Tuesday, December 4, 2012

When the likes of Rick Santorum prevail,



we're all brought down,

down


down

down.

The United Nations disability treaty failed to pass the Senate, due to Republican opposition, led by the far right. They had claimed that "the treaty would erode the principles of American sovereignty and federalism." This, of course, was bullshit, but despite support from disciplined Republicans, including Bob Dole, Dick Lugar, John McCain and former Attorney General Dick Thornburgh, the United States will fail to join 155 nations who have signed the treaty and 126 countries who have signed it.

I can't imagine any of the disabled veterans who stood in opposition to their fellow Republicans are exulting in this country's "sovereignty" today.

Read the article here.

14 comments:

  1. What is FUCKING WRONG with these people? I really do not understand.

    ReplyDelete
  2. i second ms. moon.
    I seriously don't understand some people. it's like, their thought processes are incomprehensible.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I third Ms. Moon! What are they thinking?!!

    Best,
    Bonnie

    ReplyDelete
  4. since i have absolutely nothing redeeming to say, and a lot of profanity swirling on the tip of my fingers, i will just say fuck em, and beyond that, hold my peace before it goes screaming down the road. i sometimes think we are in the twilight zone.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I think that the Tea Party would be more appropriately named the Fear-mongering Party. They are so fucking afraid of anything touching their own, insular little lives, they feel the need to scare the shit out of everyone else in order to stay in their own corner. I say, round 'em up and ship 'em off to little padded rooms where they can feel safe and leave the rest of us alone to think real, actual thoughts that are proactive instead of quaking in fear.

    "The safest place for a ship is tucked snug into the harbor. But that is not why ships are built."

    ReplyDelete
  6. I have been baffled -- BAFFLED! -- by a friend from high school (a conservative home schooling Christian, if that matters, and I guess it does) who has been spouting off opposition to this. I'll admit, guiltily, that I didn't challenge her on it because I didn't even know where to begin. I just stared at my screen, pawed at my face in a goofy panic, and backed away from the computer. How and why would anyone oppose this? I still don't understand.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I wish I could say it never ceases to amaze me how idiotic those fear mongerers can be, but sadly, it really doesn't amaze me at all anymore. They see the world as a big, scary place that is trying to creep into their little sheltered corners and take away everything they hold dear. I also have a friend who felt I should be alerted to this so I could contact my senators and beg them to vote no. Not having the time right now (too busy caring for my kids with disabilities) to really research the treaty and understand it fully, I had to let it go. But, just barely skimming the surface on the Internet, I quickly saw that I would want to encourage my senators to vote YES, not NO, which they did anyway without my help. It's pretty much a given to me that if Santorum supports something, I will want to go the other route.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I just do not understand these people. What is all this crazy paranoia about our sovereignty? It's the stupidest thing I've ever seen. (Well, ONE of the stupidest things...)

    ReplyDelete
  9. I don't understand either and I tried. I posted outrage at the opposition I was reading about from Rick Santorum. I am from South Carolina and I thought surely when I posted something on our Family Connection (parent to parent org) page about being extremely disappointed about the attitude regarding the treaty that I would have overwhelming support. I was wrong. I should have known. We moved to South Carolina three years ago and sometimes I feel like I am living on another planet. How could fellow special needs parents be against this? I listened and tried to stretch my mind to understand where one mom was coming from. She said the treaty would potentially remove her right to home school her special needs child and that she doesn't trust nor support anything the UN/WHO is a part of because they classify her daughter's diagnosis as incompatible with life. I discussed some of this with her and we got nowhere. I felt she made some good points but nothing that would come close to me feeling that I would not want to back this for the greater good and the collective global message I believe it stands for.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Here is an article which points out opinions of opposition: http://www.humanevents.com/2012/12/04/after-homeschoolers-lobby-un-disabilities-treaty-fails/

    -Michele

    ReplyDelete
  11. Finally, this editorial in the Chicago Tribune summarizes my feelings: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-12-04/news/ct-edit-disability-1204-jm-20121204_1_americans-with-disabilities-act-treaty-senate-ratification

    Here is a quote within it in particular that I think is important: The treaty contains broad language supporting economic, social and cultural rights. But there is no reason to think the U.N. would or could use these general sentiments as the basis for punitive action against home-schoolers, or any other particular group of Americans.

    "The conservative Heritage Foundation points out that since the treaty requires no new laws in the U.S., America has nothing substantial to gain by joining it. So why take a risk, the thinking goes, on opening the door to unwanted U.N. meddling in domestic affairs?

    The risk of such meddling is extraordinarily low. The potential to improve the lives of people with disabilities in other nations around the world is quite high. The U.S. should sign on. Senators, strike a blow for disability rights from Argentina to Zambia: Vote "yes" on the U.N. treaty."

    ReplyDelete
  12. what a bunch of idiots

    I think I'll scroll back down an read those poems again

    ReplyDelete
  13. I'm sorry, our Orrin Hatch from Utah did a one eighty and totally let us down. Yet again. I wish Ted Kennedy were still alive, he would not have let this happen.

    ReplyDelete

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...