The Dammit Doll

Have any of ya'll seen one of these? It's a lovely little piece of fabric shaped into a figure and stuffed, then decorated with fringe for hair. The legs and arms are long enough to grab onto, after which you just swing it around or hit something with it, over and over. Dammit, you say, Dammit, Dammit, Dammit! and you hit something with it, something inanimate that can absorb your frustration and aggressive impulses, sort of a dynamic voodoo doll. I needed a Dammit Doll yesterday to swing around and hit things with, as opposed to my righteous tirades on Facebook about that damn United Nations treaty. Dammit, dammit, dammit! I could have said and maybe even worked up a sweat as opposed to an existential nausea. There's something so unnerving about taming the ego, or at least making attempts. I know that hope springs eternal but it also springs foolish.

It gets even better with Steven Colbert and the United Nations treaty for the disabled

Anybody up for a threesome?

The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive

A sight for sore eyes

For in much wisdom is much vexation, and those who increase knowledge, increase sorrow.

Ecclesiastes 

 

After an impassioned argument on Facebook last night over the far right's triumph on the United Nations disability treaty, I needed a sight for my sore eyes.

Words flew and some weren't so "nice," and the person who took offense was arguing more about the language of the arguing, the nature of the discourse than the issue itself, I think. At one point this woman maintained that the reasons only 38 Republicans voted against it were "thoughtful."

I hate that. Sometimes "nice" language gets you nowhere. What do you think of those who fought against the abolition of slavery? They were legion. I imagine that many had "thoughtful" reasons to continue owning slaves. What do you think of those who fought against women's suffrage? They were legion. I imagine that many had "thoughtful" reasons to keep those women in their proper place. What do you think of those who fought against the American Disabilities Act or IDEA? They were legion. I imagine that many had "thoughtful" reasons to continue discrimination policies toward those with disabilities or to deny a free and public education to a disabled child.

What happened yesterday on the floor of the Senate is absolute bullshit.

Those who voted against this bipartisan treaty are not thoughtful, reasoned people.

Thank the good lord that crazy Rick Santorum didn't make it past the Republican primary, although I'm shivering at all the damage he has yet to bring to this country.

And thank God for Oliver in my beloved Tar Heels Ram hat. He's a sight for very sore eyes. And he's definitely not a kid who minces words. Ever.

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.

Let's Talk Some More - Part 2

Defendants, Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunal, 1945

1. Whatever proportions these crimes finally assumed, it became evident to all who investigated them that they had started from small beginnings. The beginnings at first were merely a subtle shift in emphasis in the basic attitude of the physicians. It started with the acceptance of the attitude, basic in the euthanasia movement, that there is such a thing as life not worthy to be lived. This attitude in its early stages concerned itself merely with the severely and chronically sick. Gradually the sphere of those to be included in this category was enlarged to encompass the socially unproductive, the ideologically unwanted and finally all non-Germans. But it is important to realize that the infinitely small wedge-in lever from which that entire trend of mind received its impetus was the attitude toward the nonrehabilitable sick.

-- Leo Alexander, American psychiatrist, neurologist and key medical advisor at The Nuremberg Trials. Dr. Alexander wrote part of the Nuremberg Code which provides legal and ethical principles for scientific experiments on humans.



2. Ontology, the study of the
being, holds that life is a supreme good that cannot be
measured and consequently cannot be graded. On the opposite,
health can be assessed and graded. Physicians are
constantly establishing whether the health of their patient
is improving or declining. However, the value of human life
cannot be measured, and is not determined by the quality
of an individual’s life at a particular time point (23).

-- from a paper titled Transplantation and Mental Retardation: What is the Meaning of a Discrimination

3. UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Article 25 - Health: States Parties recognize that persons with disabilities have the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health without discrimination on the basis of disability. Article 10- Right to Life: States Parties reaffirm that every human being has the inherent right to life and shall take all necessary measures to ensure its effective enjoyment by persons with disabilities on an equal basis with others.

United Nations' Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

United Nations' Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 2007

If you're interested in helping out Amelia, sign the petition at Change.org HERE.

Let's Talk - Part One