Welcome to the G.I.M.P. Daily Roundup - Growing Involvement in Media and Politics. This is a daily (Mon-Fri) diary series dedicated to highlighting disabled news, activism, politics and punditry.
In the May 31st, 2010 GIMP Round-up:
- Gimps Still Serving In The Military
- Today's Headline News and Action Alerts - Quiet on Kagan, Arizona Gets Something Right, A Brit in Brazil
- Closing Thoughts - Old Gimp vs. New Gimp
SOLDIERS DISABLED IN ACTION STILL SERVING
Via MSNBC:
Since a car bomb blinded Capt. Scott Smiley in Iraq, he has skied Vail, climbed Mount Rainier, earned his MBA, won an Espy award and pulled himself up from faith-shaking depths.
Smiley, a 30-year-old father of two, has snagged attention for his big accomplishments. But the daily ones are telling, too, including the recent tour he gave of his staff's offices at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, where he plans to attend President Barack Obama's address of the Class of 2010 on Saturday.
I think the best part is that he gets a Seeing-Eye Private! ("Turn right, sir.")
Kidding aside, this opens up an interesting door, a gimpy Pandora's Box of sorts. To explain, I need to go back to my Senior year in High School.
Several friends of mine went into the military after graduation, and like all High School Seniors, I got all the recruitment packets and letters, and I always wondered why they kept sending me that shit when they weren't going to sign my gimpy ass up. Now, I know why they sent it - I was just a name on a list, and they had no idea who I was or that I'm in a wheelchair, but I still thought that if they really thought about it, I could be of use to them. Computers, communications, intelligence... Something.
A couple years after graduation, I saw an old classmate that had enlisted in the Army. He was now in Counter Intelligence. I asked him what he did, and he said, "I sit in a room of computers and 'find things'."
Hell, I could do that!
And that's the thing. I could. They won't let me, though. I mean, I can understand not being allowed in the Marines, where everyone is a rifleman first - although I think it would be awesome to armor my wheelchair, equip it with an RPG, some machine guns... But that's another story.
The point I'm getting at is that disabled people can do some of the military jobs, a these guys prove. So my question is, now that the top is off the bottle, will the genie get out?
Is this just the beginning?
TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES AND ACTION ITEMS
DISABILITY ADVOCATES TAKE WAIT-AND-SEE ATTITUDE TO KAGAN NOMINATION
Via Disability Scoop:
Disability advocates were hesitant to say much about Kagan. Without a judicial record, they said little is known on her positions regarding disability rights law.
“I think her hearings are going to be important,” Louis Bossing, senior staff attorney at the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, said of Kagan’s upcoming Senate confirmation process. “We’re going to spend time working with the judiciary committee so the senators can ask questions we’ll need to know whether to support or oppose her nomination.”
The initial reaction is starkly differently from the response advocates gave to President Barack Obama’s first Supreme Court nominee last year. Within a day of announcing now Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s selection, disability advocates were were suggesting “she may be the champion we have been looking for.”
As a judge, Sotomayor ruled very favorably on a number of disability rights cases. Many in our community saw her as a great pick.
With Kagan, as many have said, there's a blank slate. There are some reasons to be optimistic, as the article explains, but the attitude this time around is much more guarded. It should be noted that the concern isn't her, but the lack of a record.
This will be one of the rare cases where the confirmation hearings matter.
ARIZONA GETS SOMETHING RIGHT
Via Disability Scoop:
Arizona offers the best Medicaid services for people with developmental disabilities while Mississippi comes in dead last in an annual ranking of the states released Tuesday.
In addition to Arizona, the states coming out on top in the analysis from United Cerebral Palsy are Vermont, New Hampshire, Washington and California. Meanwhile, the lowest performing jurisdictions are Washington, DC, Illinois, Texas, Arkansas and Mississippi.
I'm from Arizona, originally - born and raised in Lake Havasu City, though I consider Tempe to be 'home'. One of the things I have to say, despite my utter loathing of the immigration bullshit they just pulled - is that the aid care and medical system there is, amazingly, much better than here in California. I got more hours, I got better service on my wheelchair... It really was better.
Just how the crack-addled Republican monkeys that run the state managed it, I really don't know - it was improved greatly under Napolitano, to be fair - but there it is. Arizona actually does good by their disabled community.
A BRIT HELPS THE DISABLED IN BRAZIL
Via the Daily Echo:
A FORMER Romsey man’s work with disabled people in Brazil has been recognised by the country’s government and the Lions International.
Paul Davies, pictured right, who moved to South America 20 years ago, has helped gain acceptance for the disabled in Rio de Janeiro’s famous carnival.
He established a samba school for disabled people and managed to persuade authorities to allow them to take part in the parades – a move unheard of before.
“I had always wanted to do something really productive in some sort of social project,” said Paul, the son of John and June Davies of Romsey
Authorities allowed the gimps to participate in the festivities. Yes, folks, in some places we are still kept in the attic, basement, shed, or anywhere else we can't be seen. Good on Mr. Paul for getting us out in the open.
CLOSING THOUGHTS - BORN DISABLED VS BECOMING DISABLED
First of all, a thank you to all who have served, and especially to those who have become disabled in the line of duty. A user by the name of bigjac got me thinking last night about where we draw the lines of what a disability is, and who is disabled. I still haven't come up with a good answer, and I don't think it's really my place to decide anyway, but it is a good question and one worth discussing.
First, though, I thought that I'd bring up a question I've been asked a few times: If given the choice, would I rather have been able-bodied and become disabled, or be born that was, as I was? Basically, is it better to have walked and lost than to never have walked at all?
The answer is, I don't know. I don't know because I can't really know what it's like to be anyone other than me. And maybe that is the answer to bigjac's question.
Only I know what it means for me to be disabled. Only you know for you.
Larime