Paul Revere by Cyrus Dallin, North End, Boston

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Tuesday, February 9, 2010

A Mother With A Special Needs Child - The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan

A Mother With A Special Needs Child - The Daily Dish By Andrew Sullivan

A reader writes:

I am the mother of a 16 year-old girl with severe intellectual disabilities. I am disturbed by Mrs Palin's insincere comments when she speaks out for individuals with developmental delays. I watched The Colbert Report last night, and I have never been more proud to call myself a fan of Stephen Colbert.

But also, as a mother I wonder what is in Trig's future.

If his Down Syndrome does not severely affect his ability and he is able to read, he will read his mother's autobiography and learn that she questioned if she could love him.

He will read interviews that his mother considered even for a split second to terminate her pregnancy, he will become aware that many consider his mother a hero for not terminating her pregnancy - thus knowing that among her fans he is considered beautiful but somehow a burden.

She needs to start treating him quietly as a child who will grow into a man. She needs to learn to advocate for him and not allow him to be a victim of satire when it suits her and a victim of discrimination when it can get her attention.

And she needs to stop using him as a political prop. A child with such needs should surely not be hauled around half-naked in front of flash photographers to promote a book tour, or be routinely referred to in speeches for applause lines.

It's unseemly.

But then so much about this person is.

10 comments:

rockync said...

What I find most disturbing is the political prop aspect of Sarah's treatment of Trig.
He has become a token diabled child who Sarah hides behind when she wants to snipe someone.
Here in the South there is a pragmatic and compassionate view of people with special needs.
Invariably you will hear one of these "special" people descibed as simple or humble or country but always with a positive disclaimer added: "He's simple but he's a hard worker if you just tell him what needs to be done." OR:
"She's a little country but she makes the best biscuits."
There is a sense of inclusion and protection afforded these individuals.
While I have heard people use words like retard and idiot, I have never heard it used on a disabled person.
I find Palin's constant use of Trig to call attention to herself self-serving and insensitive.

Leslie Parsley said...

Not only does she use Trig as a political prop, she uses her other children as well.

She is a horrid woman and all we can hope for is something like a huge ethics investigation. She has been able to slide through them so far, but I'm convinced the day will come - maybe with all these revelations about Todd as the unofficial governor.

Anonymous said...

Hey Rocky, if you found that disturbing, I bet you puked at this story!

Obama: 'She insisted she's going to be buried in an Obama t-shirt'
By: Byron York


Yes, those are the words of the president, last night at the Democratic National Committee fundraiser in Washington. After listing his administration's accomplishments and vowing that "our most urgent task is job creation," Obama pledged to keep fighting for a national health care system. "We knew this was hard," Obama said. And then he described a letter he received from a campaign worker who suffered from breast cancer and has since died:

I got a letter -- I got a note today from one of my staff -- they forwarded it to me -- from a woman in St. Louis who had been part of our campaign, very active, who had passed away from breast cancer. She didn't have insurance. She couldn't afford it, so she had put off having the kind of exams that she needed. And she had fought a tough battle for four years. All through the campaign she was fighting it, but finally she succumbed to it. And she insisted she's going to be buried in an Obama t-shirt.

Many observers have noted that the president often seems extraordinarily self-referential. It's all about him, they say. But even those critics might be a little taken aback by the "buried in an Obama t-shirt" remark. Is it really that much about him?

Arthurstone said...

Ah yes.

Ah yes. The Obama teeshirt.

The right wing blogosphere speaks of little else today...

All the usual suspects waxing indignant.

Yawn.

Poor 'Guy' can barely contain himself and posts his longest (unfortunately) 'effort' yet.

Talk about puke.

Shaw Kenawe said...

Brooklyn guy,

Your comment is not on topic, but that's not the worst part about it. The worst part is that you apparently think anyone would be remotely interested in how someone wants to be buried.

How breathlessly desperate you are for attention.

No one here sees anything wrong with the president sharing this story with the DNC. So your outrage and rushing over here to post it getS a huge YAWN.

I'm going to break my own rule and leave your inane comment up only because Arthurstone's reply to it is so damn funny.

Oh how unfair life is that we have people like Arthurstone and your side has, well, "A Guy from Brooklyn."

Brutally Honest said...

Talk about puke. I almost puked when I heard Sarah Palin's talk at the Tea Party Convention.

Somebody. Pass me a bucket!

Ralph said...

At the Tea Party Convention, Palin talked about President Obama recouping his popularity if he were to "declare war" on Iran. That would change the dynamics, she said.

This woman was on the Republican ticket as John McCain's vice presidential candidate. Really. And she has no working knowledge of the Constitution.

Dear Dumb Sarah:

The president of the United States does NOT declare war.

Go read the Constitution to find out who does.

Why do those on the far right support this dunce?

Joe "Truth 101" Kelly said...

Ralph said:

"Why do those on the far right support this dunce?"

Because bigots, homophobes and idiots will follow anyone that tells them what they want to hear.



Your topic would require me to post a comment that would not be respectful to Sarah Palin and chock full of profanity. I'll go outside and shout it to save you the trouble of deleting it Shaw.

Anonymous said...

Shaw,

Wanted to let you know that my new blog is located here:

http://radicalperspective-tao.blogspot.com/

Shaw Kenawe said...

Thanks TAO,

I've updated the link to your blog.