Obama Inaugural Ceremonies Inaccessible to Disabled

It's not a story that's getting a lot of coverage, but given the unprecedented adulation to an incoming presidential administration, readers might appreciate it.

It turns out that for a candidate and now president-elect who's supposed to be all about hope, change, and the promise of America, the more we learn about this man, the less we see of his concern for others and the more we see of his self-aggrandizement and Lincolnian pimping (and mind you this is before he's done a single thing in office).

Apparently, most inaugural ceremonies will be largely inaccessible to people with disabilities, AND the representative of the congressional inaugural planning committee, Carole Florman, has publicly suggested that the disabled stay home to watch the historic events on television:

Carole Florman, spokeswoman for the congressional committee, said her office is “very concerned” about the issue and is planning to be as accessible as possible, but circumstances outside of their control have created unique challenges.

“We can’t do anything about traffic, we can’t bring people closer for drop-off than the security perimeter will allow, we can’t do anything about the fact that the city is closing bridges,” Florman said. “This is of great concern to us.”

What Florman hopes for, she said, is for people — especially those with special needs, such as the disabled, the elderly and those with small children — to take seriously the potential for enormous crowds and dreadful weather, and plan accordingly.

“Some people may be better off trying to watch it on TV,” Florman said.

William Peace, author of the book The Bad Cripple, on his life dealing with paraplegia since the age of 18, add this:

Gee, thanks Ms. Florman. Now I know that not only were there circumstances beyond your control that prevent people with disabilities from attending the inauguration but you were also worried about our well being and safety. We disabled people are ever so fragile and dependent upon the kindness of others. This sort of antiquated thinking was used to prevent disabled children from attending public school (they were a fire hazard) or flying on commercial jets (they were a flight safety risk). The year is 2009 not 1959.

The fact is Obama is rapidly developing a reputation for holding events that are not accessible. He did this during the campaign and now in an event that is supposedly the most accessible inauguration in history his staff is telling people with disabilities they should watch the inauguration at home on TV.