Kerry mocked with analogy to the deaf
Telegraph: Kerry's got a strategy: it's summit for everyone
A British writer had some insights into the debate between President Bush and Senator Kerry-- he even used the deaf to mock Kerry, saying that he seemed to be simulatenously speaking and signing! Funny. Here's the paragraph as an excerpt:
And yes, it's true, if you hadn't been following the election campaign closely till Thursday night, Senator Kerry wasn't as pompous or as boring or even as orange as some of us had led you to believe (his sudden tan had been much remarked on in the days beforehand) - though his lipstick was a slightly distracting shade and he would have been better advised to ease up on what was either his simultaneous signing for the deaf or an amusing impression of the stewardess pointing out the track lighting to the emergency doors. Perhaps the hand movements were just to show off the manicure he'd had during the day, while Bush was out putting his arms round Florida's hurricane victims
Hmm.. This makes me wonder.. This guy thought of the deaf before thinking of a stewardess to describe Kerry's gesiculations- I have never seen that coming from an American writer.
No wonder. When I visited London last summer, I was astounded to find out that they had regular TV programming for the deaf. I mean, TV programs with deaf people in them, such as Deaf Mosaic. One show talked about a Deaf person who got to become a pilot. And it was on BBC. In the UK, they got only 5 channels, BBC 1 to 5. AND it is not just one show. There are several daily shows - news, politics, entertainment, and so on. Quite several regular programming are both captioned and interpreted (with that small box in the corner).
In the U.K., sign language is recognized and protected as an official language. When I was going through customs, this customs officer who stamped my passport could sign, however rudimentarily.
I gotta study the British mindset towards the Deaf, and see how we all can, united, help change the collective mindet of Hearing America that looks down at Deaf people just as like we all look at someone who had just woke up from a 15-year long vegetative coma.
A British writer had some insights into the debate between President Bush and Senator Kerry-- he even used the deaf to mock Kerry, saying that he seemed to be simulatenously speaking and signing! Funny. Here's the paragraph as an excerpt:
And yes, it's true, if you hadn't been following the election campaign closely till Thursday night, Senator Kerry wasn't as pompous or as boring or even as orange as some of us had led you to believe (his sudden tan had been much remarked on in the days beforehand) - though his lipstick was a slightly distracting shade and he would have been better advised to ease up on what was either his simultaneous signing for the deaf or an amusing impression of the stewardess pointing out the track lighting to the emergency doors. Perhaps the hand movements were just to show off the manicure he'd had during the day, while Bush was out putting his arms round Florida's hurricane victims
Hmm.. This makes me wonder.. This guy thought of the deaf before thinking of a stewardess to describe Kerry's gesiculations- I have never seen that coming from an American writer.
No wonder. When I visited London last summer, I was astounded to find out that they had regular TV programming for the deaf. I mean, TV programs with deaf people in them, such as Deaf Mosaic. One show talked about a Deaf person who got to become a pilot. And it was on BBC. In the UK, they got only 5 channels, BBC 1 to 5. AND it is not just one show. There are several daily shows - news, politics, entertainment, and so on. Quite several regular programming are both captioned and interpreted (with that small box in the corner).
In the U.K., sign language is recognized and protected as an official language. When I was going through customs, this customs officer who stamped my passport could sign, however rudimentarily.
I gotta study the British mindset towards the Deaf, and see how we all can, united, help change the collective mindet of Hearing America that looks down at Deaf people just as like we all look at someone who had just woke up from a 15-year long vegetative coma.
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