First off I want to say that I can answer lots of mysterious questions because my grandparents came from the Finnish woods and they knew all about forest superstitions and so if you want to know why socks disappear in the laundry room I am your go to person. (They of course didn’t have a laundry room in the Finnish woods, but they did have sock fairies and yes, it is true that your socks will be stolen if you covet even for a minute someone else’s possessions.)
The fact is that there are over fifty million Americans with disabilities and if you factor in that these people have friends and families the disability vote may in fact be the largest sector of the voting population. Yet its seldom one hears the "d" word when our plutocrats are gilding the lily.
The reason is that disability is believed to be a code word for "entitlement" and both the Republicans and the Dems want to avoid the appearance of being in a "giving mood".
Yet disability and its associated issues of accommodation and universal design and health care policy should be an opportunity to encourage a capitalist system to invest in improving the lives of people with bodily differences. The consumer numbers are certainly already there. And the numbers are growing.
Since all the major candidates in both parties are now on the web I encourage people to write disability related questions to each and every political hopeful.
If you don’t have a lot of time then one question will do:
Dear _________: How can we at last assure that people with disabilities in the United States can fully participate in our nation’s economic and civic culture?
You could also ask each candidate to talk about the sock fairy.
S.K.
P.S. submitted by Connie: read what this man, Eric Taffoureau-Millet, is doing in France to bring attention to this very issue.
P.S.S. also by Connie: I was looking for the link to the Rolling Rains Report by Scott Rains (for the accomodation and universal design link above) and in doing so stumbled on Scott’s May 2 post titled: Why Stephen Kuusisto Will Let Stephen Hawking Blast into Space First. Read this comment by Scott and you’ll want to read more of his post:
"Who can predict the cultural fallout of someone as visibly and severely
disabled as Hawking penetrating the sanctum of space travel machismo. Brokenback Space Cowboys on DVD?"
Thanks for the link Scott.
Planet of the Blind 
Here’s something that put a major twist in my knickers.
I’m working with a lady who’d dying of metastacized lung cancer. If you’ve never seen someone in this state, let’s just say it’s a particularly nasty way to die — lots of pain, major difficulty breathing, etc. She’s in hospice. As in “less than six months to live.”
So she applies for Social Security disability benefits. She got turned down. Sadly, she is too sick to fight the decision.
I wonder what work Social Security thinks she ought to do? She can’t even walk across the room.
Georgia
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Ei kestä, Suomileinen!
I always enjoy your site.
Scott
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