This one’s rich. Paul Ryan, architect of the mercifully failed ACHA, had the gall on Sunday to tweet a photo of himself wearing a blue puzzle piece pin on his lapel. It’s a show of solidarity in recognition of World Autism Awareness Day, a subject near and dear to Ryan’s hea—ha ha, just kidding. He truly does not give a shit.
It’s easy to put on a pin—an aide probably did it for him! But Paul Ryan doesn’t actually care about autism, or else he wouldn’t have dedicated such a vast amount of effort to trying to repeal the ACA, which covers “essential health benefits” for all Americans, including treatment, habilitative services, screenings and prescription drugs. It also forbids insurance companies from discriminating based on pre-existing conditions, like...autism.
The irony of Ryan’s empty, craven gesture was not lost on Twitter, which promptly unleashed a cataract of well-deserved disdain.
This one is actually really depressing:
It’s worth noting that Autism Speaks, the non-profit behind the Light It Up In Blue awareness campaign, isn’t exactly an exemplary organization itself. Forbes points out that it helped promote pernicious stigmas about what it means to be autistic, in addition to its (since rescinded) stance that linked vaccines with autism.
We reached out to Autism Speaks for comment, and we’ll update this post if we hear back.