By now we all know that Jack Osbourne, son of Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne, has multiple sclerosis (MS). He knew something was wrong when he could not see people in front of him. He was diagnosed with MS last month. He is now taking medication and has changed his diet, eating healthier in an effort to improve his health. In an article in this week's People magazine, Osbourne said, ""It's just one of those things you take as it comes. It's all about your outlook."
And on his mother's TV show, The Talk, Osbourne said that he was notified via e-mail that he was fired from a reality show after his diagnosis was announced. "At no point did they call me," said Osbourne.
MS is an incurable disease that incapacitates lives in many different ways. It is a neurological condition that damages the body's nerves and affects the transfer of the brain's messages throughout the body. It affects each person differently. I wish Jack Osbourne and the entire Osbourne family the very best as he and his family fight this disease.
Ann Romney also has MS. Hers is not as bad as Jack's, but she does have MS.
MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell, on his show The Last Word, when interviewing her husband Mitt Romney, actually mocked Ann Romney for using dressage as a therapy. We all know O'Donnell's impeccable medical credentials, so his mockery was justified; said with as much sarcasm as I can muster.
In response to an inquiry by O'Donnell, Mitt Romney said, "... her getting back on a horse after she was diagnosed with MS was able, she's convinced, to help her regenerate her strength and renew that vigor." O'Donnell responded, "... there are a lot of things you can do to try to deal with MS. But, come on, dressage does not appear in any of the more traditional courses of treatment."
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - El Bicho
Wow! It is rather mind-blowing how wrong this post is. I believe you didn't even bother to watch the video you linked to considering how much you got wrong, and just reacted to the headline and all the other ignorant folks at Townhall, which there appears to be an abundance of.
First up, twice you mention O'Donnell interviewing Mitt, when he was responding to an interview Mitt did with Bob Schieffer. Did not the title "Face the Nation" in the corner and the older man asking questions on a bus while O'Donnell was in a studio not provide you that clue?
Then you write "actually mocked Ann Romney for using dressage as a therapy," which he did not actually do. Aside from mocking Mitt's claim Ann was an Olympic athlete because she owned part of a horse going to the Olympics and pointing out dressage was not a traditional therapy, O'Donnell questioned why Mitt wrote off the horse as a business expense and not a medical one.
And it's a safe bet you don't know what Rosen was responding to when she made that claim about Ann not working.
Better luck next time
2 - Glenn Contrarian
Welcome back, Warren! Once more into the (non-existent) breach, dear friend? Once more, or close up the wall with your dead conspiracy theories?
3 - Glenn Contrarian
El B -
How much you wanna bet that Warren's buying whole hog into by Republican congressman Darrell Issa and company the latest right-wing conspiracy theory that Fast and Furious was actually a plot to take away everbody's Second Amendment rights by giving guns to Mexican drug cartels?
Never mind, of course, that Rep. Issa admits that there's zero evidence of any such plot. But then, that's just like the near-total lack of evidence of voter fraud in America - in Republican eyes, the lack of evidence is all the evidence they need to make the accusation!
4 - Igor
A few years ago I dropped a dollar into a box at the checkout counter to support USA Olympics. Does that make me an Olympic athlete?
5 - Penny
I gave up pursuing dressage because my MS diagnosis FINALLY exposed WHY my horse wasn't responding to my legs...I simply didn't have sufficient leg strength for him to "hear" my commands. I laughed out loud at Ms. Romney's use of her MS as "cover" for her rather expensive, elitists "hobby" of dressage. She may still be able to ride a horse, but I can promise you "dressage" isn't in the picture...or her future.
6 - Clav
I gave up pursuing dressage because my MS diagnosis FINALLY exposed WHY my horse wasn't responding to my legs...
...her rather expensive, elitists [sic] "hobby" of dressage.
So Penny, that makes you a self-proclaimed elitist, eh?
As an avowed elitist myself, I congratulate you; most elitists are afraid of the peasants finding them out.
7 - Glenn Contrarian
Clav -
I've got no problem with a rich person being president, just so long as that person has a clue as to what the lives of the common people are like, and has some respect for their hardships. As far as I can tell, Romney has neither. Somehow Louis the XIV comes to mind....
8 - Baronius
I watched the original clip of O'Donnell. He's accusing the Romneys of...something, but I'm not sure what. Calling Mrs. Romney an athlete? Taking a tax write-off? Not riding the horse? It seems like O'Donnell just wanted to snidely point out that the Romneys are wealthy, and any specific charge is secondary.
It also seems like Warren just wanted to point out that O'Donnell is a jerk, and any specific charge against him is secondary. I'd rather read or hear something about policy than this kind of point-scoring. For the record, riding is a widespread form of physical and emotional therapy.
9 - Zingzing
Widespread, bar
10 - Zingzing
[sigh] ...onious? I'm sure it exists... But it's not something everyone has access to.
11 - Baronius
Zi
12 - Baronius
ng - "With over 3,500 certified instructors and 800 member centers around the globe, more than 6,500 PATH Intl. [Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International] members help more than 42,000 children and adults with physical, mental and emotional challenges find strength and independence through the power of the horse each year."
13 - zingzing
yes, yes, baronius. maybe those numbers look big to you, i dunno. seems more of a niche thing to me. and as far as i can tell, insurance companies very rarely cover hippotherapy.
i've got a friend that's really into horses, and has done some dressage stuff before... but i've never heard her mention this side of things. i could be wrong. seems kinda ridiculous to me. but i hate horses. they frighten me.
14 - Penny
"So Penny, that makes you a self-proclaimed elitist, eh?"
Yes, Clav, I once aspired to be a smug, holier-than-thou, self-aggrandizing, numbskull elitist-wanna-be. MS can be brutal on legs (and fingers) but - mercifully - it can cure severe mental defects. May you be so fortunate. :))
15 - Baronius
Dressage itself is ridiculous - it's horse-dancing. It shouldn't be considered a sport. Synchronized swimming is more of a sport then dressage, and that's not a sport at all. My point was that this isn't like saying that "driving my Porsche around a track is therapy because it helps me clear my mind". It's an actual thing, and it's common enough that it shouldn't be used to cast aspersions about the wealth of the participant/patient/whatever (if that was O'Donnell's intent).
16 - Penny
@Baronius
You could use a good dose of MS, too…lol.
You’ve obviously never been on a horse, or at least not one you intended to communicate with in any fashion other than crude mouth jerks and stomach kicks.
Dressage IS most definitely a sport, the coming together of raw talent and a tremendous amount of training â€" on the part of both horse and rider - and unlike synchronized swimming - has a layer of difficulty involving a lot of precise, non-verbal communication between two different species of animal.
You will NEVER see a mustang do a half-pass out on the range, and horses who do them in show rings only humor us with such brilliance after a lot of intense training - and a will to cooperate with our silliness, ‘cause heaven knows, they don’t really have to.
But they do look lovely and make us look lovely and clever, too (the payoff for humans).
In the end, horses are just nicer - and probably smarter - than humans.
17 - roger nowosielski
Spoken like a champ, Penny.
18 - Baronius
Penny - I'm sure it's tough, and it requires a lot of training. Doesn't make it a sport.
19 - Glenn Contrarian
Baronius -
In YOUR eyes. In my eyes NASCAR ain't much of a sport - all it is, is a bunch of rich guys driving fast making left turns. But that is my opinion only, just like yours concerning dressage is your opinion only.
20 - Dr Dreadful
What was Mr O'Donnell's previous low?
21 - pablo
Contrarian 3
"How much you wanna bet that Warren's buying whole hog into by Republican congressman Darrell Issa and company the latest right-wing conspiracy theory that Fast and Furious was actually a plot to take away everbody's Second Amendment rights by giving guns to Mexican drug cartels?
Never mind, of course, that Rep. Issa admits that there's zero evidence of any such plot. But then, that's just like the near-total lack of evidence of voter fraud in America - in Republican eyes, the lack of evidence is all the evidence they need to make the accusation!"
As usual Glenn doesn't know what he is talking about. Just google CBS News "Documents: ATF used "Fast and Furious" to make the case for gun regulations" dated Dec 7, 2011.
22 - pablo
The first sentence of the above referenced CBS article reads as follows:
"Documents obtained by CBS News show that the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) discussed using their covert operation "Fast and Furious" to argue for controversial new rules about gun sales."
23 - Baronius
Glenn - Did I say that NASCAR is a sport? Or are you stereotyping me as a redneck conservative?
Ever since back in the days of Gramm-Rudman, I've been arguing for a cap on the number of Olympic sports. If you want to add a new one, get rid of an old one. The abundance of non-first-tier sports discredits the first tier. The same thing is true about the World Series of Pkoer, which I follow more closely than the Olympics. Now there are 60 events per year, plus the US tour, plus WSOP Europe. It diminishes the value of any one win.
24 - Glenn Contrarian
Baronius -
I didn't say that you said NASCAR was a sport, did I? In all honesty, I didn't even think that. And while you're conservative and (I think) a Republican, I've never considered you a redneck. I've seen very few who I consider rednecks online, mainly because most of those whom I consider rednecks are quasi-illiterate Luddites with deep Southern accents (and they're usually quite racist while claiming to be oh-so-Christian). Sure, they work hard and they'll usually help out someone they see in need, but that's about their only redeeming qualities. But please note that that's my personal definition.
I went back to MS last month and a couple of cousins came over to the house. They were making n-word jokes just like they did the last time I saw them - they still don't know that I heartily support Obama and despise racism and they'd clam up and quite probably disavow knowing me if I did. Frankly, if I wasn't trying to keep my mouth shut for the sake of peace in the household and to keep my mother happy, I'd have told them exactly what I thought of them. Anyway, they asked if I'd write to them, so I asked for their e-mail addresses - to which they replied that they don't do e-mails and computers. And they're quite well-to-do, pillars of the local community.
That's what I consider rednecks, Baronius - and please take it as a compliment when I say that you don't qualify as one. If you want to see the kind of rednecks I grew up with, watch Deliverance, partcularly the last few minutes where some old women are sitting around the kitchen table discussing the size of the corn in the garden. The saddest thing is when a redneck watches that scene, he or she probably wouldn't realize what that scene is saying about rednecks in general.
And I agree with you on Olympic sports. "Synchronized swimming"? Oh, come on!
25 - Baronius
The one I always wonder about is the luge. The times are so close. Either it means that these are the greatest luge athletes in the world, with skills honed down to the microsecond, or anyone in the world lying perfectly still on a sled would get the exact same time. It's either skill or gravity. I just don't know if they're pulling one over on us.