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Democratic Activist Lectures Others Not to Use Term 'Spineless' Because It's 'Ableist'

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) leaves Senate floor after Senate passed continuing resolution to fund federal government / Getty
January 23, 2018

A Democratic activist chastised her peers on the left for using the term "spineless," after the Democratic Senate leadership agreed to back a Republican spending bill without receiving concessions.

Liberal activists on Twitter assailed Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) and other members of the Democratic leadership on Monday, accusing them of cowardice.

But Melissa Byrne, a Bernie Sanders campaign and MoveOn alumnus and a 2017 DNC vice chair candidate, asked her fellow Democrats to drop that sort of language, calling it offensive to the disabled.

The tweet immediately prompted mockery, leading Byrne to quickly delete it.

It is generally not possible to live without a spine, which transmits signals from the brain to the lungs and heart to continue functioning.