After learning of Karl Rove's comments on Hillary Clinton's prism lenses, the first thing I thought was, "When will the Republican Party learn to stop bullying?" I don't believe I am being political when I say that these bullying tactics are really upsetting to me, an advocate of inclusion for all.
"Thirty days in the hospital? And when she reappears, she's wearing glasses that are only for people who have traumatic brain injury?"
Karl Rove is right, he didn't specifically say that Hillary Clinton had brain damage. But we're all adults here, and we know what he was getting at. Also, if you take a moment to consider the phrase "traumatic brain injury," do these headlines come to mind?
When we think of athletes who have traumatic brain injury, we often think of the danger they may impose. Former athletes have committed some atrocious and sad suicides and homicides.
Rove said Hillary's glasses are only for people who have "traumatic brain injury." It is widely believed that Hillary's prisms are needed to ease her double vision. My sister has worn prisms her whole life. Growing up, I would have sworn Natalie was brain damaged. But she's not. And now I wonder, what's the harm in being brain damaged anyway? I am.
I will tell you this about myself. I like myself more now than I did before I acquired an Idiopathic Neuropathy (in my experience, idiopathic means science just doesn't have the answers yet). Whatever damage I may have suffered or continue to suffer has slowed the erratic pace of my thoughts and movements. And it's not a bad thing. I used to be the quickest speaking, most anxious person you'd ever met. Now? I have moments of absolute calm and clarity. I write now. I didn't write before.
Before I got sick, I was too impatient to write. Now it's therapeutic, and writing gives me purpose. I write with all my heart. Yes, I have moments where I get confused or overwhelmed, where my eyes struggle to take in the world around me. And yes, prism lenses help. But each day, with the assistance of my illness, I find I have more and more to offer, more and more to give.
Karl Rove is trying to say that Hillary Clinton is a danger to all of us. Not because of her politics and not because of her beliefs. Rove wants us to consider the fact that Hillary Clinton could be dangerous because she wears prism lenses. Karl Rove is wrong. It's true, brain injury can make a person dangerous. But I wonder if Rove realizes that notoriety is something that could do that too.
What has Hillary Clinton done since her fall to make us think she is anything less than her whole self? It's time to consider that it is possible to be the person you were before your brain got hurt. It's also possible that you could be even better. Just ask Jason Padgett.
And for the record, I'd take Hillary today over Karl Rove any day. I believe a small dose of brain damage might actually do Karl Rove a lot of good.