• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

Obama sorry for disability remark

Korimyr the Rat said:
Well, it's nice to see that the media is willing to waste its time on ridiculous non-issues when it's the Democrats in charge, too. For much the same purpose, too.

You realize Fox News spent more time on this crap last night than it did on the AIG situation?
Click to expand...

and they spent more time on Jessica Lynch the the looting too, but that's Fox, not the entire media
 
new coup for you said:
and they spent more time on Jessica Lynch the the looting too, but that's Fox, not the entire media
Click to expand...

Actually that was most of the media as well. Slow news week. The AIG thing is starting to lose steam and all of the media outlets need something for their watchers to rage at for a while longer.

The president's ratings have been going down the tubes now that the luster is wearing off the the fence riders who voted for him are becoming restless. He's still in campaign mode because his personality and not his politics got him there in the first place. At such an early stage in his presidency its his personality which needs the most help right now if he's going to keep his politics popular. There is a reason why he's trying to get as much done as fast as possible and with as little review.
 
StandUpChuck said:
I agree that PC language and all this useless apologizing is ridiculous. However, liberals are the ones who pushed these crazy rules on us, and they (especially their leader) should be adhering to what THEY exserted. Sucks when you're bit by the dog you trained to bite, doesn't it?

In other news ....


Palin Hits Obama on 'Special Olympics' Joke - Jim Geraghty - The Campaign Spot on National Review Online
Click to expand...

And Palin just continues the strange illusion that people with disabilities are more special (not brilliant, but docile and childlike) than anyone else. How in the world does that make them accepted and treated like everyone else in society..like the whole bandwagon she just recently hopped onto that declares they want their children and adults with disabilities to be normal (or even further, they are normal-they say), while at the same time spewing condescending bull like this.
 
Last edited:
Fiddytree said:
And Palin just continues the strange illusion that people with disabilities are more special (not brilliant, but docile and childlike) than anyone else.
Click to expand...

It might be an illusion, but it's far from strange; it seems to be accepted truth in the majority of the Western world. I think people choose to believe this because it is a necessary step in reconciling the belief that "all men are created equal" with the fact that some people are demonstrably useless.

Then again, we live in a society which idolizes the useless. How else can you explain the fascination with "reality TV" and celebrities with no marketable skills?

Fiddytree said:
... like the whole bandwagon she just recently hopped onto that declares they want their children and adults with disabilities to be normal (or even further, they are normal-they say), while at the same time spewing condescending bull like this.
Click to expand...

Notice how we're willing to spend upwards of $100,000 per year to help one of these precious little snowflakes live a "normal" life, but we're not willing to spend a small fraction of that amount to help keep a "normal" person healthy enough to hold a job and raise a family?

Guess "normal" people just aren't "special" enough.
 
Korimyr the Rat said:
It might be an illusion, but it's far from strange; it seems to be accepted truth in the majority of the Western world. I think people choose to believe this because it is a necessary step in reconciling the belief that "all men are created equal" with the fact that some people are demonstrably useless.

Then again, we live in a society which idolizes the useless. How else can you explain the fascination with "reality TV" and celebrities with no marketable skills?



Notice how we're willing to spend upwards of $100,000 per year to help one of these precious little snowflakes live a "normal" life, but we're not willing to spend a small fraction of that amount to help keep a "normal" person healthy enough to hold a job and raise a family?

Guess "normal" people just aren't "special" enough.
Click to expand...


The useless?

Normal people aren't special enough?

I'm getting the impression that you are more upset for average joe than for the conflicting messages from the movement and how it may impact the actual individuals with the disabilities.
 
Fiddytree said:
I'm getting the impression that you are more upset for average joe than for the conflicting messages from the movement and how it may impact the actual individuals with the disabilities.
Click to expand...

Guilty as charged. First thing I noticed about "the movement" is that it is a bunch of non-disabled people whose jobs and departmental budgets are on the line telling a bunch of disabled people how they're supposed to feel and what they're supposed to say in order to fight for their "rights".

"Rights" which invariably benefit the people organizing the movement, at taxpayer expense.

Of course it's mired in contradictions. All scams are.
 
Korimyr the Rat said:
Guilty as charged. First thing I noticed about "the movement" is that it is a bunch of non-disabled people whose jobs and departmental budgets are on the line telling a bunch of disabled people how they're supposed to feel and what they're supposed to say in order to fight for their "rights".

"Rights" which invariably benefit the people organizing the movement, at taxpayer expense.

Of course it's mired in contradictions. All scams are.
Click to expand...

It's a unique position, but the most noticeable thing is that in comparison with most other politically correct issues, disability issues are on the low scale of attention. I don't feel as if average joe is losing out because of it. Maybe it's because of my personal childhood background (in comparison with others' professional or parental background), but I can't quite feel at home with either the professionals or the average joes and how they look at us (if I can adopt that word, despite the fact that my disability is in extreme contrast to other people's disabilities).
 
Last edited:
Fiddytree said:
It's a unique position, but the most noticeable thing is that in comparison with most other politically correct issues, disability issues are on the low scale of attention. I don't feel as if average joe is losing out because of it.
Click to expand...

I used to be a rehabilitation trainer. Basically a glorified domestic at eleven bucks an hour. Program costs were low six digits per client per year, not counting the truly astounding healthcare costs that the majority of them rack up.

And you know where almost all of that money comes from? Social Security.
 
Fiddytree said:
Maybe it's because of my personal childhood background (in comparison with others' professional or parental background), but I can't quite feel at home with either the professionals or the average joes and how they look at us (if I can adopt that word, despite the fact that my disability is in extreme contrast to other people's disabilities).
Click to expand...

I don't know what your problem is, but you can read and write and make an argument. If you're not a productive member of society, my guess would be that has more to do with the government thinking it's easier to buy you off than to try to find you real work. If you are a productive member of society, either holding a job or taking care of your family, then none of my ranting applies to you. You're disabled, but you're not useless, and I think the government ought to be interested in helping you be productive.

I'm crippled and psychotic. As a result, I am severely underemployed-- but I won't qualify for any form of government assistance unless I become completely useless or begin to pose a danger to myself or others. Thing is, if I could afford my medications, I'd be less crippled and less psychotic and thus more productive at work. If I could go back to college, I might theoretically be able to enter a career field where being crippled and psychotic didn't interfere with my job functions.

On the other hand, if I were crippled and psychotic and retarded, the government would pay for my medicine, pay for me to go to the local community college, and find me a job that didn't cause me to have nightmares and muscle spasms. Complete with a guy who gets paid eleven dollars an hour to watch me do my job and keep me from getting fired.

So, I am a very strong proponent of government programs to help the disabled-- especially to rehabilitate them and help them function in the workplace and in society. I am just a little frustrated by the government's policy of providing the most help to the people who are guaranteed to show the least results.
 
Korimyr the Rat said:
I don't know what your problem is, but you can read and write and make an argument. If you're not a productive member of society, my guess would be that has more to do with the government thinking it's easier to buy you off than to try to find you real work. If you are a productive member of society, either holding a job or taking care of your family, then none of my ranting applies to you. You're disabled, but you're not useless, and I think the government ought to be interested in helping you be productive.

I'm crippled and psychotic. As a result, I am severely underemployed-- but I won't qualify for any form of government assistance unless I become completely useless or begin to pose a danger to myself or others. Thing is, if I could afford my medications, I'd be less crippled and less psychotic and thus more productive at work. If I could go back to college, I might theoretically be able to enter a career field where being crippled and psychotic didn't interfere with my job functions.

On the other hand, if I were crippled and psychotic and retarded, the government would pay for my medicine, pay for me to go to the local community college, and find me a job that didn't cause me to have nightmares and muscle spasms. Complete with a guy who gets paid eleven dollars an hour to watch me do my job and keep me from getting fired.

So, I am a very strong proponent of government programs to help the disabled-- especially to rehabilitate them and help them function in the workplace and in society. I am just a little frustrated by the government's policy of providing the most help to the people who are guaranteed to show the least results.
Click to expand...


Except that it is not really that black and white. I don't really want to get into specifics on here, but have you ever seen how one way or another the system isn't quite allowing sections of the disabled class to move on with their own lives-should they wish to? Sometimes the social programs are all they got, because without them, they are, excuse my internet lingo, fooked. Most of the time they aren't useless, it's just about the only means they have to join society-or as you would wish to call it-become useful.

You are right about one thing though: it's all in the definition of "normal" and "not normal". The problem is that without those programs, I know first hand that they would have created a situation in which many useful people would be blocked off from reaching independence far too soon, all in the name of fiscal responsibility and self-dependence.
 
Last edited:
Zyphlin said:
Honest thought....

I hate how Political Correct, PR focused, media prevelent we've became. Obama made an admittedly stupid but not hurtful or attacking comment that I'd say a great number of Americans have made or made something akin to it. The fact he has to come out and issue an "apology" because some idiots took it as a serious attack or they got their feeligns hurt is idoitic and is just another symptom of our PC society that is just looking and hoping for ways to be offended and insulted.
Click to expand...

The thing that bothers me about PC social politics is that it glosses over what people are thinking about anyway, it just tries to prevent them from expressing it. For instance, clearly Obama talks that way when he's casually chatting with friends (he's probably worse than that, too), but the media wants to punish him for making a remark that most people in their lives have also made.

Instead of reacting to the remark and trying to silence it, it's better to let it out so that people can have a dialogue about it. I'm so tired of the media defaming people. Journalism has gone out the window. It's all about sensationalism and ratings now.
 
Orius said:
The thing that bothers me about PC social politics is that it glosses over what people are thinking about anyway, it just tries to prevent them from expressing it. For instance, clearly Obama talks that way when he's casually chatting with friends (he's probably worse than that, too), but the media wants to punish him for making a remark that most people in their lives have also made.

Instead of reacting to the remark and trying to silence it, it's better to let it out so that people can have a dialogue about it. I'm so tired of the media defaming people. Journalism has gone out the window. It's all about sensationalism and ratings now.
Click to expand...

Journalism? It's a vehicle for electing Marxists, and it has been for decades.

It's how you get esteemed "journalists" at CBS and the NYT foisting forged documents on the citizens in the dying moments of a Presidential election.

If it hadn't been for the internet, they might have attained the intended damage and swung an election.

It's how you get Newsweek trying to bury the story of the decade.

It's how you get the NYT not allowing John McCain, Republican Party Nominee, to publish his own op-ed as he had, or a staffer had written it.

Fineman: 'Mainstream Media Party' is over - Howard Fineman- msnbc.com

Obama is the President, not a GI that just got back from Iraq or Afghanistan.
He should at least behave Presidential.
But, we have come to learn, it is a tough world for him to be in without his teleprompter. Even that isn't a guarantee he won't crank up the gaff-o-matic and thank himself.

The guy has stacked up a pretty good set of gaffs in a short stint.
I look forward to seeing him yibber and yabber away from his teleprompter.

The difference between Obama and Bush is W muffed the words and created some of his own... with Obama it's not the words... it's usually the content.

... but it's not always the content...

This is an all-world performance... and he has so many already that would have sunk a mere mortal... but this is the cream.
YouTube - Obama Speech - Teleprompter Goes Out

.
 
Last edited:
new coup for you said:
BBC NEWS | Americas | Obama sorry for disability remark

US President Barack Obama has apologised for joking on a TV chat show that a poor bowling performance was "like the Special Olympics".

:lol:
Click to expand...

Obama is the TRUE cripple here, but it isn`t a physical hadicap I`m talking about. This is clearly the stupidest human ever to set foot in the Whitehouse, and he`s the god damned president. My frustration has nothing to do with his ignorant remark about the special olympics, it is his uterly stupid attempts at keeping the average American in the dark about our scripted/choreographed end ....as a soveriegn nation, and his clumsiness in handleing the economy and UNfair trade issues. I gave him 100% support about 2 days before he took office..., he confirmed my earlier fears. We are in deep chit. :(
 
Fiddytree said:
Except that it is not really that black and white. I don't really want to get into specifics on here, but have you ever seen how one way or another the system isn't quite allowing sections of the disabled class to move on with their own lives-should they wish to?
Click to expand...

Certainly. If your paycheck comes from them being dependent on services, it doesn't make a lot of sense to be too good at helping them become independent. The way I see it, this is the other side of the coin to the efforts to expand services and protect more and more "rights" that require additional services to enable.

Fiddytree said:
The problem is that without those programs, I know first hand that they would have created a situation in which many useful people would be blocked off from reaching independence far too soon, all in the name of fiscal responsibility and self-dependence.
Click to expand...

Certainly. It isn't the social programs and assistance for the disabled that I object to. It's what I consider to be the backwards priorities of those programs and the lack of effective "triage", for lack of a better word.
 
The really sad thing is Obama thinks the average Joe is full on retarded compared to himself. I can only presume that's why he went on Leno to address the nation. Douche.
 
Korimyr the Rat said:
I don't know what your problem is, but you can read and write and make an argument. If you're not a productive member of society, my guess would be that has more to do with the government thinking it's easier to buy you off than to try to find you real work. If you are a productive member of society, either holding a job or taking care of your family, then none of my ranting applies to you. You're disabled, but you're not useless, and I think the government ought to be interested in helping you be productive.

I'm crippled and psychotic. As a result, I am severely underemployed-- but I won't qualify for any form of government assistance unless I become completely useless or begin to pose a danger to myself or others. Thing is, if I could afford my medications, I'd be less crippled and less psychotic and thus more productive at work. If I could go back to college, I might theoretically be able to enter a career field where being crippled and psychotic didn't interfere with my job functions.

On the other hand, if I were crippled and psychotic and retarded, the government would pay for my medicine, pay for me to go to the local community college, and find me a job that didn't cause me to have nightmares and muscle spasms. Complete with a guy who gets paid eleven dollars an hour to watch me do my job and keep me from getting fired.

So, I am a very strong proponent of government programs to help the disabled-- especially to rehabilitate them and help them function in the workplace and in society. I am just a little frustrated by the government's policy of providing the most help to the people who are guaranteed to show the least results.
Click to expand...


This is offtopic but there is no reason why you should not be able to go to college. Apply for pellgrants. There is help out here for you.

What about SSI? Look into it.
 
ludahai said:
AFTER his presidency was long over.
Click to expand...

Dude....Reagan was 70 when he became president. 78 when he left. Do you really buy that he didn't have Alzheimer in some form during his presidency? Alzheimer doesn't just show up when you're like 85.

Alzheimer's disease - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The first symptoms are often mistaken as related to ageing or stress.[5] Detailed neuropsychological testing can reveal mild cognitive difficulties up to eight years before a person fulfills the clinical criteria for diagnosis of AD.[20] These early symptoms can affect the most complex daily living activities.[21] The most noticeable deficit is memory loss, which shows up as difficulty in remembering recently learned facts and inability to acquire new information.[22][23] Subtle problems with the executive functions of attentiveness, planning, flexibility, and abstract thinking, or impairments in semantic memory (memory of meanings, and concept relationships), can also be symptomatic of the early stages of AD.[24][25] Apathy can be observed at this stage, and remains the most persistent neuropsychiatric symptom throughout the course of the disease.[26][27][28] The preclinical stage of the disease has also been termed mild cognitive impairment,[29] but there is still debate on whether this term corresponds to a different diagnostic entity by itself or just a first step of the disease.[30]
Click to expand...

Louis A. Gottschalk - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

He gained national prominence by announcing in 1987 that Ronald Reagan had been suffering from diminished mental ability as early as 1980. He came to this conclusion by using the Gottschalk-Gleser scales, an internationally used diagnostic tool he helped develop for charting impairments in brain function, to measure speech patterns in Reagan's 1980 and 1984 presidential debates.

Gottschalk coinvented software that uncovered a link between childhood attention deficit disorder and adult addiction to alcohol and drugs. And in 2004, at age 87, he published his latest book, World War II: Neuropsychiatric Casualties, Out of Sight, Out of Mind.
Click to expand...

Just sayin'....
 
talloulou said:
The really sad thing is Obama thinks the average Joe is full on retarded compared to himself. I can only presume that's why he went on Leno to address the nation. Douche.
Click to expand...

Ummm the average Joe is full on retarded. Just look at Joe the Plumber. Using the word socialist like it's a topping for Domino's Pizza.
 
talloulou said:
Still doesn't excuse the President from cheese.
Click to expand...

Ummm dude. Seriously. It's not that big of a deal. If a few people blinked at Bush saying his administration wanted to hurt America. Even fewer will blink at Obama making fun of the same people we all make fun of. It's just not going to happen.
 
Hatuey said:
Ummm dude. Seriously. It's not that big of a deal. If a few people blinked at Bush saying his administration wanted to hurt America. Even fewer will blink at Obama making fun of the same people we all make fun of. It's just not going to happen.
Click to expand...

I don't give a rats arse about the disability joke. I'm offended that our sitting President used Leno as an "address of the nation" of sorts. I find it insulting that during a time of stress and woe he went for the interview he could fully control and the audience that doesn't know ****. I'm upset at the precedent it sets.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom