Let Me Help You With That, Mr. Pantload
Morally-, mentally-, and dietetically-disabled fucktard Jonah Goldberg says:
Ben Adler at Tapped has two posts (here and here ) in which he reveals that he works from the assumption that Republicans “in all seriousness, have it in” for people with disabilities. You can judge the merits of his argument on your own. What I find interesting is the worldview here. Adler assumes that Republicans operate as actual villains who want to do bad things to disabled people — that sticking it to the diabled is an actual animating passion on the right. Just for the record, I’ve now been party to, let’s say, hundreds of thousands of intra-conservative conversations large and small, public and private, written and spoken. Not once have I ever heard such a mustache-twirling desire put forward.
As a progressive, I shall of course kindly refresh Pantload’s memory with an example. Here’s Mark Steyn expressing real contempt for the disabled:
The post-Cold War interlude is over, an era of follies–OJ, Monica–and fatuities, a few of which Tuesday’s horror stories cruelly underlined: employees in wheelchairs, whom Bob Dole’s Americans with Disabilities Act and the various lobby groups insist can do anything able-bodied people can, found themselves trapped on the 80th floor, unable to get downstairs, unable even to do as others did and hurl themselves from the windows rather than be burned alive.”
Now the context to Steyn’s quote is that it came right after 9/11; Steyn, like so many reactionaries, was excited at the prospect of a “Long War” and so, in his ebullience, was a bit more candid than his type usually is with regard to such issues as the rights of the disabled. What he saw then was that in the forseeable future, such things (which are annoying at best and more typically anathematic to wingnuts) would be put on the backburner: ‘So much for all that liberal crap like rights for cripples, here comes the war!’
Also, Pantload and Adler both refer to the libertarian argument of Julian Sanchez as if it merits response or is honest with regard to the history of libertarian philosophy:
I suppose Ben could always borrow a page from the hawks who tarred their opponents in the run up to the Iraq war as “objectively pro-Saddam” and argue that libertarians are “objectively anti-disabled” even if “subjectively” they like disabled people just fine. But it doesn’t seem like a terribly useful way to frame things.
Very clever, but uhh no. What Sanchez could admit is that while not all libertarians are Social Darwinists, many are, and that the concept is impregnated in many libertarian positions: There is a direct line of inheritance from Herbert Spencer to Ayn Rand to modern libertarianism and it is most emphatically in favor of a societal structure which “has it in for the disabled.”
Anyway, as a progressive I want to say that the only disabled person I have it in for is Charles Krauthammer (the real-life near-equivalent of the fictional Mason Verger, Krauthammer being to the body politic what Verger was to Clarice Starling and orphans and Hannibal Lecter), whose public platform, as it were, should be kicked down the most convenient set of stairs double-pronto.
I really really wish I hadn’t read that wikipedia entry on Mason Verger.
So, are you saying Jonah Goldberg is a liar? Or is he just seriously ill-informed?
Because I would like to say, in Jonah’s defense, that he is not very bright, and may well believe all the silly things that appear in his column.
Republicans are Social Darwinists.
That Steyn bit is precious. Way to not blame the, you know, terrorists.
Shorter Pantload: How can you say the Republicans “have it in” for those with disabilities, when they’ve been so generous and welcoming to morons like me?
Yeah, I go for the low-hanging fruit. Although that is probably not a metaphor that can be used safely around the modern Republican party…
Let’s ask Michael J. Fox if Republicans are hostile to people with disabilities.
Well, if one defines “have it in” for the disabled as “not giving a fuck if anyone I don’t personally know can’t get a dog license because I resent having to pay to build ramps on public buildings and am damned well not going to help them get up the stairs”, then I think it’s fairly indisputable. If one defines it as “willing to run over someone who is slowly crutching their way across the street in front of me”, perhaps this is not a bedrock conservative trait. Neither, perhaps, is kicking war vets with amputations. Though calling into question their patriotism while running against them for Congress seems to be, and cutting their benefits also appears to be popular.
Way OT, but Chuck Norris is now a WorldNet Columnist:
Final proof that Charles Krauthammer is not a disabled person, but an alien.
In my experience, it is usually the conservative regimes that eliminate social services and funding to arts and culture, but all three parties (left to right) operate in a similar vein. I live in a “liberal” run province where the government insists that every disabled person on welfare must have an “employment plan,” even if it never comes to fruition. The pressure is on for people with disabilities to earn a living and get off welfare and it doesn’t seem to matter how extensive their disabilities are. There’s no way in hell the gov’t would ever get away with suspending the benefits of the permanently disabled, the government understands full well the psychological impact of this “employment plan” business. They know these folks will feel threatened and intimidated. It’s beyond disgusting.
Now that labour shortages are acute, the UK government has a similar plan in place. They intend to integrate the disabled into the work force – what they really mean is force them off of welfare. I doubt they’ll get away with it, but they’re going to try.
Since the mid-80s (in Canada), governments by and large (whether they are social democrats, liberals and conservatives) have stopped caring about the working poor and the disadvantaged. They carefully craft their language to make it seem as though they do, but everyone knows they’re big priority is always the economy. In the 80s when unemployment was in the double-digits and governments were running huge deficits, they screamed about the economy being the priority. “We can’t afford social programs!” they whined. Now that unemployment is under 5% and governments are operating with huge surpluses, they’re privatizing health care (forcing citizens to pay for care) and screaming that there is no excuse for anyone to be unemployed and on benefits. You can’t win.
Meanwhile in other news.
Jim Webb’s gonna lose big
Kos and the extreme left can’t fool Virginia into electing a man who condones homosexuality with young men by writing about it in trash-filled books. Makes you wonder about his fantasies, doesn’t it?
The fact is that Virginians are not going to support smut authors for office.
Hey Gary, did you know Kos dislikes Harold Ford, too? You agree with Markos Moulitsas, you extreme lefty you!
Kos only dislikes Harold Ford because Ford isn’t a pawn of the homosexual lobby.
I dislike Ford because he’s a liberal pretty boy trying to fool people by acting Republican.
But here’s what I really think about the theory of evolution: It’s not real.
Ok, gimme a minute here to riff on religion. In no other area of human discourse would a wholly unqualified idiot be alllowed to step up and declare an entire scientific discipline to be false, wrong and “not real”. The problem with religion is it is the dialogue killer. The religious don’t need evidence, don’t need support, don’t even need a reason. They can call in god-strikes and the argument’s over. And when we can’t talk to each other, we have to start combat ops. Just Sayin…
what they really mean is force them off of welfare. I doubt they’ll get away with it, but they’re going to try
*Sigh* I used to think they’d back down on torture. That they’d never wiretap american citizens without a warrant. That the constitution was sacrosanct and Habeus Corpus was far too established to ever be even questioned again, let alone repealed. Lesley, young lady, do NOT make assmptions like that. I don’t know what’s happened to us, but theres really no limit to the criminal depridations these asshats are willing to inflict upon the citizenry for nothing more than the establishment of a more authoritarian type of governance…
mikey
Makes you wonder about his fantasies, doesn’t it?
Nope. Why, do you have fantasies? He writes novels. Fiction. And, Gary, you sick little scumbag piece of software, have fantasies. Also, Jim Webb is a better man in half an hour than you and george felix allen will ever be in your whole life. Lets see. Naval Acadamy grad, decorated marine combat veteran, successful writer, SECRATARY OF THE FUCKING NAVY, successful businessman, candidate for US Senate. Felix’s claim to fame is his dad won a super bowl. And your’s Gary? Your claim to fame is you never risked anything for your beliefs. Never stood up, never fought, never earned any respect. And so, you don’t get any. Kid, get up from the computer and make a mark. Give us some reason to listen to you.
Nope, it’s about courage, conviction, will. Authority, both moral and secular. Leadership. You got nothing, felix has nothing. Now I don’t know who’s going to win in VA. But I know where my respect is. Do you need a hint, Gary, or can you figure it out on your own?
mikey
Oh, so elected officials are now said to support anything in their novels?
What does that say abot Lynn Cheney’s lesbian soft porn or Scooter Libby’s “11 year old girls raped by a bear so they’ll be frigid”?
Kos only dislikes Harold Ford because Ford isn’t a pawn of the homosexual lobby.
Awww, lover’s quarrel? You’re closer than you think, though, as Kos actually seems to dislike Ford because he thinks he’s a Republican-lite faux liberal, while you think he’s a Liberal-lite faux-Republican… hey, you got your Liberal in my Republican! No, you got your Republican in my Liberal! Now, you two kids kiss and make up, you were practically made for each other!
Just a thought. I have heard that Iceland is again harpooning whales. Maybe we could do a fund drive to buy Jonah a cruise and if eveything goes well……
(More precisely: A madam trained a bear to rape her 11-year-old hookers so they’d be frigid and “wouldnt fall in love” with their clients. Which is fucked up on oh-so-many levels.)
Scooter Libby and Lynne Cheney aren’t running for office.
James Webb is running for office, despite his history in writing smutty books with depraved scenes.
What does that say abot Lynn Cheney’s lesbian soft porn or Scooter Libby’s “11 year old girls raped by a bear so they’ll be frigid�?
(More precisely: A madam trained a bear to rape her 11-year-old hookers so they’d be frigid and “wouldnt fall in love� with their clients. Which is fucked up on oh-so-many levels.)
No. No, no, no!! Stop it now. “Their” fiction is the same as “our” fiction. You can’t ask for a pass on what is innocent writing on our side and try to “nail” them for the same thing. We need to demonstrate consistency, even if they don’t. They get a pass for their fiction. It does NOT prove that they are depraved. Any more than does “ours”. You guys need to think some of this shit through. The high ground still has some attraction, doesn’t it?
mikey
Ok, mikey….but you gotta admit that the Lynne Cheney stuff about how women all ought to be lesbians because men suck so bad is snort-worthy funny in that great ironic way, if nothing else.
Oh hell yeah. But we can’t have it both ways if they can’t…
Just Sayin…
mikey
Mikey’s right, fiction is fiction, and never the taint shall meet. They’re scummy enough for their actions; we don’t need to introduce their depraved fantasies to the the jury to prove that they need to GO.
Steyn is unbelievable. He’s a cross between the Big Bad Wolf, Dracula & Frankenstein. A real creep & cretin.
What I wouldn’t give to be able to trade the lives of one of those disabled folks who died in the Twin Towers for Steyn’s feeble little hate-filled life. I’m usually not this cruel, but my only excuse is that Steyn’s cruelty drove me to it.
mikey said,
Oh hell yeah. But we can’t have it both ways if they can’t…
Careful with phrases like that, Mikey. Gary could misunderstand.
In general, politicos write novels about as well as Chuck Norris debates science. *yawn*
I’m more interested in why Gary’s so obsessed with Ford and Webb, whom he has discussed today in relation to:
1. their sex with women
2. their sex with young men
3. their sexual fantasies
4. their pretty-boyness
Come on out, Gary. You’re among people who will promise not to judge you. You are safe.
Gary Ruppert said,
James Webb is running for office, despite his history in writing smutty books with depraved scenes.
Thomas Pynchon for President! That should make a few brains explode.
Sorry.
Oh, and besides: how can a desire be a mustache-twirler? And even if it were, how could one hear it? The Pantload is such a tool.
Tag-b-gone?
Please?
Is it just me or has Gary been more an interactive troll as of late rather than a random OT “In other news, the Democrats have been proven to be the party of the devil, insert random link from Drudge/Newsmax”
Gary, has something changed? If I was a high faluting so and so, I’d almost say that something has rattled you and caused you to change your habits. Well, we’ll always have “The fact is…”
Hey, Gary. As a actual Virginian, I’d like shout out a hearty, “fuck you, twat.” Just on principle.
Also, I would like to add that you clearly have abosolutly zero understanding of Virginian politics and demographics.
See, the Right doesn’t hate McFly because he’s disabled, they hate him because he’s A: right and B: Un-debatable proof that the right is wrong.
You know, like when you’re playing basketball, and you managed to get your dipshit ass into the corner, and the guy on you is blocking your dumbass so well that you can’t pass or even begin to try for a shot, so you go “AAIIEEEEE!!!” and fall to the ground, writhing in blinding pain, and hope the ref calls a foul.
Same thing.
I think he got pissed at being upstaged by annie.
Battlin’ Talking Point Divas! Rawr!
I must say I’m happier when Gary’s in da house and annie’s toddled off to whatever demented place she goes when she’s not here. And yes, your Grace, I have noticed the increased interactivity of the GaryBot 3000 and am intrigued . . .
I think Gary’s evolved.
He’s become…
(Insert SpongeBob voice)…
A Robot.
by writing about it in trash-filled books.
Yeah. We should burn those books, right Baghdad Gary?
Kos and the extreme left can’t fool Virginia into electing a man who condones homosexuality with young men
I guess instead they’ll be voting for a man who condones lynch-hanging black men?
I think Gary’s evolved.
That’s crazy talk, evolution isn’t real, while Gary clearly is. Just ask Chuck Norris…(kinda makes you wonder what Jack Bauer thinks of evolution…)
Is it just me or has Gary been more an interactive troll as of late
I think what we’re seeing is a newer version; 2.01. (2.0 was idiotically released with a major crash, and had to be emergency-patched last week. RNC software QA actually managed to miss a bug in the ‘The fact is’ function, if you can believe the incompetence.)
Gary 2.01 seems to have new features, though I’ve already noticed a few script errors.
Still can’t pass the Turing test.
Yes, there you go. Our side is the side of people who write trash-filled fiction about homosexuality among boys. Their side is the side of people who engage in trash-filled instant messages with boys about homosexuality. Gary, is this the talking point you *really* want to go with?
Wait, I’m so confused. Am I supposed to hate homosexuals or love them? I never am sure what my marching orders are…
btw, check out Wolcott’s post about ALL Republicans being gay & deeply closeted. Good stuff. I’ll just crap out the link since I am no good at html ~ http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/blogs/wolcott/2006/10/josh_marshall_a.html
At age ten the madam put the child in a cage with a bear trained to couple with young girls so the girls would be frigid and not fall in love with their patrons. They fed her through the bars and aroused the bear with a stick when it seemed to lose interest.
So, does Scooter Libby condone underage bear rape?
Fuck the high ground. Fight back.
…Gary, it’s fiction, sort of. It’s also based on Webb’s own experiences in Vietnam. Maybe Allen could write a book based on his own experiences: you know, a Confederate Yankee in SoCal’s court? The poor little story of a wanna be hick and a noose with a deep dark secret, sort of like The Human Stain, except swap out “black” in favor of “Jewish” and swap out “academia” in favor of the “KKK.”
And, of course the Right is anti-disabled. Any ideology that believes that government works best only when it’s helping people who least need help — big business and the rich — is going to do as little as possible for anyone who, you know, needs ramps instead of stairs, needs voting information printed in Braille (“what? that’s not English!”), or needs more attention in school to succeed. But Pantsload isn’t going to admit this any more than Stossel is going to admit he hates the poor.
Not once have I ever heard such a mustache-twirling desire put forward.
Poor stupid Jonah, if its not a cartoon, it doesn’t exist.
“..despite his history in writing smutty books with depraved scenes.”
Any person who can write decent porn gets my vote.
Porn, apple pie, baseball, and more porn…things that make America GREAT!
Ahh, the old Scooter Libby “bear rape” story. While it’s probably a bad idea to psychoanalyis someone based on a work of fiction, it is really troubling that he thinks prostitutes are so likely to fall in love with their johns they need to raped by bears repeatedly in order cool their hearts to some shmuck who brought them. That is a sign of a guy who thinks that stripper really likes him and isn’t just interested in his money. Plus, poking bears turns them on? WTF?
Has anyone read Limbaugh’s “apology” to Michael J. Fox? Sheesh, what a jerk.
“That is a sign of a guy who thinks that stripper really likes him and isn’t just interested in his money.”
Had a friend like that back in the day. He was always convinced the girl was into him. We’d walk out, wallets empty and he’d exclaim,
“Dude. She was totally into me! I even got her number”.
Guy wasn’t the brightest bulb in the package.
oooh, I like Gary 2.0: Angry Gary.
Write more Angry Gary! What do you think about Cheney saying waterboarding isn’t torture? What do you think about the GOP national party pulling out of Montana? I need to know.
I have had it with these motherfucking italics on this motherfucking thread!
…Republicans operate as actual villains who want to do bad things to disabled people — that sticking it to the diabled is an actual animating passion on the right.
As an actual disabled person, I have never had any trouble believing this.
Especially after the MO Rethuglican lege and Gov. Matt-Boy Blunt kicked a whole bunch of ’em off Medicaid (as a cost-saving, budget-balancing measure, you know), even though by so doing, they actually lost the state a great deal of Federal money. Some died (well, they were sick anyway, ya know, who knew that hospital care was so expensive, though?), some who were independently living had to go into assisted living facilities even though they didn’t need to be there to get care (which also cost more money), and some who were holding jobs with the help of assistants had to quit their jobs and go into nursing homes (which cost a HELLA lot more money).
I mean, what other reason could they have had besides ‘sticking it to the disabled’?
Oh, wait. I forgot. They did it because they’re no fucking good at simple arithmetic.
So, I suppose maybe Jonah’s right. I’d still make him show his work, though.
Hey, Gentlewoman, all due respect, I’d have stopped that analysis just three words earlier:
“Oh, wait. I forgot. They did it because they’re no fucking good.“