Tolerance Ends, Animus Arises Where Disability Begins

Cyberspace has been alive with discussions of a hit piece written by the Huffington Post’s Erik Sean Nelson. Nelson used the now well-worn epithets of being retarded in commenting on Sarah Palin’s resignation as Alaska Governor last week.

The piece was pulled almost immediately, but not before several media watchdog groups had downloaded screen captures. Nelson swiftly offered an apology for what he wrote, but not for the way he thinks about people with disabilities.

I’ve decided to share the piece in it’s entirety because it reveals the palpable animus toward people with disabilities that’s alive and well in the US.

Penned as a “humorous” piece (it’s not), had this been written about almost any other group of people (take your pick: minorities, women, on and on) there would have been nothing less than a media firestorm that would have had the potential to wipe the Michael Jackson coverage from our TV screens.

However, Nelson is in good company. It wasn’t too long ago that Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) repeatedly said, on the record, that Sarah Palin was retarded. And don’t let’s forget President Obama cheerfully noted that he bowls like a retard.

Just so that it’s clear: Palin is targeted in this way because Trig has Down Syndrome.

Funny, I don’t recall anything like this ever being said about a person in the Kennedy family who had mental retardation.

Here’s Nelson’s vitriol:

Palin Will Run in '12 on More Retardation Platform

In Sarah Palin's resignation announcement she complained about the treatment of her son Trig who always teaches her life lessons. She said that the "world needs more Trigs, not fewer." That's a presidential campaign promise we can all get behind. She will be the first politician to actually try to increase the population of retarded people. To me, it's kinda like saying the world needs more cancer patients because they teach us such personal lessons.

Her first act as President: To introduce a Pre-K lunch buffet that includes lead paint chips. Sort of a Large HEAD-START Program.

She will then encourage women to hold off on pregnancies until their 40's just to mix up some chromosomes.

She now is in favor of abortion only in case of diploid birth.

Her policies will increase jobs because Wal-Mart is building new stores each day and someone has to be the greeter.

This will lead to smaller government because fewer Americans will have the cognitive ability to hold a government job.

Look, she says she's resigning as governor because people are making attacks on her and Trig. If she ever did become president, all Osama bin Laden would have to do to defeat the United States is Photoshop a picture of Trig and she'd surrender the country that night. As she said, "That's not politics as usual." It isn't. Politicians don't usually quit for so stupid of reasons.

I’m sure you’re all laughing your heads off.

A final thought: A raft of disability advocacy groups have been stunningly silent on this issue. They get their alerts, they read the blogs every day, and are lightning quick to defend against the kind of bigotry that Nelson showed.

They’ve been AWOL here.

Why? Do they believe that for Sarah Palin and her son Trig this kind of nastiness is OK?

The Medical Profession’s Charlie Rangel: Dr. Jacques Abramowicz on Down Syndrome

Sometimes it would be better if people in the medical profession, in their own best interests, just made a good decision to keep their mouth shut, however well intentioned their comments.

A major piece on Down Syndrome in yesterday’s Chicago Tribune reported on the push by advocates for people with DS to get out the word that a DS diagnosis isn’t some kind of ghastly living death sentence.

Why should this be necessary?

Because the overwhelming majority of DS diagnoses result in termination of the pregnancy. While hard figures vary a bit, terminations are somewhere around 85-90% of those diagnosed.

Because there is evidence that in most cases, medical counseling post-diagnosis is overwhelmingly negative. While hard evidence is fairly sparse, parents of children with DS report strong medical bias against birthing the DS child.

It’s a fair bet that most expectant parents aren’t up on what DS is or what it means when they receive the DS news. What they most need is a realistic and balanced picture.

The usually don’t get that. They’re much more likely to get the awful without the good. No wonder most elect termination.

Want some proof of how many in the medical community perceive DS?

Here’s Dr. Foot-in-my-mouth as quoted in the Tribune story:

. . . some doctors, including Dr. Jacques Abramowicz, co-director of fetal and neonatal medicine at Rush University Medical Center, caution against providing a picture of the disorder that is "too rosy."

"Whenever something like this is in the media, there is the tendency to make it appear much more beautiful than it is in reality," Abramowicz said. . .

"It is extremely difficult to have a baby with Down syndrome," he said.

Where to start?

First, it’s refreshing to see that MDs can be ignorant, too.

Second: Nobody’s asking for a “rosy” prognosis. How about we begin with balanced, shall we?

Three: OK, Dr. Abramowicz thinks the reality of DS is not as “beautiful” as supposedly portrayed in the media. Well, if anything, it’s this kind of patronizing pabulum that deceives people into believing that those with DS are the walking dead.

Four: Difficult having a baby with DS? 

Oh, yes, I see. 

Have a kid with DS = a very difficult life. 

Have a kid without DS = a wonderful, carefree life.

Yeah, right.

Dolts x 2: Charlie Rangel and Saturday Night Live

Two events in the last few days make it clear that we have a lot of work to do in educating people, even very prominent and powerful people, who should know better, about disability issues.

First, Representative Charles Rangel (NY), in an interview with a New York radio station called Sarah Palin disabled:

"Why are the Democrats so afraid of Palin and her popularity?”

"You got to be kind to the disabled," Rangel said.

CBS 2 HD: "You got to be kind to the disabled?"

Rangel: "Yes."

CBS 2 HD: "She's disabled?"

Rangel: "There's no question about it politically. It's a nightmare to think that a person's foreign policy is based on their ability to look at Russia from where they live."

Third time lucky, I suppose.

I don’t know if Rangel just slipped up or if he really meant that Palin was disabled. (He later backtracked quite a bit).

However, what bothers me is that even if he meant to use the term disabled to describe Palin’s lack of foreign policy knowledge, he meant it as an epithet denoting inferiority.

Ergo, disabled means inferior.

Rangel never took that part back.

Rangel made it even worse by observing that we need to be kind to disabled people.

Good move, Charlie: We should look upon “disabled people” benevolently, give them a good-natured pat on the head, and send them off to wherever these curiosities are housed. And, all the while, of course, congratulating ourselves on how kind and sensitive we are to “the disabled.”

How utterly, excruciatingly, patronizing.

Second, was the Saturday Night Live skit about disability that insulted the disability community for cheap laughs and ratings. I’m happy to report that the audience obviously was more sensitive than the writers, as the skit pretty much bombed.

Nevertheless, the skit made the point that Trig had Down Syndrome because of Todd Palin’s incestuous relations with his daughters.

Yeah, real funny.

Here’s what SNL really said to the largest US minority, albeit tongue in cheek:

You are disabled because your parents are perverts.

So much for having come so far in recognizing the rights and inclusion of Americans with disabilities.