Earlier this week, Bluestem Prairie posted New House Republican Caucus Facebook admin stays classy about American Sign Language . Now one of the New House Republican Caucus legislative staff has replied.
Margaret Martin said Saturday in a comment on the post:
I think it's great the Governor has an ASL translator. I took a class in ASL myself in HS and have cousins who are deaf and use ASL. But the comment about the translator standing so close is legit for discussion. [emphasis added] Since you think you think you know what I meant by an emoji, I'll have to fill you in, the gang sign comment is something that one of my cousins have actually said to me, there is a style to ASL translation and deaf people make fun of certain translators. This translator's style has a lot of body movement to it, while others do not. I thought it was a comment on the style, not the activity itself.
For the record, we didn't use the word "translator" anywhere in our post, and are a bit puzzled that Martin does so having taken a class ASL. Perhaps she might take a look at Signing Savvy's post Clearing up the confusion between Translators, Interpreters, and Interveners.
We certainly can't argue with Ms. Martin's cousins, as we have never met them, nor do we even know their names.
However, since Martin asserts: "But the comment about the translator standing so close is legit for discussion," we wonder if she might want to start that discussion closer to her own workplace.
On March 16, New House Republican members, Jeremy Munson, Lake Crystal, and Tim Miller, Prinsburg, streamed a show on coronavirus news from Miller's office at the capitol. Not only did the lawmakers sit next to each other, touching, Miller joked about "breaking the rules" around the five minute marker.
Just after the 9:30 minute mark, Munson defines "social distance" as being between "three and six feet apart." The former distance might even be that between Walz and his ASL interpreter in the press conference that Martin frets so much about.
It's quite decent of Martin to fret about the governor, but perhaps she might address the nearly 24 minutes of closeness between Munson and Miller, who comprise half of the caucus that employs her.
We post the entire YouTube below:
Screengrab: New House Republicans Jeremy Munson and Tim Miller modeling social distance in Miller Time. We do want to praise Miller for purchasing carry out meals from local restaurants in his district, as he has posted on his Facebook page.
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