Sunday 6 December 2009

Bizarre Metaphors: Afghanistan as "special needs baby".

This metaphor is almost as idiotic as the one exploited by Blob Blogging Wingnut when SHE was attempting to defend Bill C-484, now defunct. At that time, SHE compared a pregnant woman to a bird-cage containing a parrot; a colleague in religious zealotry used the allegory of a giant-screen television damaged while being stolen.

Thomas Friedman may be a thrice-awarded Pulitzer prize winner, but his lame attempt to achieve a memorable sound bite may be remembered for different reasons.
... we're talking about America in the middle of the great recession. I feel like we're like an unemployed couple who just went out and decided to adopt a special needs baby. You know, I mean, that's really kind of what we're doing. And that's like, whoa, y'know, that terrifies me.

Some have argued that the parents of that "special needs baby" don't want the US to adopt it.

O Solo Mama may also have some witheringly appropriate observations to make about the perpetuation of more inaccuracies and stereotypes about the adoption process.

4 comments:

David V. said...

If America is one of the people in this relationship, I wonder who the other is. And to continue the analogy, if I recall correctly, America didn't fill out any of the appropriate paperwork prior to "adopting" this "baby." So the right word would be kidnapping, wouldn't it, Mr. Friedman?

Luna said...

Ya know, as the mother of an actual special needs baby (okay, so he's a toddler now), I find the comparison remarkably offensive. I don't think I need explain why.

deBeauxOs said...

It is an offensive remark, for a great number of reasons.

"Special needs" babies/toddlers/children/adolescent/adults are vulnerable and depend on the good will of others to help them meet the challenges of daily life.

When somebody suddenly has "special needs" because of an accident, an illness or the revelation of a pre-existing condition, it is an eye-opener to discover all that one has taken for granted in the past.

Those who choose to take full or part responsibility for the "special needs" of someone they love and cherish do not deserve to be condescended to as Friedman has done.

Bina said...

To make matters worse, isn't Friedman the same turd that said "suck on this" when the war was just getting started? In essence, that means he's one of the many fathers of the "special-needs baby".

He needs to be sterilized.

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