Deserving of at least a footnote in the history of Bill Clinton's second inaugural is the document distributed by the Presidential Inauguration Committee that offers "a helpful hints reference guide for politically correct speech when interacting with individuals with disabilities." Distributed to volunteers, the document emphasizes that "in speaking or writing, remember that children or adults with disabilities are like everyone else -- except they happen to have a disability." Thus volunteers are advised not to say "handicapped or disabled child" but instead "child with disability. " Similarly, don't say "retarded" but "person with retardation." Don't say " confined to a wheelchair" or "wheelchair bound" but "uses a wheelchair." Don't say "normal" or "healthy." That would be judgmental, so say "non- disabled."
Wow. Parodies of such hand-outs date back more than a decade. And outside of Maoist cells, it would be hard to find another instance in which the words "politically correct speech" have been used without irony since before many of the volunteers were born. More to the point, surely the new dogma has been around long enough to have reached the population that volunteers for Democratic inaugurations. Is there no end to the need for re-education?