AIG, Barack Obama, bill o'reilly, disabilities, GOP, intolerance, Jay Leno, racial insensitivity, rush limbaugh, Tonight Show
In Uncategorized on March 20, 2009 at 10:39 pm
…and the people, like me, who love them. We benefit from a powerful and organized lobby, yes? But completely shut out of Washington for the last eight years, yes? Can count Barack Obama on their side, yes?
Now that we’ve cleared that up, I’m a bit confused. This morning, after an otherwise incredible visit to the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, the grassroots for people with disabilities seems to be up in arms. Why? The president made a bad (really bad) joke about bowling and being disabled. He owned up to it and he apologized. Genuinely. And if that isn’t enough, I am confident that his policies will speak for him.
Now let’s forget about the republicans who are looking to take a cheap shot and will harp righteously about an issue they’ve been MIA on for decades. I’m talking about the people who work on these issues everyday. Do you honestly believe that Barack Obama harbors some deeply entrenched hatred or prejudice for people who live with disabilities? Do you honestly think that the same person who reversed Bush’s course on stem cell research within weeks of taking office, won’t be there for you when the chips are down?
I’ve heard many racial comparisons today. Let me make some comparisons of my own. Rush Limbaugh, Bill O’Reilly. When they laugh openly about “lynching” and “welfare queens”, who do you think they are talking about? Just guess. No guesses?
Black people.
And when they make these statements and countless others like them, and we stand up to them about it, we’re called overly sensitive by GOP leaders and others. Dare stand up and you’re called a “race pimp.”
The difference?
Republicans actually make and carry out public policy that follows this hateful rhetoric. What do they mean when they say the Community Reinvestment Act was a castrophy that should’ve never passed and our economy is melting down as a result? They mean we shouldn’t have made it possible for all those “niggers” to buy homes and now that they cannot pay the whole world is going to hell.
For weeks, there was a stream of republicans– including Michelle “the Lunatic” Bachman– blaming the housing crisis on minorities. They entirely forgot about the credit default swaps sold by AIG and others. Don’t know what CDSs are? Then you don’t belong in a public discussion about the economic crisis. The former CEO of AIG just called America “the greatest country”. I bet.
I have no doubt at all that President Obama is sorry for his unfortunate remark. I actually gasped when I heard it. But I also have no doubt at all that will act in the interest of people living with disabilities in this country every day that he is in office.
