September 4, 2008

Politics of the Broken

As you might have noticed, unless you were busy redecorating that new rock you've been living under, the political scene in this country has gotten pretty nasty. I have no idea how the next two months are going to possibly go by without at least one candidate using the term "motherfuckers" on Meet the Press at some point. (Perhaps I should set my DVR, just in case.)

I keep seeing dubious "facts" being throw out into the mix (and honestly, I see it mostly from the McCain campaign, although perhaps that's just because I expect it from the Republicans and am thus activated to catch it when it happens), and when the opposition does some legwork and disproves the accusation, the party who originally threw the mud just leaves it stuck to the wall as if just saying it somehow made it true. The voting public is left with such a mess to sort through that they usually walk away in disgust and end up voting for the person with the best hair.

I hate watching that happen. I hate it more that I was almost party to it.

This morning, I received an email on an assistive communications discussion list I belong to. (Yeah, every day's a party in my depressing inbox.) The email claimed that Alaska Governor Sarah Palin was responsible for a SIXTY-TWO PERCENT cut in special education services during her brief tenure in office. I went online and did some cursory reading, and became convinced pretty quickly that it was true.

Here's what I found. The 2007 annual budget for the Department of Education and Early Development Special Schools in Alaska, which is overseen by the governor, showed the program funded at $8,265,300. This would have been approved prior to Palin taking office. The 2008 annual budget showed a reduction to $3,156,000, and the 2009 annual budget for that department showed the same. There's your sixty-two percent cut.

I was pissed. A lot of people were.

So I posted something on Twitter, which automatically posted a status update on Facebook, and before long I'd gotten a tiny little tornado going. I didn't have much time to spend researching the claim, since we had to take Schuyler to an eye appointment, but I kept thinking about it while I was gone. And the thing I kept thinking was how it simply didn't make sense.

Now, please understand something. For years, I had a bumper sticker on my old car that said "I'm too liberal for the Democratic Party". I find the Republican Party to be wrong in almost every area of policy, and furthermore I find their commitment to slimeball politics to be un-American. When the metaphorical Visigoths breach the walls of our modern day American Rome, it'll be the Republicans and their relentless polarization of our society unlocking the gates for them.

And the more I learn about Sarah Palin, the more I believe that she represents the most extreme positions of her party, to the point of becoming a cartoon villain. Here are just a few of her resume items:

-- As mayor of Bugfuck, Alaska, she tried to ban books and control media access to her staff. She also employed a lobbying firm and secured $27 million in earmarks for this town of fewer than 7,000 people.

-- The Alaska National Guard, her command of which is being touted as part of her executive experience, is experiencing such extreme personnel shortages that its aviation units are among the most poorly staffed in the nation; the Alaska Guard's top officer warns that the lack of qualified airmen has reached a crisis level and puts missions at risk.

-- She's deeply in love with the idea of drilling the shit out of her state of Alaska, doesn't believe in global warming and denies the viability of alternative energy solutions, saying that they "are far from imminent and would require more than 10 years to develop".

-- As part of her support for increased oil drilling in her state, Governor Palin sued the Bush administration in an effort to have polar bears removed from the list of threatened species. Polar bears! Who hates polar bears? It's a good thing puppies don't impede oil exploration.

-- Palin believe that Creationism should be taught in public schools and has frequently expressed her belief that Jesus Howard Christ needs to play a larger role in government. (Well, not literally; Jesus is a notorious slacker where civic responsibility is concerned. He dodges jury duty every time.)

-- As part of her deep Christian beliefs, she is opposed to abortion in all cases, even those resulting from rape or incest. The only unwanted pregnancies she's willing to give any ground on are ones in which childbirth would result in the death of the mother. Sarah Palin is very proud of her daughter for choosing to keep her baby (as if she would have tolerated any dissent), but she doesn't believe that anyone else should actually have that same choice.

-- Palin is a former director of "Ted Stevens Excellence in Public Service", an advocacy group for Republican women in Alaska. Stevens has been indicted by a grand jury for violations of the Ethics in Government Act. He is also out of his tiny mind, incidentally.

-- Most amusingly for me, as a citizen of the former Republic of Texas (which has its own very similar nutbags), Sarah Palin and her husband have very direct ties to the Alaskan Independence Party, a group that has advocated secession from the United States. (She addressed their party conferences in 1994, 2000 and 2008; her husband has been a registered member for ten years.) The party's founder, Joe Vogler, is a magical fountain of fun patriotic quotes: "The fires of hell are frozen glaciers compared to my hatred for the American government and I won't be buried under their damn flag."

So there you go. Governor Sarah Palin.

I don't feel much better about Palin's behavior as the mother of a child with special needs, either. The fact that she accepted a place on her party's ticket with a five-month-old baby with Down syndrome at the very least suggests that she simply has no idea what a hard road is waiting for her and the level of commitment that will be required of her. In an interview with People, she admitted that she didn't tell her children about her son's Down syndrome until after he was born because she wasn't sure how she felt about it herself.

"Not knowing in my own heart if I was going to be ready to embrace a child with special needs," she said, "I couldn't talk about it."

But that's the thing that didn't make sense to me. Everything I'd read about Sarah Palin suggested that she'd be a terrible choice as a vice president; indeed, she seems like a pretty poor excuse for a governor. But she did choose to have a baby with Down syndrome, and while that makes sense in light of her views on abortion, it also seems to fly in the face of the kind of disregard for disabled children that would seem to drive someone to cut their budget by sixty-two percent. The world is hardly lacking in examples of pious Christians whose opposition to abortion disintegrated as soon as they peed on the stick and saw the little plus sign. As much as it may chap her sanctimonious ass to admit it, Sarah Palin had a choice.

I couldn't escape the feeling that Palin did not seem to be the kind of monster to metaphorically throw special needs kids out on the ice floe and leave them to the mercy of cruel Nature. Perhaps I'm naive; I've certainly heard from plenty of Conservatives in the past year who believe that special education, and particularly mainstreaming, is destroying the educational opportunities for their own neurotypical kids. But still.

So I did a little more reading, and as it turns out, I was right.

So yes, the budget for the Department of Education and Early Development Special Schools in Alaska appears to have been cut by about sixty-two percent between 2007 and 2008. But if you look carefully, you'll see that one program, the Alaska Challenge Youth Academy, disappears from the budget during that time. Dig a little further, and you'll find that it's still there, but now as a separate budget item. So the money didn't get cut after all; indeed, it appears that she actually increased funding for that particular program.

There's a sort of community that exists, or seems to, among parents of special needs children. In the past I've referred to us as Shepherds of the Broken. Like it or not, I have been thinking all week, Sarah Palin just joined that group. She may not know it just yet, but it's a hard journey ahead, and the joy and political expediency of waving her baby in front of the cameras is eventually going to give way to some hard truths. The monsters that afflict our broken children don't care about your politics, and they don't make things any easier on parents who have money and power and handlers.

In her address to the Republican National Convention, a speech that was otherwise puerile and sarcastic (and trust me, I know what I'm talking about; I frequently traffic in puerile and sarcastic, although no one ever hails me as the second coming of Lincoln when I do it), Sarah Palin reached out to her fellow Shepherds:

"To the families of special needs children all across this country, I have a message for you. For years you've sought to make America a more welcoming place for your sons and daughters and I pledge to you that if we're elected, you will have a friend and advocate in the White House."

Well, I don't believe a word of that, but at the very least, I suspect that no matter what happens to Governor Palin, she and I are going to have plenty in common. I hope she's ready. I don't think she is, but then again, not many of us were, and we're still here and still fighting. Sarah Palin, your rubber sword is waiting for you.

68 comments:

Jeanine said...

Despite the use of the phrase, "may chap her sanctimonious ass," I think you've taken the high road in this post, Rob. Good on you.

It's more than I could have (and have been able to do) about this particular right-wing evolution-hatin'librarian-firin' bible-bangin' twinkie.

Niksmom said...

Brilliantpost, Rob! Brilliant.

Anonymous said...

You nailed it here Rob. NAILED IT!
If only Tina Fey were still on SNL, I can just imagine the amazing skits that would get us through the next 2 months.

Anonymous said...

She had to have had some sort of test done to know the baby had Down Syndrome prior to birth. Wonder why she even had the test done if abortion was so out of the question?

Tammy said...

AMEN!

Love always
The Rubber Sword Army 0 Private Giardina

Anonymous said...

Thank you for this post. I'll be linking far and wide.

Lisa said...

I'm glad you wrote about this, Rob. I was actually wondering what you thought of that comment in her speech last night.

Anonymous said...

"Like it or not, I have been thinking all week, Sarah Palin just joined that group. She may not know it just yet, but it's a hard journey ahead, and the joy and political expediency of waving her baby in front of the cameras is eventually going to give way to some hard truths."

Brilliant, and heartbreaking, because, for all of us in the "group", we don't wish anyone to be a part of our group. It hurts to watch someone else join because we know what it feels like to take that initiation. To do so on a national stage.....I can't imagine.

Galen said...

I've been planning all week to write a blog post about Palin, but couldn't quite figure out where to start, there's so much to say about her. But now I don't have to, because you've written a post that is right on the mark. Thanks.

Katie said...

I would love to add you to twitter, care to share your name?

I loved your post on Sarah Palin and had been waiting for it!

Katie

Kassie said...

Well said, and thanks for digging a little deeper on the funding issue. Alaska's schools in general are worrisome and I definitely agree with those that question why she returned so much of the state surplus to individuals rather then invest it in (for example) education.

I also loved your characterization of the overwhelming amount of "information" that is available. It really is hard to sort out what is true and what is mud and by the time you do, it is often too late.

To the first 'Anonymous': routine pre-natal testing can turn up markers for Down Syndrome, so you don't necessarily have to go looking for a problem. And, even if terminating a pregnancy is not something you'd choose, it is often a good idea to identify issues prior to delivery so that any help that is needed can be provided. So, prenatal testing is not just about deciding to abort.

Anonymous said...

The monsters that afflict our broken children don't care about your politics, and they don't make things any easier on parents who have money and power and handlers.

Hm. I'm not sure I agree with this, despite not being a monster-dealing parent.

If McCain gets elected, Sarah Palin's job for the next four years is going to basically require that other people raise all of her children. She is going to get to swoop in for photo-ops that allow her base to believe that she's remaining an active, involved mother, but otherwise the children will be raised by the nannies, the tutors, the kitchen staff and each other.

That kind of tax-funded support team sure seems to me like it would significantly lubricate Palin's experience as a special needs parent. Would that all of you had that kind of help from the government.

Anonymous said...

I just gave you a standing ovation at my desk, Rob. Well researched, well written, well said. I don't care for the politics of this Tina Fey Doppelganger, and her use of her infant son as a prop has been making me nauseous. Sad thing is, I don't think she'll actually ever show up to claim her rubber sword -- you may be giving her too much credit.

S. Victor Aaron said...

I still haven't figured out which of the two tickets represent the lesser of two evils this time around, but I've been thinking a lot about Palin's views on special needs kids given her closeness to the issue and how much she really means that pledge to be a "friend and advocate in the White House" for us Shephards of the Broken as you put it. Thanks for taking the time to research the issue; it appears Gov. Palin hadn't put her money where her mouth is. Sadly she appears to be more of the typical politician than she's made out to be.

Jim Howard said...

I spent most of July in Alaska, and I personally vetted Governor Palin by asking almost everyone I encountered about her.

She is greatly loved there by most Alaskans, which is why she's the most popular Governor in the U.S. She does have enemies who hate her, and they are the source of a lot of the misinformation that you quote here. Most of her enemies are Republicans who were fired, fined, and/or jailed after she exposed their corrupt deals with oil companies.

Just to pick one point at random, Palin has followed through on plans to create a new sub-cabinet group of advisers to address climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions within Alaska (Wikipedia). Most of the other talking points you list are similarly wrong or greatly exaggerated.

She has a long record of reducing headcount in government, including the cook in the Governor's mansion. She is not afraid to cut programs that don't work, risking the ever popular 'she hates kids/dogs/baby seals/etc' smears. If you don't think the goverment is big enough now, then you should vote for Obama.

If you want your country to be more like Detroit, vote for Obama. If you'd rather it be more like Alaska or Arizona, vote McCain. That's really our choice.

Anonymous said...

I agree 99.5% with all of this here -- the one place I have a dissent is with the notion that Sarah Palin should step down because taking care of her kids is going to be difficult.

Not that I disagree that it's going to be difficult. My only objection is -- if it was SID Palin we were talking about, no one would be making that suggestion.

When a male politician experiences a family crisis, no one suggests that this is a sign he's been spending too much time at work and his family has suffered; no one suggested JFK resign when Patrick Kennedy died in office. No one suggested Dubya step down when Jenna was arrested for underage drinking in April 2001. But whenever it's a WOMAN whose family is under crisis, everyone tut-tuts about whether the poor dear can handle it or whether her kids have been suffering.

And that just seems like a double standard to me, frankly. Yes, becoming a shepherd of the broken is going to give the Palin family a lot more to worry about -- but let them work out how to handle that on their own rather than defaulting back to "mommy steps down to take better care of kids". If the lady wants to run, let her run -- the state of her home life shouldn't be a factor we judge her suitability for office by. The only thing we should judge her by are her merits.

(Granted, she flunks the merit test, which I just regard as super-tasty icing on the cake.)

Robert Hudson said...

Well, if there's anything you might have gotten from ANYTHING I've written about fatherhood and my role in Schuyler's life, I would hope it would be that I believe that commitment is gender neutral.

If Palin were a man and was the father of a new baby with Down syndrome, my position wouldn't be one bit different. Also, I think there's a difference between asking someone to step down from their career and expecting them to consider the consequences of taking on a NEW career that will, by the very nature of the position of vice president, severely curtail their ability to even SEE their family, much less fight for things like early intervention for a disabled kid. Here's hoping the Palin family nanny steps up to the plate.

Perhaps the First Dude will dad up and give this country a real masculine example: a father who puts the welfare of his child first.

I am literally the last person in the world who would suggest that parenting is "women's work". If I could only stand for one thing in my life, it would be the importance and equality of the role of fathers. I've done more than talk about it, too. I've lived my life by that belief. Suggesting otherwise is frankly offensive to me, and I'm pretty hard to offend.

Seriously, this country isn't going to heal until we lose our talking points, and I'm talking about both sides. Why are there even sides?

Liana said...

Rob, thank you. Thank you for doing what most of us don't- actually dig, and deep, to find the truth when what we're told just doesn't make sense.
AND, thank you for TELLING that truth.
I respect you even more now than I already did. :)

Jerry Critter said...

Wow! Being like Detroit or like Alaska/Arizona? That makes no sense at all.

Steph said...

This is why politics pisses me off to no end. What if you HADN'T dug deeper to find that funding wasn't actually cut? It seemed pretty cut and dried until you really looked closely. So, what else on that list isn't necessarily as it seems?

I'm not defending her or any of the republicans. I'm just saying that you presented a very important lesson here, one people supporting both parties need to keep in mind. The people you support? They play just as dirty as the other side. (I don't mean "you" as in you personally, Rob, I mean everyone.) They tell just as many half-truths, they exaggerate just as much, they twist things to fit their message just like the other side. NO politician, especially in a campaign like this, is innocent of that. Not one. I hope people remember that when they get all up in arms over the "dirty campaign tactics" that the republicans or the democrats are using. Everyone plays that way. That does NOT make it right; it simply means that we all have to be very, very careful when choosing what to believe.

Leightongirl said...

Brilliant. Thank you. Will link and share.

Anonymous said...

Rob, you never fail to disgust me.

AK Kim

Anonymous said...

Hi Rob,

If Palin were a man and was the father of a new baby with Down syndrome, my position wouldn't be one bit different. Also, I think there's a difference between asking someone to step down from their career and expecting them to consider the consequences of taking on a NEW career that will, by the very nature of the position of vice president, severely curtail their ability to even SEE their family, much less fight for things like early intervention for a disabled kid.

I'm sorry, I misunderstood this part then -- also, I read your post right after hearing from a whole raft of other folks who HAD been taking the exact stance I was arguing against, and I think it just put me on a hair-trigger. Sorry about that.

Robert Hudson said...

Rob, you never fail to disgust me.

AK Kim


And yet, you keep coming back, Kim. I just looked through my old emails. Are you aware that it has been a year and a week exactly since you loftily announced to me that you were no longer going to read me because of my disrespectful attitude towards religion? And you've commented since then.

You may disagree with everything I believe and with the way I raise my daughter; you've said as much, both privately and publicly. But one thing I teach her and will continue to teach her is to stand by the conviction of her beliefs, and to live her life without apology.

And what do YOU believe in, Kim? What keeps bringing you back to a place that disgusts you so much? Concern for Schuyler and her jesus-free life? If so, you can rest easy. She's doing swell with the imaginary friends she already has.

Seriously. Why do you keep coming back?

Anonymous said...

First of all, it has nothing to do with Schuyler. She is a lovely little girl, and hopefully someday will learn the difference between imaginary friends and God.

Second, I don't know why I keep reading. I guess it's like watching a train wreck. You just can't help but look.

Jim Howard said...

Rob, I'd really like to see a debate on the issues, which are really pretty simple. Do we want a very large high tax high spending Nanny-state isolationist government, or do we want to try and reform government at least a little, encourage the free market system rather than attack it, and stay engaged with the world.

You haven't yet gone in to full Palin Derangement Syndrome, and you really want to avoid that if you want to help Obama win.

I would suggest to my more excitable Democrat friends that they be careful before they spread every rumor they hear, post every photoshopped image they can find, attack Palin's family, and in general throw as much poo at Palin as they can find in the hope that something will stick.

Right now, thanks mostly to our Democrat friends at places like the Daily Kos, Palin is the most popular political figure in the United States: http://preview.tinyurl.com/Rassmuseen0905

Robert Hudson said...

First of all, it has nothing to do with Schuyler. She is a lovely little girl, and hopefully someday will learn the difference between imaginary friends and God.

Second, I don't know why I keep reading. I guess it's like watching a train wreck. You just can't help but look.


Well, I never confuse Jesus with God, first of all. Like many non-evil people in the world, Julie and I are quite simply not Christians and don't believe in the divinity of Christ. Turns out the world is full of folks like that, some of us even managing to kids in healthy homes. Who knew? If that offends you, I have no idea what else to say. I also don't believe in unicorns.

As for the rest, I've never denied the existence of God, as you well know. Schuyler already had a crackerjack introduction to God, before she was even born. When she's old enough, perhaps she'll come to different conclusions than I have about what a bully he's been to her and her fellow broken children.

But at least she'll have the baggage-free freedom to come to that conclusion, without having to guiltily throw off any of the threatening, "he knows when you've been sleeping" scary-boo dogma that keeps so many kids from leaving the nest their parents feathered for them. Schuyler will never have to wonder if she's going to suffer eternal damnation for going against what her mother and father believe, and that's good enough for me.

You seem awfully emotionally invested in this trainwreck. But if that's your answer, then good for you.

Robert Hudson said...

Well Jim, I agree that a clear, non-hyperbolic debate is needed. I don't think your point of departure is going to get us there, though. Nanny state? Really?

You know that from my particular perspective as a special needs parent, there is a certain amount of "nanny state" that I have devoted pretty much all of my energies to promoting, right? I've seen how the free market takes care of kids like Schuyler.

At least when you disagree with me, you don't take your toys and leave. I do appreciate that, as always.

Anonymous said...

If God was such a bully, He wouldn't have given you Schuyler in the first place.

Robert Hudson said...

If God was such a bully, He wouldn't have given you Schuyler in the first place.

Don't think for a SECOND that I am not 100%, painfully aware that for every kid like Schuyler who is born to parents who love them and fight for them (even disgusting heathen parents), there are plenty who fall through the cracks.

I recognize that Schuyler lives a charmed life. It would still be vile of me to refrain from speaking up for the afflicted kids who don't.

The world is full of disposable, broken children. Perhaps they had it coming, I don't know. Ask God about that one.

Anonymous said...

As you have probably experienced, Palin does not fall into the same category as many of us with a special needs child. She will more than likely experience more patience since her little one has the physical signs of Down Syndrome. I doubt she'll get the tsk-tsk or nasty looks when inappropriate behavior occurs.

And I'm actually thrilled to pieces that she was selected as the VP candidate. Makes hitting the democratic button all easier!

Anonymous said...

No offense Jim, but of my salary I already pay 34% income tax (including 6% state), 1% social security/medicare, 14% on health insurance + deductable which I meet every year (with 2 special needs kids). If you add property tax and sales tax you are really pushing it into the 60%+ range for "tax". I am counting health insurance here, because in all "1st world" countries besides ours, this would be part of my taxes instead of out of my pocket elsewhere.

This "high tax nanny state" what are you talking about? I mean, you would be hard pressed to find a 49%-60% tax rate in any of these high tax nanny states that seem to be working for the rest of the world. Of course they are using tax income to help their citizens live a better life... a concept somehow lost in our very bloated, very useless current government.

It is a strange day indeed when the democratic party seems to be a better hope for a smaller, tighter budgeted government.

Anonymous said...

I was wondering what you would make of Sarah Palin. You are right this is getting nasty and will only get more so. I'm trying to sheild my very excited ten year old (she's feels like she is seeing history being made) form all of the nastiness.

I don't know if she really understands what is in store for her and her family. Hopefully, her husband will be bal to be there with her and Trig. I also feel so bad for her oldest daughter. The poor girl has no privacy.

heatherrific! said...

I heard someone on the radio today remark that Jesus was a community organizer and Pontius Pilate was a governor. I thought that summed it up pretty well until I read your post. Well written!

Anonymous said...

So...the first thing we associate with Detroit (a city) is...hm, urban and Black? And Alaska and Arizona (states) ... we might think of white and libertarian? (Well, ok, we might also also think of border culture but I'm pretty sure that's not what the commenter was alluding to.) I don't mean to attack anyone with this reply; I suspect the overtones may have been unintentional or unexamined.

Sorry, this should be a reply to Rob. Thank you, Rob, for a thoughtful piece on this aspect of Palen's biography. I'm so glad you're here, on the internet, in one form or another.

Anonymous said...

you wrote: The fact that she accepted a place on her party's ticket with a five-month-old baby with Down syndrome at the very least suggests that she simply has no idea what a hard road is waiting for her and the level of commitment that will be required of her.

do you really think that she will take care of this child? please, her children will take care of it and a nanny will take care of it when they are not around.

Jim Howard said...

Shaggy, you understated your taxes by at least 7.5%, because that's the 'employer contribution' to social security, which you really pay no matter what your W2 says. Obama wants to raise that tax on you.

I've lived many years overseas and I assure that while your taxes are too high, taxes are MUCH higher in Europe, as is unemployment.

harrietv said...

When it comes to supporting special needs childen, it seems to me that the Kennedys -- especially Eunice Kennedy Shriver -- did an awful lot for those children, without ever saying "hey, look at me, I'm supporting the Special Olympics." There's something about the attitude that is inherently different.

Michelle said...

Aw, Man. I know you support the Democratic ticket. I know you are anti-McCain and pro-Obama. But, geez. I expected a lot more from you than jumping on the "she shouldn't be running for VP b/c she has a special needs child" band wagon. Wow.

Robert Hudson said...

Aw, Man. I know you support the Democratic ticket. I know you are anti-McCain and pro-Obama. But, geez. I expected a lot more from you than jumping on the "she shouldn't be running for VP b/c she has a special needs child" band wagon. Wow.

Wow yourself, Michelle. Talk about the bandwagon to someone who doesn't live the reality of raising a special needs child. Tell it to someone who hasn't been responsible for fighting for early intervention for a child that probably has a much easier path that Palin's kid is going to have. Because I can tell you that I have been exchanging emails with a number of special needs parents, and every single one of them has said the same thing. How is she going to do it?

And the answer, we all know, is that she won't. Someone else will.

Write this down, Michelle, because it's important. Raising a child with a disability is fucking hard.

And I don't care if she finds her political journey leading all the way from mayor of Booger Hollow to the Vice Presidency of the United States. One thing is for certain. Raising a child with a disability is going to be harder work. Harder, more heartbreaking at times, and ultimately more important than any political job.

And for the record, is the First Dude willing to step up and be the parent who does that work? Because if he's not, THAT'S the sexism in this campaign, and it's something no one's talking about. If that child's extraordinary needs aren't going to be tended to by the Vice President of the United States, who we might at least assume might rather busy, and it's not going to be taken up by the father (for whom the idea of "taking it up" is in itself offensive; Dad, it's your job), then who?

Am I wrong? Quite possibly; the parents of broken children have every right to try to make their own lives and careers even as they take care of and advocate for their kids. It's not actually one of the issues in Palin's story that I'm the most concerned about.

But is parental responsibility for caring for a special needs child a legitimate topic for discussion, here on the blog of a special needs parent? Absolutely.

If you find that unacceptable, I suggest you go to the bottom of the page and click on the "Give me a refund" button. Because you'll find that "how DARE you!" doesn't resonate with me. Not when child advocacy is on the table.

Michelle said...

But is parental responsibility for caring for a special needs child a legitimate topic for discussion, here on the blog of a special needs parent? Absolutely.

If you find that unacceptable, I suggest you go to the bottom of the page and click on the "Give me a refund" button. Because you'll find that "how DARE you!" doesn't resonate with me. Not when child advocacy is on the table.

Absolutely it is a legit discussion - and I am a big fan of yours and the work that you are doing not only on behalf of Schuyler, but on the advocacy of other special needs children and their families.

With that being said...you're busy. You're on book tours, and writing and editing and doing all the other things that make your life your life. You're dedicating to your career, and your career has become the cause. Your wife works. And yet, you are raising your daughter. You are advocating on her behalf. You are doing everything you can within your means...and more. I don't think ANYONE would call into quesiton what you are doing on behalf of Schuyler. I certainly am not. You have let the outside world in, behind the curtain to see some of what you and yours deal with...and with the small amount we do see, we know there is a lot more.

My disappointment comes from the fact that you have already judged this woman. You have judged her when this baby is in his infancy and you have judged her because of her choice of career. You have judged how she may raise her child because you don't like her politics. THAT is where I expected more from you. You, who have been judged by outsiders yourself. You, who have fought so intent on not having Schuyler judged for outside appearances, have chosen to pre-judge what this woman is going to do with her special needs child. And it wasn't simply, "how is she going to do it".

You fight a lot of good fights. You post a lot of intelligent, well thought out comments and commentary - some I agree with and some I don't. But this disappointment came from the fact that you yourself did what you fight on a daily basis to keep from happening to you and your own family. You unfairly judged. And that is why I say, "WOW".

Spamboy said...

@Rob To clarify, Sarah Palin acknowledges the reality of global warming -- where she disagrees with the growing consensus is that she does not believe it to be a man-made phenomenon.

@Heatherrific! That item you heard on the radio was from a listener-sent email on Friday's edition of the Diane Rehm Show.

Robert Hudson said...

With that being said...you're busy. You're on book tours, and writing and editing and doing all the other things that make your life your life. You're dedicating to your career, and your career has become the cause.

Well, to be fair, I do actually drag Schuyler to all my events. Someone's got to carry my stuff for me.

stephanie said...

Well I've already judged Palin. Not in the way she may or may not raise her child but in what she believes. As a Canadian I see three issues as the clincher. Does she want to outlaw abortion? Yes. Does she believe in gun control? no. Does she believe in universal health care? No.

So yes, I have judged her as unfit to be V.P. or possibly even President. I'm astonished that some americans are buying her pitbull/lipstick dog and pony show.

Easey Peasey.

Michelle said...

LOL! Good point - Schuyler is with you every step of the way!

Justamom said...
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Justamom said...
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Anonymous said...

Okay, now I have to say that the whole 62 percent rumor is the result of many that did not read the budget in full.

There was actually an increase.

So there is one thing as a special needs parent and educator that I can stress a little less about.

Still undecided and hate digging through all the crap going around.

Did you hear that Trig is not hers?! haha.

Queen Bee said...

I completely disagree with your politics and your view on religion, especially on the subject of the nature of God.
But I read your website every day, bought your book, etc, for the following reason: You are an excellent writer. Your story and that of Schuyler touches me. Your wife impresses me. The things I disagree with are pushed by the wayside because I really feel very strongly that you are a great parent, that you are an honest and feeling individual who has something to say that I need to hear. I have been blessed by the reading I do on your website, it fills me with gratitude and hope. And pride, because I feel like I learn something when I read you. Not about religion or politics, because like I said, you are completely the opposite of most of my views, but about how to love, and live my life to make a difference in my children's lives, to teach them to be loving and good.
You are most definitely NOT a train wreck.

Elizabeth said...

Love the post. I've gotten in so many arguments over the last few days like the ones in these comments. Where are the special needs parents who actually LIKED what the Guv said? My first and immediate reaction was to be offended, mainly by her PRESUMPTION that she even KNOWS what it's like to have a special needs child. Good God, after fourteen years of caring for one, I know that she has no f'ing idea. And she might have had a little humility about that.

Elizabeth said...

I've left a link to your blog on my own -- hope that you don't mind. Thanks, again, for the wonderful post.

Anonymous said...

Did most of you have a mother and a father? I had a stay home mom and I was a stay home mom and I have a daughter who, though highly educated is a stay home mom. We are all better off because of it. Both parents have an equally important part in a childs life, but it's the mothers who need to be home to nurture the children when they are very young. We have changed the ways of nature and now we are going to pay the price. Go ahead and try to behead me, I lost my head over this whole issue already.

Balancing Act; Jenn said...

Rob: I have come and read this post more than once, even had my husband who is not a "blogger" come, sit down a spell :), and read. I warned him it was long but 1000% worth it. He sat and read. I have come back since. It is beyond me BEYOND me what the discussion still is. Why folks are backing her? I think they drank the KoolAid. They are trying to shove this mess down our throats and expect us to believe without researching. They want us to VOTE for her/them but we aren't allowed to ask her questions or watch her be interviewed. WT?
As per the norm, your post is supremely written and points are made and researched nicely. Like many others I am linking back here. I have writen my own (more feeling driven and less fact driven) opinions on this topic on my own blog but yours say it very well. I don't know what we'll do if they are voted in, I really don't. Pray really hard (sorry Rob), yes, pray really hard for our country and our citizens.

Anonymous said...

I spent this weekend angrily listening to a number of people tell me why I shouldn't vote for Obama. One gave me the time-tested "He was sworn in with the Koran", rapidly followed by, "He doesn't salute the American flag." Intermingled were "But McCain was a POW!" and "Awww, wasn't it cute when Palin's little girl was licking her hand and patting the baby's hair down?"

These same people of course are genuflecting at the feet of Sarah Palin because she is an NRA member (because really, if you can't fire a shotgun, you just don't deserve to lead our country).

I genuinely support every American's right to choose the candidate whom they feel will best do the job, but I cannot stomach the fact that there are hoards of people out there who are voting based on arbitrary or false information. While I'd love to see an Obama bumper sticker on every car in Ohio, I no more want people to vote for him because he gives a great speech or is a minority than I want people to vote for John McCain because he has served in the military.

BAAAAAAAAAA.... It frightens me. It really does.

Michelle said...

Maybe Kim should have remained anonymous.

As a Christian, I am sad to say it is the "Christians" like Kim that give us all a bad name. And unfortunately, there are a lot of Bible-beating-I-am-better-than-you-and-your-sins-are-worse-than-mine "Christians" out there. That's not what Christianity is all about, but it is what modern day "Christians" have turned it into.
We don't all have to agree - I don't agree with your religious views or political views.

I do think that you have gotten a lot of things right, and I certainly can say that I learn a lot from you EVERY time I read your blog. I read your book. There are many times that I look at your parenting, then I look at my own...and I know that I can be lacking in many areas. With that being said, who cares what I think???

So where is the trainwreck? It's sitting in the middle of Kim, her heart, her words, and the rest of the "Christians" out there who choose to beat and belittle with their words and actions.

Sorry that you are bearing the brunt of that.

Moira said...

Beautifully written. Thank you.

Anonymous said...

So... how's Schuyler doing?

Anonymous said...

I wish I had more eloquent words to share, but "thank you" will have to suffice.

Anonymous said...

Great post Rob. How could Sarah Palin, and I mean especially her, since she has a special needs child, justify cutting 62% of special education funding?? Its absolutely, can I use the word heartless?
I agree that this is a time when her family needed her more then politics; more power to the woman who can say that to the world.
Ive seen posts where people comment that she kicked Hillary's Ass..yeah, right, take a close, very close look at any of her decisions made while in office, and you see an ignorant bimbo,who got a bit of power, and made some very unitelligent decisions.
She isnt even in the same league as Hillary.
The Republicans got what they wanted...A Soccer Mom On 'roids.
Maire

Anonymous said...

You should check out www.womenagainstsarahpalin.blogspot.com
It says it all.

Michelle said...

Maire - in Rob's post he mentions that she did NOT cut the 62% of the budget funding - as he dug into it this is what he found:

"So yes, the budget for the Department of Education and Early Development Special Schools in Alaska appears to have been cut by about sixty-two percent between 2007 and 2008. But if you look carefully, you'll see that one program, the Alaska Challenge Youth Academy, disappears from the budget during that time. Dig a little further, and you'll find that it's still there, but now as a separate budget item. So the money didn't get cut after all; indeed, it appears that she actually increased funding for that particular program."

A program was moved to a separate line item, and the budget for that program was increased, so there was not a 62% cut, or any cut (it appears) of special education funding.

PeanutandSweetPea said...

http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/sliming_palin.html

Sliming Palin
September 8, 2008
False Internet claims and rumors fly about McCain's running mate.
Summary
We’ve been flooded for the past few days with queries about dubious Internet postings and mass e-mail messages making claims about McCain’s running mate, Gov. Palin. We find that many are completely false, or misleading.

Palin did not cut funding for special needs education in Alaska by 62 percent. She didn’t cut it at all. In fact, she tripled per-pupil funding over just three years.
She did not demand that books be banned from the Wasilla library. Some of the books on a widely circulated list were not even in print at the time. The librarian has said Palin asked a "What if?" question, but the librarian continued in her job through most of Palin's first term.

She was never a member of the Alaskan Independence Party, a group that wants Alaskans to vote on whether they wish to secede from the United States. She’s been registered as a Republican since May 1982.


Palin never endorsed or supported Pat Buchanan for president. She once wore a Buchanan button as a "courtesty" when he visited Wasilla, but shortly afterward she was appointed to co-chair of the campaign of Steve Forbes in the state.


Palin has not pushed for teaching creationism in Alaska's schools. She has said that students should be allowed to "debate both sides" of the evolution question, but she also said creationism "doesn't have to be part of the curriculum."
A few of these claims were included in a chain e-mail by a woman named Anne Kilkenny. We'll be looking into other charges in that e-mail for a future story. For more explanation of the bullet points above, please read the Analysis

Justamom said...
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Anonymous said...

Rob,

I wandered across this blog by accident and realized that I recognized your picture from an article that I'd read in a magazine. I just had a couple of things that I wanted to say to you.

First of all, I agree that being the parent of a special needs child is "fucking hard", but I think that it's a whole like fucking harder for my daugher than it is for me, her not being able to sit, crawl, walk and then some. Second, I wanted to tell you that she is NOT broken, despite all of the challenges that I just listed. She is EPIC. The world is full of flaws, broken things. My daughter is a girl with some challenges, hers a little more challenging than most people's challenges, and I have proven to be much more broken in handling them than she is.

I admire your conviction and it is obvious that you are passionate about this topic, but great change has never been brought about with anger as the driving force. The world is full of people who can't begin to understand what it's like to even be a parent, let alone the parent of a special needs child. You can't shame, ridicule or force people to understand. Barack Obama doesn't understand you any more than Sarah Palin does, he just says that words that you want to hear, that make you feel understood. You are scornful of Sarah Palin which is almost sad, since she is a woman who is just beginning her walk down a road that you have been on for some time now. You demand compassion and understanding for yourself, your situation and your cause and yet you are unwilling to give it to those who have more in common with you than you would like to comfortably admit.

Anonymous said...

McCain picked Palin for one reason: to energize the base.

WIN! SCORE! HOME RUN!

Well done, GOP.

Anonymous said...

I am not a supporter of hers. But, let me say that having pre-natal testing can give you valuable information for when the baby is born. You can choose a hospital with a more complete NICU (not all NICUs are created equal), opt for a C-section if need be, etc.

It's funny how they say Sarah chose to have her son and how her daughter chose to have her baby. That's just it - it's about CHOICE! They co-opt not having a choice and then celebrate their choices.

As far as she being the VP with a special needs kid - there are many working moms out there and stay at home dads. That what we did. I took time for my kid's appointments. Hopefully, Trig won't have many problems. I went back to work after 3 months of leave - not knowing at the time how developmentally disabled my daughter would be. Then I was pregnant again when she was 15 months old. I had 2 kids in diapers and returned to work. Had to. I had the health insurance.

My husband and I are both self employed. It leaves us with a very flexible schedule. Granted we aren't running the country.

PJ said...

We first met last yr at caroling party for Communication Device users. Just found you r site.
Now to the issue being discussed

I agree with all of you that the Palins will have more help than most, so will never know how it feels to shoulder it alone, but it is still is their road to walk and they alone are in their shoes.
Rob, a lot of what you said was good, but I also agree with Anonymous who said...
--------------------
I wandered across this blog by accident...
I admire your conviction ... but great change has never been brought about with anger as the driving force...... ....
You are scornful of Sarah Palin .... who is just beginning her walk down a road....
You are unwilling to give [compassion] to those who have more in common with you than you would like to comfortably admit.
--------------------
Perhaps that last statement may be true but I would hope it is only because her political positions on color this discussion.

PJ said...

I see there is a typo which may confuse some, meant to say
Perhaps that last statement may be true but I would hope it is only because her political positions on some issues color this discussion.