Thursday, May 15, 2008

Dear Barack and Roy :: Straight jacket..? Not so much........

Caught up with M.S. Bellows, Jr.,'s/Jr.'s (how does one punctuate that, anyway..?) latest, Former Clinton-Gore Campaign Chair: "This Race Is Over, Over.", over at Huffington Post just now.. Not sure quite what to think..

Yes, as the receiver of the endorsement, Barack Obama is not in full control of the comments appended to the why-fors of people choosing him over Hillary Clinton..

But.......

Straight jacket..?:

This nation is evolving. Colorado is one of those states you call a red state... [but] I don't think Colorado is the same state it was 20 years ago. I think we need to get out of the straight jacket, 'this is a red state, this is a blue state'.... We need a candidate who can appeal to the evolving nature of U.S. politics."

Oooh.. It just got that much better.. First time 'round, I got so hung up on just seeing "straight jacket" tossed about so nonchalantly, I missed that they're recognizing the World is indeed changing..

Most respectfully, word to your camps: Disabilism.. Using terminology like "straight jacket" when you (at least from here on out) know it is offensive to many because of the post-traumatic stress visions of in-hospital abuse and torture it invokes..

Won't go there here, but I can guarantee to you that, betweenst you and I, I'm sure that we could insert in its place something ethnic-based or sexist-based, and you'd suddenly take heed of the comparable pain induced to other sets of demographics.. Works exactly the same for people with disabilities..

They call it dadgum basic Human respect for and acknowledgment of the circumstances of another.. It's not hard to do if it is indeed who you genuinely are deep, deep, down inside.. And when you willingly put yourself out there in politics, it additionally becomes a permanent part of your job description..

Cyber hugs from Talking Rock..

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

It is important to recognize our changing world. This is why I don't claim to either party as some candidates will be more in touch with the changes occurring.

On a side note. Barack Obama recently joined Disaboom posting his stance on issues surrounding disability as well as blogs. I had no idea that his children had disabilities. Visitors can log in to ask Obama their own questions. Disaboom is encouraging all candidates to join the dialog so we'll see what evolves from that.

Anonymous said...

Here is the link to Obama's Disaboom profile:

http://www.disaboom.com/barackobama/

Unknown said...

Hi, Stephen..

From here seeing so many precious Lives lost already, agreed.. So very important for our Candidates to recognize our changing World and the Respect due All individuals, not just those with disabilities, very basically beginning with language used daily in Society..

Thank you so much for sharing that adventure you all are having.. Here's hoping that other candidates acknowledge its importance by participating themselves, too..

Peace and best wishes from Talking Rock..