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Notes -
If you thought US politics could not get more (figuratively) retarded ... you'd be wrong.
Apparently Trump called Tim Walz (among other things) a (figurative) retard. Walz is pretty dumb but is not (medically) a retard. But Michael Bohacek has a daughter with Down's and apparently he's it went over poorly enough to derail the GOP redistricting effort.
[ An interesting parochial aside here is that decades of abortion politics has made Down's a bit of a CW item. And Indiana was among the first to react to Dobbs writing a ban that not only doesn't except Down's (only lethal anomalies count) but in a (laudable) fashion, it specifically un-excepts it. ]
My (subjective) take is that Bohacek's stand seems noble in a wildly-out-of-time kind of way. Like we're back in the 80s/90s and mainstream conservatism was still broadly anti-transgressive while the left was about iconoclasm. But I suppose also that 'family over politics' is not a value that either party is willing to endorse -- certainly not the scolding types gloating about talking down to their transphobic uncle at thanksgiving.
Major missed opportunity by Bohacek to become a legend by expanding on Vance’s in-roads with respect to leaning into millenial/internet humor. Bohacek could had said something like: “Trump’s ableist slur in calling Walz a ‘retard’ is highly offensive. As a father of a daughter with Down syndrome, I can attest that even a retard wouldn’t tolerate having a bunch of Somalians in his state.”
Instead, Bohacek’s “Notice me!” attempt only associates Republicans more with pearl-clutching and the party with retarded children. This also tees-up leftists/Democrats with jokes like “oh sure, now the fascists suddenly care about slurs toward the vulnerable when the slurs accurately describe their base.” Good excuse, though, for Bohacek to continue the Republican tradition of being on the right side of history in losing gracefully.
A staunch contingent behind the Democratic party may be a Coalition of the Fringes and they may talk a big game about ableism, body positivity, different ways of knowing. However—no bad tactics, only bad targets. See, for example, how quickly the gay, short, small-dick, etc. accusations come out at a moment’s notice.
Ultimately, retarded children give people the ick, including leftists and Democrats.
That being said, Trump flippantly calling Walz a retard strikes me as an unforced error, like his preoccupation with tariffs or antisemitism. For better or worse—to most people’s sensibilities, including those who vote Republican, an unironic deployment of “retard” makes them recoil like an ironic or unironic “nigger” or “faggot,” and Trump’s usage violates the Michael Scott rule of limiting “retard” to when a friend is acting retarded.
We're at a point where you can be incredibly based without even being coarse. Such as: "My daughter has Down syndrome and yet I can attest that even her would not permit Somalis to settle in her state".
It is not quite as bad as misspelling a spelling flame, but I think people alleging retardation in their political opponents have a special responsibility to double-check their grammar.
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