The Short Bus

You constantly hear references to “the short bus” that are misinformed. The point is that the people on the “short bus” or in “special education” are not there as a result of personal choice, whereas the people usually referenced in these comments have made a choice.

I used the Association of Retarded Citizens [ARC] for years to provide services and can highly recommend them if your needs fit into their programs. The workers do what they do very conscientiously. You may be able to find someone who will be faster, but you won’t find anyone who is more thorough. The people in the program didn’t choose to have these limitations; the reductions in capability were imposed by nature or accidents.

As a case in point is Democratic Senator Carl Levin of the Senate Armed Services committee in this 02/27/07 exchange with the new director of National Intelligence:

SEN CARL LEVIN (D-MI): “Now, in terms of the weapons coming in from Syria, those weapons that you’ve described as coming in from Syria and perhaps other Sunni neighbors are killing our troops. Do we have a plan to address the Syrian weapon source – of killings of our troops?”

JOHN MCCONNELL, Director of National Intelligence: “Sir, I know the military is working that border area to close it down from not only weapons but also jihadists coming in -”

LEVIN: “It’s more than just – we’re trying to close down the Iranian border area too. The problem is that these weapons are coming from a state which is – doesn’t recognize Israel either, just like Iran doesn’t. We’ve got to try to stop weapons coming into Iraq from any source that are killing our troops. I agree with the comments about trying to stop them coming in from Iran, I think we have to try stop them that are going to the Sunni insurgents as well as to the Shia. I was just wondering, does the military have a plan to, if necessary, to go into Syria to go to the source of any weapons coming from Syria? That are going to Sunni insurgents? That are killing our troops? … I think we ought to take action on all fronts including Syria and any other source of weapons coming in, obviously Iran is the focus – but it shouldn’t be the sole focus.”

If ARC were supplying Senators, the Senators would be taught about the difference between the Shi’ia and the Sunnis, the differences between the Ba’athists in Iraq and those in Syria, why Salafi terrorists in Iraq would rather kill the Alawi “heretics” running Syria than the infidel Americans, why the Wahhabi Saudis are more likely to supply arms to the Salafi terrorists than anyone else in the area.

While everyone is watching the borders with Syria and Iran, who is watching the unmarked border with Saudi Arabia?

Carl Levin’s ignorance is a result of choice – he doesn’t want to make the effort to learn the facts. The people on the short bus are trying, too many elected officials aren’t.