It is with great sadness that we learned of the passing of Andrea Fay Friedman. Andrea was 53.
Andrea was an actress and disabilities activist.
By all accounts, she was a generous and vivacious woman, with a love of life and great sense of humor.
Some things are hard for us, some things take longer to learn; but if we work hard, we can do.” Andrea does work hard and every morning announces, “I love my life. I wonder how many new friends I’ll make today.” – Andrea
But while researching her life, we learned of a controversy involving Sarah Palin and Rush Limbough.
It’s a sad, craven, cowardly, and convoluted story, but basically Rush Limbaugh is militantly advocating for his right to use the word “retard” any time, any place. And Sarah Palin, the mother of a child with Down Syndrome, supports Rush and his use of the r-word.
Two things about bullies: they are cowards, and they always target the weak and vulnerable.
When a discussion came up over the derogatory use of the r-word, Limbaugh made a point of using the word forty times in his next broadcast.
Sarah Palin is a Horrible Person
Sarah Palin made a big stink earlier this week about the Feb. 14 Family Guy episode that featured a character with Down syndrome. In the episode, the character says her mom is the former governor of Alaska — clearly a reference to Sarah’s son Trig, who also has Down syndrome. Now the voice actress, 39-year-old Andrea Fay Friedman, is speaking out in support of the episode! “I guess former Governor Palin does not have a sense of humor,” Andrea writes in an e-mail to the New York Times. “I thought the line … was very funny. I think the word is ‘sarcasm.’ In my family, we think laughing is good. My parents raised me to have a sense of humor and to live a normal life.
My mother did not carry me around under her arm like a loaf of French bread the way former Governor Palin carries her son Trig around looking for sympathy and votes.”
Sarah Palin abandons her own son to feed her self-absorbed political ambitions.
FEBRUARY 8, 2010
For the Palin-fatigued, this was an especially brutal weekend. She headlined the Tea Party convention (aided by some notes scribbled on her palm)…. This last was one of the many highlights of a Fox News Sunday interview that showed her sympathetic with Rush Limbaugh’s use of the word “retarded”–a transgression for which she pilloried Rahm Emanuel.
WALLACE: OK. But Rush Limbaugh weighed in this week. And he said this: “Our politically correct society is acting like some giant insult’s taken place by calling a bunch of people who are retards, retards. … I mean, these people, these liberal activists are quote, kooks.” Should Rush Limbaugh apologize?
PALIN: They are kooks, so I agree with Rush Limbaugh. Rush Limbaugh was using satire to bring attention to what this politically correct —
WALLACE: But he used the “R” word.
PALIN: Using satire. Name calling by anyone — I teach this to my children, you teach it to your children and your grandchildren, too. Name calling by anyone, it’s just unnecessary. It just wastes time.
WALLACE: But you know what some people are going to say, Governor, and have said. They say, look, when it’s her political adversary Rahm Emanuel, she’s going to call him out, he’s indecent, apologize. But when it’s a political friend like Rush Limbaugh, oh it’s satire
PALIN: I didn’t hear Rush Limbaugh calling a group of people whom he did not agree with “F-ing retards.” And we did know that Rahm Emanuel, it’s been reported, did say that. That’s a big difference there.
Lifetime Achievement Award: The Worst Person in the World
We would like to piggy-back on Keith Olberman’s “Worst Person in the World” award and offer a lifetime achievement honor. And the prize goes to: Rush Limbaugh.
Well, it was bound to happen. It appears that Rush Limbaugh’s gravesite has become a gender-neutral bathroom.
The unrepentant bigot died on February 17, 2021 and was buried in St. Louis’ famed Bellefontaine Cemetery (4947 West Florissant Avenue). At the time, we found it interesting that an extreme homophobe like Rush Limbaugh would choose Bellefontaine, where he’d have his body laid next to a gay icon like William Burroughs for all eternity, but we guess he had his reasons.
Please exercise prudence and do not consume, say, 6 Big Gulps, 11 near beers, and 17 coca colas prior to visiting this site.
Lest We Despair
The bullies grab the headlines, but the world is full of everyday saints and hidden heroes.
Excerpt from Desiderata by Max Ehrmann (1927)
Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit.
And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.
In 2009, a 48 minute documentary about her life premiered. Titled A Possible Dream: The Andrea Friedman Story, the documentary is narrated by Joanne Woodward.
Kudos to The Arc
The founders of WLBOTT have long supported the Arc, and we are proud of their advocacy.
If The Arc needs to re-post this letter, I believe Limbaugh’s new zip code is 666.
