Congressional Democrats: Accommodations Only Have to be Provided By the Little People

I have said for some time there is an undercurrent of hostility toward the disabled in the Democratic party.  For instance, when Wendy Davis ran an ad last month featuring an empty wheelchair...

I called it out for what it was: a deliberate attempt to stoke disability bigotry.  The proof that it was such was the fact that there was no need to mention the fact that Abbott was handicapped in the ad at all.  If he was wrong about supporting tort reform, for instance, he is wrong whether he is handicapped or not.  There was no need to reference his disability, but they did anyway.

Or if you need a metaphor to wrap your head around, imagine if in the 2012 election, Mitt Romney ran an ad saying, “Don’t vote to reelect the black president.  Vote for Mitt.”  In that case, liberals would be up in arms and rightly so.  There would be no legitimate reason to reference Obama’s race and therefore the decision to do so would have to be presumed to be for illegitimate reasons, i.e. racism.

All of that is background to the example of disability bigotry today when we found out that Rep. Tammy Duckworth, a double ampute, wanted to have proxy votes in the recent house leadership race to accommodate the fact she is about to give birth:

Though some backed Duckworth, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (Conn.) and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) both wanted to hold firm on the no-proxy-vote rule:

"Congresswoman DeLauro does not want to set a precedent. There are many meritorious situations where the argument could be made for a waiver, including Congresswoman Duckworth's. The question is, how do you choose?" said DeLauro spokeswoman Sara Lonardo, in a statement to the National Journal.

The Washington Post piece goes on to fairly excoriate the Democrats for proposing legislation that would entitle pregnant women to the same reasonable accommodations that handicapped people receive, while denying it to this woman.

But isn’t this typical?  Hey, I can understand their hesitation about proxy voting.  In proxy voting, you delegate your voting power to another person.  That creates the potential where one person might then aggregate the power to vote to him or herself and thereby gain power.  So proxy voting seems like a bad idea.

But, good Lord, they can’t come up with any other solutions?  How about voting by email?  How about they set up a teleconference and she Facetimes it in?  This worked for an ordinary soldier when his wife gave birth and he was deployed halfway around the world:

On October 24th, Sergeant John Vorrath watched the birth of his daughter via Facetime. John was deployed to the Middle East with the Iowa National Guard and couldn’t be there for his wife’s delivery.

So this soldier was able actually watch the birth of his daughter from halfway around the world because of the miracle of technology.  Yet, the Congressional Democrats can’t arrange a teleconference to Illinois?  Indeed, Nancy Pelosi doesn't even get what the fuss is about it.  There is no excuse for this idiocy and it needs to change, now.

And tangentially speaking, you dear reader might be happy to know that while Sgt. Vorrath wasn’t personally there for the birth of his daughter, he was able to see her shortly after.  To continue the story right where it left off:

However, while he was watching the birth, he received a message from his commander that said his request to leave had been granted.

The very next day he met his one-day old daughter, who they named Charlotte, and was able to surprise his wife at the hospital.

You should read the whole thing, but you will probably also enjoy the video they shot when Sgt. Vorrah surprised his wife in the hospital:

It is a sad day when the U.S. Military does a better job supporting families than Congressional Democrats.

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My wife and I have lost our jobs due to the harassment of convicted terrorist (and adjudicated pedophile) Brett Kimberlin, including an attempt to get us killed and to frame me for a crime carrying a sentence of up to ten years.  I know that claim sounds fantastic, but if you read starting here, you will see absolute proof of these claims using documentary and video evidence.  If you would like to help in the fight to hold Mr. Kimberlin accountable, please hit the donation link on the right.  And thank you.

Follow me at Twitter @aaronworthing, mostly for snark and site updates.  And you can purchase my book (or borrow it for free if you have Amazon Prime), Archangel: A Novel of Alternate, Recent History here.  And you can read a little more about my novel, here.

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Disclaimer:

I have accused some people, particularly Brett Kimberlin, of reprehensible conduct.  In some cases, the conduct is even criminal.  In all cases, the only justice I want is through the appropriate legal process—such as the criminal justice system.  I do not want to see vigilante violence against any person or any threat of such violence.  This kind of conduct is not only morally wrong, but it is counter-productive.

In the particular case of Brett Kimberlin, I do not want you to even contact him.  Do not call him.  Do not write him a letter.  Do not write him an email.  Do not text-message him.  Do not engage in any kind of directed communication.  I say this in part because under Maryland law, that can quickly become harassment and I don’t want that to happen to him.

And for that matter, don’t go on his property.  Don’t sneak around and try to photograph him.  Frankly try not to even be within his field of vision.  Your behavior could quickly cross the line into harassment in that way too (not to mention trespass and other concerns).

And do not contact his organizations, either.  And most of all, leave his family alone.

The only exception to all that is that if you are reporting on this, there is of course nothing wrong with contacting him for things like his official response to any stories you might report.  And even then if he tells you to stop contacting him, obey that request.  That this is a key element in making out a harassment claim under Maryland law—that a person asks you to stop and you refuse.

And let me say something else.  In my heart of hearts, I don’t believe that any person supporting me has done any of the above.  But if any of you have, stop it, and if you haven’t don’t start.