There are times when a journalist writes something so breathtakingly stupid, you have to stop and ponder two things:
- What in the world was that person thinking?
- How in the hell did it get past an editor?
In a piece about Texas Gubernatorial candidate, Greg Abbott, MSNBC writer Zachary Roth makes some comments about Greg Abbott that are just jaw dropping:
It’s not just that Abbott’s likely too smart and deliberate a campaigner to fall prey to an Akin-like gaffe on the trail—though that’s important. It’s also because of something less concrete: One reason Abbott may have chosen not to explicitly use his disability to demonstrate empathy is that he doesn’t have to. The simple sight of him in his wheelchair—matchstick-thin legs dangling in front of him as he maneuvers himself around—is enough to set him apart from the parade of conservative Republican white men who talk about helping the job creators and seem never to have suffered a day in their lives.
Put simpler: It’s hard to turn a guy in a wheelchair into a villain—no matter his record.
[Emphasis mine]
Wow. Really?
Whether Roth meant to sound like a condescending prick is not at question. He just did sound like a condescending prick and apparently an editor didn’t seem to care.
My father from 1994 to his death in 2010, was in a wheelchair. And yes, through lack of use, any muscle mass goes away and it’s easy for the legs to become disproportionately thin as opposed to the rest of the body.
Of course, there is a standard decorum that goes along with it which is to make sure you’re not pointing it out directly. Why?
Because it’s rude.
You don’t walk up to a cancer patient who has been through chemo treatments and say, “Wow! Look at that bald head!”
I wonder, does Roth talk to amputees and ask if they feel an itch they can’t scratch? Worst of all, Roth almost seems to lament the fact that Abbott cannot be “turned into a villain” because he’s in a wheelchair.
“Oh it’s just too darn bad Wendy Davis can’t go after the cripple.”
MSNBC has pretty much been a joke ever since they decided to take a hard left, hiring the likes of a fraud and racist like Al Sharpton.
Zachary Roth is supposed to be a journalist. Apparently, they cannot get anything right.