Leftist Attacks on People With Down Syndrome
By Ken Falkenstein | Friday, June 10th, 2011 | PoliticsI recently wrote that leftists are utterly lacking in honor and common decency and will do anything in their pursuit of power. Here’s the latest example: Leftists in Wisconsin disrupted Governor Scott Walker’s address to the participants of Wisconsin’s Special Olympics by standing in front of them and blocking their view of the governor:
This is hardly the first time that leftists have targeted people with Down Syndrome. In April, the nationally prominent leftist blog Wonkette ran an article viciously attacking Trig Palin, Sarah Palin’s child who has Down Syndrome. I saved this gem in its entirety, including the equally hateful comments submitted by leftists from around the country, at my now-defunct personal blog, Ken’s Colloquium, and you can view it here. Some illustrative gems:
Today is the day we come together to celebrate the snowbilly grifter’s magical journey from Texas to Alaska to deliver to the America the great gentleman scholar Trig Palin. Is Palin his true mother? Or was Bristol? (And why is it that nobody questions who the father is? Because, either way, Todd definitely did it.)
Here’s a nice little collage that Wonkette created of Trig:
After Sarah Palin posted a poem on her web site asking, “Oh, little boy what are you dreaming about,” Wonkette answered
What’s he dreaming about? Nothing. He’s retarded.
Wonkette’s article concludes with this gem:
Why just celebrate tax day today, April 18th? It’s also Trig Paxson Van Palin’s 3rd birthday. His mom went to a lot of trouble to leak amniotic fluid over 8 states to make sure that he arrived in this world somewhat alive . . . .
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the American left in all of their resplendent glory.
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About the author
Ken Falkenstein has been a staffer in the United States Senate and the Virginia House of Delegates. He has managed political campaigns. He was a military intelligence analyst in the U.S. Army in West Germany during the Cold War. He is currently the Vice President of the Down Syndrome Association of Hampton Roads and practices as a civil litigation attorney with the law firm of Poole Mahoney PC in Virginia Beach. His concern for his kids' future is what most informs his writing.
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17 Responses to "Leftist Attacks on People With Down Syndrome"
Interesting enough, most libs would argue that the humane (?!) thing to do would be to have killed Trig in the womb.
Disgusting…
My cousin has Down’s Syndrome, and is literally the most kind, incredible, happy, and worthwhile human being in the world. He is literally a walking saint.
If you ever really need evidence of the moral rot embedded in the Democratic Party — one need only point to this and ask (1) why it exists and (2) why it goes unchallenged within their ranks.
So much for human rights…
Shaun,
Embedded rot in the Democratic Party? Is not the Republican Party guilty of some rot?
I understand you have trip wires, but does the Republican Party as it currently exists really represent you once you get away from those? How much evil will you tolerate to defeat the evil you wish to vanquish?
The Wonkette article that I referenced above appeared 3 days after the birth of my son Josh, who has Down Syndrome. What I know with certainty is that I have never seen this kind of sick rhetoric from anyone on the conservative side. It is always leftists who see people as members of collectives and who treat those groups that are deemed inferior with scorn and derision. In fact, that explains why Barack Obama appointed as his “Science Czar” John Holdren, an outspoken advocate for eugenics.
And what evil are we representing, Little David?
I think if you’re taking Wonkette seriously and pointing to as a paragon of Democratic or “leftist” thuoght, you’re missing the point. Wonkette sort of savagely mocks everything….they’ve been all over Wiener for the last week for example. They do take particular glee in bashing Palin and, yeah, they stepped over the line here. But using them to impugn one side of the political spectrum is as silly as someone using Don Imus’ “nappy headed hos” comment to say that all conservative are racist. Both comments were humor that didn’t work.
Don Gallows,
The evil of being against the American Way as presented in our tax code to start with.
Also with allowing those who want to legalize prostitution, legalize recreational drug use and destroy Social Security to step up to the microphone and not hooting them down.
Steve- Did you look at the entire Wonkette post at the link provided? This was not mere “mocking.” This was depraved. And Wonkette is not a fringe leftist site that no one looks at. It’s is squarely in the mainstream of the leftist movement and enjoys prominent national sponsors. Oh, and Imus is not a conservative. He endorsed Kerry in 2004 and Dodd in 2008.
LD- I was going to respond to your comments, but they are so nonsensical that I’ve got nothing meaningful to latch onto.
Ken –
I too have a dog in this fight. My daughter who has DS is almost 3. What Wonkette did was despicable and I am glad the pain that was induced with lost advertisers. But let us have a very non-partisan conversation on this topic and neither political party is particularly admirable with respect to civil rights and fair treatment for the population of people with DS.
Many democratically minded folks would agree that some form of eugenics might be more efficient. Little do they recognize the full value of a person with DS or that they hold keys to ameliorating Alzheimer (something almost everyone with DS gets), hard tumor cancers and heart attacks (people with DS almost never get these), etc. That poor perception is completely damaging in ways I could go on for hours about…starting with the DOJ statistic that a person with DS is 150% more likely to be the victim of a violent crime and 200% more likely to be victim of sexual abuse.
But then turn to your conservative breathen. They want to repeal and replace. The healthcare law, as flawed as it is, is a civil rights bill for our children with pre-exiting conditions. Before it they were forced into Medicaid-mandated poverty which meant they could not even be productive citizens if they wanted to be. How motivated would you be to teach a child who would never be allowed to earn more than a few hundred dollars a week?
They want to turn Medicaid and Social Security into block grants and whittle away at a safety net that many of these folks will need as adults. All across the country they are cutting budgets that affect early intervention therapies, housing and transportation for the disabled population – a population that has been forced onto the teet of America through poor policy and underinvestment. And now we want to ditch them because we want lower taxes.
I want lower taxes. But more importantly, I want an America where my child is given the opportunity to participate to her full abilities and achieve and feel valued. I want an America where this super-minority has the same civil rights that I have. And where we have a safety net in case she is limited that allows to live a dignified human existence.
Republicans talk of the billions of waste in Medicaid knowing full well that waste and abuse is a small % issue of the problem – but it resonates with voters and districts from the true location of cuts and the impact on real people’s lives – many many more people who are not gaming the system. Then they readily chop funding or cut programs leaving very vulnerable people with few or no options in a terrible place. And generally for selfish policies without much scientific merit.
Turning DS into a partisan issue is a poor choice. If you care about your daughter and the DS community first, you need to separate it from partisan rallying cries. Our children are neither red nor blue – they are however a minority population that is often used for political devices…and I find it shameful.
Brad- I appreciate your thoughtful and sincere remarks, but they’re not really responsive to my point. Your remarks address matters of policy. My article was about leftists once again making gratuitous attacks on people that they see as inferior and lacking in inherent value as human beings. I displayed two recent examples of leftists making such attacks against people with Down Syndrome. This is typical of leftists, who do not feel constrained by common decency in their Machiavellian conduct. While conservatives obviously aren’t perfect, and we can find isolated examples of conservatives acting in uncivil ways, we just don’t see conservatives coming anywhere close to this kind of depravity in their conduct.
Regarding the substance of your remarks, reasonable minds can disagree on the appropriate public policies regarding the challenges faced by people with DS. As I noted above, the purpose of my article was not to criticize liberal policies; I was exposing indecent leftist conduct. (And, and I wrote in the article to which I posted in the first sentence, there is a difference between liberals and leftists.) However, on the merits, I don’t agree with you that wealth redistribution is a “civil right.” One does not have a “right” to something that someone else must provide. I also note that Medicare is unsustainable in its current form and, if not reformed, will bankrupt the country. If we’re going to continue to use the government to try to guarantee health services, then I agree with the congressional Republicans that the reforms should be market-based and designed to provide as much choice to recipients as possible. Note, for example, that the new prescription drug benefit is structured that way and has come in at 40% under its projected cost.
One final point: To my thinking, the argument against eugenics isn’t that people with DS offer opportunities for medical breakthroughs. The argument against eugenics is that it is inherently evil for any government to decide which persons in our society have greater value than any other persons or even that any particular person or group has a greater inherent value than any other. Six million of my people were murdered by people who held such ideas, after which most of the civilized world finally understood the evil of eugenics. The only ones who didn’t become convinced were leftists, who continue to see people as merely members of groups, with some groups being inherently superior to others. This is one of the primary reasons that I see leftism and leftists as the greatest threat to a free America.
Ken Falkenstein,
Nothing nonsensical about it, at least in my opinion. Ever since an income tax was first implemented under Abraham Lincoln in 1861 (then dropped after the war) and later reenacted after the 16th Amendment was ratified in 1913 it has been progressive in nature. Throughout most of its history, it was much more progressive then it is today. A progressive income tax has been woven into the fabric of American society and it is my opinion it was one of the key weapons used to defeat the spread of communist influences in our nation throughout much of the 20th century. There is strong support within the Republican Party for a flat tax or the misnamed Fair Tax. Support for abandoning a progressive income tax is un-American.
As for the “legalize prostitution, legalize recreational drug use and destroy Social Security” portion of my statement? Ron Paul is a candidate for the Republican nomination for President. His son, Rand Paul, was elected to represent the state of Kentucky as Senator. There is a strong libertarian influence within the Tea Party and many Republican politicians genuflect at the Tea Party’s altar and promise support of strongly libertarian influenced demands.
Nonsense? Nope. You might not agree, but it is not nonsense.
I breed a few golden retrievers with a few purposes.. competition, service and therapy work. We had a litter of 12 last november and produced a few pups that were raised from birth for service/therapy knowing one was destined to go live with a family who has a son/brother with downs syndrome. The boy occasionally gets up in the middle of the night and walks outside and has been lost several times. The dog is not training to sleep near the boy and to raise hell if he leaves his room. But there is one problem.. the boy no longer leaves his room at 3am, he shares his bed with “Petty” his golden retriever.
In the past, goldens we have imprinted 2-6 months, now our own goldens and others goldens from litters sired by our male have gone to organizations who train them to live and work with the children of families with autism and other disabilities. They tell me how huch their golden enriches their childs life but they enrich mine even more. After reading this article and the comments it occured to me, and I am dissapointed to realize this.. None of the families I am aware of are by definition liberals.. none. Not making hay out of this as I am sure they are out there but it seems more often than not in my little sphere of involvement that the parents trend to conservative. Upon meeting them the first thing they see is usually the back of my Suburban or F-150 with at least one sticker showing support for my conservative candidate DiJour and I have lost count of the number of times I have heard “Oh we like candidate X too, you must be a republican” and I smile then say I am not here to discuss politics but yes
Again not making hay, just an observation I felt compelled to share. Of course you leftist reading this will joke amongst yourselves that republicans are retarded but the fact is that pro life often includes choosing life for neonates with disabilities too.. They are just as human and just as loving.. Ya got to love the sight of a child with disabilities loving on one of our goldens, it can bring tears to a grown man…
One of the kids we visited at a hospital years ago put his hands in the air when we brought a pup I was raising for a service organization over for socialization and the child perked up, smiled somewhat and announced “God is here”. I looked at the parents and tears were streaming down their faces.. I thought for a second that the child mispronounced and said as much but they shook their heads and clearly understood what their loving child meant.
If there is any common ground we should all share regardless of party affiliation, since politics has no business in it, accepting and sharing with families supporting persons with disabilities should be it. Take the time to meet these people, you will be amazed by some of them.. Both the families and the person with the disability which some of them compensate quite amazingly.
I am not a Palin supporter but I have nothing but respect for her decision to choose life. I sincerely hope this is not going to become fodder for the right to call out the left either as I doubt most downs syndrome children would want that.. I doubt Trig would either.
Turbo,
I am pro choice (limited pro choice) and I do not seek to defend that opinion here.
What I am going to point to is the hypocrisy in the Republican Party. If a lower income family chose to give birth to a Downs Syndrome child, what is the Republican Party trying to do to help them with the burden of raising such child. Or how about a middle income family? They can provide for the child while they are raising it in infancy and even into early adult hood. But what happens to the child after they die?
Don’t be hypocrites. Do not tell the family to have such a special needs child while you are trying to remove the supports society could provide and cut away the safety net from under them.
Republicans want smaller government. They dislike Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. What is going to happen to the Downs syndrome child after Mommy and Daddy die under their plan?
LittleDavid,
I agree with what you said about the TEA party having a lot of Libertarian influence, but I don’t understand why you say that like its a bad thing //grin//.
Sure there is a lot of hypocrisy in the Republican party, saying they want to reduce spending while actually raising spending for their pet projects, saying they support individual freedom while at the same time working to stop people from doing things they don’t agree with, etc, but I don’t see your point as being a part of it because you’re talking about things Republicans don’t really agree with in the first place, it isn’t like Republicans were talking about saving poor Jack and Jane with social programs and then not following through on their convictions. You also said that Republicans tell people they have to have a special needs child and then not do thus-and-such to support them, umm, where did you see Republicans saying that ? Maybe you mean their stance on abortion ? I don’t know what you mean there.
“Republicans want smaller government. They dislike Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. What is going to happen to the Downs syndrome child after Mommy and Daddy die under their plan?”, say you.
Wow. You’re right. We don’t spend enough on medicare and medicaid do we, a trillion dollar deficit just doesn’t cut it. We should at least double it, right ? Or even triple it!! As long as we save at least one child it’ll be worth it.
Temporary,
I think your comment helps me to illuminate the point I was trying to make to certain Republicans and what it is that they are supporting.
James- Thank you for your wonderful comments and for the wonderful work you are doing breeding and providing service dogs. Your comment about how most parents of special needs kids are conservative can be explained by looking at one particular statistic: An estimated 92 percent of all women who receive a prenatal diagnosis of Down Syndrome choose to terminate their pregnancies, according to research reviewed by Dr. Brian Skotko, a pediatric geneticist at Children’s Hospital Boston. Clearly leftists aren’t the ones who are respecting the right of these children to live.
My son Josh, who has Down Syndrome, was born about 8 weeks ago and has been in the hospital on a ventilator since his birth. My wife and I go to spend time with him every day, which has been difficult because Josh’s twin brother came home 4 weeks ago, and we also have a 4-year-old son and share custody of my wife’s teenaged daughters. And of course I work full-time. But for us finding a way to visit him every day in the hospital is no more of a choice than aborting him ever was – which is to say no choice at all. Josh is our son, and we love him. It’s that simple.
LD- My article wasn’t about tax policies or theories of government. I’ll be happy to discuss those issues with you another time.
Ken,
You and your son Josh are in my prayers.
Thanks, LD. My family and I appreciate that very much.
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