Montana State Senator: disabled children = vegetables

[Mabus]

Faux pas

Once again, Sen. Ed Butcher, R-Winifred, has put his foot in his mouth. He recently equated seriously disabled children with "vegetables" who should be taken out of public schools and put into regional hub schools better able to respond to their needs. Trouble is, he said it in public at a Dec. 14 meeting with school administrators, some of whom were appalled.

First, Sen. (soon to be Rep.) Butcher said that it was an "unfortunate choice of words," but that he wouldn’t formally apologize. Then, after incoming House Speaker Roy Brown, R-Billings, had a little chat with him, Sen. Butcher said that while his comments were taken out of context and Democrats were trying to make political hay out of them, he nevertheless regrets his words.

That's a classic "apology" politicians are so famous for. They aren't actually sorry that they caused the offense, mind you. They're only sorry if a public flap came of it.

http://www.billingsnews.com/story?storyid=15165&issue=241

[liberalhistorian]

1. The real "vegetables" are

these brain-dead, ice-for-blood, ignorant repukes! Someone should put THEM in their own special class!

[Tony_Illinois]

2. It is pretty clear to me that

there are some pretty dumb-ass walking and talking vegetables roaming around the Montana state senate.

[liberal N proud]

3. How about this:

Neo-conservative Reich Wing lug nuts who vote against their values and best interest = Vegetables?
Why? because they have no brain and can't think.

[LiberalEconomist]

4. Does PETA know about this?

N/T

[Cheswick2.0]

5. he did choose some unfortunate words and should be sorry ...however

I agree that mainstreaming severely handicapped children has been less than sucessful. Teachers are overburdened with overcrowding and lack of resources. I think some children are better off in programs designed specifically for them.

[Bridget Burke]

6. So why not deal with "overcrowding & lack of resources"....

Before warehousing all the problem children?

[buzzards97]

7. You express a common opinion, however

I have worked in the field of special education for over 10 years and have argued the point that some children with severe handicaps should not be in public schools, and have asked those that have that opinion who would decide who should not attend? How would people make that determination? It is a very slippery slope, and would only open the door to segregating students from school. Many severely handicapped children are not mainstreamed, they may be in the public school but not in general education classroom...at least that is my experience in WI. There are separate programs that exist in states to address certain students that cannot safely attend public schools, primarily( extreme behavioral issues ), and the typical goal for these kids is to get them back into the public schools. It is my opinion that the vast majority of handicapped students can gain skills and make developmental progress in the public school setting, of course there are always those exceptions that don't fit into the setting. It is also very good for all students to interact together. Regular education students have as much to learn from disabled kids as the disabled kids have to learn from the non-disabled.

[Hippo_Tron]

9. Welcome to DU

And I agree with what you are saying. Plus, having handicapped and non-handicapped children going to school together is a good way to prevent future discrimination.

[hfojvt]

11. Yes, hello from Cazenovia (sort of)

You made me check the SSDI and both my cousin and his wife, who resided in Sparta have passed on. Last time I was in Sparta, other than drive-throughs, was in 1990 on my way to my cousin's wedding.

[Mabus]

8. I guess my biggest problem with is

expressed in the subject line of my original posting. I find it hard to believe that someone would refer to severely handicapped children as vegetables. I wonder where Stephen Hawking would have ended up under this guy.

This is just another example of Republican Compassionate Conservatism.

[hfojvt]

10. what does he mean by "severely disabled"

I once had a student at the U of Ne who "spoke" by pointing to letters on a board he carried and drove around in a motorized wheelchair. He was not at the bottom of the class (although I think he had someone writing the tests for him at his own pace). Also I played in Lincoln's chess tournament against a guy who had a computer that he activated by a pointer and the computer had a voice module. He came within a pawn of playing me to a draw. When he found out I was rated 1750, he typed s-h-i-t into his keypad and made the computer say it over and over (as in how was I supposed to beat someone rated that high). I finished 6th in the tournament. I seem to remember that the winner had some kind of speech disability. That guy really needs to meet more disabled people.

[FlyByNight]

12. Let me guess, Mr Butcher isn't caring for...

a "seriously disabled" child, right? (Whatever he means by "seriously disabled".)

And the context is just fine. Mr. Butcher really seems to be quite the asshole.

[Skittles]

13. disgusting

nt

[snippy]

14. How very republican. n/t