Wednesday, July 27, 2016

How can I vote for Trump when he made fun of a person with a disability?

A huge question that I receive from people is, "Jessica, how can you possibly support Donald Trump when he made fun of a disabled reporter?" We've all seen the commercials and it was all over the place when it happened.  The first thing is many people say is the reporter has cerebral palsy.  He has a disability called arthogryposis that affects the development in your arms and legs. This is an important factor in the conversation but I'll get to that in a minute.

I obviously would never advocate making fun of anyone.  I even cringe when I see jokes of people making fun of Clinton's appearance, laugh and voice. I don't like when people make fun of Trump's hair. These things, like a disability, cannot be helped. Yet people make fun of them anyway. I have cerebral palsy, and I've been made fun of a million times. I'm not going to crumble and pout.  Life moves on, and I hope I don't behave like that to anyone else. 

But, to be honest, I'm not convinced that Trump even made fun of the reporter with arthogryposis. 

I just spent over thirty minutes viewing videos of Trump getting excited over reporters. His movements are practically identical for anyone he is angry with. Also, with arthogryposis, involuntary movements aren't part of the disability.  His limbs are basically stuck in one position but they aren't spastic when he talks.  He is still. Therefore, it wouldn't make any sense why Trump would be spastic when making fun of someone who isn't at all spastic. People with cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis and other neurological disabilities have spasms when talking.  People with muscular disabilities do not. They rarely even have a speech disabilities as well.

In the supposed moment Trump made fun of this guy, Trump was moving spastically. The reporter doesn't do that. I believe this reporter used his disability to deflect from himself making untruths in his reporting. That's the whole reason why Trump was mad at him in the first place.  

But, instead of dealing with his own misgivings in his writings, he turned it around saying Trump made fun of him. Well played and probably gained a few Clinton votes. But, I'm a special education teacher and I have been around disabilities my entire life to know the difference. If I'm wrong, I'm sorry - but as of right now, I think I'm correct.

Trump, in multiple interviews about this reporter, repeats the same information.  Trump has spoken to possibly thousands of reporters through the years and doesn't even remember what the reporter looked like. How would he remember what this one looked like of all the thousands he has talked to? Trump doesn't strike me as a guy that remembers every face to the name. Now Trump might be lying or he is telling the truth but as we know in this election, the truth isn't a big factor on the Clinton side either. 

Hilary Clinton has been accused of making fun of people with mental challenges and retardation. Did she or didn't she? Can you prove it? If she did, would it sway your vote? My guess is no. 

I'm voting for Trump or I'm voting for no one.  I never said I'm a huge fan of Trump or even any kind of fan.. I like that he has no problems telling people exactly how he thinks and he doesn't play with political correctness.  I like that he's not owned by the GOP or the Democratic Party but he's fresh face to politics. I like that he doesn't like liberal media. I like that he works hard and he has done several good things for people and society. I like he is not afraid to stand up to ISIS and want to protect people in our country. I think he's more patriotic than Clinton. I think he is more pro life than Clinton. 

Is Donald Trump my first pick for president? No.  I wanted Ben Carson, and I like Trump's kids - wish they were running.  But, unfortunately, we have Trump or Clinton.  And I know I'm a woman and have a disability and should be voting for Clinton. However, I can't get behind someone who has done so many illegal things and lies - not once - but over and over again.  Clinton along with Obama are again the two most pro abortion politicians out there. Usually, pro-choicers are saddened by abortion and agree on some restrictions. They even acknowledge that the unborn baby has some rights at some point. Not Clinton.  A few days ago, she even said a baby at 40 weeks of gestation should have no rights at all.  

If someone is that far away from reality and logic, how can anyone trust her?  She's saying that killing a baby minutes before birth is fine but moments after is not.  And, as far as disabilities, Clinton sees no ban needed for aborting babies with disabilities.  How can someone care about disabilities and yet find nothing wrong in killing an unborn baby simply because of a disability? It doesn't make sense.

Please view this video of Trump getting excited over Cruz - he makes the same movements in the video of him allegedly making fun of the reporter. - https://youtu.be/M4604reEqk0 - It's just Trump being his crazy self.

 


3 comments:

  1. Mr. Trump and Mrs. Clinton are figureheads, but if you look back at the actions of their respective parties, you can see that republicans have systematically overruled attempts to grant those with disabilities the same rights as those without.

    Shortly into our current president's second term, the U.S. Senate voted to ratify the U.N. Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities. If the treaty had passed, the United States wouldn't have been required to take any action whatsoever - it would have simply enabled the rest of the world to be brought up to speed on disability rights. However, it didn't pass.

    90% of those in favor of passing this treaty were democratic senators. All of those who voted against it were registered republican senators. This is just one example of the actions that republicans have taken against people with disabilities.

    Like you, I have beliefs that I stick by. I don't necessarily agree with either presidential candidate. I am NOT a passionately political person. However, I AM passionate about the rights of those who are disabled, including my dear older brother. I would definitely lay my life on the line for him if need be. But until then, I will continue to defend his rights. I could continue to list examples, but I don't want to take up too much space here, and I'm sure a little digging on Google would yield plenty of results.

    Instead of looking at what Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Trump themselves say and do, I look at the actions of the parties they represent. In grief and shame, I hang my head at the actions of conservative politicians.

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  2. Well said. I had my own favorites on the Republican side, including Scott Walker and Marco Rubio, but I'll vote for a houseplant over Hillary Clinton. For thousands of reasons, not the least of which is her inability to tell the truth about anything, ever.

    I think it's small of people to look at a single action and judge a person's worthiness based on that single action. My wife made fun of something I cooked -- is she a bad person now? Is she unworthy of my love, or my trust, or my affection? It's stupid... people today leap onto anything that cements their ALREADY HELD beliefs and opinions (called "confirmation bias"), and REFUSE to believe anything bad about the person or side they've chosen.

    Trump's a jerk for making fun of a disabled person (assuming the left's version of the story as truth), but Hillary's NOT a jerk for leaving Ambassador Stevens -- and four other brave Americans -- to die?? It's just stupidity, and the country doesn't need more stupidity.

    If you want to vote Clinton, then go ahead and do it.
    If you want to vote Trump, then go ahead and do it.

    Don't imagine that you raise yourself up by tearing someone else down.

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