United States President Barack Obama is intending to use autistic people, and those with other disabilities for a public relations stunt to sway the 1/2 of Americans who were against the stimulus package.Here’s an email from Ari, the president of the Autism Self Advocacy Network dated February 15th…
At the request of the White House, we’re looking for people with disabilities who are being hired or are returning to work, particularly if their new employment can be traced to the stimulus package in some way. Please feel free to distribute this message to your networks and tell people to respond with any stories they might have to [email redacted due to spammers].
Regards,
Ari Ne’eman
President
The Autistic Self Advocacy Network
So let me get this right, President Obama is attempting to USE [notice the caps and bold faced font] people with disabilities to sway public opinion on a widely opposed stimulus package after the fact. The reason I highlighted the word use, is because he is basically attempting to sway public opinion by putting an obviously disabled individual under the worlds microscope – hoping to get the reaction of ‘aww look at that poor person, and look what Obama did to help.’
In my opinion taking advantage of people with disabilities in this manner is utterly repulsive, and what is more repulsive is the fact that Ari Ne’eman has turned into the new White House for assisting Obama in finding disabled people to turn into a Mike Sewell commercial
Your Thoughts
Am I the only one who finds the idea of using people with disabilities to get the “Aww your helping that poor person” idea from the public utterly wrong?
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
“Am I the only one who finds the idea of using people with disabilities to get the “Aww your helping that poor person” idea from the public utterly wrong?”
I don’t think that’s what he’s doing. I think the message he’s getting accross is “The stimulus package isn’t about handouts, it’s about giving people (especially people usually condemmed as incapable) the right to support themselves.”
I don’t think he’s “using” disabled folks. I think, as a disabled person, it’s important to the get the message out that lots of us CAN and DO work (and more of us could and would work if the world were a little less bigoted.)
That’s not to say I have no reservations about the sheer size of the stimulus package, or Obama’s “Messiah of the Economy” image (although, in fairness to Obama, the way the two-party works makes it necessary for politicians of all stripes to make a load of crazy promises they know probably won’t work out. I mean, even the New Deal only MITIGATED the great depression. It didn’t make it disappear.)
“the way the two-party works” should read “the way the two-party system works.” Apologies.
Please make sure the stimulus package contains the right amount of monies allocation for the prevention and cure of Autisim and other Special needs. If at all
I’m not clear what is going on with this evey time I search the web there is a different answer. Families for Autistic childred are so fed up with promises that never come to fruitation.
Please what help can you provide for an answer about the stimulus bill, very unclear.
Josephine Grandmother of an autistic child
I agree it looks Highly dubious.
No, I think you are getting this wrong. Disabled people aren’t being used (because both parties stand to benefit from the stimulus), they are more so being represented in an attempt to show the country what the stimulus will do to help. It’s much different than the lip-service, fake empathy, line of bull, with no intentions to help in any way shape or form that has been given to this group time and time again by those opposed to our new administration and the stimulus.
Huh. To be honest, it hadn’t occurred to me that the request was for a PR boost for the stimulus package. Now that I’ve considered it, though, I believe you may be quite right.
And unfortunately, yes, the public’s reaction will be something akin to “Aww, look how Obama helped that poor person.” But pity is a by-product, so assuming that pity is the natural reaction to people with disabilities may be counterproductive. I hope that if disabled people are responding to that solicitation, they take into account the fact that their stories may be used in that sort of feel-good-charity way. If fully-informed adults decide to share their stories anyway, though, that’s a decision they have the right to make. Some may be so enamored with Obama that they won’t mind.
I have to disagree with you. If the stimulus package has already passed, why would the Obama administration be “using” anybody? To what end?
It sounds to me that the administration would like to present proof that the stimulus package made a difference, and I assume it’s not just success stories from the disability community they’ll be looking for. They intend to show that the money actually went somewhere, which is something mysteriously missing from Bush’s stimulus/bailout deals.
Obama is not going to “sway” Americans who were against the stimulus package. They’re mainly Republicans who are going to hate everything he does anyway.
If the disability community was ignored in this stimulus, I assume you’d be complaining about that. You can’t have it both ways. You either want disabled Americans to “pull themselves up by their bootstraps,” or you want the government to provide assistance. If it’s the former, I dare say you’re misguided. If it’s the latter, I don’t know why you think it should all be done in secret.
I’d take your opinion more seriously, if your blog wasn’t plastered with Ads for Sarah Palin, of all people.
You know her: “I have a child with Down Syndrome, I am so heroic and it’s the will of god and women who were raped should not be able to have an abortion.”
*vomits*
@The Daily Gonzo:
Google selects the advertisements based on the content of the pages – it does not always reflect my personal beliefs