[blindlaw] Who does NFB really support?

[Joe Orozco]

    Below is the response I sent directly to the moron who wrote the 
article.  Let me make it clear that I do not seek to minimize the views of 
anyone who disagrees with the NFB's official stanse, but please, please, try 
to at least undderstand what you are arguing.  Putting the spin on items is 
something I have come to expect of the American media, perhaps media in 
general, but what the so-called reporter produced was poorly researched and 
an affront to the journalism profession.

Randy,

    I read your slanted article regarding the NFB's case against accessible 
currency.  Outside of our opposition to changing currency, which is 
questionable as to whether the issue is a civil rights violation, what other 
key civil rights issues has the NFB actively blocked?  What conclusive 
evidence do you have proving the organization's opposition to guide dogs? 
Outside of blindness organizations, what are these civil rights 
organizations that have stepped up to the plate regarding the change in 
currency?  What is the inherent harm in finding blacks who oppose 
affirmative action, environmentalists who favor drilling and labor staff who 
speak out against unions?  On this last, I would submit that you are 
actively pursuing a society that does not question, and if so, I should hope 
this hypothetical society never falls to your governance, for it would 
appear as though you are only interested in highlighting the opinions that 
coincide with your allegations, no matter how far you have to stretch them. 
Actually, I hope this is one of your half-hearted efforts at journalism. 
Otherwise, this is just one more ridiculous example of the left-wing 
nonsense that one can expect from an "alternative" news source.  Or, maybe 
you just picked poorly when you picked your profession.  That, my dear lost 
puppy, is not the NFB speaking for me.  That is me speaking out of my own 
intelligence.  You could learn a thing or three.

          Joe Orozco

"The more you sweat in training, the less you bleed in battle."--Military 
Basic Training
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Joshua E. Saunders" <joshuasaunders at sbcglobal.net>
To: "NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List" <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, December 13, 2006 7:01 PM
Subject: Re: [blindlaw] Who does NFB really support?


> Randy I thought you made some good points.  Apparently the blind are no
> different from any other minority group in this country.  Someone can 
> always
> be found.  Frankly I am surprised by my own anger at learning that the
> national Federation of the blind encouraged the Bush administration to
> appeal.  I have enough vision to read currency and so this will not impact
> me personally.  I just wish that the Federation could have allowed the
> lawsuit to proceed without becoming personally involved.  The Federation 
> is
> entitled to its philosophy that blind people should conform themselves to
> the cited world in which we find ourselves as much as possible.  I wish 
> the
> Federation would acknowledge that other blind people have an equal right 
> to
> a different philosophy.  My personal philosophy is somewhere in the middle
> and I think there are probably many blind people that wish that a middle
> ground could be found.
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "dlb723" <dlb723 at comcast.net>
> To: <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, December 13, 2006 2:12 PM
> Subject: [blindlaw] Who does NFB really support?
>
>
> National Federation of Blind Aligns with Bush Administration Appeal of
> Landmark Currency Ruling
> by Randy Shaw, Dec. 13, 2006
>
> When a federal judge recently ruled that the United States must follow the
> lead of 180 nations and modify its currency to accommodate the blind, the
> decision
> was applauded by sources ranging from the New York Times to The Daily Show
> with John Stewart. But the Bush Administration had an ace up its 
> sleeve---a
> self-described advocacy group for blind persons that has repeatedly 
> aligned
> itself against key civil rights measures for the blind. The National
> Federation
> of the Blind (NFB) stood alone among major blind and disability rights
> organizations in publicly denouncing the ruling, and urged the Bush
> Administration
> to appeal. On December 12, the NFB got its wish, and even issued a press
> release "applauding" the Treasury Department's appeal of the historic
> ruling.
>
> As I wrote on
> December 1,
> the NFB, a controversial nonprofit with ties to Diebold voting machines, 
> was
> trying to provide political cover for the Bush Administration's potential
> decision
> to appeal a federal court ruling that would make US currency more 
> accessible
> to the blind.
>
> I received dozens of responses from blind persons and organizations to my
> article, and all supported the court's decision. But the NFB has made it
> clear
> over its history that it thinks it knows the interests of blind people
> better than they do, and so it issued a press release condemning the
> landmark court
> victory.
>
> Many of these responses detailed questionable practices by the NFB that go
> well beyond what was detailed in my article. For example, I learned that 
> the
> NFB even opposes guide dogs for the blind!
>
> Now the NFB is applauding the Bush Administration's decision to appeal a
> ruling that was lavishly praised across America.
>
> The Bush Administration has had success finding African-Americans who 
> oppose
> civil rights enforcement and affirmative action, Latinos who oppose
> immigration
> reform, environmentalists who support Alaska drilling and labor staff who
> oppose unions.
>
> The NFB fits perfectly in this collection, as it works hard to deny civil
> rights to those it claims to represent.
>
>
>
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
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