooch and Huck-Sands. I hope she writes a book!
She a boss
F-cking unreal. A HUD official said that? WTF? It’s like full-grown adults have regressed to the emotional I.Q.s of 13 year olds. But that’s where our country is going now: backwards and mean-spirited as hell. And the fish rots from the head. It’s all the doing of Trump. He’s opened the floodgates.
She didn’t regress, she was probably always like this. Only playing at being an official but in reality just another unqualified a-hole given a job by other unqualified a-holes.
That’s Miss Ryan to you beehatch.
Bye Felicia
Sean Spicer told April Ryan to stop shaking her head. She was also dragged by trump supporters over the phone call to the soldier’s widow. April was told about it and passed it on. She and Jim Acosta don’t step back from asking questions they know are not welcome. They do their job, despite the WH. I would have clapped back too. If you want to play in the mud, beyotch you’re going to go down!
You’re right, Who are these people.
Can women in positions of authority or power please stop behaving like 14 year olds who only just discovered social media. I would settle for them even to stop using phrases or typing like people speak when they’re on their off hours. In the effort to make news for being snappy that entire Twitter feed reads like a teen chat room. Have some professionalism.
I realize this is a minor point, but the fact that Patton used a freaking emoji on her official account…these people just don’t understand professionalism at ALL.
So, even though I’m pretty sure you’re calling out Patton, my response would be, I suppose we can learn to behave like adults – when the men do.
Under any other administration, this person probably would have been fired. The WH is such a dumpster fire, however, that it won’t even register with anyone in charge.
Before the tweet was deleted, Trump was probably cheering and going to give the HUD official a raise. It’s unbelievable what people in this administration get away with. The White House has really become a Trumpster dumpster
This guy’s racism. Always putting black people at HUD. We all don’t live in the “hood.” We all do not live in Public Housing in urban areas. Not all black people understand the housing needs of in Urban areas. This woman was always labeled as a personal assistant to the Trump kids and babysat for their children!
Good for April Ryan.
Yeah, that is a disturbing employment trend. It speaks volumes.
So Lynne Pattoni was a wedding planner and that’s all you need to get an important job with HUD these days. WOW. She should do what A 24-Year-Old White House Employee who was appointed to High-Level Position. He resigned because he lied on his resume.
Taylor Weyeneth had no experience in drug policy or any real job experience at all when he was appointed to senior role in the White House’s drug policy office. Another WOW
April Ryan can clap back at that idiot all day long. She has more class and intelligence in her pinky toe than most of the sunken place blacks that support Orange Menance. This woman was the 2nd black in Trump sphere to come after Ms Ryan for doing her job and asking if 45 was a racist for his comments about Haiti and Africa. When you get sick & tired, things come out. Ms Patton got that shaggy wig snatched and had to back off. Good! She needs to have a seat & hope she can get another job planning parties when her boss loses his job.
PLEASE, could someone explain why Americans are taking this absolutely despicable behavior from their government.
What is going in the Unite States of America?
Where are the rational, decent people of integrity?
Why are they not organizing massive demonstrations every weekend against the near dictatorship of The Orange Deplorable in their country.
I don’t understand.
Please do something before it’s too late.
Enough talk already.
ACT NOW!!!
So freaking tired of comments like this from non-Americans. Maybe next time before you tell us to “do something”, you’ll actually research how the United States government works. We are doing all that we possibly can as American citizens–but we can only do so much.
Instead of generalized comments like “act now!” perhaps you and others who don’t live here can propose something that is actually effective? But I bet you dollars-to-donuts that you won’t think of a solution that we haven’t already tried. We are not just “talking”– we are making phonecalls to our reps every damn day, we are organizing, attending protests and doing townhall sit-ins. BTW, that is a LOT of effin work when you have a FT job, family obligations, and day-to-day responsibilities.
Please stop perpetuating the idea that the majority of American citizens are just sitting back and tolerating this. That’s f*cking insulting when a good portion of us are out here doing all that we can while juggling our “normal” lives.
Perfectly said Kitten!
@Kitten
Sorry, I’m not American, although I’m quite familiar with the US political system. The only thing I can suggest is peaceful demonstrations against the Orange Menace and the crooks he picked to run the United States to the ground.
To see millions of people in the streets of US cities demonstrating peacefully every weekend would maybe caution him to proceed more carefully and considering how dire the situation seems, it’s certainly warranted. I worry for the people in America, especially minorities, women, immigrants and my heart breaks for the children of DACA. Please try to channel your anger, energy and time against the real enemy, not against people that have the best interest at heart for all decent Americans and also the non-Americans living in the States.
I apologize if my response was curt but I don’t think people outside of the United States (with maybe the exception of WATP below) can truly understand how f*cking frustrating it is to read comments like yours. I picked yours because I’m tired of reading this shit but I didn’t mean to get personal, I literally could have picked any one of the dozens of similar comments I read from foreigners on this site almost every day.
Again, I don’t think it’s possible for you to understand how gut-wrenching it is to see your country being decimated and feeling essentially powerless to do anything. It really only adds to the daily discontent and aggravation to read comments that are imploring us to do more, as if we aren’t doing all we can.
I’ve been to seven protests since this man was elected. My BF and I call our MA reps (and he also calls his Iowa reps) almost every single day to voice our displeasure, to implore them to do the right thing. In Massachusetts, it doesn’t mean much because most of our reps are Dems but we do it anyway, just to feel like we are doing SOMETHING that can *might* an impact.
Again, I’m sorry if I got pissy but please try to be a bit more understanding of our current circumstance. Keep in mind that the majority of Americans did not vote for this shit stain of a President. We are doing the best we can in a GOP-controlled Congress, fighting against the vocal minority who continue to support this monster.
Bailie, MILLIONS marched just last weekend on Jan. 20th!
The way our system works Ballie, protests rarely if ever result in actual political change. They get the message out, help people organize but we have had mass protests in the past , even centered around the WH and it took years for even the smallest result. Our system works better if its actually changed from the inside, laws are passed and the right politicians are voted in. There are 350+ million people in America and protests with thousands barely make politicians bat an eyelash. Its a small number compared to the mass. Now if you get their community they are representing up riled up then something may be accomplished. This sounds contrite, but its complicated.
@ Kitten, this may be a stupid question, but I’m gonna ask it anyway. What’s stopping people in blue states from calling congress people from red states? I mean, I’m not saying you should. But why not? They can’t STOP you from calling, say, Bob Corker, and tearing him a new one. You are a US citizen, and he is a US employee, so it really makes no difference what state you live in. If people are self-imposing some kind of rule to only call their own representatives out of some sense of “morality,” I say throw that out the window. We are at war with the GOP as far as I’m concerned, so I say call whomever you like. I do. Daily.
“What’s stopping people in blue states from calling congress people from red states?”
WE DO!!!! Sometimes they won’t take calls from people who aren’t constituents. But more importantly, we call CITIZENS in red states to get out the vote. I speak from experience that the 2016 GOTV efforts in Los Angeles involved tons of volunteers putting in their time and effort for months and months to reach out to those in red states. The 2018 midterm election outreach will be huge.
@ Tiffany
THANK YOU! Sincerely, for all your efforts. Being a blue dot in a red sea is frustrating, alienating, and sometimes we feel exasperated, helpless and alone. I am very happy to know that you, and others like you, are out there, doing all you can to help us pull our neighbors into the 21st century.
Juls, I feel ya! I used to be a blue dot in a red state. I am so sorry you feel helpless and alone! Just think: you have the power to be a voice of dissent. Your calls and opinions might actually stand out to your Senators and representatives. Do you have any “purple” districts near where you live? There is a group called Swing Left that helps people identify areas near where you live where your efforts will be the most effective.
Sometimes it feels helpless being in a blue state, because it is like our votes and voices are taken for granted. Our state and our citizens are being attacked by this administration. Voting wise, I would feel so much more powerful back in my home state which might be considered “purple” now. It’s hard to get people to pick up the phone when you are calling from the 310 area code! 🙂
Hi Kitten. Yeah I’m in Canada and have fielded a lot of ignorance from Day 1, even during the Obama years – “why doesn’t he do more?” Because of the different system, they couldn’t see the obstructionist role of Congress or understand his limited powers or grasp the depth of racism driving the problem.
I do think that if even 15% of US workers walked out during the workweek, it could shut down the economy and make a point. South Koreans did it, Poles did it (I think) – there is mass protest and there is resistance but the question does remain about a general strike. It would be more feasible if the union movement hadn’t been crippled (which was one of the goals of those that crippled it).
The problem is that workers are now irrelevant. People are irrelevant. Robots, self-driving cars, they’re relevant. People are too expensive.
At the same time, we have a lot of “rational decent people of integrity” friends in the USA who are doing as little as possible, feeling ‘protected’ by residence in a “blue” state, by high income, coping through denial or shutting down, etc. They clearly still do not perceive a personal threat.
That’s frustrating. We are dual citizens and we do a good bit long-distance.
I mean…I get it to a point.
I’m not married and I don’t have kids–it’s FAR more feasible for me to attend protests, townhalls, etc than it is for say, a working mother of four. Also, children demand so much time, energy and emotional investment and for many this is IN addition to working a 40 hour workweek, household chores and responsibilities, etc.
To be honest, I don’t blame anybody who is dealing with the aforementioned circumstances for not “doing more” or whatever. We do what we can when we can do it, however we can do it. If that means simply talking to a Trump-supporting relative about why Trump is terrible for this country, then that’s fine with me.
I do think that Americans are more engaged in politics than ever before and as much as it sucks that this is what it took to get us here, I’m still very thankful that we are here. So thanks, for #resisting and #keepingupthefight, WATP. We need every single voice that we can get to help us get out of this terrible mess.
Elections have consequences. Many Blue state citizens are doing what they can (donate, make calls, get out the vote in other states), but their efforts won’t be felt until there is another ELECTION. Once people are in office, they are given serious powers. Our democracy doesn’t allow citizens to just strip that power away, unless it is done through elections and votes.
There are demonstrations but just like with the Women’s March this past week where there were millions but the press reported as thousands, the demonstrations are deliberately not covered. There are many, many people here in U.S. working in very realm, physically and virtually, in whatever avenues are available, to protest and block this regime’s evil. But the press is pretty much owned by the government–even the NYTimes puts their energy to highlighting the stories of 45’s supporters and Nazis. It’s fascist state, government coup orchestrated by Russia based on personal corporate debts that Republicans are using to bankrupt the country and destroy everything Obama worked to build. Could there be more protests, well, sure yes. But don’t let lack of news make you think it’s not happening…
Exactly. Thank you.
Large demonstrations like the women’s march also take a lot of time, legal work, and money. The US is an enormous country. Smaller demonstrations aren’t going to make national news, much less international. They exist, but you aren’t hearing about them.
I’m American, and I’m a minority. I’m afraid for exactly the reasons you said. I’ve lived here all my life, there are many perspectives on this. Mine is that people do not want to risk anything for others. Talking, calling and writing letters doesn’t really work unless the system isn’t broken, and it’s been broken for a LONG time. People complain about being tired, and I’m tired of hearing that – because it’s been one year and there have only been, what, two large-scale, nationwide protests? It’s really hard for me to accept the fact that most people just don’t care enough to do something, but all the evidence points this way. And it’ll be far too late when people finally do start shaking things up.
Her response wasn’t exactly eloquent, but honestly…people are not gods. They have mental and emotional limits. This woman has been dragged for a year by WH media and receiving death threats for it. Let’s stop being so hard on women and minorities for losing their shit sometimes.
It is so easy to be an abuser these days – you just choose your target, insult or assault them, then sit back and criticize your victim’s lack of composure.
Thank you.
OMG. When I was a child, I knew her and her parents. I remember her parents being so kind, caring, and gentle. That’s not how she comes across these days on Twitter. That’s what happens when you start hanging with the Trumps.
April snatched that fool’s wig, and I am 100% here for it.
I’m standing with all of the POC here asking why there are so many of you sitting here putting down Ryan for her response to Patton when every damn day, she’s out there fighting in the trenches while y’all ain’t doing nothing. It’s going to be black women like Ryan who save this damn country instead of people like you who are more concerned with the appearance of politeness than anything else.
THIS. I am HERE for April Ryan’s clapback – she was magnificent, and completely entitled to it.
Do NOT come for April Ryan, even if she comes calling for you. That woman is a hero.
Also, if you’re going to insult someone, make it better than calling them one of them most beloved Muppets of all time. Amateur.
WORD.
The so called President asked Ryan to contact the Black Caucus because he couldn’t manage to get a meeting or hear back from them. How insulting. Ryan is black so she might be more successful THAN THE PRESIDENT in doing so. GTFOH.
Give them hell Ryan.
I stand with you.
Thank you!!!!!
Agreed, Eveil. At the Vegas Women’s Rally last weekend, Cecile Richards said, “white women, we need to do better. Women of color can’t be responsible for saving our country,” and I clapped my hands in agreement, even though part of me thought she’s preaching to the choir because the white women in the audience presumably didn’t vote for Trump. But here we are again, amongst a group of liberal white women with progressive ideas who are still holding WOC to a higher standard.
It’s effing exhausting. And I’d rather see some tangible support (like the commenter above, who at least spoke up) than those p***sy hats. Good grief, quit rolling on women of color at the drop of a hat, even when THEY are the victim.
April snapped and she had a right to. I think most of us can only tolerate so much BS on a daily basis. She is doing amazing journalistic work and should be forgiven for losing her cool.
Yeah, in the past week Lynne Patton has posted that (during the government shutdown) she’d be working each day in honor of a person killed by a person without legal residence in the country. (Actually, she called them “illegals,” which, gross.) She made a point of doing this in response to how Democrats shut down the government to protect Dreamers. She left out that a) none of the people she “honored” were killed by Dreamers, b) that Dreamers can’t, in fact, have committed a felony, c) that Dreamers came to America through no fault of their own, d) that Dreamers have built lives here. “Some families are separated by more than walls,” she’d end her posts.
Then the next morning she posted this rambling monologue about how she and her boyfriend were sick to their stomachs when she (temporarily) moved to Washington D.C. from New York last year to serve in the Trump administration. Her lack of awareness (and her sycophantic devotion to Eric, of all Trumps) is astounding.
Just like anyone, all people should act with class. Black people are not immune to criticism because of troubled race relations and history of systemic oppression in this country. Anyone is fair game.
That being said, the administration should be held to a higher standard and this kind of attack from a government official is shameful and appalling. Every day I’m shaking my head at our government. She should have apologized and I’m glad she did.
“troubled race relations” ha, is that what we’re calling having a white supremacist administration these days?
@Kitten
I understand more than you think, I grew up under the brutal Regime of the Soviet Union in Eastern Europe behind the so called “Iron Curtain”.
I’m a Cold War baby.
We had no freedoms of any kind, no social media was available back than, no free press existed. I run across the border from Czechoslovakia to Austria being shot at by Soviet soldiers for one single thing ” FREEDOM”. I was willing to give my life up for it.
I lived in a refugee camp with many others from Eastern Europe, but it was all worth it.
It’s not easy to be without basic freedoms, some of my family members were shipped to Siberia, because they stood up to the oppression and we have never seen them again.
After a long struggle, the wall came down and Eastern Europe is free now.
Please fight for your liberty.
Thank you for this important perspective. There might still be time, if we hurry, but things are not looking so hot. The people in this administration are not the main problem, it’s that so many in our country support them and all the insane things they do. The least we can do is fight, but we’ve had it so good for so long here that I think we must look to others who’ve survived worse for guidance. The way we’ve been doing it clearly does not work.
@overit
Thank you.
I have faith in the America people, you guys will overcome this awful Orange NAZI Presidency and you will be stronger, smarter and more vigilant about the precious freedoms that can go very fast, if you are not paying strong enough attention.
A small minority voted for this disgrace of a human being, they are vocal, but still a minority. Just keep doing your best and RESIST
Those responses were glorious. I swear every single one of those nuts in that entourage are dumb. They try to be smart on Twitter only to have people shut them down (Jr Gummy Jr and the wedding planner).
Is she the one the dotard is having an affair with?
In Poland, Lech Walesa weakened the communist government by general strikes. Violence is not a solution, but the “Dump” who constantly brags about the economy might sober up when the American economy is at stake. Walking off the job by millions of Americans could be a real wake up call for this Wannabe Dictator and his awful administration before they ruin the country!
That’s embarrassing. They are too old to be carrying on like that on social media. 🙄 I wish April would have just paid her dust.
Just came here to say that April Ryan is beautiful and she inspires me.
I totally get why April Ryan finally snapped. Can you imagine the mental torture of covering these abhorrent, unqualified people, day in, day out?? I love April and it pains me to see how much crap female journos are copping under this administration, particularly WoC. Anti-Trump Republicans like Ana Navarro and Tara Setmayer are also getting abused daily by both deplorables and the administration itself.
“I don’t know why my name is in her mouth”. I ❤️ this line. I will credit you Miss Ryan, anytime I use it. You rock!
I love April Ryan SO MUCH.
Love April.
+1000