Posted on 10/13/2004 2:21:42 PM PDT by ArmyBratCutie
Special Olympics is outraged and have publicly issued the following statement:
STATEMENT IN REGARDS TO DEROGATORY PORTRAYAL OF SPECIAL OLYMPICS ATHLETES IN POLITICAL FLYER
From the office of Timothy P. Shriver
Chairman and CEO, Special Olympics
We at Special Olympics are astounded and appalled by a political flyer being distributed in Tennessee, showing the head of President Bush superimposed on the body of a Special Olympics athlete, saying, "Even if you win, you're still retarded."
We see this communication as an egregious, gratuitous insult to our almost 2 million athletes in over 150 countries around the world and a stunning affront to the more than 200 million people in the world who have intellectual disabilities.
We cringe at the thought that any one of these capable and courageous athletes would ever have to endure the agony, embarrassment, pain and suffering that this flyer would certainly cause.
We hope that the person or persons responsible for this outrageous political advertisement would come forward, identify themselves, and explain to the people of Tennessee and everywhere else why they would choose to denigrate the spirit, courage, and accomplishments of the Special Olympics athletes.
Sadly, this type of ignorance and bigotry is not uncommon. Comedians in the United States regularly mock people with intellectual disabilities; a common playground taunt even today is "retard"; people with intellectual disability remain the last to be respected or included in our schools, health care institutions, and society at large.
Our commitment in this political season and in every other is to reverse this ignorance and bigotry and to replace them with the stunning realization that many people with intellectual disability are, in fact, among the most gifted within our communities. Their valuable skills for promoting acceptance and understanding are most desperately needed in the political process and in the world today.
There is no reasonable and legitimate defense of this hateful material. We would expect those responsible to make an abject public apology and a sincere, determined effort to clear the public domain of this offensive material.
************************************************* Kirsten Suto Global Public Relations Special Olympics, Inc. 1325 G St. NW, Suite 500 Washington DC 20005 202-715-1147 ksuto@specialolympics.org
www.specialolympics.org
Good work, Cutie!
bump
Ignorance and bigotry are two of the floor joists in the democratic platform
Ummm. wish they would tell us how they really feel next time. LOL..
Have you e-mailed the filth to any MSM, and if so, has anyone else responded?
Special Olympics....didn't the Kennedys start that?
:)
the nice part is, the wording at the very top, came from her, it wasnt part of the "block".. I said to them I bet the Kennedys wont come out and adress this...
I am proud of them that they did...
Wow...those politically-correct, pro-diversity, touchy-feely, feelings-are-all-that-matter Leftists sure know how to be coarse, jack-booted, sardonic, fascist thugs when they want to, don't they?
There might not be an defense, but there certainly is a history. Al Gore said the same thing when he spoke of the "extra chromosome right-wing" durin his tenure. It's the fingerprint of the "tolerant" doncha know.
I emailed it everywhere, but to all the email addys on the Special Olympics page I found... the lady that sent me this, did so and added the words you see at the very top..
I sent it to Drudge, Fox, CBS etc...this is the only one that answered me directly... I thought it was nice of this lady to do so.....
If so, Timothy P. Shriver sounds like a relation. And probably a Dem. If so, nice party ya got there, Mr. Shriver.
Did you have something to do with this? If so, congratulations and my thanks. Sometimes people need to be reminded that our brothers and sisters and children with special needs are just as human and just as valuable as we "normal" people are.
incredible and sad. i passed it along!
Too bad Mr. Shriver (Eunice's son?) didn't add "by Democrats" after the word "distributed," but it still was a well-stated response.
I am pretty sure Tim is Maria's brother.
I'm sure that if we do see this surface in the MSM, the next thing we will see is Terry McAuliffe on PMSNBC claiming this poster was really done by dirty Republicans to make the Democrats look bad.
I bet Shriver-Swartznegger is not amused. Her Mother was the guiding force in starting this Org. I think. Gore and his sick remarks, now this. I bet not one of the MSM even mention this disgusting display of the Dumb Dum mind.
I have a cousin with Downs that was born a month before I was.. he is as precious a person as you'll ever met... his Daddy ( my uncle ) is the choir director and he "helps" every sunday ..
I did volunteer when I was well, with the Special Olympics two summers...
other than that I've not done anything....it was disgusting for them to do that.. and I think President Bush is owed an apology from this low life too that had the flyers made up..
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