Saturday, September 13, 2008

More on those silent NGOs

This blog has commented before on the odd behaviour of feminist organizations and charities for the disabled in connection with the highly personal attacks on Sarah Palin and her family. Now we have another example of odd behaviour.

The latest Obama ad aimed to discredint Senator McCain centres on the fact that he "does not know how to use e-mal". There are, of course, many responses to that. Why should the senator use e-mail when he has staff?

Then again, ever since the 2000 election it has been clear that of all the Republican campaigners it is McCain or his staff who have harnessed the power of the internet more effectively than anyone else. So, who cares whether he can actually post his own e-mails?

There is the unfortunate aspect of the ad that this mocks old people who, supposedly, are not computer literate, a mockery that will turn many people away from Obama. Not only there are very many older people in the United States, many of whom are computer literate but many, perhaps, feel no need for it, but they turn out to vote in larger numbers than do the "yoof".

So where are the charities that represent the elderly? I suppose there might not be any in the US because the Age Concern with its assumption that anyone over 50 is a complete crock and needs permanent help would be unthinkable there. Then again big charities tend to exist whatever the situation is. I mean when was the last time people in their fifties were seriously considered to be old and incapacitated?

The Obama attack turns out to be worse than expected. It seems that the reason McCain finds it hard to use the keyboard is the injuries he received when he was tortured in North Vietnamese captivity. Naturally, those injuries, like war injuries, have become worse as he has grown older and he now finds it hard to type (great achievement that is), comb his hair or tie his shoes.

Instapundit gives a round-up of comments. There are some missing. Why are the charities that "speak" for the disabled not protesting? Come to think of it, why is the EU not tut-tutting?

2 comments:

Clarence said...

Blair never used email, he wrote in long hand. He learnt to text only after leaving office - last summer his children got messages from him announcing how clever he was to have mastered a mobile phone.

Helen said...

The whole thing is idiotic even apart from the peculiar problem with the McCain injuries. E-mail is not very secure so the President of the USA is not likely to be using it. In any case, are we saying that the best qualification for being President or, for that matter, Prime Minister is to be able to type? But knocking the old and the disabled is not the way to win votes.