Friday, October 17, 2008

Parents of Children with Disability don't need Pandering!

I am so angry with John McCain for choosing Sarah "I have a child with DS" Palin and pandering to parents of children with disability. So she has a baby with DS. Big Deal. He's 6 months old now. If she's dealt with Early Intervention already - then wow, she's ahead of the game. But she hasn't dealt with school and much in the way of therapy yet. My daughter was born with DS in Alaska. She was seen early by a PT (physical therapist) privately because our Early Intervention program in my town didn't have any PT's on staff and we didn't want to wait for them to fill the slot. It wasn't until Ellie was almost a year old that I learned she could qualify for Medicaid through the TEFRA program (Katie Beckett Act). She was initially denied because her initial eval at 2 months old didn't show any delays. That's becuase 2 month olds don't do any thing but sleep, poop and eat. Ellie had those down pat.

So Sarah "I use my children when they can help me politically" Palin has been carting this adorable little baby who will be delayed (you can see his low muscle tone in every picture) all around the country - especially New Hampshire and the Great Northwest there. When is he getting therapy? When is he seen by his Early Intervention Team? I worry for that little boy - being used in such a way for politically expediency and votes.

Thankfully a freind on my DS listserve sent a link to the comparison of McCain and Obama's positions on People with Disability. Please read this. It is eye-opening. I was voting for Obama before I read this. Now it just reconfirms. But for those of you who didn't know their positions and just assumed that Sarah "I have a baby with DS" Palin would be a strong advocate - ha. I doubt it. Now, what has she done for children with disability in Alaska? She is the aunt of a child with Autism. So before she became a parent, she knew about the struggles. Yes? But it's arguable that she has truly helped the disability community in Alaska. She line item vetoed six appropriations for community disability services or for accessibility modifications to public accommodations as governor. It saved the state less than $800,000 - when they had a huge budget surplus. Not to mention, as a previous resident of that state, I can tell you it is not accessible for disabled persons. It is difficult to get around. Read this blog from distinguished professors of Disability at the University of Kansas to get a second opinion.

I'm also Angry with Sarah "I didn't blink I said yes" Palin who left Alaska to be run by ???? the RNC???? while campaigning instead of taking care of her state and her children. I have the utmost respect for working moms, and even greater respect for working moms who have children with disabilities. It takes a lOT to be a parent of a child with disability and to add to that working full-time is an incredible juggling act. My hat goes off to those parents.

That being said, Sarah does NOT have the experience to be VP of the US. Maybe of, I don't know, Turkmenistan? But let's get real folks. She should have said, "no way. Are you high right now? I"m out of my league here." But she didn't. In her fantasy land she thinks somehow that mayor of a town of less than 9,800 and 20 months as governor of a state of only 650,000 makes her somehow qualified? And she's using her kids to try and get votes. How pathetic and cruel is that? Just to give you an idea, Chicago, Illinois has 2,836,658 people in 2007. And representing those constituents for 8 years in the Illinois legislature is less qualifying than being the mayor of Wasilla? IS she nuts???

Not to mention, that Obama has also taught constitutional law to Law Students for years. So obviously he knows a little bit more than just the name of the case Roe v. Wade. Like maybe how there is a Right to Privacy in the Constitution. And maybe, even the difference between states rights and federalists?! I am so fed up with the pandering of the Right and their assumption that average americans don't pay attention to their words. Both Palin and now McCain have claimed they are Federalists and in the same sentence have said they believe in strong states rights on issues like Roe v. Wade. They can't have it both ways. Federalists believe in strong Federal Government and weakened states rights. The first Federalists wrote the Federalist Papers: John Jay, Alexander Hamilton and James Madison. Obviously, Sarah "Education is not Important to me" Palin didn't pay attention during civics class.

So let's show the Republicans that we won't be pandered to. And that we pay attention to their words, just as John McCain suggested we pay attention to Obama's words. If we americans don't pay attention during the next 19 days, we will get what we deserve, again. Please, don't accept pandering. Don't accept the negative bullshit ads. Ask yourself why is the McCain campaign focused on negative bull shit ads and not the economy? Read their websites. Read the news. Main Stream Media is not the enemy. Ignorance is. And most importantly, on November 4 - go and vote!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I had no idea, thanks for sharing.

Anonymous said...

Great blog S.S....

Palin uses her kids, uses her constituents, bills the state to stay in her own home, bills the state to fly and house her kids...

Alaskans have learned the hard way that Palin serves only at the mercy of The RNC, McCain, the Mining Lobby and Palin herself.