My friends, if you can do this....

[Bread and Circus]

you can do this...



and if a person like this can type



then so can this guy...



and this guy...



this guy too...

[Duer 157099]

1. Wouldn't go there. Not necessary.

Lots of disabled people will, rightly, have a negative reaction to what you're implying.

[Bread and Circus]

3. Like who, stupid ones that can't think for themselves and need Karl Rove to brainwash them?

It's blatantly obvious that what Rove is doing is a ruse. That's all I'm saying. I think the disabled community is every bit smart enough to realize they are being used and abused by Rove.

McCain has adhesed shoulder capsules, but he obviously can still use his hands for fine motor skills.

As for "going there", all I did was take a trip down logic lane.

[Duer 157099]

14. No, no, no -- the concept of deciding what one can or cannot do

based on what others can do, or what you've seen them doing in isolated cases like photos, etc.

I am not judging whether he can or can't use a computer, in fact, I'm saying the point it MOOT. I'm saying that it's inappropriate for us to make a determination about it!

People who are disabled WILL know very well what I'm talking about, because they will have dealt quite a bit with people saying things to them like "but you could do so-and-so but you can't do this???" without considering the context appropriately.

I could get more specific, but I hope this general picture will suffice.

[Bread and Circus]

23. Nah...this is just a matter of common sense. If he can eat buffalo wings, he can type.

If he can fish, he can type.

If he can handle money, he can type.

If he use a pen, he can type.

Seriously, this is just a matter of basic common sense.

Also, I hate to pull the "I'm a doctor card" but I'm going to pull it now. I am a doctor and I can tell you that you don't need to be a doctor to plainly see all of the above.

[beac]

24. And I saw a quote from an article (trying to re-find it now)

where McCain says he answers email at night and has Cindy type because he types much SLOWER that she does, NOT because he COULDN'T type. This 'can't use a keyboard' excuse is new and it's BUNK.

I hope more people make the same 'logic lane' trip instead of buying the 'poor widdle Johnny' BS.

[Quixote1818]

5. He is simply pointing out clear facts with photos. That Rove was lying about McCain's abilities

And if anything he is suggesting that disabled people can do a lot of things people don't think they can do. How is that bad?

[Bread and Circus]

12. eating buffalo wings is no mean feat.

[Oak2004]

6. Every disabled person I know heard McCain's excuse and thought it was full of crap n/t

[beac]

7. I'll bet lots of disabled people will, rightly, have a negative reaction to what

McCAIN is saying!

His claim to be too 'disabled' to type is clearly a ruse. The 'differently-abled' people I know DO NOT like to be portrayed as helpless.

That a man who CLEARLY could use a computer if he wanted to learn, chooses to remain ignorant and uses 'disability' as an excuse is an enormous slap in the face to people that have had to overcome MUCH more than he would to be able to keep up with modern technology.

John McCain is SCUM.

[Duer 157099]

18. Well I won't argue about him being scum, that's for sure

but I will argue about what "differently-abled" people think about other people deciding what they should or could or can't or shouldn't do!

Which is my whole point, nothing more nothing less.

[yardwork]

25. I disagree. It's important to refute the lie that McCain can't use the internet because he's a...

wait for it......POW!

It's another McCain lie and we need to expose it. I think that most disabled people would be insulted at the message that their disability can be used as an excuse for everything. McCain is shameless.

[liberalmuse]

2. I just don't buy it...

[firedupdem]

4. hahaha! Now that was funny! n/t

[grasswire]

8. what kind of angler puts his rod down in the MUD?

That is a very strange photo.

[Bread and Circus]

9. a poser... but boy doesn't he look "tough" and "ready to lead"

[beac]

10. I'm guessing a guy who was there for a photo op and has never actually gone fishing.

Again, this is just a guess. ;)

[blondeatlast]

26. How can he possibly fish if he can't put his arms up? nt

[Kutjara]

11. Stephen Hawking can use a computer.

'Nuff said?

[Duer 157099]

13. Jesus, did you just compare McCain to Hawking?

C'mon, that is so completely absurd as to be laughable!

[Kutjara]

15. What I'm saying is that Hawking only has the ability to move his tongue,...

...and yet he can use a computer quite well. McCain has some shoulder problems that, by comparison, are minor, and yet he claims they are what stopped him from becoming computer literate.

What's so laughable about that comparison?

[Duer 157099]

17. Because it's like comparing apples with oranges

How does Hawkings physical abilities/limitations have anything to do with McCain's?

Perhaps everyone in a wheelchair should now be held to Hawking's standard, is that really what you'd like to propose?

Because if so, then I respond and say that I likewise insist that EVERYONE also be held to his intellectual standard!! How about that??

C'mon, you don't really mean it.

[Kutjara]

20. No, we're comparing apples with apples.

What Hawking shows is that, if the desire is there, physical disability is not an impediment to computer use. McCain's excuse that his "disability" prevented him from learning to use a computer is, by comparison, simply absurd. The reason he didn't learn is because he had no interest in doing so.

Not everyone should be held to Hawking's standard, except insofar as he shows that, with the appropriate assistive technologies, just about anyone can use a computer. They may not discover the secrets of the Universe with it, but they can at least read their own email.

[Duer 157099]

21. Again, no.

You invoked the stipulation that "if the desire is there" which speaks to aspects of will, and mind and mental fitness -- all things that ARE affected by spending five years as a POW.

I could as easily say to you that "if someone has the desire" they can study hard and become a genius like Hawking, right? After all, they have the physical equipment (a brain) and all they need to do is study, right?

No, the answer is still no.

[Kutjara]

22. The "genius" argument is a bit of a red herring, because...

...the quality itself has eluded definition for generations. It's doubtful that genius can be "acquired" through study if the innate quality isn't present in the first place.

What we're discussing here isn't some extreme outlier of mental capability, but a basic 21st Century life skill: being able to operate a few simple functions of a modern personal computer. If McCain's experiences as a POW affected him, as you seem to imply, so profoundly that he can't turn on a PC and type a search into Google I'd argue he's way too incapacitated to be President of the United States. Of course, the fact that he can use a Blackberry, drive a car, hold down a job, run a Congressional District, and engage in a wide range of other "normal" activities, makes me think that his lack of computer skills are not the result of any physical or mental incapacity.

[IndependentDem]

16. according to Rick Davis he loves to tool around on Blackberrys...

remember this?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/30/campaign-manager-mccain-l_n_109954.html?page=2

If he can use a Blackberry he can definitely use a keyboard or mouse.

[damndude]

19. I don't think that i am alone in saying

i am beyond tired of john mccain whoring his status as veteran/pow or a person with limited mobility. are we not supposed to at least admire him because of in spite of the respectively as opposed to allowing him infinite latitude as a result of them.
any respect that i may have had for him long ago is dead. all he does now is continuously pile more dirt on the corpse in his sullying the true hardships that others in his situation and worse suffer through on a daily basis with much less comfort available to them.