Source: r-word.org
R-Word Drama Unfolds
The year started out with a thud as President Barack Obama joked on The Tonight Show that his bowling score was “like Special Olympics.”
Soon enough, then-White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel was blasted after The Wall Street Journal quoted the powerbroker using the phrase “f—ing retarded” during a meeting of liberal groups. The incident prompted a White House meeting with multiple leaders from the disability community. Emanuel apologized and quickly took the Special Olympics pledge to end use of the r-word.
But that was far from the end. Public figures from Jennifer Aniston to Rush Limbaugh continued using the term that many in the disability community find offensive.
In the meantime, a quiet effort moved forward to chip away at the words “retard” and “retarded” on a broad scale. And in October, advocates basked in victory as Obama signed federal legislation replacing the terms “mental retardation” and “mentally retarded” with “intellectual disability” and “individual with an intellectual disability” throughout federal health, education and labor policy.
The death panels STILL exist. The were added to the FIRST stimulus bill passed. The disabled need to live in FEAR of the government until we are sure that this has been rid off the face of America. We have just as much right to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness as a NORMAL person. I have looked into this myself and have asked a doctor and another individual in the medical profession and they assured that they DO exist and would target ALL ages when it comes to the disabled community. This is NOT right and this is barbaric.
I’m disappointed that someone is still fanning the “death panel” flame. Show me in black and white where it exists. You have a moral responsibility to present cold hard facts when calling people to sharpen their pitchforks and rise up. By stating that you “looked into it” and talked to unnamed people in the medical profession, you fail to bring intellectual honesty to the debate. Stop living in fear and present facts. It’s the digital age, so it is not hard to do.