aloha, jay - while i share your abhorrence of the type of hate-mongering
radio exemplified by WABC, i think that there is much to be gained by
discussing the severe difficulties encountered by people with disabilities
who were either affected directly by the attacks or who were stranded in
airports due to the closure of the nation's airspace...  no, the attack
was not directed at anyone in particular, which is one of the reasons it
is termed a "terrorist act", but to ignore the realities confronted by
those for whom walking down several dozen flights of stairs simply wasn't
an option or who were trapped in airports without recourse to medications,
etc. is something that should, nay must, be examined

personally, i would like to hear this subject tackled by the major media
outlets - or at least National Public Radio - and not just by a show by
and for persons with disabilities.  by that statement, i do not mean to
denigrate "on a roll", but only to decry a culture of victimization that
objectifies persons with disabilities as objects of pity whose functional
limitations make them less than human.

jay, it is your inalienable right not to listen to anything that you don't
want to hear, but it is also the inalienable right of others to not only
listen, but to speak out...  i fail to understand why exactly you believe
this broadcast to be a "bad idea" - i do not think it represents a
ghettoization of suffering - on the contrary, it may help to bring to the
attention of the public in general many issues about which they would
otherwise probably never know...  equating this broadcast with the trash
emanating from WABC, however, is not only unfair, but unfounded...

an event as traumatic as those which occurred on tuesday MUST be explored
in all of its facets - true, the same impulse that led to the illegal
detention and imprisonment of americans of japanese descent in the
aftermath of the attack on pearl harbor has reared its ugly head in the
aftermath of tuesday's attacks, and the impulse to mete out justice based
on hammarubi's code, which demands an eye for an eye and a tooth for a
tooth, must not only be resisted, but exposed as perpetuating cycles of
violence and hatred...  as thomas jefferson observed in his first
inaugural address, "error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is
left free to combat it" - in my opinion it MUST be tolerated, provided
that there are those, such as yourself, who will, and do, combat
ignorance, hatred, and intolerance, but to ignore the reality of the
situations faced by those with disabilities in the face of such an event
is, in my opinion, to stick one's head into the sand...

i have no desire to begin an internecine thread on the utility or futility
of such programs as "on a roll" while we all live in the shadow of
uncertainty - uncertainty as to the fate of those we know and love,
uncertainty as to what impact the attacks will have on our lives,
uncertainty as to what the future holds...  but to ignore the fact that,
under circumstances of fear, the "otherness" of those with disabilities
leads to their complete objectification - as is the case whenever i travel
through britain, where the presumption seems to be, based upon repeated
personal experience, that a blind individual can't possibly know what is
in their baggage or even on their person - should and must be combatted...


On Fri, 14 Sep 2001, Jay Leventhal wrote:
> Hi Everyone,
>
> My first reaction is that this radio show is a bad idea. The people who
> planned the attacks were not attacking people with disabilities or any
> other single group. They were attacking Americans. Thousands of people lost
> their lives, regardless of whether they were Christians, Jews, Moslems,
> dyslexic, blind, deaf, liberal or conservative. It took less than 24 hours
> for WABC radio in New York to resume its racist, political hate
> broadcasting. This show will not be like that. But, we have to stop
> thinking in small groups and deal with the suffering of all of the people
> who were affected, not just a few of them. I won't be listening.
>
>
> Jay Leventhal
>
>
> At 06:27 PM 9/13/01 -0400, gregory j. rosmaita wrote:
> >On A Roll -- Talk Radio on Life & Disability
> >Sunday 6-8 PM Eastern Time
> >http://www.onarollradio.com
> >listen to the show live: http://www.broadcast.com/shows/onaroll/
> >
> >[note to VICUG NYC members - you will have to listen to either the live
> >webcast or the show when it is archived, as it is not carried by any local
> >radio station]
> >
> >"On A Roll" would like to offer the disability community an opportunity to
> >express itself in the wake of the horror of September 11th's tragedy.
> >This week's program will be devoted to the disability community's
> >perspective on the New York and Washington DC attacks.
> >
> >* If you were in or near the World Trade Center or the Pentagon at the
> >time of the attacks and would like to share your experience, please
> >contact [log in to unmask]
> >
> >* If you know of a wheelchair user who was in one of the buildings, and
> >would like to express a tribute to that person, please e-mail
> >[log in to unmask]
> >
> >* If you would simply like to express your feelings about this tragedy,
> >call the program on Sunday at 1-800-960-4734.
> >
> >* If you were stranded due to the airline shutdown, and would like to talk
> >about that experience, call the program on Sunday at 1-800-960-4734.
> >(Note:  A list of resources for stranded travelers is available at
> >iCan.com)
> >
> >* If you have any other observations or opinions, please participate in
> >the program on Sunday.
> >
> >Our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone affected.
> >
> >Sincerely,
> >Greg Smith
> >_______________________________________________________________________
> >
> >World Trade Center Information & Resources available via the VICUG NYC
> >web site:  http://www.hicom.net/~oedipus/vicug/wtc_emergency_info.html


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