Who You Hurt

It's been over a year since I have posted a blog entry.  However, today I feel compelled to do so.

This isn't about politics.  This is not about left or right wing.  This is not about republican or democrat.  This is about who you hurt.

Last night during the final presidential debate, Ann Coulter tweeted "I highly approve of Romney's decision to be kind and gentle to the retard."

Really?  We don't have cable.  We don't watch talk shows and political stuff, so before this tweet, I had no idea who Ann Coulter was.  And after reading this tweet, I wish I could say I still don't know who she is.  I wish I could duck my head under the covers and go on being blissfully unaware that someone who is suppose to be educated, can be reduced to the name calling of a 6 year old.

When she tweeted this, did she hurt Obama? No.  But who did she hurt?  She hurt me.  She hurt my family.  She hurt my precious, adorable, smart, funny, lovable, inquisitive little girl.  Who just also happens to have an Autism Spectrum Diagnosis.  She hurt my countless friends who have children with ASD, Down Syndrome, Cerepral Palsy, and more.  She is nothing more than a Bully. 

So what do I gain from writing this post?  From telling my small reading audience about this?  Why is it acceptable for her to use this word? This derogatory word?  Would the out cry be bigger if she had said "I highly approve of Romney's decision to be kind and gentle to the nigger." That word is seen as as derogatory, and I cringed when I wrote it.  Just like I cringed when I wrote the r word. 

Ms. Coulter, last week I had to explain to my 5 year old what a "retard" was.  Why did I have to explain that to her?  Because that is what she and the other group of students she rides the bus with got called last week.  And what did I tell her?  I told her that some people are not smart enough, and aren't confident (yes, she knows what the word confident means) enough to love themselves, so they are mean to people to make themselves feel better.  How did she respond? She told me that that is what a Bully does.  Even my 5 year old, developmentally delayed, not neurologically typical child can call you for what you are. 

A Bully.

This.

Is who you hurt.