Governor Paterson's Blindness and the Public's Incomprehension Lead to an Avalanche of Stereotypes

Ben Smith writes over at Politico that just maybe the problem with New York Governor David Paterson’s unraveling administration rests with his blindness. His argument is buttressed by a similar opinion over at the New York Post. Smith writes:

“New York Gov. David Paterson’s story was, when he unexpectedly took office upon Eliot Spitzer’s fall, told in familiar terms as a triumph over adversity. He had risen to the highest level of government despite being almost entirely blind since birth, and despite not ever having learned to read Braille. This is how America talks about disabilities, and there was no reason initially not to portray Paterson as having risen to the challenge.”

“Now, his administration is in deep trouble, and the consensus in Albany is that the problem is something approaching chaos in the executive chamber. Today, the New York Post — which had been a Paterson ally — says publicly something that’s often said privately: that the governor’s blindness is a disability that makes it difficult for him to do his job.”

 

The argument above rests on what we in the writing trade like to call “The Aristotelian Pocket Watch” which is to say that something shiny is being dangled in the reader’s face. Let us perform a basic syllogism:

 

Blind people can’t see.

One must see to read.

Therefore blind people can’t read.   

 

In this view poor Governor Paterson who doesn’t use Braille is illiterate and accordingly he’s not up to his job as a chief executive. Mr. Smith reminds us that the Governor memorized his State of the State address and proffers this as an example of David Paterson’s sub-Cartesian condition. In effect if we accept this argument the governor is like a talking bird. “Poor Birdie! Poor Birdie! Birdie want some Braille?”

Governor Paterson is “legally blind” which means that he was taught to read by holding books up to his nose. He learned to read with ardor, patience, and quite likely a good deal of physical pain. The fact that he wasn’t encouraged to learn Braille as a child isn’t unusual. Children who are blind but who possess what’s called “residual vision” are still discouraged from learning Braille. There are a hundred reasons for this and they include the lack of resources for teaching Braille in public schools and the advent of screen magnification devices and other accommodations. Being read to does not mean one is illiterate. Absorbing information in an auditory fashion does not mean one can’t absorb information speedily and accurately.

Braille literacy is a good thing and we at “Planet of the Blind” are all for it but let’sbe clear that there are hundreds of kinds of blindness. The public’s unfamiliarity with vision loss is the larger story and Mr. Smith can be excused for imagining that all blind people live like Keebler elves inside trees and read by rubbing the interior bark with their fingers. Why not? The public thinks blind  people are shuffling and groping creatures who live in utter blankness. In the American Public’s view any deviation from this script suggests something dishonest. Both Ben Smith and the Post believe that something untoward and scandalous is occurring: the governor is too blind for his job and decent people don’t know how to talk about it for merely to offer this proven argument is to risk being unfairly targeted as holding politically incorrect opinions.

We call this “the hook” in the literary trade. The American appetite for conspiracy theories is entirely dependent on “the hook” and it differs from a syllogism because (as the Greeks knew all too well) it relies on unreasoned emotions. Aristotle called this state of mind “pathos” and he understood rightly that it was dangerous. Advertising uses pathos and perhaps the most famous example is the political commercial that the Johnson administration foisted on the American public which featured a little girl playing with flowers while a mushroom cloud rose behind her. Yes Virginia if we elect Senator Goldwater we’re going to get blown to bits.”

Pathos isn’t based on facts and it works because facts are tedious. Ronald Reagan once remarked that “facts are stupid things”and I don’t for a minute imagine he believed  this in unilateral terms but yes, when one is aiming for pathos the facts sure are irritating you betcha!

Here are the facts:

 

Governor Paterson can read and he can process information.

Governor Paterson inherited the worst economic mess in  New York’s history.

He has handled delicate matters like the appointment of a replacement for Hilary Clinton with a clumsy and confused series of statements and mis-statements.

New York is going down the drain because the United States is having an economic collapse that many believe will be worse than the great depression.

It is easier to toss some pathos on the flames and why not take advantage of just how little the public knows about blindness and low vision? Facts are stupid things and surely the blind are commensurately dense.

See how easy that was?

 

S.K.