Bush Hates Blind People.
Well, there's this.
Linked to approvingly by Atrios here.
So, let me get this straight:
Person A does something a little peculiar, x. Person B kids person A for doing x. Unbeknownst to B, it turns out that A did x because A has a disability. A is not angry or hurt, and acknowledges that B couldn't have known about the disability. Ergo B is a bad person.
Am I missing anything?
Well, there's this.
Linked to approvingly by Atrios here.
So, let me get this straight:
Person A does something a little peculiar, x. Person B kids person A for doing x. Unbeknownst to B, it turns out that A did x because A has a disability. A is not angry or hurt, and acknowledges that B couldn't have known about the disability. Ergo B is a bad person.
Am I missing anything?
posted by Winston Smith at
9:53 AM
9 Comments:
No, I don't think you're missing anything.
I do think there's some relevant argument to be had about how much anti-Bush bias this shows the left as having; how much said bias shapes their arguments on other subjects, how many people on the left are prone to this degree of bias, and finally, how such bias compares to bias on the right.
But if you're merely making the observation that sometimes some of the left is prone to jump all over Bush with almost no provocation, you certainly won't get any argument from me.
Well, I think it's clear beyond any doubt that current lefty anti-Bush bias is still way less vehement than the right's unprovoked anti-Clinton bias. (And the anti-Bush bias was, I'd say, WAY provoked.)
Nevertheless, I do think it shows that certain of our frothier, fringier elements are going off the deep end. It's not a completely isolated nor anomalous phenomenon. That seems fairly clear.
It's ridiculous, too, even from the perspective of pure partisanship. There's so much about Bush that one can legitimately criticize...but this kind of thing is just absurd. AND it undermines--to a small degree--the legitimacy of those who seek to make cogent criticisms of Bush.
Yup, I can agree with that. John Cole was making that exact same point today as well oddly enough, and it bears repeating.
My interpretation of the grainy QT video: Nothing to do with blindness, but Duhbya is initially not happy with the sunglasses. He doesn't smirk the way he usually tips us that he's just bein' one a the guys. But that's just an impression from a small snippet of low-quality video.
No reason I can see to defend Atrios's presentation of it. Think Progress on the other hand played it pretty well, though I wonder if there was a previous, less fair version.
I hate blind people. Why can't they speak English, like the rest of us?
Like Bush.
Yeah, it clearly had nothing to do with blindness...the weird thing here, though, is that he got ticked off at the sunglasses.
He gets ticked off a lot. Way more than most people used to being in the spotlight. Testy.
it's a small point, but i think it's a stretch to assume that the reporter was not hurt or angry. sure, when he was approached for comment he said this, but he's hardly about to sabotage his access to the white house by admitting to taking offence, if indeed he did.
A sensible person would not confuse Bush insisting on a certain respect shown toward the presidency (no sunglasses, please) with anything to get hurt or angry about.
The reporter seems like a sensible fellow.
The telling point here is not what the incident says about Bush's attitude toward blind people. It's what the incident says about his attitude toward the world.
His attitude is, "This is all about me."
It would not ever in a million years occur to him that someone might have a very good reason to wear sunglasses while addressing George W. Bush, the President of the United States of America.
It would not ever occur to him that, if the wearing of sunglasses offended him, he could easily have someone politely let the reporter know later on.
Rather, it would only occur to him that someone doing something he did not appreciate must be, as a direct consequence, fair game for him to showcase his own "wit."
Bush's message could not be more obvious: "I'm judging you to be rude in your choice of eyeglasses, and I'm willing to mock you for it on national television. Even though you express a willingness to accommodate me, I'm going to make it crystal clear to anyone watching that there's no good reason for you to be wearing those shades. I'm calling you out, and in the process, I'm going to show everyone how funny I am."
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