#1,003: Neurodivergence, Empathy and Teachable Moments

Without question, the just-concluded Democratic National Convention has set a new standard for televised political extravaganzas. I mean, it had everything: the best, most gifted, and thought-provoking political speakers on the planet; flawless - and I mean absolutely FLAWLESS - direction and choreography; the most imaginative, toe-tapping, hip-hopping roll call of the states ever experienced; a level of exhaustive energy not felt for decades; spot-on video clips; boundless joy, innumerable hugs, hope, laughter, and empathic tears; a billion-and-one red-white-and-blue balloons . . . and, of course, Coach and Gwen Walz’s two children, Gus, and the perfectly-named Hope. Who will ever forget Hope making a heart shape with her hands and Gus pointing with unbridled happiness and tears in his eyes, repeatedly shouting out “THAT’S MY DAD!!” as they watched their father give his acceptance speech.

Remarkably, within the span of a mere 4 televised evenings, the Democrats managed to steal much of what had long been the Republican brand: becoming the party of “freedom,” “family values” and “patriotism.” This left many MAGA-ites – from IT on down – deeply shaken, angry, perplexed and much farther back on their political heels than they might have imagined even a week earlier. So how has the Party of IT responded? Simple: When you are in doubt and the polls are beginning to turn against you, lace up your gloves, toss out the Marquis of Queensberry Rules (a set of guidelines for fair, stand-up boxing matches), and revert to type, rabbit-punching, hitting well below the belt, and generally replacing gentlemanly fisticuffs with dire falsehoods and classless calumnies. As for IT, he doesn’t know what to make of - or do about - Kamala Harris. He’s tried to play around with how to pronounce her name, and what nickname to saddle her with (the most recent being “Comrade Kamala”); he’s called her “stupid” and claimed that all the crime in San Francisco is due to her having been The City’s D.A. (that was a long, long time ago). BTW: I prefer calling Kamala by the name her children call her: Mamaleh, which is Yiddish for “little mother.”

Perhaps the weirdest of all weirdnesses coming out of the convention stemmed from the National Assembly of Republican Assemblies (NFRA) which has been citing one of the most reviled Supreme Court (SCOTUS) decisions in American history (1857’s Dred Scott v. Sanford) to justify its case that Vice President Harris should be deemed ineligible to run under the U.S. Constitution.

An attorney associated with NFRA cited Article II, Section 1, Paragraph 5 of the Constitution, which pertains to only natural-born U.S. citizens being eligible to serve as president. The NFRA argued that the phrase "natural born citizen" is defined as "a person born on American soil of parents who are both citizens of the United States at the time of the child's birth." Egads! The serious application of this clause would have made multiple U.S. presidents ineligible to hold office, including George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, among others. The NFRA attorney, Dallas-based Santiago Reich. pointed out that because those presidents' parents were born on land classified as British colonies at the time, they would not meet the standard the NFRA set to define as natural-born citizenship.

It should be noted that the Dred Scott decision was overturned entirely by both the 13th and 14th Amendments to the Constitution and its text cannot be meaningfully cited for any reason whatsoever . . . especially for doing a “birthing redux” over Kamala Harris. And by the way, IT, in addition to claiming that V,P, Harris is employing a.i. to make her “empty” rallies look like they are standing-room only (!), has also, of late, claimed “I am better looking than Kamala.”

Might I make a suggestion? Take a long look in the mirror.

Getting back to the Chicago convention: One aspect that will shore up and outlive any mistakes or miscues which might occur in the campaign’s final weeks (for they are inevitable) is its celebration and presentation of the loving Emhoff/Harris and Walz families . . . all of whom . . . children, parents, nieces, nephews . . . onstage and in the audience, hugging, smiling, tearing up and cheering on the two candidates. Perhaps the biggest star of the entire convention was 17-year old Gus Walz, who melted millions of hearts. Already, there are tee-shirts, campaign buttons and banners emblazoned with simple messages like “I’m voting for Gus’ Dad,” “Coach Walz: That’s My Dad!” and "Team Gus!” In addition to capturing all those hearts with his obvious ingenuousness, he has created a learning moment for millions: learning about what makes him both different and truly special. Gus has already put the words neurodivergent and neurodivergence into numerous vocabularies. For those who have yet to do their research, you should know that neurodivergent isn’t a medical term. Instead, it’s a way to describe people using words other than “normal” and “abnormal.” That’s important because so far as I know, there’s no single definition of “normal” for how the human brain works. Like a person’s fingerprints, no two brains — not even those of identical twins — are exactly the same. Because of that, there’s no definition of “normal” capabilities for the human brain. (BTW: The word for people who aren’t neurodivergent is “neurotypical.” That means their strengths and challenges aren't affected by any kind of difference that changes how their brains work.)

People like Gus have different strengths and challenges from people whose brains don’t have those differences. The possible differences include medical disorders, learning disabilities and other conditions. The possible strengths include better memory, being able to mentally picture three-dimensional (3D) objects easily, the ability to solve complex mathematical calculations in their head, and many more. From what we saw of Gus, especially on the night his father gave his major address, one obvious aspect of his neurodirgence is that he wears his heart on his sleeve; he is incapable of pretense . . . what he feels, he shows.

Alas, not everyone found Gus’ status (it’s not a condition) and tears to be a teaching/learning moment. Conservative mouthpieces/influencers Ann Coulter and Jay Weber, among others, saw fit to mock and deride the young man. Coulter, writing about the Democratic National Convention on her X (formerly Twitter) account railed on and on about Democrats referring to Republican V.P. candidate JD Vance as “weird.” “Talk about weird,” Coulter posted in reference to Gus on her X account. After tons of negative responses, she did remove it. Then there’s conservative Wisconsin radio host Jay Weber, whose offensive response posted on X was widely condemned: “Sorry, but this is embarrassing for both father and son," Weber wrote. "If the Walzs represent today's American man, this country is screwed; 'Meet my son, Gus. He's a blubbering bitch boy. His mother and I are very proud.'" As with Coulter, Weber’s post was also deleted. His apology? "I didn't realize the kid was disabled, and have taken the post down."

Of course, these two insensitive cranks were only following in IT’s footsteps; back in November 2015, IT mocked Politico reporter Serge Kovaleski during an interminable speech in which the then-candidate was defending the contention that "thousands and thousands of people" cheered the September 11th terrorist attack in Jersey City, New Jersey. Turns out that Kovaleski was one of the reporters who had disproved IT’s batty contention. “Written by a nice reporter, IT began. “Now the poor guy. You ought to see this guy." He then "into an impression which involved gyrating his arms wildly and imitating the unusual angle at which Kovaleski's hand sometimes rests," according to Politico. (NB: Mr. Kovaleski suffers from arthrogryposis, which according to the National Organization of Rare Disorders, can affect the function and range of motion of joints and can cause muscles to atrophy.)

Weird leader, weird followers. Or, as we used to say back in our schoolyard days: monkey see, monkey do.

Is it any wonder that more and more people are questioning IT’s humanity, let alone lucidity? One need not agree with a presidential ticket’s every position or proposal (and for those who say that Harris/Walz did not present anything of the sort in Chicago, do remember that in the main, that’s not the purpose of a national convention) in order to support it. Many voters seem to have forgotten that character, humanity and magnanimity of spirit are just as important - if not more so - than what Plato would have called “The shadows on the cave wall.” Just because someone proclaims him or herself to be “pro-family values,” “pro-life,” “pro-freedom,” and a host of other seemingly positives does not make it so. The presentation of self often provides the greater keys - the more critical teachable moments - than bluster or bombast. Everyone on earth has something to teach . . . even if it is just what not to be or what not to say.

In sum, doing justice, loving mercy and walking with humility (to paraphrase Micah 6:8) is the key . . . not mockery, mendacity or malevolence.

I don’t know about you, but I’m voting for Mamaleh and Gus’ Dad,