Let’s start at the beginning. During Commie Con The Democratic National Convention, Tim Walz gave a speech and at one point he called out his family. And one of his children, Gus Walz got emotional in response. Here’s video of that:
Tim Walz's 17-year-old son Gus stands up sobbing and yells "that's my dad." pic.twitter.com/PnGPulH1u8
— The Recount (@therecount) August 22, 2024
Now, yes, he is gushing a little, but we never thought much of it. Not everyone reacts the same way to the same things and not every person maintains cool when they are emotional. So, it might not be our personal reaction if we were in his shoes, but it’s well within the range of normal in our book.
But some people calling themselves conservatives went after him over this reaction. For instance, Ann Coulter called it weird, before she wisely deleted it, as noted here:
Backlash erupts over criticism of Tim Walz’s emotional son: ‘families are everything’ - The Guardian https://t.co/Mf1384JQf5
— Liz Szabo (@LizSzabo) August 24, 2024
But even if your moral compass doesn’t stop you from doing attacking this kid, maybe the fact this is terrible tactics will. First off, most people agree that the family of politicians are off limits. As we wrote when talking about a man being a creep toward Barron Trump:
Family—including people only related by marriage (including spouses)—should be off limits, unless they do something to affirmatively make themselves fair game. We have held to that principle, even when dealing with incredibly despicable people. So, to pick someone related to a less-despicable person, we defended Michelle Obama from attacks for years because she really hasn’t done more than the usual first lady stuff. By comparison, Hillary Clinton always pitched herself as co-president to Bill Clinton, so she was always fair game. And the same goes for children. Barron has always been off limits. And it seems that Tiffany Trump also is off limits—she really doesn’t get involved very much in her dad’s politics. But we can’t think of another Trump child who has stayed out of the political fray enough to be off limits—though we are open to being corrected.
We go on to explain why Hunter Biden, by comparison, was fair game, so maybe you will want to read the whole thing.
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But in this case, it is even dumber, because you are attacking not the Presidential candidate but the Vice-Presidential candidate’s minor child (he’s reportedly seventeen years old). The truth is we don’t think most Vice-Presidential candidates have much of an impact on an election. We don’t think most voters are swayed one way or the other by the choice of a Vice President in most years (we think Dan Quayle might be the only exception in our lifetime). Walz’s apparent constant lying about his resume and his military service might have some impact because it shows poor and rushed judgment on Harris’ part—so the attacks on Walz might have a knock-on effect on how people see Harris. It might even remind people of how quickly it was decided that Harris would be the nominee, making a mockery of all of the Democrats’ claims they were party that would ‘defend democracy.’ But even if the American people all unanimously decided that Gus Walz was acting oddly, we don’t think that will change a single vote in Republicans’ favor. If anything, many people will be turned off by what they perceive as the meanness of the Republican Party—even if that is not fair.
So … respectfully, please stop it. If morality doesn’t convince you to stop, how about the fact you’re probably doing more harm than good?
But it is perfectly fair to point out how hypocritical the left has been over this. We previously referenced how the left has treated Barron Trump and Sarah Palin is here to remind us how the left treated her son, Trig Palin. This is what she said, when human pimple Rick Wilson tried to get high and mighty about the people making fun of Gus Palin:
Where you been on #TrigPalin all these years, Rick? The mocking of #Trig, the lies, conspiracy theories, death-wishes and death threats against him that continue to this day are the most brutal part of my political life. You and other “republican leaders” of your ilk have been… https://t.co/E2QFPmsuLa pic.twitter.com/oqr2YCbDvC
— Sarah Palin (@SarahPalinUSA) August 23, 2024
The cut off text reads:
You and other ‘republican leaders’ of your ilk have been heartlessly complicit with haters on the left who find joy in attacking my son. One’s silence up until a democrat’s kid #GusWalz gets mocked ONE time on a national stage is deafening. I occasionally share my precious, precocious, perfect child’s development so others may be encouraged and understand God’s standard of perfection isn’t man’s, and to testify that defending the sanctity of life is the best thing we can do in a pretty messed up world today. Go look, remove the partisanship, eliminate double standards regarding respecting children with special needs [Instagram link deleted] see why Trig is my whole heart😊 my world🙏and the reason I’m still standing. More on #Instagram @ sarahpalin97 [Instagram link deleted] #GusWalz #DNC @TheRickWilson #DownSyndromeAwareness
Indeed, we are old enough to remember when the Family Guy took a shot at Trig Palin for some bizarre reason:
Naturally, Mrs. Palin got a lot of support:
Any of this regarding children is wrong. Regarding Gus, it is wrong. But it should be called out across the board. I remember the vile things said about Trig. I have heard awful things, up to he should be dead or should be raped, about Barron. Condemn all or condemn none. https://t.co/auATRWAI0J
— Meg Muir (@MegMgmuir1) August 23, 2024
We make distinctions between how Donald Trump Jr. deserves to be treated versus Barron Trump, but otherwise we agree.
No solidarity with another parent of a special needs child. It's just "what about meeeeeeeee?" Typical republican! #TeamGus !!! https://t.co/dDqa5jqTfb
— Mirai Hayashi 💛 🇺🇦 The world is on your side (@MiraiZ) August 24, 2024
We’re sorry if Palin was focused on the incredible hypocrisy that was on display, instead of your pet issues. *eye roll*
And we keep hearing that Gus Walz has ‘special needs’ or that he is autistic or something like that. Now, normally, we wouldn’t want to discuss this at all because its his private life, but apparently his parents have talked about it publicly. We can only hope that either Gus is ‘out of the closet’ on his disability or he was okay with their decision to go public about his disability. But either way, you can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube when talking about the subject, and this appears to be the truth on the topic:
What is a nonverbal learning disorder? Tim Walz’s son Gus’ condition, explained
— Janelle Fiona Griffith (@janellefiona) August 22, 2024
Almost 3 million kids in North America have the learning disability NVLD. It affects spatial-visual skills and has nothing to do with speaking abilities.https://t.co/03OLmCEOA7 via @nbcnews
Janelle is quoting the entire headline and subheadline from NBC, so these are not her words at all and we appreciate the clarification that this doesn’t have anything directly to do with his emotionalism. Maybe there is an indirect effect because of him and his father bonding over trying to get an equal education or something like that, but no apparent direct effect.
Look, this author has his own learning disabilities and just through dealing with other people with disabilities we know more about disabilities in general than most people, almost by osmosis. But we never even heard of NVLD before today and we won’t pretend we are experts. But we have noticed that in many people’s minds being learning disabled is seen as almost like low level retardation. And frankly, it really isn’t.
For instance, one of this author’s disabilities is dysgraphia. There are at least two conditions grouped under that heading and, in this author’s case, it simply means that we have trouble writing by hand. We have been clocked at about four times the normal writing speed when we print and about twelve times when we attempt cursive—which is why we don’t use cursive for more than our signature. But you might have noticed we said that this affects our ability to write by hand and so, when we use a keyboard, this disability becomes irrelevant. It seems like we were born at just about the right time.
The point is that a learning disability doesn’t affect everything in our lives any more than being deaf does. We are not suddenly dumber overall, or bad at driving or anything like that (deaf people actually get in less accidents per capita than hearing people, fyi). NBC correctly notes that him getting emotional isn’t directly related to his disability. And, therefore, people should not treat him with kid gloves because he is learning disabled. We don’t deserve the soft bigotry of lowered expectations. People should be leaving Gus Walz alone because he’s a minor who hasn’t done anything to make himself fair game in politics, not because of any disability.
On the other hand, we do think Trig Palin’s disability is a reason to treat him even more gently than normal when dealing with the family of politicians. But stop having this categorical paternalism toward all disabled people, or people who are merely learning disabled. We are not that fragile.
ALL children under 21 of a politician should be off limits. Period!
— CAS PhD. 🇺🇸🇨🇱 Female Born Extraordinaire. (@cas96) August 24, 2024
Only exception, would be if the child committed a felony. Then discuss responsibly. https://t.co/uyDIF24jCH
Excellent response, Sarah. Thank you for championing God’s most precious beings. Thank you for standing up to demonic mockery of beautiful people. Thank you for being true to yourself, for continuing to stand against the haters who have persecuted and slandered all of us. 🙏💙🇺🇸 https://t.co/jAPNbrcEru
— December Girl🇺🇸🇮🇱 (@45MomMN) August 23, 2024
Gollum's stunt double is a putrid, oozing pustule on the ass of humanity. I don't care what you think of Palin but she is dead on here. https://t.co/Kzzgc5qV2y
— Physics Geek (@physicsgeek) August 23, 2024
Yes, ALL of this!! Sarah has entered the chat!! @TheRickWilson always was and will always be a garbage human being with zero moral compass… Give em hell sis!!! https://t.co/ZaPfjSGjpa
— Rusty X (@RustyX6767) August 24, 2024
Where #trigpalin has it over all the supposed smart rational people
— They call me Papa (@WhoopsOhMy) August 23, 2024
"Innocence"- his life is filled wonder, joys, smiles, curiosity, friends and family who love him without qualifications, and let us not forget his affection for those in his life
Odd some call that a Disability https://t.co/aVXKX9ABKZ
Let’s not get too excited. People with Down’s Syndrome are disabled and they aren’t automatically angels, either. On the other hand, we have never seen any evidence that Trig Palin was anything but a complete joy to those who love him.
Well, I haven't seen anyone mocking Walz special needs child, but I sure as hell saw him yank that poor child like a sack of potatoes. https://t.co/Z7UYEGKiGG
— Terry McQuade (@tmcquade3) August 24, 2024
And it isn’t really an attack on Gus, so there is nothing wrong with pointing out how nasty Tim Walz was when he did that.
But there always has to be at least one:
If people said anything at all it was about Sarah Palin’s narcissism and how she exploits her Down syndrome son Trig all the time for attention. But wow this takes it to another level some might even call it Munchhausen by proxy. https://t.co/iUx0kfgYHG
— Stephenie Wight 🌸 (@Opal79678090) August 24, 2024
Anything at all? Did she miss the people claiming Trig wasn’t even her son? Or the aforementioned Family Guy attack?
And Munchhausen by proxy is essentially when a child is gaslit by their parents into falsely believing they are disabled or have a serious medical condition. Is that what Ms. Wight is accusing Palin of doing? Or is she too stupid to know what the meaning of the words she is using? We report, you decide.
I love that they assume everyone forgot how vile they truly are, all of the time. https://t.co/W6kyJWvSKw
— Just Another Deplorable or Ultra MAGA (you decide) (@pjbasilhot43399) August 24, 2024
Rick Wilson is a bought and paid for grifter. Enough said.
— Hollywood Resistance (@ResistItAllTX) August 23, 2024
I am so sorry this happened, I remembered much of it .
— pearljohn (@mjohn55) August 23, 2024
I am so sorry this happened, I remembered much of it .
— pearljohn (@mjohn55) August 23, 2024
We have never forgotten how Wonderful Pistachios ran an ad starring Bristol Palin's baby daddy, Levi Johnston:
We are never going to forgive Wonderful Pistachios for this: https://t.co/y5itKL2sW7
— Aaron's Law (@AaronWalkerLaw) August 25, 2024
It links to an ad where the announcer shows Johnston eating a pistachio with a bodyguard nearby, as the announcer tells us that 'Levi Johnston does it with protection.' Get it?! It's funny because in real life he knocked up a teenager. *eye roll*
The treatment of Sarah Palin since 2008 should nullify ANY and ALL pearl clutching about decency towards women or special needs children forever, full stop. Selective morality is a cancer. All of the finger pointing and outrage, none of the decency.
— GammaTaker (@GammaTaker) August 23, 2024
100% ppl like @TheRickWilson only feel empathy out of convenience. Fake and a phoney.#TrumpVanceNowMoreThanEver
— Diane T (@DurtyD613) August 23, 2024
Trig is perfect and precious! God bless you and yours, Governor!
— Tex-Mex Trumpian (@TexicanTrumpian) August 23, 2024
The moral outrage over the children of Vice Presidential candidates is definitely two-tier. https://t.co/9UZmASp7zH
— Kelly (@k_k95053) August 23, 2024
Indeed.
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