Here’s a measure of just how screwed up our culture and political systems are. The Republican’s secret weapon in the Sonia Sotomayor hearings is a firefighter named Frank Ricci. Frank Ricci, according to recent accusations, is a firefighter who will enter your burning house, see a sign that says “Kids’ room this way”, and then have to elblow his buddy to find out what the hell the words mean.

Direct from the AP article:

Liberal groups and bloggers are noting that Ricci, who has dyslexia, got his firefighting job in New Haven “by claiming discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act, which protects Americans from discrimination over disabilities.”

Marge Baker, People for the American Way’s vice president, says: “I don’t think Mr. Ricci thought that his being hired was a case of reverse discrimination against those who weren’t disabled … You can’t have it both ways; these laws can’t be good when you use them to protect yourself and bad when they’re used to protect someone else.”

Guess what? The liberals are right. Sure, they’re scumbags and hypocrites, but they’re right. Assuming the actual charge is correct (and, granted, it may not be), then the GOP cannot simply respond with: “How dare you attack a fireman!” When culture becomes tangled in contradictions, it becomes nearly impossible for anyone to claim to have clean hands. And do you think any Republicans voted for the American with Disabilities Act? Well, a Republican president signed the goddamn thing.

And not to digress too much, but is it really a good idea to have dyslexic firemen on the job? Isn’t there a non-dyslexic black guy they could have hired?