The most ‘accessible’ inaguration in American History
First, I’ll list what I do give inagural planners a pass on:
They cannot guarantee enough accessible viewing spaces because there is no way to estimate how many people with disabilities will be attending…
That being said, there is a major difference between ‘You may be turned away because all available accessible viewing spots are full,” and, “We had to stop accomodating at some point and well, I guess you folks will be faced with several large obstacles standing between you and attending this historic event…so your best informed choice may be staying home….separate from the rest.
Word is that security concerns mean that people with impairment or disability who wish to attend the inaguration are being advised that there will be no accessible parking, closed roads and bridges, uneven grassy pavement (At the mall)...while there will be two drop off points for people with disabilities they are far from their designated seating (meaning blocks away)
Other bloggers have brought this up, and my concern is the bigger picture…
If any other minority was facing a similar type of hurdle (limited access with some features or setups actually working against them) there would be an outcry.
I hear *crickets*
One simple and innovative solution to the drop off point issue mentioned by another blogger, would be to obtain, security sweep and security clear some accessible busses to move people from the original drop off point to the accessible seating….and the answer seems to have been “its hard.”
Of *course* change of any kind is hard.
It’s what you folks campaigned on and what you are striving for.
ADA doesn’t get suspended just because *its hard.”
No one should be encouraged to stay home because ‘it’s hard.”
I need a drink. Now. Or a hammer.
to hit myself over the head with so I can just forget I read this…
…this “opinion” in the LA times
Let the economy adjust
By Steven E. LandsburgJason:
Our assigned topic for today is, “What’s wrong with this economy?” My answer is, the same things that are always wrong with it: bloated government, a badly designed tax system and an excess of regulation.
Addressing those fundamental problems would do far more good than shuffling a bunch of checks around. If you really think the economy needs a jump-start, let’s try suspending the Americans with Disabilities Act for a year.
What always cracks my *** up about this sort of idiocy is it always comes from people who think the ADA will never apply to them or help them.
*Anyone* is one serious car accident away from being a new quadriplegic, who could, perhaps, have the career they had pre-accident…*If the ADA as originally written* was available to them.
When will these turkeys get it? Impairment isn’t blue/red, conservative/liberal or beholden to any ideological position.
Everyone needs the ADA, because they could lose opportunity to work, an existing job, or the place they *live* without it.
The main reason for opposition to the ADA comes from those who just refuse to imagine it could happen to them.
Thankfully, there is a counterpoint paragraph in the op ed which reads:
Stimulus doesn’t stop adjustment
By Jason FurmanSteve,
…We can debate whether the economy is slipping into recession or about to rebound. We can debate whether the best tools are for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates or Congress and the president to apply fiscal stimulus. And we can debate the most effective forms of fiscal stimulus. But to argue that the downturn could be solved by temporarily permitting discrimination against people with disabilities is just daft.
Thank God, a bit of sanity.
Blame the economic downturn on the ADA?
That first columnist best not come around for sympathy should he have a disabling accident.
218! 218! 218!
The ADA Restoration Act 2007 11 More?
They have 207 Cosponsors now in the House…want 218 cosponsors before the hearing on thursday….
I’m not seeing anybody from
Idaho, or South Dakota…Some others I may have missed South Carolina or Montana….
Come on, future cosponsors! This aint the war, or national security….I think you can sign on to this with a clear conscience.
I applaud DeGette and Perlmutter from Colorado for making the list…
For common sense. A medically documented disability—*is* a disability…and businesses can’t hide behind this bizzare idea for example where the judge found that cognitive impairment doesn’t limit major life activities
(WTF?)
Google also yields similar written opinon that “communication” “reading” “concentration” are not major life activities….
Bush the First didn’t allow passage of this law so it wouldn’t work at all.
Bush the First, whatever his shortcomings, did not intend that this law be gutted by court opinion.
More Cosponsors Please…
So that if/when the able that read here *become* disabled…you are protected under the law.
Shafted, or Elevatorial Misconduct Part II
On the eve of the anniversary of the passage of the ADA:
I could do some smarmy inspirational riff…and I’ll *almost* commit that very sin by saying…
I absolutely know I’m blessed to have a job and be keeping it…all those stats about the 70% unemployment rate for people with impairments have been staring me in the cranium since 2004 when I started paying attention.
So yep. Happy about that.
Or, I could be grim about:
Those with impairments still not in the community, let alone working at a paying job.
The numbers of vets with impairments continue to grow…
More and more families that have a family member with impairments are facing poverty and economic disaster.
The many interviews that I *know* I’ve not succeeded at because of my size and/or impairment.
The *societal ignorance*, that willful denial of the fact that those with disabilities are able and willing to give of their time and their gifts in job or volunteering opportunites, and it is the *attitudes* of those filling the positions, that keep many out of work.
But I’m going to skip the sappy inspirational kitsch, as well as the grim listing.
And instead:
The ADA was passed:
Before Bill Clinton became President.
Before the Family Medical Leave act.
Before protease inhibitors changed HIV treatment
Before the Oklahoma City bombing.
Before “The West Wing” had it’s first episode.
Before the Y2K scare.
Before the Supreme Court examined the 2000 election and made it’s ruling.
Before 9/11
Before the Iraq war.
And there are still *medical facilities* that are inacessible.
Many builders wilfully disregard Universal Design in new construction when it would work quite well
Businesses still wait to be sued before they comply.
Courts have begun to narrow the focus of the ADA so that someone can be legally and correctly ruled too disabled to do a job but be denied any recourse because they aren’t disabled enough to seek redress under ADA.
And, since it’s always about mememememe on this blog…
My apartment complex that I’ve lived in since 1999 loves to collect my rent. Understandably so. But they’re missing a point.
In order to continue to meet my obligations I have to keep my job. In order to keep my job…doesn’t it stand to reason that I would have to be able to *get* to my job? (my job description doesn’t allow for telecommuting)
In order to get to this job…I must leave my apartment building.
*Which* as it turns out may be up for grabs *again* tomorow because the elevator is not working.
Of course I could live on the ground floor…I could move. And after three of these elevator foulups in two months I have *asked* that I be allowed to do so. Why *no!* the apartment says…you cannot break your lease between lease terms to live in a less expensive apartment….
Um, wait. If I cannot leave the apartment, and cannot continue my job I will be *unable* to pay the rest of the lease on this place…
I cannot break the lease and move to another complex for the same reason….the lease ends in September of 2008.
I think I’m going to have to offer to pay the two bedroom price on a one bedroom downstairs…and then leave at the end of the lease…
All because the elevator cannot be mended.
“Access” to buildings and jobs is still a relative term more than 25 years after the passage of the ADA…
*Enforce* it already.
[Curseword of choice] it all…
I’m going to bed.
