Former Wisconsin governor Tommy Thompson's latest explanation for saying private employers should have the right to fire people for being gay makes no more sense than the first explanation. In fact, all it really does is confirm that he meant it exactly the way it sounded.
"Nobody knows that," Thompson said. "I've been very sick. ... I was very sick the day of the debate. I had all of the problems with the flu and bronchitis that you have, including running to the bathroom. I was just hanging on. I could not wait until the debate got off so I could go to the bathroom."He had the flu, he had bronchitis, he had to go to the bathroom, and on top of all that, his hearing aid went out. Wow. Why not blame it on Tourette's while he's at it? I suppose it's only a matter of time before he blames it on the Jews.
Thompson said he thought he was being asked if there were enough laws already to address discrimination in the workplace. The question at the debate was, "If a private employer finds homosexuality immoral, should he be allowed to fire a gay worker?"
Thompson replied: "I think that is left up to the individual business. I really sincerely believe that that is an issue that business people have got to make their own determination as to whether or not they should be."
This is not Thompson's first apology or explanation for the remark. The day after the debate, Thompson said he was sorry and that he had misinterpreted the question because he didn't hear it properly.
But on Saturday, Thompson elaborated by saying he has lost hearing in one ear and that his hearing aid battery for the other ear had gone dead.
"I didn't hear the question. All I was thinking about was getting off the stage," Thompson said. "I said it, I'm sorry, and it won't happen again but it's not my record. ... There's nothing discriminatory about me at all."
And this latest statement does nothing to explain away the bigotry inherent in the original answer. Thompson says now that he thought the question was about whether there were enough laws to protect gays from discrimination. He responded that "it," meaning protecting gays from discrimination presumably, should be left up to individual employers. So, if a private employer wants to treat gays and lesbians as fully human and deserving of equal treatment, then they should do so. If, by contrast, a private employer wants to fire people for being gay, then that should be left up to them.
Either way you look at it, Thompson's answer was a defense of workplace discrimination against homosexuals.
4 comments:
Good comments but please leave out the Tourette's. Less than 15% of the few people who even have Tourette's have vocal outbursts (corprolalia) and yet that's all Tourette's patients are known for. The stereotyping hurts us. Imagine being denied employment because of the "potential" for an inappropriate outburst. It's just as bad as being denied because you write a blog people disagree with. And like I said, your comments are good ... without bringing Tourette's into it.
The last thing I intended was to cast any criticism upon those who live with Tourette's. I really don't think my reference to the condition does that. I was just commenting on Thompson's "everything but the kitchen sink" approach to explaining why he said what he said.
I hope those living with Tourette's can take my remarks for what they were. To those who cannot, I regret having given any offense.
By the way, mad props on your username. I read that story in high school. It was my first exposure to Vonnegut. Eventually, I devoured everything he had written up to that time. What a great, great writer. I miss his voice.
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