Sarah Palin says she stands for children with special needs but shows hypocrisy when it comes to hurting her brand
This past week, there was an uproar about Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel called a campaign method by far left bloggers "f**cking retarded." Both members of the left and the right collectively condemned Rahm Emanuel for making the careless statements. Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, who has a son with Down Syndrome, called on him to resign, saying it was an insult to "God's Children." However, incidentally, days after the story was leaked, Rahm Emanuel organized a summit for advocates for children with special needs. In turn, conservative fire eater Rush Limbaugh commented, "I think their big news is he's out there calling Obama's number one supporters f'ing retards. So now there's going to be a meeting. There's going to be a retard summit at the White House."
Yet Sarah Palin did not call for Limbaugh to resign in the same respect. Instead only releasing a general statement about not making such comments. By doing this, Sarah Palin has proved what some people have already realized; she is nothing more than a shill, worried about nothing but her brand and her own name. Should she dare cross Limbaugh, she will automatically be made a target and thus blacklisted as not a true conservative, just as Michael Steele was last year when he called Limbaugh's show incendiary. Arianna Huffington commented that this shows that she cares about nothing more than her brand.
This is truly a personal thing for me. As I may have told some of you in private, I was born with Dyspraxia, a condition that impedes on motor skill development, and am high functioning autistic. As a child I was greatly teased and beat up because I was not like other kids. At times, I wondered why I was not normal and why God made me this way. Thank God though, I had the undying support and love of my mother and my sister Stephanie and thanks to them, I am going to college and lead a pretty normal life. However, I know that there are some people who are not as fortunate as myself and I know that they are people who do not have the access to doctors that I had or the condition was not discovered until later in life and that's why I feel it is important to stand up for others who are not as fortunate as myself. To me, to use the word "retard" as an insult is just as wrong as using the word "gay" as a pejorative or saying the "N" word in reference to black people.
Though I greatly disagree with almost everything Sarah Palin stands for, I was deeply moved when I found out that the former Governor knew her son would be disabled and still kept the child. Though I did not support the McCain/Palin ticket, even if they did win, I thought as Vice President maybe she could influence John McCain to stand up for disabled Americans. When she lost the election, I hoped she would use her national stage as a platform to stand up for children like her son. However, Sarah Palin is first and foremost a product, and a brand; she will not do anything to possibly hurt her brand as an anti-intellectual conservative kharijite who stands toe to toe with Barack Obama and all other evil liberals, agnostics, or pragmatists.
In turn, instead of using her disabled son as a chance to create a sense of empathy, he has become a prop, only used for her to gain brownie points. Bringing Trig out to a rally and saying Obama's "death panels" will kill her son is good for her name. Calling out Rahm Emanuel, who both the left and the right despise, is good for her brand. Standing against Rush Limbaugh, even after he said such deplorable and dispicable things is not good for her brand and by doing this, Sarah Palin has shown she does not care about anything but Brand Palin.