Dave, thanks a whole bunch, fella.... See what you've started! I have neglected to feed my dogs, clean my house, and do the laundry just to read and answer the 23 (?) messages on this subject cluttering my e-mail. Remind me to return to you the favor. Now MY heart is pounding and blood pressure is up. Rudy . . . > Hi folks, > I found this one during my search this morning. > I'm still trying to get my heart rate and blood pressure to > come down. It's amazing to me that some people still think this way. > > http://www.aynrand.org/medialink/op-eds/martin_case.txt > ---Original Text Follows--- > SHAME ON CASEY MARTIN > Disabled Golfer Asks Supreme Court to OK His Forced Entry into Tournaments, > via Law > That Penalizes the Able > > By Thomas A. Bowden > > When a supporter of Tonya Harding attacked Olympic skating rival Nancy > Kerrigan > back in 1994, clubbing Kerrigan's right knee and leaving her writhing in > pain, the > legal system sprang to the victim's defense. The attacker was caught and > punished > for his disgraceful attempt to eliminate a superior competitor through brute > force. > > But now, seven years later, as golfer Casey Martin appears before the > Supreme > Court asking approval for his own forced elimination of superior rivals, the > legal > system appears poised to punish the victims and reward the attacker. This > sad > reversal is made possible by a federal statute that penalizes ability in the > name > of helping the disabled. > > Casey Martin is a talented golfer whose rare circulation disorder prevents > him from walking the length of a golf course. This handicap disqualifies him > from > competing in events run by the PGA Tour, a private organization whose rules > require > each athlete to walk from shot to shot. > > Golf is a game of extreme precision. Tiny variations in the swing of a club > determine whether a shot lands on the green or in a sand trap, whether a > tricky > putt falls in or rims out. Only golfers with great stamina can maintain this > precise control while fighting the fatigue that sets in after walking many > miles, > sometimes over rough terrain, and standing for many hours. The PGA's rules > require > and reward such stamina. > > But instead of gracefully accepting his inability to beat able-bodied > opponents under the rules of an organization he voluntarily joined, Martin > chose to > force his way into PGA competition by invoking the Americans With > Disabilities Act, > a law requiring "reasonable modifications" to accommodate the handicapped. > At > Martin's request, a federal court forced the PGA Tour to change its rules > and let > Martin ride in a motorized cart, while everyone else walked. > > If the Supreme Court rules in Martin's favor, as seems likely, it will > probably not even pause to identify the innocent victims of such a decision. > The > first victim is the PGA Tour, which should have an absolute right to set its > own > rules for its own tournaments. The next victims are the spectators, who want > to see > professional golf played at its highest level, in PGA competitions winnable > only by > the ablest athletes. > > And there is yet another victim, nameless but equally deserving of > sympathy-- > the able-bodied golfer who is cut from the tournament to make room for > Martin, and > who is expected to pick up his broken dreams and go quietly home. No > newspaper > photographs will show the pain in this man's face, the way they showed Nancy > Kerrigan's anguish after she was assaulted, but one can imagine his torment > at the > injustice of being penalized simply for having abilities that another man > lacks. > > The legal and moral principles at stake here extend far beyond the realm of > spectator sports. > > Under the ADA, which was designed by disability advocates who resentfully > describe healthy people as "temporarily abled," no employers may simply fire > disabled employees--or even hire able ones--so long as "reasonable > accommodations" > might help the handicapped compete. The list of bureaucratically required > accommodations, from wheelchair ramps to sign-language interpreters, is > endless-- > and all at the employer's expense. > > In a recent case, a Pennsylvania elementary school fired a psychotic > secretary who missed deadlines, forgot to deliver messages, and couldn't > cope with > rearranged furniture. When she sued under the ADA, a federal court ruled > that > instead of firing her, the school should have engaged in an "informal > interactive > process" to identify "reasonable accommodations"--such as slowing down the > rate of > change in the office. > > The ADA's backers count on decent people to support the statute as a > sympathetic expression of benevolence. But genuine benevolence toward the > disabled > is possible only through voluntary good will; it cannot be achieved by > coercion, > which results in punishing the able. > > This last point would be more obvious if the government were simply handing > Casey Martin a baseball bat and letting him take a swing at Tiger Woods's > knee. Yet > the ADA achieves the same end through government force, penalizing mentally > and > physically superior candidates by making it illegal for employers and other > organizations to prefer them over the disabled. > > In a rational society, everyone's life and happiness depend upon finding and > rewarding the very best people--the best athletes, the best teachers, the > best > surgeons. To recognize this simple fact is to see why the Americans with > Disabilities Act must be repealed--and why Casey Martin deserves to lose his > case. > > Thomas A. Bowden practices law in Baltimore, Maryland, and is a senior > writer for > the Ayn Rand Institute in Marina del Rey, Calif. http://www.aynrand.org The > Institute promotes the philosophy of Ayn Rand, author of Atlas Shrugged and > The > Fountainhead. > > THE AYN RAND INSTITUTE > 4640 Admiralty Way, Suite 406 > Marina del Rey, CA 90292 > Phone: 310.306-9232 x224 TEAR SHEET REQUESTED > Fax: 310.306-4925 > E-mail: [log in to unmask] > Contact: Jason Sagall > > This Op-Ed and a photo of Thomas A. Bowden can be found at: > www.aynrand.org/medialink/martin_case.shtml > ---End of Article---