I am completely disgusted. I am sickened, I am angry, I am disappointed. Just about every negative emotion under the sun, I am feeling right now.
I’ve seen many conservatives in the blogosphere up in arms about Obama’s featuring of a letter from a girl named Brittany. She’s 25, works, votes, and has Down syndrome. She says she has her own apartment and likes Hannah Montana. She calls herself one of Mitt Romney’s 47%.
This, according to many bloggers, is “exploitation”.
Dear President Obama,
Hello! My name is Brittany and I live in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. I am 25 years old (but I will be 26 on October 3rd!). I am a registered Democrat and I have been voting since I was 18. I am one of the 47% of Americans who fall under Mitt Romney’s definition of “entitled” and “unable to take responsibility for my life.” I have Down syndrome.
As the mother of a child with Down syndrome, what angers me is not that Obama used this letter. No, what infuriates me is that so many people are angry that he did. And I’m sad to report that many of those people are conservative bloggers, like me.
This is horrible for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is that Mitt Romney’s 47 percent comments had nothing to do with this.
There is so much that is heinous about Brittany being used for political gain in this way, but let’s start with the obvious thing, which is that neither Mitt Romney nor anybody running for office under the Republican banner is suggesting doing anything that would hurt her.
“Brittany,” who wrote the letter to express her support for the president, is being used as a political tool. The Obama camp is sharing her story for no other reason than to suggest that Mitt Romney doesn’t care about the disabled and mentally-challenged. And what’s truly heartbreaking is that to Team Obama, she’s not even a member of the 47 percent. She’s not even a person. She’s only a means to an end.
[O]Obama is just using this woman for his political gain.
The Obama campaign has taken what could have been, with sensitive editing, a feel-good letter from someone who is doing her best under difficult circumstances and wishes to support Barack Obama into a dishonest, exploitive cheap shot at his opponent. The president and his campaign should be ashamed.
And on and on.
When I first saw the headlines, I expected to be offended. I really did. I thought I would read the story and find something truly horrible about it — like when Obama made a cheap shot at the Special Olympics. But I see absolutely nothing wrong with this ad. Nothing.
Did I mention my son has Down syndrome? And that I’m a conservative who wants Obama out of office more than anything?
I hate to have to defend Obama here. I hate it. (I hate it more than mayonnaise!) But I have to… because they did nothing wrong.
If a girl named Brittany had written in a letter saying all of the same things, but had erased the part where she said she had Down syndrome, would there be any uproar at all? No, there wouldn’t be. And there are plenty of people without disabilities who do say exactly those same sort of things, who call themselves members of Mitt Romney’s 47%. Do I agree with them? No, but they say it and that’s fine. We can argue back with facts.
However, simply because this girl has Down syndrome, her voice apparently shouldn’t be heard. At least, that’s what all of these conservatives are basically saying. Because she has an extra chromosome, her letter shouldn’t be posted for the world to see. It’s “exploitative”.
And that, my friends, is so damn demeaning, condescending, and insulting to people with Down syndrome that it makes me sick.
Why shouldn’t Barack Obama — or any other candidate for that matter — feature a letter from someone with Down syndrome? Brittany wrote this letter herself, she mailed it in, and obviously by doing so, gave permission to Obama to use it. The idea seems to be that because she has Down syndrome, she couldn’t possibly understand what she’s saying, and so therefore, Obama is manipulating her and using her. There have even been suggestions that he tampered with the letter somehow. What, because an adult with Down syndrome couldn’t possibly have written a letter like that on their own? Couldn’t have come up with a political opinion all by herself?
It’s disgusting.
People with Down syndrome want to be treated like anyone else. And they should be. But clearly, voicing their opinion on politics just isn’t allowed. I mean, obviously that’s the case, right? Because apparently, if someone with Down syndrome does, and a candidate gives that voice an audience, it’s “exploitation”. It’s not exploitation for everyone else, of course, but if you’ve got Down syndrome? Yup, exploitative.
Do I agree with Brittany? No, I don’t, and I wish I could show her that she is not who Mitt Romney was referring to. But Brittany is entitled to her opinion on politics, and she’s entitled to voice that opinion. Her thoughts shouldn’t be buried just because she’s got an extra chromosome, and that’s exactly what people are suggesting here.
Again, I hate to have to do this, but I’m glad Obama used her letter. I’m glad he did. Because he just showed the world that people with Down syndrome are so much more than just idiots who can’t do anything. Brittany’s letter showed that people with Down syndrome work, live on their own, are interested in politics, and that they vote.
To me, that’s a beautiful thing… even if I don’t like the message.
Dan Irving says: /applaud
Her thoughts shouldn’t be buried just because she’s got an extra chromosome, and that’s exactly what people are suggesting here.
Well Cassy, I’ll go ahead and say it: All your anger appears to be centered around this one statement, and after reading the many excerpts that have ticked you off here I don’t find much truth in it.
Thois is part of a very old and well-worn tactic used by the progressive left in America, as you very well know. They keep doing it because it works well. Look how well it works here. Now we’re having a tempest-in-a-teapot about, do people with Downs Syndrome have a right to free speech. THAT isn’t what was going on here. What was going on here was that a recording of Mitt Romney made in March, was released in September, in which he said forty-seven percent will never support him because they want to know what they can get, they feel like they’re victims and do a lot of whining, and the democrats responded by saying (ironically) Hey! That’s objectionable, it might hurt peoples’ feelings…
You know what should really get your dander up about this, I think? Someone at the White House, or the Obama campaign, was tasked to make the case that handicaps and weakness should be the new legal tender in the “changed” America after we get rid of the money (yes, I do think it really is that bad)…and they made a bee line for Downs Syndrome. That was really Obama’s message, He was not celebrating the fact that people with DS can write letters. So it looks like you’re making a mistake here, aligning yourself with people whose lifetime-vision for your son is very different from your own. And that’s really what it’s all about, is it not?
alexandra says: No Mr. Freeburg, what he said, and what offended people, was that these people will never take responsibility for themselves. People on ss took responsibility by working all their lives. Veterans took responsibility by serving their country. Working poor are taking responsibility every day they go to 2 and 3 jobs. This young lady is taking responsibility by working every day. The fact that he said it behind closed doors and not to the public is an indication he knew how offensive a statement it was. To now feign being offended that it was released is just hypocrisy. He said it, now he has to own it and deal with the blowback.
Cassy –
As the mother of a beautiful 12 1/2 yr old highly-opinionated daughter with DS, I completely agree with your statement: “People with Down syndrome want to be treated like anyone else. And they should be.”
However, you possibly missed my post on another blog where I layout Obama’s blatant hypocrisy on this, and why he seriously needs called on the use of this brave young woman’s letter. http://tiny.cc/uy6jlw
1. is Obama’s full-throated support of abortion for any reason at anytime in addition to ‘finishing’ botched late term abortions, and pro-abortion advocates use DS as a primary reason/excuse for abortion
2. how 2 of ObamaCare’s top taxes will directly effect ‘special needs’ children (and adults)
Please do not give Obama and his campaign too much credit here. This young lady IS that part of the 47% Mitt Romney believes deserves government assistance to help her build and live the best life possible. Obama’s use of the letter just lumps her into that vague void of the 47% that includes those who have much bigger advantages in life than Brittany does but refuses to get off their butts (hey, free cell phones and all that). As a reminder, Obama’s campaign and sycophants had no problem(s) scorching Sarah Palin in the 2008 election for ‘exploiting’ her DS baby boy by bringing him to the forefront in the campaign.
These are the same people who typically otherwise diminish and question Brittany’s “mental state and capabilities” at any other time in the social narrative, but with her letter here believe she is somehow ‘prolific and wise’ when it suits their agenda? THAT is what irks me most.
I defend your reaction to our opposing reactions, as I too have struck-out at people in public and in the system who just want to lump my daughter into the lock-box with all special needs children/persons. Believe me, you didn’t want to be around me 2 summers ago when I spent the entire summer fighting with the local and county special needs boards of my daughter’s school to see her as an individual and not just one of their “kiddoes”.
Bless you and your son.
Maggie
cheeflo says: That touches all the bases, Maggie.
Cassy says: Maggie —
I’m not defending Obama’s position on anything. I understand he’s the most extreme pro-abortion president in history. I abhor that 9 out of 10 children diagnosed prenatally with Down syndrome are aborted, especially considering that my son was diagnosed prenatally. People have even told me I should have had an abortion. So this is not a defense of Obama himself.
What it IS a defense of is using this girl’s letter, plain and simple. She wrote it in, and he used it. If she hadn’t have had Down syndrome, then would anyone have cared about this letter of the week? After all, it’s a weekly series. It isn’t like he solely published her letter and no one else’s. He publishes a letter every week, and why shouldn’t an Obama supporter with Down syndrome be one of them? That’s what it all boils down to. We don’t like Obama, and we don’t like what she said in her letter, so it shouldn’t be published at all? Because she had Down syndrome and no other reason? (I mean, come on — again, if she hadn’t had Down syndrome no one would have cared about this letter.)
Sorry. I’m not going to feel differently about this, no matter how much I detest Barack Obama.
Josh says: You really need to take two steps back from the fact that your own child has DS and look at this objectively. You’re right in saying that if the letter had been published the same except for the DS part, it wouldn’t have made waves. What you fail to comprehend is the Obama administration’s strategy in using a person with DS to attack Romney over the 47% comments. Do you honestly think they used a disabled girl because they wanted to highlight the fact that people with DS can write a good letter? No! They wanted a member of the “47%” that the right couldn’t possibly say deserved to be there (like the majority of 47 percenters). So they USED her disability for their political gain, because you’re right: If she didn’t have DS, they wouldn’t give a damn about her.
Kelly says: Cassy, I too have an 8 year old son with Ds. I think you need to apply your own logic here and notice that the Obama spin doctors would never have published the letter if Brittany was a typical young woman. They are USING her to push their 47% meme further. Think of a parent of a child with Ds casually looking at this and thinking, oh, Obama is going to look out for my child. The reality is, Obamacare is going to make it HARDER for those parents. Brittany is bright and eloquent and everything a parent of a child with Ds now expects their child to strive for, but her extra chromosome is being used as a political ploy by Obama’s cronies and that is sad.
BpbatistaBpbatista says: I am the father of an 8 year old boy with DS. I am disgusted by Obama’s ruthless exploitation of DS children. His policies including his enthusiastic support for eugenic and gender selective abortion on demand will mean that fewer and fewer DS children will ever be born. Moreover there can be little doubt that the expensive and frequent health care tha many people with DS require will be restricted by the inevitable rationing under Obamacare. The IPAB — aka Death Panel — is not going to approve expensive life enhancing or saving treatments for people with DS. They will be fobbed off with “pain pills” like Obama promised to do with old people who need hip replacements or who have cancer. In other words Obama’s true policy for people with DS is to cast them adrift on the ice flow along with the other “useless mouths.”
SEC says: Thank you for reminding us of the Nazi’s rhetoric about “useless mouths” or “useless eaters.” Those who think such things impossible here are kidding themselves.
I agree with Cassy. The real problem is that the ad is dishonest — Brittany is working and paying taxes, she isn’t a lazy gov’t-dependent 47%er.
In fact, this should really be a Romney ad: rather than aborting children with Down’s (as, tragically, 90% are) we should celebrate the fact they can lead productive, tax-paying lives, and are not>/i> a burden on society — unlike many people who don’t face Brittany’s challenges but nonetheless feel entitled to live off the hard work of others.
James says: Maybe if the Celebrity in Chief, on more than one occasion, didn’t use handi-abled persons as a butt for his jokes – you can defend him on this.
You can’t.
Mr. Obama’s special Olympian joke was so vile for a President, he gets no benefit of the doubt here.
And based upon the ugliness and hatefulness of these chicago politicians during this campaign- exploitation- is a very credible criticism of a desperate campaign.
Sean Bannion says: Sorry, Cassy. I’m not on board with you on this one.
I too am a parent of a child with Down Syndrome. I’m also conservative. (Which it probably why my daughter was actually born in the first place…but I digress).
Brittany was used as a prop. Period. Morgan said it above, this is a well-worn tactic used by the left. The DNC could have used any member of the “47%” to make their point but they used – and “used” is the correct term here – a girl with Down Syndrome.
Why? To make America feel guilty.
See it’s not enough to point out a policy difference or a gaffe, the left has to trot out a human example, no matter how overdrawn the example, to highlight the “cruel,” “devastating,” [insert other hyperbolic term here] “impact” of those eeeeevil Republicans.
It’s BS, and you ought to know it.
I’ll know my DS daughter will be accepted as a full person in American society when people look at her and don’t feel sorry for her. In other words, when people see her first as human, and not as a victim, my little girl will have “arrived.”
Maybe you feel that being used as a prop like any other sap on the street, like, oh, Mitt Rommney’s $75K per year garbageman, means that people with DS are now accepted. I don’t, It’s exploitation plain and simple.
There is no virtue in that – not even remotely.
Dave says: I too disagree. Brittany is entitled to her opinion, but the Obama campaign doesn’t care about her opinion, they care about her *identity*. “See how mean Mister Romney is, picking on people with disabilities!”
Neglecting of course that Romney’s comments (not to mention his personal beliefs) certainly weren’t directed at those truly unable to make it by without some sort of help (although how that help is never supposed to come first and foremost from families, friends, churches, and communities LONG BEFORE the federal government steps in… I’ll let the Democrats address that).
The Democrats used Brittany in the same way that Democrats use police, firefighters and national parks every time the Republicans threaten government cutbacks: so what if the overwhelming majority of cuts would affect people who can well survive it; we must always remember *the most vulnerable* who would be affected. Never mind that the Republicans, nor anyone, would target people like Brittany– she exists as a symbol to galvanize the votes of all the otherwise lazy “disabled” Americans who prefer a government check to doing something else with their lives.
It’s the usual Left politics by outrage, and you somehow missed the point.
suzy000 says: It’s politics, people. If this was the other way around, the left would call it exploitation also. What matters is this….you are either for smaller government and keeping the government out of your business or large government believing in wealth redistribution. You can’t have it both ways.
R says: Romney wants to find another way to provide support, without further burdening taxpayers, for those with Down Syndrome who require financial support. Obama, on the other hand, would prefer to kill them. Preferably in the womb, or possibly moments after they’re born, but Obama and the members of his party would prefer that Down Syndrome children were killed before they ever become a burden. It is disgusting, therefore, that Obama would clearly use a person with Down Syndrome in this manner. Disgusting.
D.L.McNamara says: At the bottom of the letter is:
P.S. My Mom and her friend helped me write this.
So it took two people to help Brittany write that letter. That is where I see a problem. Exactly how much of the letter is Brittany and how much is her Mom and cohort. I suspect the idea and writing of the letter was all done by her Mother, who realized a letter signed by her daughter was more effective than signing it in her own name.
Capitalist Infidel says: Does anyone really believe the words really came from the little girl? Really???? Or is it more likely the words came from someone else?
Larry says: I could agree that it would not have been news if Brittany did not have DS. But if she didn’t we would never have seen her letter, since it would not have had the impact the liberals were looking for.
Mother124 says: Be honest, Cassie….take out the words “I have Down syndrome” and decide if this was a letter they would choose to publish.
Ann Coulter was right: the people the Democrats use (and I do mean “use”) to make their arguments are the ones it would be gauche to respond to or criticize.
egd says: “If a girl named Brittany had written in a letter saying all of the same things, but had erased the part where she said she had Down syndrome, would there be any uproar at all? No, there wouldn’t be.”
And the Obama administration would never have featured it on their site.
Read the same letter. Take out the part where she has Downs Syndrome:
– I started working part-time in 2004 when I was in high school. I graduated in 2008 and have worked at that job ever since.
– My employer receives money from the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare so that I can work
– the public transportation people receive money from them to take me back and forth to work.
– My mother applied for Social Security’s Supplemental Security Income program (SSI) for me when I was 19.
– I don’t have much to put into a savings account.
Does that look like a letter Obama would want to feature on his website?
Eleanor'sDad says: I tend to agree. As a father of a child with DS, I do think this was obvious pandering. He has a record here. With that said some of the reactions are likely political as well.
smfic says: Cassie-
My disdain for the Obama campaign having used this “letter” (which if it was written solely by a 24yo with Down Syndrome, to be quite direct, she wouldn’t be making $4/hour) is that nothing in this girl’s life would be negatively affected by Romney or his political plans if elected. Its just more victimization and woe-is-me storytelling. This girl, in a liberal utopia, wouldn’t even be alive. Liberals want girls like her aborted. Obama doesn’t want you or anyone “burdened” by kids let alone those with disabilities. Further, the outrageous expansion of government intrusion into every aspect of everyone’s daily lives means that programs and funding for a worthwhile safety net is diluted to other things like providing cellphones to a million Ohioans, or trillion dollar failed stimulus bills or ten thousand grant giveaways for checking if ketchup is red.
I’m sorry you’re angry. In the end, I still see nothing wrong with the responses you highlighted. In fact, they read quite measured and reasoned.
Samir Haider says: You’re wrong, Brittany is exactly the type of person Romney was referring to. He dismissed any working person who does not make enough to qualify for income tax. That includes the hardest working working-class in the history of America.
But keep being a sheep for Romney and his insensitive cadre of snobby elitists who only care about people who pay income taxes as if they’re better than the rest of us.
Garfield says: You are coping and pasting democrat talking points, the sad part being you are probably doing it by default, you are not even aware that you are not using our own brain to comment.
Lukey says: You posted this in error here. Please head over to Daily Kos.
Lukey says: What I find disgusting about Obama using this woman in an ad is that he and most Liberals would be far happier if she had been aborted. Since she was not, let’s exploit her in an ad for government assistance. Perhaps the Romney campaign should put an ad out featuring a person who survived an attempted abortion. That would make the libs heads explode!
Fallen says: Do you know what makes me angry? My mom has dementia and is in a nursing home but she continues to “vote”, I have to go to court to have her legally declared incompetent in order for them to stop stealing her vote. Wake up. Democrats are scum. They take advantage of those who are the most helpless.
Steve says: What is disgusting is Obama’s HHS mandate and his stance on live birth abortion (the mandate lays the groundwork for genetic testing where DS children could be aborted). Obama is being the world’s biggest liar and hypocrite pretending to care about people with Down Syndrome. Children with no genetic disorders are discarded as trash by this president.
I hope you take the time to understand Obama’s takeover of healthcare will take care away from the elderly and infirm first. That’s how it works in the socialist world. Welcome.
LizardLips says: People have been using the poor, sick and infirm etc for political and/or monetary gain since forever but no one is more shameless and contemptuous of them than progressives who, when their ideas fall flat, always look for an ideological ‘selling point’, preferably one that tugs at the guilt strings that yank the heart strings to massage open the purse strings before throwing them back onto the plantation for the next con job. How typical.
Smartuckus says: I too have a special needs child. My concern isn’t that Brittainy expressed her opinions, it is that her opinions are wrong. She has been indoctrinated by leftists to believe that Republicans want to take away every program from which the truly needy benefit. Obama and his Marxist machine are exploiting special needs children. Her letter is nothing but politically opportunistic propaganda for Obama and the left, which serves no other purpose than to turn Brittainy into yet another “straw man.” You asked the question: if a girl named Brittainy had written the same letter but erased the part about having DS, would there be any uproar? My point is that if a girl named Brittainy had written the same letter and left out the part about having DS, the Obama administration would never have considered using her in the
Th_Ph says: Cassy, it’s the hypocrisy. Remember the kindnesses Dems showered on Trig, Sarah Palin’s “retard baby” as so many on the compassionate left termed him. Obama is an advocate not simply of abortion but of infanticide. People like Brittany are being aborted out of existance by liberal policies. And if you were to have a conversation with a modern liberal about abortion, you would be shocked. They no longer talk about children born into poverty, they talk about birth defects.
Steve says: They talk as if infants aren’t human.
Kelly says: I still have “half dead baby” echoing around in my head after all the “compassionate” left’s coverage of Trig during the 2008 campaign. Ugh.
Instead, why don’t we say that babies like Brittany are survivors of Obama’s 98%?
Ken Shaeff says: Just another example of the hideous left exploiting any and every TOOL at their disposal to retain control and power. I want you to think now about the horrid things the left said about Sarah Palin’s downs baby while they were shrieking over her potential presidential run.
You’ve been duped Cass.
John says: I have a brother who likely would be diagnosed as being “autistic” in this day and age. When he was born in 1957 he was said to be “mentally retarded” as the diagnosis. While he can basically talk, dress himself, and eat, he cannot work, have real relationships outside of family, or in any way make it in the real world. Our parents died in 1986 and 1995, so it has just been me and my sister watching after him over these years. I point this out so you know where I am coming from.
Obama exploits everyone. Obama is not out to help my brother or Brittany. He is out to use every story for his benefit. Did you notice how he had no emotional reaction to the death of the Libyan ambassador or the other three Americans who died in that embassy attack? It’s because he feels nothing. Seriously, he is all about himself. Everyone around him is a tool to his goals.
Remember, he does not care about “workers.” Only workers that can help him. Hence, his zapping the pensions of non-union GM workers while keeping those of union GM workers. He only helps those that will help him.
Is this exploitation with Brittany? We all have a right to our opinion, and I happen to think it is. I believe that, and it would take a lot to convince me otherwise.
I understand how profound Downs Syndrome can be. I have been around hundreds of Downs kids and young adults as I grew up with my brother. They range across the spectrum from those that are capable of working and actually making their way through life with only some help to those that are so seriously incapacitated that they are in wheel chairs and can barely communicate any need. It is a tough life. Whenever I see a young parent with a Downs child I know what they are experiencing, and I know how every moment of that family’s life will be changed from the day of that child’s birth on. It’s not a bad thing. It is what you make it.
I wish you well with your Downs child. One piece of advice (when asked) I always give is to make sure someone is there when you are gone for that child. My brother is four years older than me. He turned 55 last month. My parents never expected to die young, and I know my mother’s greatest worry in her final weeks was making sure my brother was taken care of correctly.
Thanks for you post on this. Conservatives do need to understand this is about humanity, and not just a good debate.
Eric says: I too have a son with Down Syndrome. What is offensive about this ad is the hypocrisy of Obama. Obama has supported unfettered abortion up until birth. The victims of this policy have been overwhelmingly the unborn with Down Syndrome. While state senator in IL several times he opposed the Born Alive Infant Protection Act. This would have require hospitals in the event of a botched about abortion where the baby is actually born alive to try and save the babies life if possible or to give comfort care should the there be no hope. There were instances in IL where infants born alive, some with Down Syndrome, were left to die by themselves amongst soiled laundry in the linen room. Obama is not a friend of those with Down Syndrome.
AmericanDawg says: Whats Wrong With Mayonnaise ?
Cassy says: LOL — from The Whole Nine Yards? It popped into my head while I was writing the post. 🙂
AmericanDawg says: Thanks Cassy,
I don’t feel I have a right to interject an opinion on this because I’m not directly involved with a D.S. child..I will leave the opinions to those that can speak with authority on the subject…I know your days are filled with challenges and victory’s for your child…
I will say this, Parents that have children with D.S. are the most loving , caring and passionately involved in every aspect of their children’s lives…You have my deepest respect….
Kris Swanson says: Cassie: The reason that Obama is exploiting Brittany, is that she is obviously NOT one of the 47%. She works and pays taxes, and does the best she can to take care of herself. It is only because she has Downs Syndrome that Obama is exploiting her letter.
Redleg says: If she hadn’t have had Down syndrome, then would anyone have cared about this letter of the week?
Would Obama? The letter is awsome, what is disgusting is when the Obama campaign, and his administration only see the world through the prism of differences, whether it is gender, race, religion, and now physical disability.
His special olympics comment set the tone, and makes this letter exploitive, he will use a disability for a laugh, and for a vote.
creeper says: Cassie, it isn’t the Down syndrome. It’s the hypocrisy.
This would be credible if Obama had accepted the bowling challenge by the down syndrome boy……..
Kelly says: When I think of the 47%, I don’t think of people like Brittany, who want more opportunities than hand-outs. I think of Sandra Fluke, who is blessed with every opportunity and yet still wants hand-outs.
Possum Dearie says: What does your daughter think of Sarah Palin campaigning with her baby boy Trigg? Just curious. We know what other liberals thought.
Cassy – when I first saw the article, I had two distinct thoughts. Is Brittany aware of Barack Obama’s stand on abortion and it’s impact on DS lives? Many people accept the MSM narrative and don’t dig for the full history on candidates. That’s no different than many young women buying the pushed lie that abortion is a consequence-free solution to their unwanted pregnancy. Asking “Does she know the full picture?” is not a reflection on Brittany’s abilities or possible naivety, and I’m sure many others thought that way.
My other sense is related to certain ominous exploitative behaviors which require direct calling out. 3 examples: A Canadian folk band writes a pro-life song, sells albums like crazy to pro-lifers, then admits they’re fully pro-choice, donating proceeds to abortion organizations. The Kennedy family starts up Special Olympics, a seemingly good thing, but politically they fully support and push abortion. The end result – Special Olympics is manageable and provides conscience soothing cover not only for the Kennedy family, but also to many progressives who participate. This is a known technique, which brings me to it’s most horrifying use, which I believe you are quite familiar with: Germany’s T-4 mercy-killing program.
Once it may seemed a stretch to draw such a correlation in the USA, but given the nature of man, and particularly with a national cult of personality/media manipulation, this is not beyond possibility. Such deeds need to be called out as loudly as possible before the road is too far traveled, and hearts become too hardened.
Obama and the hard left have a particular pattern of behavior that wraps cruelty with compassion. Please don’t be fooled by their gestures, the substance underneath is completely rancid.
BeukendaalMason says: The problems I have with this letter and the whole ‘framing” of the discussion by Democrats are as follows:
First, is this young lady really part of the “47%” or even a sginificant part? Are all of those that many we would support for possibly not having to pay no taxes any significant part of that “47%”? Probably not. Do they wish to be part of that “47%”? Again probably not. Are there many in the “47%” who would have their vote influenced by a campaign that scared them about the other candidates would take away their “entitlements”? YES THEY CAN! Even Obama 14(?) years ago stated that he believes Democrats should create a “voting group” out of those who recieve “entitlements” and manipulate them.
Second, how pathetic is it that the Democrats support keeping people dependant on Government “entitlements”? Why is this young lady only earning $4.75 per hour (and only allowed to work 25-30 hours per week)? That is illegal, why is she not allowed to make more money and fully be able to support herself instead of continueing to tax others to give to her? Why do peope support a political party that promotes the ideology of limiting people from fully earning their own wages and not have to depend on “entitlements”? Why do we prevent ANYONE from earning more money so that they can join in the taxed group and away from the “entitled” group?
Texas Mama says: My problem is not with Brittany voicing her opinion. My problem is with Obama using Brittany’s opinion to cast her into the role of “victim” against a political opponent. As a mother who also has a special needs child, I think you and I both know that the last thing we want is to have our child seen as “victims” of anything, by their own eyes and by society. Yet this is the role he placed her in, the victim role – a victim of both Romney and the conservative/republican agenda, to be pitied because she has Down’s Syndrome.
It isn’t her pro-Obama opinion that has people upset; it is his actions and the motive behind his actions – he didn’t publicize her letter to benefit her, so that she might have her voice heard… he publicized her letter to benefit himself, taking advantage of her voice in a manner that misdirects what Romney said. That is, exploiting the fact that she has Down’s for his own selfish, personal gain.
I can almost guarantee you, based on the political track record of identity politics so often abused by himself and the liberal party, that when her letter was chosen that he did not see Brittany the courageous, hard working young woman striving to make a life for herself. He simply saw “Downs Syndrome”, and a way to score a political point and that is something special needs parents fight against daily – to not have our children defined by their disability; to not have our children used by people for their own benefit; to not have our children taken advantage of for wrong reasons. He used her, not in spite of her disability, but because of her disability, and that serves no one but himself.
On a different note, do we really think Brittany’s letter would have seen the light of day from Obama’s side if she had expressed her, and ALL children with DS and special needs “imperfections”, have the right to be born?
Anyhow, Cassy, I understand your point in all of this.
I just don’t believe Obama has any credibility to be using her in this manner.
He never even stood up to those who were attacking Sarah Palin and her son during 2008. Now this?
politicaljules says: It’s not that she is for obama. That is fine and good. It is the way she is being used by obama to attack his opponent. That is the sickening part.
Your false outrage and misunderstanding of the situation makes you look like a fake. But that would never happen. Would it? Would liberals pose as conservatives and then try to divide other conservatives on social issues like this?
politicaljules says: Instead of a letter that has been written by everyone except britney, let us hear from britney herself. There is so much wrong with the situation and so many places where lies are stuck in this story. I feel sorry for Britney, and everyone should respect her privacy including obama. But no…. He threw her to the wolves to take the brunt of the attacks he could not shoulder himself.
Wendy says: Do you realize how very hateful the sad majority of you sound? Reread you comments. You should be ashamed of yourselves. You are entitled to your opinions here but we will not make this world a better place for ourselves or our children who have DS by being so spiteful in our spirit… Please spend such passions for making change instead!
Patti Armes says: What is everyone’s problem? Obama was obviously impressed by this girls statement. Good for him for noticing her worth. As a mother of a daughter with Down Syndrome I applaud his inclusion. Thank you for the exposure and shame on all of you for objecting to her publication. That is why she sent the pic and is probably quite happy to have been chose. You activists don’t represent the majority you know.
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