It's not like RantWoman is short of local politicians upon whom to heap opprobrium. It's not like RantWoman is exactly au courant about all the doings and difficulties of NY governor David Paterson and policy paralysis in the NY state legislature. Nevertheless RantWoman as another legally blind person feels darn well fully qualified to rant in piquant and idiosyncratic detail about recent comments by Staten Island Democratic Senator Diane Savino attributing all of Governor Paterson's current difficulties to is visual impairment.
A quick skim of Google hits reveals that RantWoman is ignorant of many of the finer moments of Gov. Paterson's gubernatorial reign; RantWoman will cheerfully remain so.
RantWoman has included the text of and links to several articles about the current dustup below her own rant. RantWoman has even included a bit from talk-media blowhard Glen Beck about the location of Braille signs: just because small-minded media blowhards do not understand others' [point of view.... In any case, here are RantWoman's main concerns:
First of all, RantWoman would think it's perfectly fine for a politician to send signals in a zillion different ways that she might prefer having a different person as governor. Apparently some analysts think Savino is one of many NY politicos who wish that NY Attorney General Andrew Cuomo would run for governor next year instead of Gov. Paterson. RantWoman has no opinion on that topic and unfortunately does not think blindness, as opposed to ignorant commentary about blindness, has any bearing on the issue.
On the other hand, one criteria agencies who serve the blind may apply in deciding how to provide services is "job retention." If something about living with blindness really is standing in the way of full success for Gov. Paterson, Sen. Savino's remarks would be the perfect excuse for him to call up his friendly state blind services agency and say he needs some services to support "job retention (non-partisan, of course)!" More on this theme in a momen.
First, in the interests of many old jokes about blind people and an elephant, RantWoman would also like to suggest that Sen. Savino deal squarely with another elephant in the room: race issues. In the hoary mists of collegiate history when RantWoman was reading of NY politics more regularly, RantWoman remembers many moments when politicians from Harlem, nearly all of whom are African-American tangled for intangible reasons with politicians from Staten Island who most often are white. It may well be that there is some other behavior / culture point impeding communication and mutual understanding. Governor Paterson seems to think that is the case.
Before Sen Savino makes any more ignorant comments about blindness, she needs at least to consider that race may also play a role. Why is it okay for someone to say someone's impairment gets in the way of being governor but not okay to admit a perfectly obvious thread of much NY city and NY state politics: white politicians from places like Staten Island do not always, shall we say, hit it off with African American politicians from Harlem. In fact, they may simply have different networks of trusted advisors and politicians might have to exercise their political skills a teeny tiny bit to find the right approaches. RantWoman would here note that if the NY state legislature is as paralyzed as the tidings reaching RantWoman suggest, there might be a lot of people who need to exercise their political skills more suavely.
RantWoman further thinks NY state senators, members of one of the august bodies that help fund and oversee whatever rehabilitation and other services the state of NY provides to the blind and visually-impaired almost certainly need better understanding in two areas. First, Sen. Savino (and perhaps the governor as well) need better, more up-to-date information about the many different skills and technologies blind people use to manage their lives or compete on an equal basis with others. Some of the commentary below lists these tools in plenty of detail. Hence RantWoman's suggestion above about actually seeing what the blind services agency currently provides, but more on that below.
Second, in a age of multiculturalism and concern about full access to services for people from very diverse backgrounds, the conversation needs some consideration of barriers or factors that might mean one segment of the population has better access to training and needed skills than others.
Sen. Savino expresses concern that the governor does not use Braille and also that he does not use some of the other gizmos many people are addicted to. RantWoman thinks both of these comments reveal a lot of ignorance on Sen. Savino's part; for the sake of all the other blind and visually impaired people who need services and seek employment and full place at the table in NY state, RantWoman strongly suggests that Sen. Savino pay attention.
RantWoman notes that the governor would have been in school in NY before key civil rights legislation, before several iterations of key laws about educational and rehabilitation services. RantWoman is flagrantly speculating with no basis in knowledge of the governor's childhood family dynamics. However, RantWoman can easily imagine two possibly overlapping scenarios. First, there would be parental freakout. "OMG, my kid is blind." Second, once parents put their brains around the first issue, then they get to look at available services and the vast range of forces they will need to battle to maximize their child's chances in life. RantWoman can easily imagine parents making a variety of decisions about whether or not the young future governor should learn Braille, a topic which remains hotly debated both among blind people and among educators. RantWoman can also imagine bright politically-minded parents deciding for any number of reasons that their kid is better off growing up in their environment than dealing with options offered other ways. Gov Paterson would not be the first and probably not the last kid with a disability whose parents for better or worse made decisions on their behalf. RantWoman is speculating that perhaps some of these decisions also had to do with racial issues, but since this is speculating, RantWoman will leave to others to tell stories that would either support or demolish her speculations.
Whether or not the governor reads Braille may or may not be the point, Personally, RantWoman really, really likes Braille for being able to interact with the structure of words much more easily than when she interacts with audio information. Sometimes in fact, RantWoman would really, really like to read Braille fast enough to do the equivalent of visually skimming in parallel with whatever other audio she needs to pay attention to in a given environment. However, RantWoman reads Braille quite slowly, practices fitfully. RantWoman often asks other blind people about use of braille and finds quite a range of responses. RantWoman finds it really hard to imagine that working Braille practice into the governor's schedule is necessarily the best use of his time.
Next RantWoman notes Sen. Savino's comments about the governor, email, and the Blackberry in particular. RantWoman knows many people in all walks of life, blind and sighted who have their underlings deal with email. RantWoman further notes that although there are a variety of solutions to make Palm pilots and smartphones accessible to the blind, such advances for the Blackberry are still very much works in progress. RantWoman herself is excited about this progress, but in the meantime, she notes that people have been succeeding for hundreds of years as governor of NY without the Blackberry. Senator Savino is a state senator. Governor Paterson is the governor. Possibly Sen. Savino needs to reach him more than he needs to reach her; in that case, it's her job to figure out how to reach him in ways he will respond to.
RantWoman would definitely recommend, if blindness is standing in the way for Gov. Paterson, calling up the blind services agency. RantWoman herself took several calls over a long time. One of her first calls resulted in a demo of software that RantWoman rejected out of hand because it crashed 3 times in 10 minutes and painful as her eyeballs were, RantWoman felt the software would not live up to the requirements of her then-job. RantWoman was right; she also needed other skills she did not have to negotiate the situation, but that is another rant. But new software versions come out, or one intersects with someone who asks just the right question and points to something magical. Or something just comes up as an aside.
Alas, RantWoman would not recommend relying only on the state agency. Blind services agencies can be bureacratic. They can be full of people who make exactly the same mistakes one makes for exactly the same reasons. They can be places of last resort some blind citizens will only speak to out of desparation if the blind services agency is supposed quickly and efficiently to address some simple but crucial life barrier.
RantWoman would also strongly recommend networking with other blind professionals in demanding responsible roles. RantWoman thinks Gov. Paterson is resourceful and should be able to find the right connections for himself, but RantWoman knows of an official in the Department of Labor, a telecommunications executive, several college professors, and a number of other people in demanding roles who might have insights relevant to Gov. Paterson's situation. Assistive technology and skills of blindness are a little like lawnmowers except that one can have good discussions about the former with a lot fewer people than about the latter.
RantWoman has had excellent results making such contacts. True, not every contact resulted in wisdom applicable to her situation and interests, but they nearly all gave her more appreciation for different ways people get things done and sometimes the conversations caused RantWoman at least to refine what she thought she herself needed.
Here we come to another point: having a disability does not immunize one from other possible problems. If RantWoman for instance sometimes suffers attacks of, um, excessive candor, this is a communications problem. More importantly unlike her vision and the vagaries of software, RantWoman's communications problems are something she can do something about.
In Governor Paterson's case, it might be wise to take to heart the comments about appearing out of touch or not quite in command of things. It might even be appropriate for the governor to seek out advisors whom he trusts and who can rein in his worst weaknesses. RantWoman, cynic that she is, is certain that he does have weaknesses even though as she already said above, RantWoman herself is unlightened as to their exact character.
Perhaps after Sen. Savino gets better informed she can also check in with the governor from time to time or perhaps she will just learn better how to represent her own blind and visually impaired constituents.
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Herewith the words of several others along these lines:
It's Not Patterson's Blindness That Explains his Failures as Governor
by Penny Reeder
Penny For Your Thoughts, August 24, 2009
http://community.gettinghired.com/blogs/pennyforyourthoughts/archive/2009/08/24/it-s-not-patterson-s-blindness-that-explains-his-failures-as-governor.aspxHere's a headline that I would have hoped never to encounter: "Paterson's sight hurting job."
The article that follows, which can be found at
http://www.silive.com/news/advance/index.ssf?/base/news/1250927108150700.xml&coll=1details New York Governor, David Patterson's abysmally low state-wide approval rating and decries his alleged ineptitude as New York's governor, and, here's the major problem I have with the article's allegations, ties Patterson's shortcomings to his visual impairment. With headlines like this, it's no wonder that the unemployment rate for people who are blind exceeds 70 percent! With attitudes like this, so blatantly and unapologetically stated by NY state Sen. Diane Savino who is liberally quoted in the article, it's a wonder that any of us who are blind and visually impaired ever even makes it to the initial job interview phase of our quest for employment!
I am far from qualified to dispute Ms. Savino's assessment of Patterson's record as governor. I don't live in or even near New York; I don't often follow politics in the Empire State, although I did find recent published descriptions of the behavior of various New York State legislators pretty unbelievable and I was grateful that it wasn't Democrats or Republicans in my own state house in Annapolis locking one another out and generally behaving like summer campers involved in some color war gone terribly awry. I was not favorably impressed by the nastiness that Patterson exhibited toward Caroline Kennedy when he had the opportunity to appoint a Senator to fill Hillary Clinton's vacated Senate seat, and, from time to time, I have read other statements released by Patterson or his office that made me wonder just how well qualified this man is to govern an important state like New York. Suffice it to say that I have not been very favorably impressed by his leadership skills -Does he have any? -or his petulant remarks -He seems to make a lot of those. If I were a New Yorker, I would hope, along with State Senator Savino, that he can be persuaded not to run for another term, because it would be hard for me to vote for him.
But, to connect his low approval ratings and his alleged ineptitude with his disability, this kind of correlation is false and stating it so blatantly can have disastrous consequences for all of us who are blind, visually impaired, and disabled, especially since so many people with disabilities, particularly those who are blind and visually impaired, were so celebratory of Patterson's ascendancy to the position of governor, simply because he is blind. (Let us hope that disability advocates have learned some lessons about making assumptions, good or bad, about what a person's disability, in itself, might, or might not, portend about his ability to do a job.)
Ms. Savino points out that Patterson cannot read print. She says that he relies on his staff, not only for reading newspapers, reports, and other printed materials aloud, but for their summaries of various reports and their advice as well. Lots of politicians rely on staff members, whom they have chosen after all, for help and advice, but Savino implies that Patterson's inability to read print independently makes it impossible for him to gather the information he needs for making good decisions. She says that he cannot rely on the e-mails and Blackberry communications that people who are sighted take for granted, and that, since he doesn't know braille, he can't keep track of the information he requires without having to rely exclusively on memorization.
These claims tell us more about the state senator's lack of familiarity with blindness and with people who are blind than they tell us about the governor's short-comings. If Patterson is inept, if he seems sometimes to be detached from reality, if his decision-making skills are poor and he relies too heavily on staff and not enough on becoming well informed himself, then these shortcomings are the fault of the person, David Patterson. They have nothing to do with his blindness, and to claim that they do sends a very derogatory message about the rest of us who are blind. There are all kinds of tools that Patterson can utilize for doing his job; if he isn't taking advantage of these tools, or he doesn't know how to do so, his blindness is not the thing that is preventing him from governing effectively.
Screen readers, software which reads aloud the content on a computer screen, have been around since the days of DOS. If Patterson does not use screen readers for e-mail, word processing, surfing the internet and reading documents, then it is the fact that he doesn't take advantage of this very powerful tool that puts him at a disadvantage, not his blindness!
Savino assumes that reading by listening is so time-consuming that the governor cannot possibly keep up with the amount of reading he needs to do, but this claim, too, is without merit. All spoken digital content can be sped up to unbelievably rapid levels. I know many people who listen to speech content so rapid that the Chipmunks, by comparison, sound like they have a Southern drawl. One can read every major newspaper as DAISY content or via Audible.com subscriptions, by downloading files from BookShare, or directly from publication web sites, and scanners and text-to-speech capabilities from Kurzweil, Open Book, and now e-book readers like Amazon.com's Kindle are making options for reading via listening so commonplace as to be taken for granted. And, people who have print disabilities also have all of the dial-in newspaper reading options that are accessible via services like the NFB NewsLine and the Metropolitan Washington Ear and various radio-reading and dial-in news organizations all over the country. Humanware is about to release an accessible Blackberry, and the Iphone, which is accessible via Apple's built-in screen reading technology is high on my own personal technology wish list. Patterson may not avail himself of these technologies, or he may not have taken the time to learn to use them, but if that is the case, it is not his blindness that keeps him from accessing e-mail, internet content, and media independently.
Many of us who, like Patterson, grew up with low vision did not learn to read and write in braille. Fortunately, there are now laws, including IDEA and various “Braille Bills” that have passed in many states that mandate the teaching of braille to legally blind children in today's public school classrooms, and, hopefully, the number of blind and visually impaired people who know braille will increase over time. That said, however, there is nothing to prevent the governor from learning or using braille even though he didn't learn to read and write with the code went he was six. I didn't learn braille until I was the mother of six and well beyond first grade. The agency that provides vocational rehabilitation services to the citizens of New York State can provide a braille teacher for the governor, or he can learn braille, on his own, via the excellent distance education courses that the Hadley School for the Blind makes available free of charge. He can check out the braille teaching materials available, again, free of charge, from the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS). Or he can continue to decline to learn braille and employ other efficient methods for reading, writing, and keeping track of information, including using digital recorders, leaving himself messages on his telephone answering machine, or asking an assistant to take notes for him and make them available upon request. To claim that the Governor's ignorance of the braille code keeps him from being an effective governor is simply untrue!
Anyone in political life is, unavoidably, open to criticism, and Patterson is certainly no exception. But, I urge his critics to evaluate his performance as governor without attributing his failures to his disability. Just as it was unwise for some disability advocates to assume that Patterson's disability would make him a more compassionate or empathetic or friendly to other people with disabilities governor than someone without a disability might be, it is equally wrong, when his performance is found to be lacking to attribute his low approval ratings and his mistakes to his blindness. It is insulting to those of us who are blind to attribute David Patterson's failures as governor to his inability to see. The state senator acknowledges that an economy in free fall and a legislature's apparent revolt against itself have hindered Patterson's ability to govern. Neither of these circumstances has anything to do with his disability. She also claims to be supportive of him (in the moment) as the only governor New York State currently has, and to find him likeable and, in many ways, brilliant. Neither of these more positive appraisals has anything to do with his blindness either.
David Patterson's blindness should be thought of as neutral, having nothing to do with his successes as governor or with his perceived failures. I hope that State Senator Savino will re-evaluate her analysis of the governor's short-comings and leave his disability of blindness out of the evaluation criteria she chooses to use.
+++
Gov. Paterson blindsided by S.I. Sen. Diane Savino: Lack of vision not race the issue
Kenneth Lovett, DAILY NEWS ALBANY BUREAU CHIEF
klovett@nydailynews.comDaily News, Sunday, August 23rd 2009, 12:32 AM
NYDailyNews.com
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2009/08/23/2009-08-23_paterson_knocked_on_blind_side_by_si_pol.htmlALBANY -
It's not his race it's his blindness.
Democratic Staten Island Sen. Diane Savino charged that Paterson's impaired vision is what's actually hampering his ability to do the job.
"We live in a digital age now, with e-mailing and BlackBerrying. He is not able to do that because of his visual impairment," Savino told the Staten Island Advancen in yesterday's editions.
"David cannot do those things. Also, he does not read Braille. He has people reading newspapers to him. He listens to tapes of staffers briefing him. All that takes an enormous amount of time.
"As a result, he is not able to respond on the fly the way [former Gov. Eliot] Spitzer or even [former Gov. George] Pataki could. In some ways I think that has hindered him, in spite of everything he has accomplished in life."
Savino's comments came out a day after Paterson New York's first legally blind governor and just the second in the country's history blamed his problems on his race.
Perhaps because of his disability, Paterson has long had a "disengaged" management style, said Savino, who served under him when he was Senate Minority Leader.
"David is one of those people who tends to rely on the staff around him to set policy and make decisions, and then he turns around and undoes things," she said. "The messaging and the policy development comes out in various conflicting forms."
In a final dagger, Savino called Paterson "brilliant in many respects," but added "as we have all found out, you can be smart and not be able to govern."
Savino also indicated that many Democrats would prefer Attorney General Andrew Cuomo at the top of the ticket next year.
"This is a delicate dance for him, but if Andrew Cuomo was running, I don't think there is anybody in the state who wouldn't want to see him run if things could be resolved with Gov. Paterson," she said.
Paterson spokesman Peter Kauffmann had no comment.
The governor and his aides were much more vocal when "Saturday Night Live" poked fun at his blindness several times, accusing the show of implying that disabled people are incapable of having jobs with serious responsibilities.
+++
Diane Savino Goes There
The Daily Politics
NY Daily News, August 22, 2009
http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2009/08/diane-savino-goes-there.htmlSen. Diane Savino yesterday made some unusually candid comments on a topic that is often privately discussed in New York political circles but rarely so publicly and bluntly assessed: Whether Gov. David Paterson's inability to see hampers his ability to govern.
Here's what Savino told the Staten Island Advance about her fellow Democrat and former Senate minority leader:
Block quote start
"David is one of those people who tends to rely on the staff around him to set policy and make decisions, and then he turns around and undoes things. The messaging and the policy development comes out in various conflicting forms."
"He's disengaged some days That is part of his style."
"We live in a digital age now, with e-mailing and Blackberrying. He is not able to do that because of his visual impairment. David cannot do those things.
Also, he does not read Braille. He has people reading newspapers to him. He listens to tapes of staffers briefing him. All that takes an enormous amount of time."
"As a result, he is not able to respond on the fly the way (former Gov. Eliot) Spitzer or even (former Gov. George) Pataki could. In some ways I think that has hindered him, in spite of everything he has accomplished in life."
"He is brilliant in many respects. But as we have all found out, you can be smart and not be able to govern."
Block quote end
Savino's comments came in the wake of Paterson's claim yesterday that he is being unfairly treated by the media because he's black. The SI Advance story does not include a response from the governor's office.
When Paterson first took over for Spitzer in March 2008, the fact that he is legally blind was almost celebrated.
He was touted as the first person with a visual impairment to hold the post of governor a claim made on his campaign Web site, even though it's technically not true. That honor belongs to Bob Cowley Riley, who was governor of Arkansas for 11 days in 1975.
People who saw him speak regularly marveled at his ability to memorize facts and figures (the fact that he doesn't always get them right was generally overlooked).
But it quickly became clear that the fact Paterson could not access primary sources of information himself made him unusually reliant on staffers especially his former top aide, Charles O'Byrne, whose departure following a tax scandal was a blow from which the governor still hasn't recovered.
With the exception of Saturday Night Live, which earned a sharp rebuke from the Paterson administration after it poked fun at his visual impairment, there has been little public discussion about the wisdom of having someone who can't see run the state.
In fact, I can only recall one other time when this topic was broached in a mainstream newspaper.
Clearly, however, things have come to a point where Paterson is perceived as so weak that nothing is taboo any longer.
+++
Blind advocates spar: Is Paterson a role model?
http://www.metro.us/us/article/2009/08/25/04/1305-82/index.xmlMike Godino, president of the American Council of the Blind of New York, was “devastated” by comments a state senator recently made suggesting that embattled Gov. David Paterson was “hindered” because he couldn’t read Braille or use a BlackBerry and had aides read briefs and articles to him.
“The governor is not a good role model for people who are blind,” Godino said. “We have to meet with these legislators. My fear is they’ll be painting us with that same broad brush.”
Godino said he was dismayed the governor didn’t make use of technologies that assist the visually impaired. Other advocates rushed to disagree.
“Is he a good role model? It looks to me like he succeeded,” said Alan R. Morse co-chair, of the Executive Board at the New York State Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired.
The governor, who is fighting against very low poll numbers, has suggested in recent days his difficulties are due to unfair treatment by the media because of his race.
Meanwhile, his disability became an issue last week when Sen. Diane Savino, D-S.I., told the Staten Island Advance that Paterson’s reliance on verbal briefings and memorized speeches ate up a lot of time.
“He is not able to respond on the fly the way Spitzer or even Pataki could,” she said. “In some ways I think that has hindered him, in spite of everything he has accomplished in life.”
Savino said yesterday that she was quoted out of context.
Sliding down
Gov. David Paterson would face a steep challenge from state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.
70% Cuomo’s favorability rating, says the Siena Research Institute.
65% Voters who would choose Cuomo over Paterson. Paterson would get 32 percent of the vote.
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Staten Island (NY) Advance, Saturday, August 22, 2009
http://www.silive.com/news/advance/index.ssf?/base/news/1250927108150700.xml&coll=1=====
Bronx Dem lashes out at Staten Island pol over Paterson remarksby Staten Island AdvanceTuesday August 25, 2009, 12:23 PMCity Councilman G. Oliver Koppell (D-Bronx) has demanded an apology fromstate Sen. Diane Savino.The chair of a City Council committee on disability services expressedoutrage today over remarks state Sen. Diane Savino made last week about Gov.David Paterson's blindness impairing his ability to govern.Councilman G. Oliver Koppell (D-Bronx), called on Ms. Savino (D-NorthShore/Brooklyn) to issue a retraction and apology for her remarks."It is unfair and inappropriate to imply that the Governor is limited in hisability to serve, because of his visual impairment as Senator Savino hasdone," Koppell said in a press release today."We have and have had outstanding lawyers, judges, executives, teachers andperformers who are blind or have low vision. Blindness and low vision arenot disabilities that disqualify anyone from doing the work of an executiveor a politician."Koppell is the chair of the Council's Committee on Mental Health, MentalRetardation, Alcoholism, Drug Abuse and Disability Services.Last week, Ms. Savino offered the following candid assessment of Paterson:"We live in a digital age now, with e-mailing and Blackberrying. He is notable to do that because of his visual impairment. David cannot do thosethings. Also, he does not read Braille. He has people reading newspapers tohim. He listens to tapes of staffers briefing him. All that takes anenormous amount of time. As a result, he is not able to respond on the flythe way [former Gov. Eliot] Spitzer or even [former Gov. George] Patakicould. In some ways I think that has hindered him, in spite of everything hehas accomplished in life."+++Koppell slaps Savino on the vision thing (updated)By Bill Hammond on August 25, 2009 12:37 PM The Daily Politics NY Daily News, August 25, 2009
http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2009/08/koppell-slaps-savino-on-the-vi.htmlBronx Councilman Oliver Koppell is calling on Staten Island state Sen. DianeSavino to retract her recent comments saying that Gov. Paterson's jobperformance is "hindered" by his blindness.“It is unfair and inappropriate to imply that the Governor is limited in hisability to serve because of his visual impairment, as Senator Savino hasdone," said Koppell, who chairs the council's Committee on Mental Health,Mental Retardation, Alcoholism, Drug Abuse and Disability Services, in anews release.He noted that it would be it would be illegal for an employer todiscriminate against an executive based on visual disability."Senator Savino’s statement may discourage employers from hiring people withblindness or low vision and discourage young people with vision impairmentsfrom pursuing various professions," he said. "This is deeply regrettable.”UPDATE: Savino's office sent over a statement she first issued on Sunday, inwhich she says her comments have been taken out of context, declares hercontinued support for Paterson and apologizes for any hurt feelings she mayhave caused."I stated there may be the appearance that he is disengaged, because of thedisproportionate amount of time he must spend on preparation, as well as thereliance on his staff to receive and disseminate information, which may leadsome to believe that he is not involved in all aspects of governing," shesaidBoth full statements:KOPPELL CONDEMNS SENATOR SAVINO’S STATEMENTS REGARDING GOVERNOR PATERSON’SFITNESS TO SERVE“I am disappointed and outraged by NYS Senator Diane Savino’s recentstatements about Governor David Paterson’s vision impairment,” said New YorkCity Council Member G. Oliver Koppell, who is Chair of the Council’sCommittee on Mental Health, Mental Retardation, Alcoholism, Drug Abuse andDisability Services.“It is unfair and inappropriate to imply that the Governor is limited in hisability to serve, because of his visual impairment as Senator Savino hasdone.”Koppell added, “We have and have had outstanding lawyers, judges,executives, teachers and performers who are blind or have low vision.Blindness and low vision are not disabilities that disqualify anyone fromdoing the work of an executive or a politician. In fact it is illegal todiscriminate against anyone seeking employment as an executive orprofessional on the basis of a disability of this nature. Reasonableaccommodation for low vision is a legal requirement.Senator Savino’s statement may discourage employers from hiring people withblindness or low vision and discourage young people with vision impairmentsfrom pursuing various professions. This is deeply regrettable.”Koppell concluded, “I hope that Senator Savino rethinks her statements,retracts them, and apologizes to Governor Paterson as well as the greatercommunity of people with disabilities.”SAVINO STATEMENT“My comments regarding Governor Paterson, in the August 22nd edition of theStaten Island Advance, were unfortunately taken out of context.During the interview, I was asked why detractors claim that he appears to bedisengaged in the running of the Governor’s office. In the context of anoverall discussion, I stated that Governor Paterson has a brilliant mind andhas accomplished many things.I stated there may be the appearance that he is disengaged, because of thedisproportionate amount of time he must spend on preparation, as well as thereliance on his staff to receive and disseminate information, which may leadsome to believe that he is not involved in all aspects of governing.David Paterson is the Governor and has my full support. His success isimportant, not only to Democrats, but to all of the people of the State ofNew York.To the extent, that my comments may have inadvertently hurt anyone’sfeelings, I apologize.”
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Glenn Beck Makes Offensive Comments on CNNGuest BloggerPaul Schroeder, Vice President, Programs and Policy GroupAFB's Blog, Posted by Carl Augusto on 8/29/2006 2:52:46 PM
http://www.afb.org/blog/blog_comments.asp'topicID=1861Late last week Glenn Beck made some offensive comments on his CNN Headline News program about braille signs on walls. Media Matters has a clip on their site at:
http://mediamatters.org/items/200608250004CNN's Beck on the blind: "Just to piss them off, I'm going to put in Braille on the coffee pot... 'Pot is hot.' Ow!"Summary:On his CNN Headline News program, in discussing the "politically correct world we live in," which, he said, will not allow "stereotypes or sensitive questions" to be broached, Glenn Beck claimed that Braille on walls (used to identify rooms for blind people) "drives me out of my mind." Tax Deductible Donations to Media Matters
On the August 24 edition of his CNN Headline News program, nationally syndicated radio host Glenn Beck claimed that Braille on walls (used to identify rooms for blind people) "drives me out of my mind." When he made his comment, Beck was discussing the "politically correct world we live in," which, he claimed, will not allow "stereotypes or sensitive questions" to be broached. He explained that "a blind person would have to be feeling all of the walls to find [the] 'kitchen.' " Beck then waved his hands about, presumably to mimic the actions of a frustrated blind person.He then said, "Just to piss them [blind people] off, I'm going to put in Braille on the coffee pot... 'Pot is hot.' "As Media Matters for America has documented, Beck has previously claimed that one reason different races are "afraid to hang out with each other" is that "we're afraid... somebody's gonna sic the NAACP on us, or somebody's gonna sic an attorney on us." He has also mocked the names of Egyptians students and used mock commercials to make fun of Mexican immigrants.From the August 24 edition of CNN Headline News' Glenn Beck:
BECK: All right. If you look up the word "stereotype" in the dictionary, you will see it defined as conventional or over-simplified conception, opinion or image. But if you run that definition through my bull crap-to-English dictionary that I was just talking about there in that radio clip, you'll find that stereotype -I mean, it's stuff that a lot of people believe in because sometimes they're really true.Either way, the politically correct world we live in, a world where, you know, I can't even show a picture of a missing student because he's Egyptian, "Oh, don't. What? You hate all Arabs?" No! It doesn't allow you to publicly talk about stereotypes or sensitive questions about age or race or religion. You can't even say anything about it or just ask an honest question.It's not very often that questions like, "How come Asians are so good at math?" or "Have you ever noticed, Jews, they're all good at making money?" You can't say those things out in the open. But for our next guest, answering those kinds of questions and then dealing with the -just the on-fire, inflammatory responses that they cause are this guy's life. Phillip Milano is -oh, jeez, with a name like Milano, you must be in organized crime?
PHILLIP MILANO (Florida Times-Union columnist): Yes. Oh, absolutely.
BECK: You are -you're the writer of " Dare to Ask." What is the point of this column?
MILANO: Well, "Dare to Ask," Glenn, like my book, I Can't Believe You Asked That!, is -it's a chance for people to ask those kinds of taboo cultural questions that we all wish we could ask but we're so afraid of offending in this P.C. world that, you know, we -we dance around it, as you were saying earlier.
BECK: OK. I have one. I have one. I'm going to get to some of the questions that have already been asked, but I've got one that drives me out of my mind. I work at Radio City in midtown Manhattan, and up by the doors, you know, like where the -you know -the office kitchen is, in Braille, on the wall, it says "kitchen." You'd have to -a blind person would have to be feeling all of the walls to find "kitchen." Just to piss them off, I'm going to put in Braille on the coffee pot -I'm going to put, "Pot is hot." Ow!The reality is that braille signage is extremely important for information and orientation purposes just like signage for anyone. And though we wish Mr. Beck would have thought twice before making such stupid remarks on national television, it has given us the opportunity to address some of the questions people have about braille in public spaces.Lots of people probably wonder about braille signs, on elevators, next to office doors or hotel rooms, and everyone's favorite, drive-up ATMs. For the record, the signs are placed according to a standard to ensure that people who are blind do in fact know where to check-typically on the wall next to a door or next to an elevator button. And why are those drive-up ATMs accessible to people with vision loss? Ever stop to think that blind people use taxis (and, yep, go to ATMS), how about that?!Glenn Beck didn't even pause to think about how braille might be used when he popped off about the silliness of braille signs in buildings. Glenn knows nothing about blindness or braille, and unfortunately for him, he's probably not really interested in learning either.But, thanks, Glenn, for giving us an opportunity to remind the world just how helpful braille signs can be, and to make clear to the pitiful few who might actually look to Glenn for guidance that yes, braille signs are placed just where blind people can find them.There are currently 5 comments
Re: Glenn Beck Makes Offensive Comments on CNN Posted by John Schwind on 9/15/2006 7:19:04 PMSeriously though, There was nothing offensive about his comments. And if you do, you are just like the rest of the whiney powerless left. Get over it.
Re: Glenn Beck Makes Offensive Comments on CNN Posted by Marshall Flax on 9/6/2006 10:29:13 PMThis is a version of an old one that (stereotypically) right-wing commentators raise -the waste of good tax dollars on a useless activity (Braille on ATMs or bathrooms). Anyone can be ignorant (Mr. Beck seems to excel in this area) but it is the condescending and patronizing attitude "I'm sighted so I REALLY know the facts here and I don't need to ask a blind person or organization of/for the blind" -that bothers me. The saddest part is that he gets paid to make these (and other) assinine comments because there's an audience. Shouldn't Beck be busy bashing Hillary?Re: Glenn Beck Makes Offensive Comments on CNN Posted by Leon Gilbert on 8/31/2006 10:45:17 PMWell done AFB for turning this media ignorance-proving and somewhat frustrated incident to good purpose, by using it as an opportunity to raising awareness so positively.
Re: Glenn Beck Makes Offensive Comments on CNN Posted by Ben Dover on 8/31/2006 2:06:39 PMThanks, Glenn, that was pretty funny! for the rest of us blind folks who are not so easily offended and don't have nothing better to do! Can I have a show of hands for who's gone to the ATM in a cab and used it lately? In most cabs the windows only roll down half way that would be a pretty tricky feet anyway don't ya think? Braille signs are useful on restrooms but who walks down the hall with there cane or dog guide in one hand and running there hand from top to bottom of the wall, trying to figure out where they put the braille sign.
Re: Glenn Beck Makes Offensive Comments on CNN Posted by Denise Valenti on 8/30/2006 10:28:20 AMThank you for this commentary. It made me think of Dr. Samuael Genensky and a story I read about how he wanted to standardize "Male" "Female" symbols on restrooms for low vision folks..in part so it would not appear he was sniffing the doors. The symbols are now somewhat universal.
