James Taranto, Wall Street Journal Columnist: Gabby Giffords Could Not 'Produce 900 Publishable Word
Source: Huffington Post
Conservative columnist James Taranto raised eyebrows on Friday when he questioned how Gabby Giffords who he said "has severe impairments of her motor and speech functions" could have written her New York Times op-ed so quickly. Giffords authored a New York Times op-ed published on April 17, after the Senate failed to pass expanded background checks for gun purchases. "Shame on them," she wrote, in response to the senators who voted against the bill.
Speaking on Friday's edition of the NRA's "Cam & Company" talk show, Taranto said he found it "odd" that Gifford was able to finish writing the piece less than five hours after the Senate vote.
"If you read this piece it's presented as a cry from the heart, as Giffords' personal reaction as somebody who's been wounded by gun violence to the betrayal of these senators," he said. "So we are supposed to believe that somehow in less than five hours a woman who has severe impairments of her motor and speech functions was able to produce 900 publishable words and put in an appearance in the White House in the course of it. So I think that's a little bit odd."
Taranto also recently attacked Giffords' plea for stricter gun control in a column for the Wall Street Journal, calling her "a practitioner of incivility and unreason."
Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/22/james-taranto-wall-street_n_3134416.html
Asshole.
Danmel
(4,914 posts)That is all.
xtraxritical
(3,576 posts)TeamPooka
(24,225 posts)silverweb
(16,402 posts)alcibiades_mystery
(36,437 posts)And not just the conservative ones.
2ndAmForComputers
(3,527 posts)If you know what I mean.
baldguy
(36,649 posts)Skittles
(153,160 posts)knowing how Congress is bought by the NRA
from N2doc's toon thread:
Cher
LastLiberal in PalmSprings
(12,586 posts)Except for Romney, of course, who was so convinced he had it in the bag that he didn't need to write a concession speech.
link
bobclark86
(1,415 posts)It went like this:
"I don't have a concession speech, because I am so great."
His victory speech:
"I don't have a concession speech, because I am so great."
bemildred
(90,061 posts)He KNOWS he could not write that if he had a week.
madrchsod
(58,162 posts)spineless shit ragging on a real american hero.
NoodleyAppendage
(4,619 posts)As usual a conservative spouts off from the posterior about things that she/he knows nothing about.
Expressive language is impaired in non-fluent aphasia, which is what is going on in Gifford's case because regions in the left frontal lobe were damaged (i.e., Broca's area). However, other functions such as reading and written expression, while somewhat reliant upon peri-Broca areas are localized elsewhere in that brain hemisphere. Those areas may not have been as heavily damaged.
freshwest
(53,661 posts)pscot
(21,024 posts)how much function she may have lost, but haven't seen any reports offering specifics. She has courage.
NoodleyAppendage
(4,619 posts)...and from the residual cognitive and motor deficits, that her left frontal lobe was heavily damaged extending back to the motor and somatosensory strip. I've wondered about posterior cortical deficits. Those tend to not be as apparent. She doesn't demonstrate any outward visuospatial impairment or attentional neglect, but it's really hard to say.
tclark0404
(24 posts)But, but, that's science speak. That can't be true.
Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)Unlike this idiot.
dballance
(5,756 posts)Taranto is not alone in his blame. The WSJ editors should be shamed as well. Presumably some editor read the piece before it got published and allowed it to go into print.
Shame on all of them. But what does one expect from RW hacks at a RW paper?
alittlelark
(18,890 posts)blackspade
(10,056 posts)Fuck off.
Milliesmom
(493 posts)Her mind is good, she probably told Mark what she was thinking and he wrote it, just because she didn't actually take pen in hand does not mean she didn't write it. It's her thoughts, that is all that matters.
mimi85
(1,805 posts)No matter when it was written, what an insult to a truly courageous person. To question Gabby is WAY over the line. She is one of the most sincere people I've ever heard. How dare anyone say such ridiculous things about her! Screw the idea of someone being on a stamp posthumously, she should have her own stamp NOW - with Mark on it as well! He get's my nomination as husband (make that man) of the year!
Make that after my husband who has been the best after taking care of me for months after brain surgery last year. That day, May 5th, Cinco de Mayo, s now known as Cinco de Mimi, thanks to the grandkids.
Damn. this James Taranto guy pisses me off - what a dick is right!
KamaAina
(78,249 posts)Although, technically, he is correct: None of them are publishable.
I laughed so loud I even scared myself!
Brigid
(17,621 posts)longship
(40,416 posts)freshwest
(53,661 posts)longship
(40,416 posts)TheMadMonk
(6,187 posts)Lines like that, are I think more perfect than "signature lines" like "Make my day." which end up getting overused to the point where you (suicidal as you know the idea is) want to punch Arnie square in the face.
Sometimes it's an action and you cringe through half a movie waiting for Tom Hanks to gratuitously piss in some non-conventional place or manner.
But a line entirely forgotten until we're reminded of it, is fresh every time it's heard.
ellie
(6,929 posts)I just watched that movie over the weekend. I want to come back as Bill Murray, in any movie he is in. He is awesome.
FailureToCommunicate
(14,014 posts)ellie
(6,929 posts)Dustlawyer
(10,495 posts)as well!
Moostache
(9,895 posts)I suppose that he must find that somewhat more than "a little bit odd"...
Typical Republican Idiot response to anything - "I can't conceive of this being possible in my shrunken excuse for a brain; so therefore, anything and everything that causes cognitive dissonance in ME, must be a conspiracy of some kind or part of a secret liberal plot."
Its one of many things I find repulsive in the reptilian, er, I mean right wing brain - such a massive predisposition to asshattery.
mwooldri
(10,303 posts)Ms. Giffords can communicate faster than Professor Hawking. Yet he has wrote a number of papers and books. I guess it is really all about politics here.
Manifestor_of_Light
(21,046 posts)Not "wrote".
mwooldri
(10,303 posts)Also more accurate han "he had wrote" would be "he wrote". The "he has wrote" statement is 400-500 years old and has dropped out of common usage.
Please feel free to correct any grammatical errors in my reply to the post that you have written to me. I would also appreciate it if there is more tolerance given to others that do make the occasional grammar error in their postings here, since this isn't English class. Many of us here are not professional writers and some of us haven't had any formal education in English since leaving secondary school. I do acknowledge that I do need improvement in this area, and I do need to have the wisdom to remember which audience I am speaking to. There are differences in English worldwide and an accurately constructed phrase in English can be different in American English.
If there is something that I have said or done in a prior posting here that has offended you, then I ssincerely apologise. This also goes for this particular post.
I am upset over this, as I was called out in public over my grammatical error. I would have preferred a more friendlier private message if errors in my English are irritating, or if you feel some friendly feedback is warranted.
Again I apologise if I have offended you in the past, or if this reply is itself offensive. I'm just hurt by your reply and I feel I needed to address this situation.
Thank you for listening.
Regards, Mark.
maddiemom
(5,106 posts)There's no reason to apologize over a simple grammatical error. Take it from an English major who's just short of a PHD.
Kalidurga
(14,177 posts)He has never put together 900 publishable words in his life.
SoapBox
(18,791 posts)What a dick.
freshwest
(53,661 posts)brush
(53,776 posts)kestrel91316
(51,666 posts)through writing. What a complete shitstain this man is.
beyurslf
(6,755 posts)it in advance and plugged in specific vote numbers after the vote?
applegrove
(118,642 posts)DFW
(54,373 posts)I was with her again this New Year's. She does have her impairments, but give her a couple of hours, and she could have handled this.
[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]
Don't be insulting pond scum, as it, unlike this Wingnutty Simian Jerk, does have some purpose for its existence.
DFW
(54,373 posts)Brimley
(139 posts)Not RedState? Not CPAC? Not Stormfront???
DFW
(54,373 posts)Anything not directly related to factual financial reporting will resemble Hannity Hate rants.
This is not the Financial Times we are dealing with here.
Mopar151
(9,983 posts)No reporter has ever had a story fixed in rewrite. If only.
Enrique
(27,461 posts)Juan Williams just blamed his "research" person when he got caught plagiarizing for example.
fasttense
(17,301 posts)And where did he get his Physical Therapy license?
What do I care what this douche bag has to say? He sounds like another right wing idiot.
lunatica
(53,410 posts)They do believe in attacking the messenger don't they? But I think he should keep it up because he's hurting his cause more than helping it.
Enrique
(27,461 posts)it's open season on Giffords because she is such a threat to them.
Of course it's possible she had help from her staff with the writing, but that would not be an issue unless you have some reason to make it an issue.
Orsino
(37,428 posts)thesquanderer
(11,986 posts)Easier to attack the messenger than the message.
Wednesdays
(17,367 posts)Even if the whole thing was ghostwritten for her, does that mean she didn't endorse every last word of it? Does that make her op-ed any less true?
marble falls
(57,081 posts)riqster
(13,986 posts)Not any more.
marmar
(77,080 posts)nt
appleannie1
(5,067 posts)publishing. He thinks everyone is a stupid asshole like him.
Zoeisright
(8,339 posts)Octafish
(55,745 posts)I'd like to send him a word or two.
Botany
(70,504 posts)Octafish
(55,745 posts)TWITTER will do just fine for the sentiment I want to express.
Sunlei
(22,651 posts)If Mrs. Giffords is another regular American citizen now, they should sue the crap out of that RW/NRA asshole!!
benld74
(9,904 posts)Lost-in-FL
(7,093 posts)Keeping it classy GOP.
yellowcanine
(35,699 posts)Hopefully his fellow reporters will take him to task for this.
xxqqqzme
(14,887 posts)I too have suffered brain trauma and it depends on what part of the brain in damaged. My trauma paralyzed my left side, slowed my swallowing reflex and left me hyper sensitive to salt. It did not affect my ability to reason, write or speak. It also did not touch my long or short term memory. My neurologist told me that if I had to have brain damage, I got lucky.
While shortly after the trauma, short term memory can be scrambled and time jumbled, with therapy the pathways are re-established and a recognizable normalcy returns.
The intelligence Giffords relied on to carry out her duties as a congressperson, is still there and functioning.
Botany
(70,504 posts)Last edited Wed Apr 24, 2013, 08:20 AM - Edit history (2)
This pasty pile of goo can't refute Gabby's words intellectually so he goes
low brow and tries to say that because of her brain injury she no longer has
the mental skills to be able to write something.
DonCoquixote
(13,616 posts)I will warn that this response is going to be blunt, perhaps crude, but it does have a point.
When Gabby Giffords was presumed dead, we saw right wing sites mushroom with responses ranging from "she had it coming" to "let's have more of this." The right wing pundits did not feel they had to at least say "stop it guys, you are making us look bad." This was a state where "second amendment remedies" were promoted, where Sarah Palin put cross hairs on candidates. Nothing has changed, indeed, the second amendment types still talk about how guns are needed to threaten government, even the "left wing libertarian" types like Ted Rall get on board with the gun nuts. Of course, Taranato knows he cannot just whoop and belech, so he calls one of the more polite and unifying figures in Congress a "practitioner of incivility and unreason", which is a very nice way of saying "she's a witch, burn her!"
Let's be honest, if Gabby died that day, these pigs would not mourn, any more than they do for those who died since that day, or for those that will die in the days to come. While they pretend to be civil, they know they get power by encouraging these "lone wolf" types that, for lone wolves do seem to read the same books, go to the same websites, and listen to the same people. We cannot make the same mistake Obama and Clinton do, which is the idea that somehow, these people really do not WANT to be barbarians, and that there is an argument that can turn them back into fellows. No, the real complaint they really have against Gabby is that she did not die, the way they want all that are not servants to them to DIE. They are every bit the sociopaths the Tsaranev brothers were.
libodem
(19,288 posts)Wanker. FU.
Wolf Frankula
(3,600 posts)He throws the paper down in disgust and says, "Even for this it is not good."
The Wall Street Journal, the most carried and least read paper in America.
Wolf
blue neen
(12,319 posts)libnnc
(9,996 posts)Kiss my ass you fucking fuckwit no good fucker.
Thinkingabout
(30,058 posts)Post he would have realized through their disabilities there are many ways to write a 900 word post through other means than hands to script. This boy needs to do better, we now know how dumb he is and he has a long way to emerge.
truthisfreedom
(23,146 posts)To prepare the 900 words. It was a predictable outcome.
grantcart
(53,061 posts)"Oh look they are marching Gifford's around for show again, have they no shame".
I have spent a lot of time thinking about this and I have come to the conclusion that they feel that if someone has effrontery to actually stop one of their inconvenient bullets that are going to undermine their standing among citizens that the victim should lose his/her first Amendment rights.
oldbanjo
(690 posts)use his wife like a puppet.
grantcart
(53,061 posts)JNelson6563
(28,151 posts)Really shameful.
Julie
Lint Head
(15,064 posts)Pachamama
(16,887 posts)I rest my case with this asshole James Taranto....
blue neen
(12,319 posts)How much did the NRA pay this imbecile to spout his ignorant nonsense?
Nine
(1,741 posts)This idiot probably thinks obits of famous people are written from scratch when they die. He probably thinks award show nominees don't think about their acceptance speeches until the second their names are announced as the winner. He probably thinks candidates in debates create all their remarks completely on the fly. Sheesh! And he has the nerve to question Gifford's mental capacity?
The Wizard
(12,545 posts)Anything else would be an anomaly.
Anyone disparaging Gabby Giffords is probably a substance abuser or Nazi.
spicegal
(758 posts)plenty of people who suffer from strokes, and other forms of brain injury, who have aphasia (can't speak), but who's brains work just fine. We've developed a number of technologies to help these folks communicate. Gabby Giffords is capable of speaking. It's just very slow and stilted. Brain injuries are funny things, and it all depends on what part of the brain is injured, and aggressive rehab, which she had. She also likely wrote that article in advance ready to release in the event the legislation was shot down. There's nothing wrong with that. But then this is the conservative MO, attack the messenger, ignore the message.
secondwind
(16,903 posts)etc. She has a fabulous Assistant, her name is Pia Carusone, and we know her since she was a teen....
47of74
(18,470 posts)thucythucy
(8,050 posts)Someone can't talk, walk, act like your typical pasty white male plutocrat so therefore they must have no mind.
I've known people with CP--with incisive minds and clever wit--who were institutionalized for years because they couldn't speak clearly and drooled.
I've also known folks with brain injury, Tourette's, severe epilepsy, MS and MD, who would probably be dismissed by this jerk entirely because of their external appearance.
Ableist at his core. No better than Rush Limbaugh going after Michael J. Fox.
It's not just the African-American, Hispanic, women's, GLBT and youth vote they're losing.
It's the disability community vote as well.
glinda
(14,807 posts)raging moderate
(4,305 posts)Several other individuals here have already explained extremely well how it happens that an impairment in one speech/language area does not automatically mean impairments in other communication areas. I have worked with several individuals who were even worse affected than Mrs. Giffords but were totally capable of perceptive intellectual writing. One of them later wrote a book, and I would not be at all surprised if Gabby Giffords becomes a published author. In fact, I hope she will. Her little essay was spirited and incisive. Unlike Mr. Taranto, she would undoubtedly do careful research before expressing her opinions, so her book would be well worth reading.