Good morning Jim,
I can see that this is an easy and cheap way for the media to fill space
that would be more productively left empty. What however is the agenda of
the rightwing conspirators? Are they looking for a Balkans, Ruanda or Hitler
style cleansing process to achieve a disability free - and hence more
pleasing and attractive american environment/order? Is this akin to the
massive effor put in by the US builders of the Panama Canal to eliminate
malaria carrying mosquitos?
have a good time, rgds John
----- Original Message -----
From: Jim Davis <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, May 08, 2001 1:38 AM
Subject: Re: Absurd Extent of PC...
> Unfortunately that link goes to the current editorial page of the
> Philadelphia Enquirer; maybe the Op-Ed's still findable somewhere on
> that site (if not, I do have an e-mail copy of it.) I did read the
> atrocious "Absurd Extend of PC Suggests a Dangerous Blindness To
> Reality" by Robert Tracinski. yesterday.
>
> In the US we sometimes see these type of Op-Ed pieces, either still
> beating the dead horse of caricatured "PC", or written on the standard
> template of "ADA Horror Story".
>
> They are generated by big right-wing foundations, at least one of which
> has assigned one of their so-called "resident scholars" to bash the ADA.
> The typical tactic is to report a frivolous-SOUNDING (or they make it
> sound frivolous) ADA case, and then use the technical legal term for a
> Court's deciding to merely hear the case, and cleverly maneuvering
> readers into the impression that the case went all the way to victory,
> when in fact it lost. "Radical right" US think tanks have been known to
> send out this anti-ADA material as pre-fab parts for Op-Ed writers or
> "reporters" to assemble (some of it even gets published as sent, with no
> editorial oversight at all, in small newspapers eager to fill space, for
> free).... and some of these foundations have been known to hire grad
> students to even write books and articles which prominent conservative
> "scholars" are then paid very well, to sign and publish as their own
> work. Seems some conservative professors are too busy to write all of
> their own dishonest propaganda, so it's been turned into an
> assembly-line process to boost productivity. The right also has built
> the political infrastructure to distribute these propaganda pieces and
> "research" fragments to newspapers, magazines and AM radio "hate radio"
> hosts like Rush Limbaugh and Bob Grant.
>
> This misrepresented "Cabin Story" is an old staple in these propaganda
> pieces, as is the tall tale about the allegedly ADA-required ramp to the
> stripper's platform in some bar. They also routinely lie and say that
> drug addiction is covered by the ADA employment law section (more than
> half of which was shredded by the Supreme Court last term, and huge
> amounts of ADA case law is hostile, which of course they never mention).
>
> As a writer who has a feel for how articles are pulled together;
> including, that moment when you realise you have enough material -- I'd
> say this writer happened to see that play with the ASL signing, and then
> realised he had the other parts of an article putting down PWD's in his
> file of pre-fab stuff sent from right wing foundations .... and perhaps
> he then realised that by adding the fresh and the canned info, together,
> he had enough to get a sloppy conservative rant article out of it.
>
> --
>
> If I bothered to write a letter to the editor and publisher of that
> newspaper, I'd make sure to emphasize that their Op-Ed writer was too
> LAZY to even make one phone call to the theatre company, to ask if they
> sign every performance. Not that they should or shouldn't, I just think
> that pointing out Tracinski's utter journalistic laziness is something
> the Editor & Publisher would "get" easily, maybe paving the way for them
> to "get" the rest of the message?
>
> In a response sent around to some local activists who passed this Op-Ed
> around, my other 2 main points were that -- whether ASL signing conveys
> all or "most" of the content of an artistic production, is not the only
> question, and not necessarily the most important one either. "Does it
> convey a lot?" is a more appropriate question, (and obviously the Deaf
> audience would be the proper judge of that). And obviously since this
> writer doesn't know ASL, he has no idea of how much was conveyed,.. (and
> again, as a lazy journalist, he made no effort to find out). Point 2 -
> the hiking trail cabin IS a public accommodation, and and he relies on
> public ignorance, the mistaken perception of mobility disabilities as
> being "all or nothing" to twist this anecdote into something that fits
> the old conservative rhetorical template of "It's ridiculous." The
> number of hikers who are helped by a few accessibility modifications in
> that cabin, is probably not as small as he implies (one survey found
> that accessibility features in public places are actually used by about
> 1/3 of the public, once you factor in people with baby strollers or
> luggage), and this Op-Ed writer had to edit many facts and human
> considerations out of the cabin story, to force it into his template.
> If he mentioned for example, that many of those benefitting from those
> trail cabin improvements were arthritic but "still spry" senior
> citizens, then the readers might think "Oh, isn't that wonderful they're
> making that effort, and getting out on that trail?" And then even to
> relatively disability-ignorant readers, the whole intent of the article
> would fizzle.
>
> In my informal local response to the Op-Ed, I also wondered if Mr.
> Tracinski would write a column making fun of architectural accommodation
> or barrier-removal, if I told him that professional basketball
> franchises typically have their offices and team facilities built with 8
> foot high doors (that's the highest standard door size here, but the
> much more commonly used standard door heights are either 6 foot 8
> inches, or occasionally 7 foot. The first seven foot tall pro player
> Patrick Ewing, was hired over a decade ago, and now I hear that one pro
> player is 7'-3" tall... to which you must add for shoes & hair / hat, to
> find what door size is required).
>
> Of course Mr. Tracinski would NOT try to force THAT design-accommodation
> anecdote into the right-wing "It's ridiculous" template, and then
> publish it to try to incite public resentment -- why? -- because
> tallness (especially in men) is a physical variation that is NOT
> stigmatized.
>
> --
>
> We have to write OUR OWN Op-Ed articles. Maybe debunking ones like Mr.
> Tracinski's sometimes, but mostly we need to just say what we have to
> say. In a debate, (or even when being interviewed by an ignorant
> reporter, when it starts to feel like a debate!)... part of winning is -
> controlling the focus. Talk about what YOU want to talk about, what YOU
> think is important. A good opponent certainly will do that. And, for
> example, in a 2 person debate, if you spend half of your allotted time
> reacting to what the opponent said, then 3/4 of the debate will have
> taken place on his / her turf. And the audience will probably take away
> the impression that you lost.
>
>
> Disabled rights activists and advocates have plenty of Op-Eds in us,
> just waiting to be written, without relying on the template of "Did you
> see what he wrote?" (the hor 'doerve of left activism, denouncing the
> infidel; emphasized by some who shy away from the harder, more long-term
> work) for subject matter.
>
> Jim Davis
>
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