thedailywhat:

Dear Ann Coulter of the Day:After Ann Coulter referred to President Obama as a retard in a tweet during Monday night’s presidential debate, Special Olympics athlete and global messenger John Franklin Stephens penned her this open letter:

Dear Ann Coulter, 

Come on Ms. Coulter, you aren’t dumb and you aren’t shallow. So why are you continually using a word like the R-word as an insult? 

I’m a 30 year old man with Down syndrome who has struggled with the public’s perception that an intellectual disability means that I am dumb and shallow. I am not either of those things, but I do process information more slowly than the rest of you. In fact it has taken me all day to figure out how to respond to your use of the R-word last night. 

I thought first of asking whether you meant to describe the President as someone who was bullied as a child by people like you, but rose above it to find a way to succeed in life as many of my fellow Special Olympians have. 

Then I wondered if you meant to describe him as someone who has to struggle to be thoughtful about everything he says, as everyone else races from one snarkey sound bite to the next. 

Finally, I wondered if you meant to degrade him as someone who is likely to receive bad health care, live in low grade housing with very little income and still manages to see life as a wonderful gift. 

Because, Ms. Coulter, that is who we are – and much, much more. 

After I saw your tweet, I realized you just wanted to belittle the President by linking him to people like me. You assumed that people would understand and accept that being linked to someone like me is an insult and you assumed you could get away with it and still appear on TV. 

I have to wonder if you considered other hateful words but recoiled from the backlash. 

Well, Ms. Coulter, you, and society, need to learn that being compared to people like me should be considered a badge of honor. 

No one overcomes more than we do and still loves life so much. 

Come join us someday at Special Olympics. See if you can walk away with your heart unchanged. 

A friend you haven’t made yet, John Franklin Stephens Global Messenger Special Olympics Virginia

[specialolympicsblog]

John Franklin Stephens says it all in his extremely well-written letter. 

This isn’t about politics, it’s about the wrong choice of words - it is hurtful and disrespectful, shows total ignorance.

Thank you, Mr. Stephens, for speaking out! 

This is an outstanding opportunity to make a difference in children’s lives. And, with your donation of only $10, you’ll be entered in this week’s raffle drawing for some incredible John Mayer prizes!

To learn more about The Isaac Foundation and MPS VI, please visit http://www.theisaacfoundation.com today!

jm-fan-street-team:

Hey John Mayer fans!

In case you haven’t seen notice of this week’s raffle, here it is again!  Over the weekend, we raised another $70 for The Isaac Foundation, bringing our current total for this package to $143.  That means that currently, there are only 14 entries in the raffle.  Pretty good odds, wouldn’t you say?

Please read the instructions carefully, because this blitz is different than the last two.

This package includes:

- An autographed and framed copy of “Born and Raised”

- The new 2013 John Mayer calendar (16 months) - gorgeous pics of your hero inside!!

- A B&R sticker/decal

Donate a minimum of $10 to The Isaac Foundation, and you will be entered into this week’s raffle, which ends at midnight EST this Thursday, September 27^th.  The drawing will take place on Friday, and then another weekly raffle will be announced. 

Unlike last week’s raffle, we WILL be giving you multiple chances to win on this one. 

For every $10 you donate, you will get another chance to win.  ($5 or other partial amounts are truly appreciated as a donation, but will not count as another chance.)

We weren’t going to offer this one to international participants due to the cost of shipping the frame beyond US borders, but we changed our minds after the uproar among the international members of our own Street Team.  And, since The Isaac Foundation is a Canadian organization, that just didn’t seem right.

So, we have to put a disclaimer on this prize.  We will ship the signed CD in the frame within the US, but if it is won by an international participant, then we might  have to remove it from the frame and ship it just as a signed CD.  Our international members assured us that this would be fine with them, since the signed CD is the important part of this gift.  This will prevent us having to spend more on shipping than the item is actually worth, and since all of the costs associated with this project are donated by John Mayer fans, we need to keep it reasonable.  We promise to throw in some other sort of treat for you, if we need to ship it overseas without the frame.

Donate to The Isaac Foundation here:  http://www.projectonemillion.ca/

Forward your email receipt to:  fanstreetteam@verizon.net

Please be sure to forward your receipt to us, otherwise we won’t know about your donation and you won’t be entered into the raffle!

jhnmyr:

iTunes exclusive five song EP coming August 7… Sadly (though funny to me) the title is pretty much the truth. Four in studio acoustic performances and the track “Go Easy On Me” from the Born and Raised sessions. A little something for all your support and patience.

I’m about to enter the prep/surgery/recovery wormhole next week (edit: surgery at the end of August) , but I’m excited to get back to it next year. Hope you’re all having a great summer. 

love

JM