Okay, so I'm watching the CBS evening news, and I want to make it clear that I'm NOT saying this because I like John Roberts- I'm annoyed by the tone of the news coverage that assumes that if a person becomes ill his/ her ability to work must be thrown into question, analyzed and then ever so graciously (read: with great condescension) approved by- whom? journalists? the public at large? George Bush? Really the Cheif Justice only retains the public's support by virtue of the fact that he's received a managable prognosis. And that seizure he had was ever so polite, earning the qualifiers "benign" and "idiopathic." Robert's seizure was nothing like those icky, scary seizures disabled people have- heavens no!
An earlier news story at NBC noted that a person who has more than one seizure over a span of years is considered to have epilepsy, but no one at CBS has dared suggest that Roberts in fact has epilepsy. No, the CBS team prefers to soft pedal the facts: the Cheif Justice may have to take anti- seizure medication from here on out, but what does that prove? Nothing! Scads of people take anti- seizure meds for the street cred alone! Doesn't mean they have epilepsy! No, instead CBS deemed it necessary to reassure its audience by recapping the recent ailments of other Supreme Court Justices as further evidence of Roberts staying power. There were charts and shit. I couldn't take the visual aids.
Also, Kay Olsen comments on a disturbing case in California involving the alleged murder and unauthorized organ farming of a disabled man.
And earlier in the week, perhaps prophetically, she remarked on the perils of bad epilepsy jokes as told by weather men.
7.31.2007
Call Him Conservative, Just Don't Call Him the E Word
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2 comments:
I got the same annoying vibe from the coverage. He has had more than one seizure, and they weren't caused by known temporary stressors like a fever or exhaustion. So he's got a seizure disorder. Big deal! He might have to take meds. Oooh, I guess nobody else in Washington takes any meds, do they? Ridiculous hyperventilation. Thanks for covering this, I might have to write something up to--it's just more rehashing of myths and stereotypes about epilepsy that we DON'T NEED!
i know right!! i remember when cheif renquist got a trach. as a fellow trachie, i cheered, but the rest of america expected him to croak any second.
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