Amy Kathleen Ryan's Blog, page 2

The situation.

If you look at their platform and actions, it becomes clear the Republican Party's underlying motivation is to shunt money to billionaires at the expense of services for the middle class and poor. This seems self evident once you take some things into account:
--They seek to harm access to affordable healthcare, which will kill thousands or more, so that they can keep a little more of their money. 

--They create gun purchasing laws and apply them to one kind of gun store, but undermine thi...

The News Is Not Depressing.

I see a lot of people talking about how the news is too depressing, and they're shutting it off and tuning out. I have a message for you:

The news is not depressing. Do we have a corrupt regime right now? It appears so. Did they collude with a hostile foreign power? Looks like they did. Are some members of congress helping them cover it up? Yeah, they probably are. Are they going down for it? Yes. Emphatically yes, they are going down. It's happening NOW.

Remember, from the first news of the Wa...

Are you a trans teen?

Are you feeling unwanted? Are you surrounded by ignorance? Is cruelty a part of your every day life? Has it been getting worse lately?

You just need to wait a little while.

Maybe you're a kid trapped in a small town with a narrow family, and you feel invisible, or worse, when you are visible, you're in danger. I cannot imagine how oppressive that must feel.

Just know that out there, somewhere, are your people, and you just need to hang onto your courage and make it until you can go out and find...

Letter to my Senator about Betsy DeVos

My senator's response to my email begging him not to confirm Betsy DeVos for Secretary of Education: 

Dear Amy, 

Thank you for sharing your thoughts about the nomination of the U.S. Secretary of Education. It's good to hear from you. President Trump nominated Betsy DeVos to be the next U.S. Secretary of Education. Her confirmation hearing was held on January 17, 2017. The U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions extensively reviewed and debated her nomination. O...

SEAN SPICER BE LIKE:

www.amykathleenryan.com

My letter to banks funding the DAPL:

Dear Sir/ Madam,

I am writing to you because your bank is a revenue source for the Dakota Access Pipeline. You must know this project is enormously unpopular, and has the added taint of being strongly opposed by native americans who depend on the river you plan to bisect. The tactics employed to curb protesters are only likely to increase in severity. History does not look kindly on those who harm Native Americans. Your institution will partake of the shame of what happens, not only to the pro...

Reasons to be ENCOURAGED about the new year.

Here is a list of reasons to be encouraged in 2017:

1. Our next generation of voters and leaders, (I'm looking at you, Millennials,) are an awesome bunch of kids committed to the environment, equality for all, and a bright future for everyone on the planet. And they're on their way up.
2. Organizations like the Sierra Club, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the Southern Poverty Law Center are seeing huge surges in donations. Let's keep that going!
3. Newspapers like the New York Times, the...

Write your governor.

Letter I wrote to my Governor: Dear Governor Mead, 
I am writing to you with deep concern for this apparent trend in the GOP to sell off public lands. Wyoming's parks and forests make our state a very special place, and to sell these jewels off to the highest bidder will cut future generations off from a rich and varied natural habitat. Please stand up to the forces that would destroy this legacy. And please let me know of what I can do to help. Best, Amy Kathleen Ryanwww.amykathleenryan....

Write your congressperson.

Letter I wrote to my Republican State Representative: 
Hi Congressman Lummis,
Thank you for your newsletter that I didn't ask for. You wrote to me of executive overreach, so I'm going to write to you about congressional obstructionism. Your political party has been playing a game of brinksmanship that has brought our government to a standstill more than once during a time of severe economic duress. You have obstructed infrastructure spending bills that would have brought much needed j...

On How Difficult it is to DECIDE this Presidential Election!

Gee, I'm having trouble, because both candidates are so BAD!

I could vote for the guy who had to ask an advisor twice, on camera, why he couldn't use nuclear weapons, and still seemed unsure... Or maybe I should vote for the woman who worked with Russia, China and the EU to create sanctions against Iran to force them NOT to produce nuclear weapons.

Hm. I'll have to think on this some more.

I could vote for the guy who repeatedly refuses to disavow the KKK, or I could vote for the woman who wants...