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Los Angeles Times Editorial Refers To Sarah Palin As A ‘Special-Needs Case’

by Tommy Christopher | 7:24 am, April 25th, 2011

» 63 comments

In the wake of last week’s Wonkette/Trig Palin controversy, people keep sending me updates, related stories, and new slights against the special needs population, the latest of these being a Los Angeles Times editorial that calls Sarah Palin a “special-needs case.”

This is as good a time as any to clarify a few things about the issue of special needs-bashing.

First, to the LAT piece, by Meghan Daum. Here’s the offending section:

Even (Rebecca) Traister, an unabashed liberal and feminist who writes for the left-leaning online magazine Salon, is evidence of the way thoughtful writers treat Palin as a special-needs case.

This is the kind of offhanded reference to people with special needs that crops up from time to time, even in polite company. Daum probably thinks she’s insulting Sarah Palin here, but what she’s really doing is using special needs people as insults themselves. I know, I shouldn’t have to explain this, but there it is.

It’s similar to the wisecrack that President Obama made (then apologized for) early in his presidency, when he tried to be self-effacing about his bowling skills. He told Jay Leno that he had bowled a 129, and that “It’s like – it was like Special Olympics, or something.”

Ironically, while being the first to report on those remarks, then-Countdown host Keith Olbermann also made Tourette Syndrome jokes elsewhere in the broadcast.

In a similarly thoughtless vein, Olbermann used a “short bus” graphic to mock the McCain campaign during the 2008 presidential race (when I was in school, we derisively called this bus the “tart cart”). I called and emailed the show, and while they didn’t apologize, they stopped using the graphic, as best I can recall.

Then White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel touched off a firestorm with his usage of the term “retard” in a private conversation, which drew a demand from Sarah Palin that Emanuel be fired. Emanuel also apologized.

Rush Limbaugh then unapologetically flouted the term, and Palin disappointingly excused the radio host on the same false basis that Wonkette initially rested: it was all satire. To paraphrase Lloyd Bentsen, I know satire, and this was no satire.

Then, there was this Wonkette business.

In each of these cases, there were varying degrees of severity, both in the offenses and the attendant reactions. As someone who takes this issue very personally, there were times when I felt the manipulation of outrage over these incidents was as offensive as the incidents themselves. Did all of the people who gave Obama and Emanuel grief over their remarks really care about people with special needs, or were they just trying to score political points?

Was the outrage over Palin’s double-standard motivated by genuine concern for this population, or was it simply a tool to paint her as a hypocrite?

Keith Olbermann was definitely using special needs kids as a weapon of public shame when he made out a check to the Special Olympics, donating $100.00 for every lie Palin told on the campaign trail, while falsely claiming she had cut Alaska’s Special Olympic budget. I’ve never seen him mention the charity, before or since, and the only reason anyone was looking at Alaska’s Special Olympics budget was in hopes of finding a way to exploit her Down Syndrome baby.

Now, the Wonkette post was truly outrageous, but in the rest of these instances, and even in Wonkette’s case, to some degree, I think people need to take it down a notch or two. Yes, these were all wrong things to do, but the “I never made a retard/special ed/Special Olympics joke” club is pretty damn tiny. There’s a learning curve on this for just about everyone.

Apologies are nice, but even nicer when followed by going and sinning no more. Wonkette’s Ken Layne and Jack Stuef were never going to have that “Afterschool Special” moment where they invite the different kid to come play kickball, but if they lay off the special needs jokes, that’s good enough for me.

Everyone has to make up their own minds on this, but I really favor Special Olympics Chairman Tim Shriver‘s approach. During a Colbert Report interview a few weeks ago, Stephen Colbert asked him if abolishing the r-word was “thought policing,” and Shriver said “I want to be a teacher, not a policeman.”

“You’re allowed to be humiliating, degrading and hurtful,” Shriver told Colbert, “and I’m allowed to petition you to at least recognize what you say and be aware of the option you have to stop.”

These things do need to be called out, but in a way that engenders goodwill, not resentment. That’s easier said than done sometimes.

#trigscrew, Jay Leno, keith olbermann, Los Angeles Times, Meghan Daum, President Obama, Rahm Emanuel, Rebecca Traister, Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin, Special Olympics, Tim Shriver, Trig Palin, Wonkette

http://www.facebook.com/people/Sergio-Mota/100000801120004 Sergio Mota

good enough tommy, but the L.A. Times has an axe to grind against Palin and every other republican there fore I dont think the use of term was accidental or not derogatory, the paper knew what they meant when they went with it.
TangledThorns

I <3 Sarah Palin though I don't see the LAT op-ed at the same level as Wonkette's hate print. Probably why it went unnoticed. There are Palin hit pieces in the past, especially from Politico, that should deserve attention.
black and WHITE

This incident of some un – American institution having their way with the Palin family ( again ) no matter how covertly, underhanded, guilt by assosiation it happens to be along with all the others over the past 3 or so years says more about just how morally bankrupt liberals in America have become, for accepting ( sometimes simply ignoring them ) than the left wing bomb thrower press who spew them..
TfT

It’s the LA Times Tommy – this is what most lefties do unfortunately. They could care less if anyones feelings are hurt, or if they are demeaning anyone other than Sarah and her family. Remember, this is the same newspaper that has the video of Obama with Kalidi, that they refused to release. Never forget: The L.A. Times Suppresses Obama’s Khalidi Bash Tape.

The LA Times is a dnc advocate, they have become a usless entity.

Attack Sarah, hide the Khalidi love fest. Hmmmmmm, not a very trustworthy “news” paper indeed.
Paul G

Ya know, the bottom line of this article is we gotta get off this ‘thought police’ and ‘word police’. I’m sure Palin will take this like water off a ducks back. But let’s call a spade a spade again. A Blonde a Blonde. Does anyone REALLY get offended? BFD!!
I’ve been suspended from NewsBusters twice in 5 yrs for using the ‘f’ word …you can say F***. Fuc*, F#$%. But if you type FUCK…GOD FORBID!! I’m almost 50..there used to be Polish jokes, Scottish jokes, Black jokes, German jokes…WHO CARED!!! 40 yrs ago we had a neighbor girl that was retarded. She was my best friend. But that’s what she was. She called herself that. (She did turn out to be a democrat…..) But we’re still best friends!! SHE calls me retarded now. do I take offense? NO!! WE laugh.
My point is …if someone gets offended…TOO FUCKING BAD!! Change channels. Don’t buy the magazine. OR, don’t be friends.
arouda

Sarah palin is over:
http://arouda.blogspot.com/2011/04/wheres-rush-limbaugh.html
newzmaker

Why do the white far left extremists, namely in the media and in Washington, get off on mocking those whom they perceive to be less intelligent? These white political activist ‘elitists’ are only a very small portion of the Dem party, while the uneducated, the poor, mostly minorities, make up approximately 80% of the Dem voting bloc. I simply cannot believe how the white pseudo-liberal ‘elitists’ get away with the snobbery, especially with the majority of the Dem base. Holier-than-thou white elitists…
TangledThorns

arouda said:
Sarah palin is over:
http://arouda.blogspot.com/2011/04/wheres-rush-limbaugh.html

Stop spamming with articles from your awful blog.
ChiliPeppersFan

black and WHITE said:
This incident of some un – American institution having their way with the Palin family ( again ) no matter how covertly, underhanded, guilt by assosiation it happens to be along with all the others over the past 3 or so years says more about just how morally bankrupt liberals in America have become, for accepting ( sometimes simply ignoring them ) than the left wing bomb thrower press who spew them..

could’ve sworn limbaugh was a conservative. if you can’t remember that, read the whole article next time skippy.
ChiliPeppersFan

arouda said:
Sarah palin is over:
http://arouda.blogspot.com/2011/04/wheres-rush-limbaugh.html

rain will never out sing or dance stephen colbert.
http://www.perceptionasreality.blogspot.com/ skoorbekim

TC,
This slander against the Palin family has been going on for two-plus years in the established media… welcome to the party…
Jackie_Treehorn

But but but the right calls Obama a retard! “Special needs case” isn’t a slur!

Wow it’s fun acting as fucking dumb as right wingers are.
black and WHITE

ChiliPeppersFan said:
could’ve sworn limbaugh was a conservative. if you can’t remember that, read the whole article next time skippy.

You’re comparing apples to degenerate liberals again.
Jackie_Treehorn

black and WHITE said:
You’re comparing Pill Popping Kiddie Touching Obese assholes to degenerate liberals again.

Fixed……
http://www.perceptionasreality.blogspot.com/ skoorbekim

Jackie_Treehorn said:
You’re comparing Pill Popping Kiddie Touching Obese assholes to degenerate liberals again.
Fixed……

Which Kennedy is that?
Jackie_Treehorn

skoorbekim said:
Which Kennedy is that?

The one who got nailed coming back from one of the child sex capitals of the world with a suitcase full of boner pills.

Oh wait……
TfT

In fairness to Tommy he has raised this issue of going after Palin’s family before; however, the media has attacked the Palin family since she was first identified as the VEEP candidate. NOW was silent on all the sexist attacks against her, the special needs community was silent on the attacks against Trig, especially the birther crew spearheaded by Andrew, and the left wing media has allowed the slander of Sarah and her family to continue unheeded. They were too busy covering up all the information about Obama, so they went on the attack in order to protect hehimself.

But Tommy has been a lone voice on this issue; it would be nice if the other lefties would stand tall, but I for one don’t expect that to happen.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Lars-Svensen/100001028197161 Lars Svensen

Meghan Daum, the Lisa Murkowski look-alike at the LA Times, especially needs to get a face-lift, get a life, and stop her demented jealousy of pretty Sarah Palin.
winning

arouda said:
Sarah palin is over:
http://arouda.blogspot.com/2011/04/wheres-rush-limbaugh.html

Since when does someone’s post on blogspot mean anything?
addween69

http://www.deagot.com/su/E442
Jerps

“As someone who takes this issue very personally, there were times when I felt the manipulation of outrage over these incidents was as offensive as the incidents themselves.”

Amen to this point about the professionally offended. I remember the guy who recorded George Allen saying “macaca” acted like he was going to cry at every interview he gave about it.
tatboy

Great one Tommy. Hope EVERYBODY on BOTH sides reads and pays attention.
ChiliPeppersFan

shriver points out “you’re allowed to be humiliating, degrading, and hurtful. i’m allowed to petition you to at least recognize what you say and be aware of the option you have to stop it.”

colbert wanted to give the argument that people use these terms as a form of saying ‘it could be me’ or ‘there by the grace…’ and i agree. it’s being able to place people with disabilities in the ‘other’ category. the ‘that won’t happen to me category’.
it’s tough enough for a person with a disability on an everyday basis. you either get the look of pity, although well intentioned, not the kind of reaction you want to receive constantly. or you get no acknowledgement what so ever.
i really don’t know which one i would want but a person with a disability might understand what ralph waldo ellison wrote when he said…
I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me.
Like the bodiless heads you see sometimes in circus sideshows, it is as though I have been surrounded by mirrors of hard, distorting glass.
When they approach me they see only my surroundings, themselves, or figments of their imagination-indeed, everything and anything except me.
ChiliPeppersFan

tatboy said:
Great one Tommy. Hope EVERYBODY on BOTH sides reads and pays attention.

i wanted to add that tommy does a great job of taking up the mantle set by shriver, hopefully to petition people to be wary in the future and point out past discretions.
ChiliPeppersFan

addween69 said:
http://www.deagot.com/su/E442

hey a**hole…at least give a warning you gonna put a shit link up. (not the blaze).
pinandpuller

They didn’t teach the sex capitols of the world when I was in school unless you were referring to DC.
ChiliPeppersFan

Lars Svensen said:
Meghan Daum, the Lisa Murkowski look-alike at the LA Times, especially needs to get a face-lift, get a life, and stop her demented jealousy of pretty Sarah Palin.

nice way to speak out against stupidity with misogyny you clown.
seek

Even (Rebecca) Traister, an unabashed liberal and feminist who writes for the left-leaning online magazine Salon, is evidence of the way thoughtful writers treat Palin as a special-needs case.
Meghan Daum

I interpreted this as “every thoughtful writer must remember to heap on hate and disdain when a story mentions Sarah Palin and/or any member of her family. Remember people – our needs are very special on this issue!.
http://www.perceptionasreality.blogspot.com/ skoorbekim

Jackie_Treehorn said:
Which Kennedy is that?
The one who got nailed coming back from one of the child sex capitals of the world with a suitcase full of boner pills.
Oh wait……

so not the one who drove into a DC fountain high on pills?
and not the one who killed a prostitue?
Pinkbutterfly

@ Larsvenson….Your comment…”.Meghan Daum, the Lisa Murkowski look-alike at the LA Times, especially needs to get a face-lift, get a life, and stop her demented jealousy of pretty Sarah Palin.” is the reason we think Sarah’s sick little cult are special needs. We all know Sarah is not the brightest light on the tree, personally, I think she is a special needs adult.
http://www.perceptionasreality.blogspot.com/ skoorbekim

Pinkbutterfly said:
We all know Sarah is not the brightest light on the tree, personally, I think she is a special needs adult.

She scored higher grades than Obama in college…
and she worked to pay for her own degree… unlike Obama…
Harry Flashman

Intersting article in the new Yoork Sun yeasterday pointing out how Palin recognized what the Fed was doing back in November and asking why the New York Times and their economists are just now figuring out:

http://www.nysun.com/editorials/sarah-palin-for-the-fed/87317/

Here’s an excerpt:

“But how in the world did Mrs. Palin, who is supposed to be so thick, manage to figure all this out so far ahead of the New York Times and all the economists it talked to?”

Note that she also called Obamacare’s final solutions for seniors what they truly are – death panels – long before the media had their collective epiphany about them last week.

Keep on underestimating her, lefties.
timzank

skoorbekim said:
Which Kennedy is that?

Sounds like “Patches” but of course he learned everything from Teddy..
seek

http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2010/11/sarah-palin-fed-historian-part-ii/

Stupid Sarah – back in November, 2010 claimed that food prices would rise – this article pretty much sums up the reaction to her “uninformed” statement.

Next thing you know, they’ll want her burned at the stake because she must be a witch – how else could she possibly know what would happen in the future! lol
pinandpuller

Pinkbutterfly your personality qualifies you for handicapped parking.
ChiliPeppersFan

skoorbekim said:
She scored higher grades than Obama in college…
and she worked to pay for her own degree… unlike Obama…

it might be possible that feeling pity for poor sara for dropping out of so many schools and leaving high school with a 2.2 gpa she might have gotten a good grade in flute class.
it’s hard to believe obama getting into harvard with low grades so i guess, along with a lot of the crap you say, is just that…crap.
http://www.perceptionasreality.blogspot.com/ skoorbekim

ChiliPeppersFan said:
it’s hard to believe obama getting into harvard with low grades so i guess, along with a lot of the crap you say, is just that…crap.

Do you know how and why Obama got into Harvard?
He had an interesting letter of recommendation…
If you care to know, just ask…
http://www.perceptionasreality.blogspot.com/ skoorbekim

ChiliPeppersFan said:
pity for poor sara

Maybe Khalid Al-Mansour could have bank-rolled her college education also…
ChiliPeppersFan

skoorbekim said:
Do you know how and why Obama got into Harvard?
He had an interesting letter of recommendation…
If you care to know, just ask…

let me guess…jack cahill told you through your tin foil hat, right? like i said before…crap.
ChiliPeppersFan

skoorbekim said:
Maybe Khalid Al-Mansour could have bank-rolled her college education also…

being that he was an advisor to a shareholder in fox, he probably tried but palin was too stupid to get in even with all of fox’s…er, i mean saudi prince alwaleed bin talal throug khalid al-mansour.

like i said…crap.
Mosesdinoark

This is all retarded!
http://notdeadyetnewscommentary.blogspot.com/ sndrake

As a long-time disability activist and advocate who is constantly frustrated by both ends of the political spectrum, I want to thank you for your coverage on this. Why? Because just about all members of well-read media are sources of frustration – our issues get covered by right and left wing media only when those can be used in a way to further their agendas. The so-called “mainstream” tends to ignore us altogether.

Case in point – in the Rahm Emanuel incident, Timothy Shriver – along with representatives of other disability organizations, including self-advocates, asked Emanuel for an apology. Emanuel apologized to Shriver personally, which was a little off-target, since Shriver wasn’t really the one of the many people who deserved that apology.

None of this was covered by MSNBC – until Sarah Palin blasted Emanuel. *Then* it became a story, but one that still didn’t mention anything about disability advocates who had demanded an apology from Emanuel.

Thanks for your coverage and analysis. There are a lot of people like me who have been reading it and sharing it. We appreciate it.
Mosesdinoark

retard:
–noun
3. a slowing down, diminution, or hindrance, as in a machine
Mosesdinoark

Mosesdinoark said:
retard:
–noun
3. a slowing down, diminution, or hindrance, as in a machine

It does not always mean mentally..If i call someone a “retard” its because they are slow. It does not mean they have “special needs”
http://www.facebook.com/people/Sergio-Mota/100000801120004 Sergio Mota

here at mosesdinoark fixed definition of retard=mosesdinoark
black and WHITE

Jackie_Treehorn said:
Fixed……

I didn’t see Michael Moore mentioned anywhere in this story.

Unfixed……..
Rio

sndrake said:
Thanks for your coverage and analysis. There are a lot of people like me who have been reading it and sharing it. We appreciate it.

And, thanks for taking the time and leaving a comment well worth contemplating, most of all, thank you for what you are doing. The lack of respect and thoughtless commentary directed at our special needs community is horrible. It’s out of ignorance or self hate, imho.
WCinWI

ChiliPeppersFan said:
it might be possible that feeling pity for poor sara for dropping out of so many schools and leaving high school with a 2.2 gpa she might have gotten a good grade in flute class.
it’s hard to believe obama getting into harvard with low grades so i guess, along with a lot of the crap you say, is just that…crap.

ChiliPeppersFan said:
it might be possible that feeling pity for poor sara for dropping out of so many schools and leaving high school with a 2.2 gpa she might have gotten a good grade in flute class.
it’s hard to believe obama getting into harvard with low grades so i guess, along with a lot of the crap you say, is just that…crap.

Perhaps you don’t know how ethnic quotas work in relation to law school acceptances. People of color are given higher preference than their white counterparts. This is based on the idea that people of color didn’t have access to higher institutions of law. That’s not to say that Obama was an unintelligent undergraduate student, however he isn’t measured against his white counterparts when applying to law school. Just saying.

Unless you can provide his academic records, there is no evidence to say that he was either smart or not smart. If you can link to any of his law school articles, I’d be interested in those, but I haven’t seen any.
TeaPartyPatriot

The PDS (Palin Derangement Syndrome) of the lunatic-left and their puppets in the lamestream socialist fake-news media clearly causes them to continuously act and speak like insane, blithering idiots. They simply can’t stop. Get mental help, you sick and Corrupt B-tards!
Nacho

seek said:
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2010/11/sarah-palin-fed-historian-part-ii/

Stupid Sarah – back in November, 2010 claimed that food prices would rise – this article pretty much sums up the reaction to her “uninformed” statement.

Next thing you know, they’ll want her burned at the stake because she must be a witch – how else could she possibly know what would happen in the future! lol

Nice try, Trig. She lied that they HAD risen over the PAST year. She misread a report that everybody knew about in November 2010 reporting that prices will be going up.
Jackie_Treehorn

black and WHITE said:
I didn’t see Michael Moore mentioned anywhere in this story.

Unfixed……..

Well hell I must’ve missed the one where Moore got caught with a suitcase full of fuck pills coming back from the DR.

Maybe I should watch FAUX more huh?
WCinWI

Nacho said:
Nice try, Trig. She lied that they HAD risen over the PAST year. She misread a report that everybody knew about in November 2010 reporting that prices will be going up.

Good thing it says the following, “All this pump priming will come at a serious price. And I mean that literally: everyone who ever goes out shopping for groceries knows that prices have risen significantly over the past year or so.”

If you’d like to take issue with the word significantly, fine. Otherwise, no need to comment on Palin when she’s right.
WCinWI

“When Germany, a country that knows a thing or two about the dangers of inflation, warns us to think again, maybe it’s time for Chairman Bernanke to cease and desist,” according to Ms. Palin’s remarks, obtained in advance by National Review magazine, before the Specialty Tools and Fasteners Distributors Association. “We don’t want temporary, artificial economic growth bought at the expense of permanently higher inflation which will erode the value of our incomes and our savings.”

Ms. Palin’s remarks Monday were the sharpest yet by a political figure about the Fed announcement. They echoed economists from the left and right who have questioned the policy’s effectiveness and potential drawbacks.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703514904575603023040162294.html
BatBoy

From where I set, the Los Angeles Times is a “Special Needs Case!”
http://www.snowspot.net Snowspot

Sarah Palin just isn’t that bright, even Republicans have said so…
catfishjuggling

skoorbekim said:
She scored higher grades than Obama in college…and she worked to pay for her own degree… unlike Obama…

When did she release her transcripts?
Obama didn’t as well, I know that. he should have.
But this is just a statement you pulled out of the air.
BeckFinallyDemoted

This PC shit is getting out of control.
I just noticed another poster calling some senile. I guess that’s insensitive because real families are dealing with that real affliction.

Puh-leeze.
“Real” American

skoorbekim said:
She scored higher grades than Obama in college…
and she worked to pay for her own degree… unlike Obama…

Since you’re so sure, why don’t you give us the details of your extensive knowledge?
seek

You “lefties” don’t get it do you?

Yes, Palin’s grades were out there – along with what schools she attended and why she went to the schools she went to. Everything! The fact that she had to pay for her own education – all of it!

So, as far as public knowledge – Sarah’s grades are higher than Obama’s – because his are non existent. Easy really…. We’ve proven Palin’s.

In the dead of night – don’t you honestly sometimes wonder, just a little bit?????
ChiliPeppersFan

WCinWI said:
Unless you can provide his academic records, there is no evidence to say that he was either smart or not smart. If you can link to any of his law school articles, I’d be interested in those, but I haven’t seen any.

actually there is evidence to prove he is smart…
Obama graduated from Columbia in 1983 with a degree in political science. He specialized in international relations.

Law school was another story for Obama. He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School (the second highest honor available) in 1991. He also was the first black president of the Harvard Law Review, a very prestigious honor.
http://www.eduinreview.com/blog/2008/10/barack-obamas-gpa-and-college-records/

now do you contest he was president of the harvard law review and graduated from harvard? i think that goes directly to how smart he is.
as far as palin, she must have had a hard time getting through one college, let alone six of them but maybe it was just her affinity of quiting.
ChiliPeppersFan

seek said:
You “lefties” don’t get it do you?

Yes, Palin’s grades were out there – along with what schools she attended and why she went to the schools she went to. Everything! The fact that she had to pay for her own education – all of it!

So, as far as public knowledge – Sarah’s grades are higher than Obama’s – because his are non existent. Easy really…. We’ve proven Palin’s.

In the dead of night – don’t you honestly sometimes wonder, just a little bit?????

that’s right…sara wrote all about her college experience so lets just here her tell it.

http://www.seattleweekly.com/2008-10-22/news/the-education-of-sarah-palin/
seek

Hmmm, I wonder if Sarah would say “here” instead of “hear” when referring to your “hearing aid”?

Just wonderin’
seek

ChiliPeppersFan said:
that’s right…sara wrote all about her college experience so lets just here her tell it.

http://www.seattleweekly.com/2008-10-22/news/the-education-of-sarah-palin/

Dear ChilliPeppersFan:
Perhaps you should “read” the article you cite. lol

They clearly state they are making assumptions, because they have noooooo proof! Ever wonder how the “Law Review” has nothing – absolutely nothing with his name on it?

Just sayin’ – could be just a wild assumption – that perhaps he wasn’t up to the job – something like what’s happening now? just sayin’

Poof – your entire post just evaporated.