Posted by Frank James at 2:25 pm CDT
Some commenters to Pete Souza's photo post showing Tammy Duckworth's artificial legs resting under a table as she testified on Capitol Hill took issue with our putting the photo up on The Swamp.
It was an arresting photo, at least to us. So we thought we'd share it with you. No greater political message was intended.
The sight of those metal and plastic legs, reminded us of what she has lost, that's true. That would be true regardless of what war she fought in.
Prosthetic limbs are also fascinating. They combine the science and art of their manufacture and the determination of the wearer. They declare the user's desire to be whole, to be independent. At least, that's what they seem to say to me, a person who, for now, still has all my limbs.
One commenter asked, justifiably, for the substance of what Duckworth, who heads Illinois's Department for Veterans' Affairs, had to say. This video clip provides that.
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Comments
Thanks, Frank, this is the stuff I like to hear. I agree that prosthetic limbs are fascinating, too. I've watched the Paralympics and African soccer matches played by amputees and you can see the desire of people to be whole in the spirit of those competitions. I'm interested in what advances in prosthetic technology will come from the Center for the Intrepid at Brooke Army Medical Center.
Posted by: Jeff | March 27, 2007 2:48 PM
Jeff, your a joke. Plain & simple. Get over your self.
Posted by: jj | March 27, 2007 3:30 PM
oh, you wound me, JJ. Dynomite!
Posted by: Jeff | March 27, 2007 3:57 PM
Name calling? Is that supposed to be insulting to me? Is that the best you can do? Pretty sad.
Posted by: jj | March 27, 2007 4:56 PM
I read this blog from the bottom up (I don't know why) so I saw and commented on the "legs" picture before I heard the commentary in the video... and well, I still think the "legs" aren't newsworthy.
I've seen 'em a hundred times already, and the image doesn't add anything to her remarks.
Posted by: Leo T | March 27, 2007 5:14 PM
JJ, I wasn't calling you a name. I was making reference to the famed Jimmy "JJ" Walker from "Good Times," whose catchphrase was "Dynomite."
So, no, that wasn't supposed to be insulting to you. Although, I realize, you probably still don't like me. I don't have to be liked by all the people.
Posted by: Jeff | March 27, 2007 6:37 PM
Yeah, not much that we didn't already know going on over here, Leo.
Posted by: Jeff | March 27, 2007 6:38 PM
The video and explanation are appreciated, yet I think it's possible to respect someone and their service without focusing on their disability. Paul Simon was a great senator who had fascinating ear lobes, but it would have been tacky to post a close-up shot of the lobes. This is a weblog, not a freakshow.
Posted by: Tom | March 28, 2007 11:12 AM
The photo IS arresting. It's another extraordinary person doing something ordinary - testifying before Congress. She's living a life and doing things that were impossible without our science and her courage.
It's pictures like this that bring the rest of us "able bodied" folks up to speed on what the Duckworths in the country can and cannot do. The extent to which the image is arresting is a measure of the gap between the little we think they can do and what they actually can & do achieve everyday.
I disagree with her politics and the rest of the Dem Party's war gamesmanship. But the commentary in the photo is social, not political. The uproar this can cause with readers that support the President shows how defensive and thin-skinned we are right now. (And with the quality of the current debate, can you blame us for being thin-skinned?)
Posted by: Tom | March 28, 2007 11:44 AM