to consider Prime Minister's quip re Torrettes as beyond the pale?

[sovreign]

Everyone has a bad day and no one can be pleasant all the time. I accept that men are sexist and just raised my eyes at the 'calm down dear' in House of Commons. But to stoop to using Torrettes as name calling device for your opposition is surely beyond the pale. Coming from a man who would have us all believe that he tended his son with a disability, the only conclusion I can make is that Cameron is suffering from stress and isn't fit to look after our children.

bemy Sooo in YOUR world, people with learning difficulties are "Dim" ? did you actually mean to say that ?

As for my use of "dim" for david cameron and the people who cant see whats offensive about his comment, yes they ARE dim, at least they can all do something about it!

he should engage his brain before opening his gob. The comment was disablist.

not at all, i have a disabled dh and i hate people using "slow" and "dim", but that is somehow ok

incidentally gunz it is not in 'my' world, it is in our everyday life
"is he dim?" - never heard of that??

bemy david cameron does NOT have a learning disability, so you are really clutching at straws here, im very sorry to hear your dh is disabled but not sure what that's got to do with Post in response to cameron's offensive remark at tourette sufferer's, we're all in the same boat, direct your confusion at him.

not sure what straws you are referring to, but EB is not Tourettes sufferer either

i find his remark unacceptable, but also your reference to "dim" alongside your rightful indignation

bemy again i have not made any reference to your dh or anybody suffering from a learning disability so please do not put words in my mouth to gain sympathy.

You're obviously more worried about the word "dim" than you are about the insult the PM made at tourettes sufferer's.

David cameron's remark was foolish and the people who cant see whats offensive about it i repeat ARE dim.

thank you for your understanding gunz great insight in how you think

Well lets think. Did he intend to offend anyone? no/.

In which case I will keep my rattles in my pram thank you and save my self from a state of being professionally offended.

BTW - I cant find such a word as 'disablist', is this some from on MN invention? Disablism, yes, disablist, no.

There , just felt the need to set that one straight.

Whilst the soap boxes are out may I make a point to the poster up a way who bangs on 'well he went to Eton what do you expect' .... is in fact public-school-ist. So if we are going have a crop of made up silly bollox words, there's mine. It's posher because I hyphenated it .

bemy Ditto!

There was a point when ds2 was about 7 that there was a possibility of Tourettes, because he had some weird tics and would pull strange faces when he was in stressful situations ( like school performances,etc). His teacher brought it up with me, and I took him to the Doctor's about it. However, the GP was all for waiting, and after about a year, the tics seemed to have stopped, and it seems it was just a phase,luckily. I say Luckily, because I know it would not have been nice for him or us to live with that as he grew up.As it is, I'm still not sure that there isn't some "problem" there and he's 11 now.
But why do we all have to be so humourless about everything. If you can't have a sense of humour in (or about) adversity ( and I'm not talking about cruel, Frankie Boyd-type humour) then life isn't worth the living, to be honest.

I'm just confused how people see Cameron's comments as somehow saying that all people with a disability should be hidden away/got rid of.

I'm just confused how people see Cameron's comments as somehow saying that all people with a disability should be hidden away/got rid of.

Because they don't vote conservative

"isms" are usually spawned to describe a group of people who might be disadvantaged in some way by ignorance and judgementalism

so, trois I take your post as a joke, of course, as I'm sure you meant it to be

joke? moi? How dare you Sir (or madam!)

I just don't do waves of hysteria. Or mob rule.

He used a simile. End of. But of course no one here ever makes off the cuff remarks do they? Of course they don't.

My son has learning delay.

I don't find dim offensive. I think it refers less to academic ability and more to do with "common sense"

But I do take bent's point that given the context of the thread it was probably ill considered. Difference is that the poster that used it isn't a world leader and that will have that comment transmitted around the world.

How can anyone fail to see that he is likening someone that he finds inferior and irritating to someone with a life long health condition? Off the cuff or nor and IMO off the cuff makes it even worse, he was wrong and crass. I wonder how he would feel if someone had referred to his disabled son in such a way? I doubt it would have been similarly washed over

Yes YABU and i am sooooo bored of people being fucking offended over everything, someone was flamed for using'chav' on here this week.
God its fucking painful!

I ain't the PM, thankfully, so my of the cuff remarks aren't quite so public

he should engage brain, before opening gob

it's in the job description

if he doesn't understand that, he shouldn't be in the job

It is the casual use. Moss chops not everyone is offended but he is the pm so I think we are right to be appalled at his comments while so many are dealing with the realities of disability every day.

I am not actually "offended" as such

I just think he's a twat, and this confirms it even more, for me

Jamdonut - I work with adults with sn of varying degrees. My son goes to an sn school.

As such I spend a lot of time with people with or who care for those with disabilities. They are without exception the funniest group of people. They follow the philosophy that you either laugh or cry, so choose to laugh.
Black humour is very much in use.

But that comment will still be considered offensive by them all I am sure.

I am not "professionally offended"

I have empathy and I am very proud of that

I am going to have someone embroider that on a cushion.

When did we decide that to be engaged, to be concerned about what goes on around it is "professionally offended". When did concern for those who are worse off become a bad thing to be? I have been asked this week why I campaign against the cuts, because I don't live in the country and don't receive benefits.

This bemuses me.

Surely it is a good thing, to feel empathy for others, to try to understand their concerns and to improve their situation. Whether by practical measures or by raising awareness of their plight.

I'm offended by Shiney Dave, full stop

I am not 'professionally offended' - surely that would mean I'm being paid to be offended?

It confirms, for me, how ignorant the man is.

I have no "consideration" at all for a PM who will frankly find it "irritating" being around my precious dc who both have tourettes. Consideration my arse!