Meryl Streep’s speech at the Golden Globes has reignited the perpetually-smoldering conversation about President-Elect Trump’s mockery of Serge Kovaleski, a Washington Post reporter with arthrogryposis, who had disagreed publicly with the then-candidate.

The most common refrain I hear on (my admittedly liberal) social media about the President-Elect’s shameful mimicry is some variation on:

I don’t understand how this wasn’t the end of [Trump’s candidacy]

It is a sentiment that speaks volumes about the privilege of the people expressing it.

For starters, the idea that these people are experiencing such a colossal failure of empathy that they believe mockery of people with disabilities is somehow an outre idea in American culture, really pisses me off. I have heard/seen this posted or brought up in conversation by people I admire, people I consider friends or family, and frankly people who have shaky ground under their feet if they are going to take Mr Trump to task for his behavior.

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