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Post by E on Apr 30, 2008 13:43:15 GMT -5
Protest at McCain’s Senate office leads to arrest of dozens
Posted by: Donna Smith
WASHINGTON - U.S. Capitol Police arrested dozens of protesters, many in wheelchairs, at the Senate office of presidential candidate John McCain on Tuesday while to Arizona Republican was in Florida campaigning about health care as well as raising money.
The activists demanded to talk to McCain about his lack of support for legislation that would help poor handicapped people stay in their homes and out of nursing facilities.
McCain is the only presidential aspirant who has not endorsed the bill, said Bob Kafka, a spokesman for ADAPT, an activist group that staged the protest. Democratic contenders Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton support the bill, he said.
About 500 members of the group are in Washington this week celebrating their 25th anniversary of community activism, Kafka said. About 40 protesters were in McCain’s office with another 50 outside the hallway shouting to see McCain. Hundreds of others staged another demonstration outside the Republican National Committee near the Capitol, he said.
Kafka said Medicaid rules are forcing people who need care into nursing institutions. “The main thing that drives our organization is the passion to live in our communities,” he said.
McCain’s office had no immediate comment on the protest.
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Post by Ouch on Apr 30, 2008 15:09:07 GMT -5
Sounds like something that someone else and I were talking about recently (not protesting, but crime and punishment relating to wheelchair users): www.cannabisculture.com/articles/5162.html (the article has a certain bias about it) |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 30, 2008 17:50:53 GMT -5
Even though I could smoke that ton of pot day in and day out for the rest of my life...(hypothetically speaking, lolol yeah right my left numb nut) and the worst thing that would happen would be a slight bump up in Dibs* sales.
Bravo war on drugs you got another bad guy....oh whoops while you wasted time on this guy another ton of cocaine,heroin,ecstasy, and meth was brought in right under your noses to pay for TERROR!
*dibs are these evil little chocolate covered ice cream bits. Buy a box......join us.....
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Post by Deleted on Apr 30, 2008 18:06:08 GMT -5
Oh yeah equal punishment and all that....
except....when you come across a situation where you have to defend yourself....What about then? If I got into it and had to make a decision about how far to go what then? If I am lucky enough to get a hold of a guy its over....but then what do I do? Hurt'em or wreck'em?
"So mr mellow heh." "Why did you drive your thumb into his eye socket and break his arm in three places? "
"
"I was worried he would get back up and do it right the second time???"
or
"So mr mellow, you knocked him out and got as far as you could is that right?" "Yup."
" Then what happened? "
"He woke up in about ten seconds, ran me down and then proceeded to run up and down my ass. "
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Post by matisse on Apr 30, 2008 18:27:31 GMT -5
Don't tase me, bro!!!!!!
So, I guess the police had to bring out the ramp/lift equipped paddywagons to take all those dangerous wheelers away.............
Seems a bit silly if you ask me. All they need to do is issue the citation.
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Post by Ouch on Apr 30, 2008 23:48:22 GMT -5
...explosive-laden vests work better, as some countries have learned...
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Post by Sean on May 1, 2008 2:53:22 GMT -5
Well, actually, these protests can be quite effective. Much positive results for the disability community in the United States comes as a result of protests. Did you know that the disability community holds the record of the longest sit-in ever of a Federal Building? Yep, and you know what the result was? The 504 regulations! Ok, it wasn't perfect, but it was a lot better than before that.
And the right in more and more states to have PA funding go to an individual so they can hire and employ their PA, rather than be tagged to an institution like nursing homes? Again, result of protests by disability groups such as ADAPT, the group that has been protesting these last few days.
Don't dismiss it. It's effective.
And the reason that ADAPT hasn't hit Clinton or Obama is that they've already signaled support for the issues at hand, which Clinton has refused to do.
As for arrests, cops in different states do things differently. In Ohio, they showed up with one accessible paddy wagon and were asking the crowd (of 400+ wheelchair users) how to operate the lift. In Illinois, they handcuffed a deaf guy with his hands behind his back and refused him an interpreter. In Indiana, they separated a blind guy from his german shepard guide dog, under the pretext that the dog was "dangerous and viscious". A lot of stupidity from the "men in blue", but in general, arrestees are processed on site, given a summons to appear in court, and let go.
Often to be arrested again the following day with the next step of the protest!!!!!
Oh, yeah, maybe I should mention that I've taken part of many of these protests, and have been arrested well over 20 times for "civil disobedience". Hmmm, funny that, a guy with BIID who fights for YOUR civil rights...
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Post by Triassic on May 1, 2008 5:33:58 GMT -5
oh THANK YOU sean...thank you SO SO much... i dunno. obviously, i'm in favor of people being able to remain independant and not have to go into a facility. but i'm not sure this is a 'civil rights' issue. it's about allocation of funds in an entitlement program. something in me rebels at the idea of taking the governments money and then rancorously complaining/protesting about some aspect of the arrangement, as though one were being oppressed. it's this basic underlying attitude of suspicion, complaint, crudeness, childish thinking and ingratitude that i find off-putting about the activist Left. oh, and i love that the guys name is Kafka.  anyway...i remember seeing video footage of a disability protest march of some sort. maybe 2 dozen wheelers had converged around the front door of a building, chanting and waving signs. a man from the office was trying to talk to them-not very succesfully. behind him, peeking out from the doorway, was a young woman looking at all the commotion. she had a big smile on her face like it was the funniest thing she'd ever seen. |
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Post by Ciao Bella on May 1, 2008 23:14:00 GMT -5
oh perfect jason, a wheeler and i were just discussing that and wondering about the "can you walk in a straight line part?" i am assuming they didn't make u wheel in a straight line... Dunno about anyone else but this made me ROFLMAO ;D too funny |
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Post by matisse on May 1, 2008 23:30:20 GMT -5
Oh, yeah, maybe I should mention that I've taken part of many of these protests, and have been arrested well over 20 times for "civil disobedience". Hmmm, funny that, a guy with BIID who fights for YOUR civil rights... But you don't park in our spots, right? I do appreciate what people did to get the ADA in place. I would have a hard time doing what I do without the ADA. But as things stand now, I believe I do more for our "cause" by just being an all-around big fucking stud. People are more likely to be accepting of the ADA and wheelers when they see that I am a Dad, Husband, & Productive Member of Society who is *paying* for their damn stimulus rebates, not getting one. Believe it or not I had a guy riding down the elevator with me say "isn't it cool" how I can just push that button to have the door to the outside automatically open!?!??!!? I should have crunched his foot, but instead I increased the karma in the world by having him think he was such a good boy being brave enough to chat with the well dressed professional cripple. I am just a big giant fucking ray of sunshine for other people. |
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Post by Triassic on May 2, 2008 4:19:54 GMT -5
whoa...
what's up, matisse? in like 2 plus years of your posting, i'm pretty sure that's the first time you've ever a) used profanity, and b) sounded remotely hostile.
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Post by E on May 2, 2008 9:10:29 GMT -5
It is a crazy world out there. I occasionally even get a patronizing remark from my own secretary, who I hired, who I trained, whose check I sign, who constantly needs my help with things. Today, she called me "her buddy." I just kind of stared at her.
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Post by Claire on May 2, 2008 13:09:11 GMT -5
The world is indeed crazy. We also have people with disability X who look down on people with disability Y.  |
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Post by Triassic on May 2, 2008 13:19:13 GMT -5
honestly, i think some of that patronization is probably going to be unavoidable. it's the height diffrerence. if you absolutely tower over someone it may just be hard to relate to them as a true equal.
as claire says, yeah, in all honesty i felt somewhat 'superior' to wheelers when i could still stand and ambulate on crutches-it's messed up but true...
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Post by Ciao Bella on May 2, 2008 16:42:45 GMT -5
It's normal for wheeler to get peeved (to put it lightly) with patronizing people, but is it normal for partners of wheelers to feel the same? Because I certainly do. Even when I'm not with him, I've found that I've become extra-sensitive about people's remarks about PWDs. Just recently I worked a few weeks at a government office where they offer "equal opportunities" to PWDs. I cringed when, after a couple of guys were asked to come into the room and introduce themselves, afterwhich (this is the cringing part) the trainer told us in a very hushed tone about their disabilities and how that office was commended by the State Govt. for hiring people with disabilities. I was torn between yanking her hair and deflating her fat ass (no offence to pleasantly plump people like myself). I chose to do the cowardly thing and just sat there.
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