So: my @SpeakerRyan story this morning. Takes place this past summer. I was driving into work when I get a call from one of his staffers that he is trying to reach me. I assume this is a prank bc the few times I’ve tried to book the Speaker for @matteroffacttv : crickets.
@matteroffacttv doesn’t focus too much on political talking heads. They’re often, um, not super honest so we keep them to a minimum and report on actual people across the country. (It’s why out ratings are very good. No joke). Anyhoo. I take the call. But I think it’s a prank.
The Speaker eventually hops on the phone—and it’s him. He has a pretty recognizable voice. He is very friendly even though I tend to call him out on twitter. A lot. He informs me that we are in fact related. Cousins in some way. (I THINK thru my mom’s afro Cuban side).
He has just had his dna tested and I guess he’s been informed that we are related. He says he thinks that I might be mortified by this information. (Had he seen my Finding Your Roots segment on PBS he’d know I have some very sketchy cousins). I tell him, I am not mortified—at all
Instead, I tell him, now that he’s aware he comes from a diverse family tree maybe he’ll do a better representing the interests of a wider swath of diverse people. That, in fact, this information makes me more hopeful that he’ll think about his legacy to a broader constituency.
Alas—it was not to be. He ends his tenure failing at the main agenda he had—by expanding our nation’s debt. He also failed at his multiple opportunities to call our his party’s bigotry and overt racism (looking at you @SteveKingIA). His legacy is failure. And cowardice.
So yeah—the Marquetti y Mendietas and O’Briens don’t want him on our family tree. (And trust me, we have a very spotty family tree).
-fin-
