Fun with Townhall.com

If you think it's appropriate to make fun of Michael J. Fox as he campaigns for stem cell research which (he hopes) might lead to a cure for his awful disease, then townhall.com and Dean Barnett's post doing just that might be for you. Referring to the ad I linked to yesterday showing Fox obviously and tragically suffering from mand asking if a desperate Claire McCaskill would "trot out Marty McFly" as a campaign stunt seems to me beyond the pale. But what do you expect from Hugh Hewitt and townhall.com?

Dean Barnett explains his logic in another post further down the page- saying that "I find the Michael J. Fox ad crass, tasteless, exploitative and absurd" and while (of course) "AS FAR AS FOX IS CONCERNED [his emphasis], I feel bad for him." However, not content to feel simply feel empathy for another human being, Barnett adds "One last note on Michael J. Fox. Unlike Fox, I’ve been a sick person all my life. Like most sick people who try to define their lives by something other than their illness, I’ve always recoiled at pity and even sympathy."

Ok, where to begin- maybe calling another "crass" while dismissing a suffering person by a movie nickname is not so hot. Maybe trying to couch it with the middle section of but of course I feel bad for him-type stuff makes one a wimp. For me, the coup de gras is the disease-topper at the end. "Well, I've got a cold." "Well, I've got the flu." "Well, I've got pneumonia." "Well I've got cancer." "Well, I'm going to die right this minute (falls over)." Seriously, a "I'm sicker than you" contest. Michael J.Fox doesn't want pity, he wants a CURE for his disease to allieviate the suffering and himself and others. I have no idea what disease Dean Barnett suffers from, but I do know he suffers from a profound lack of not being an asshole.