[nfb-talk] ACB Strikes Back Against NFB, Let us Strike Back:

[T. Joseph Carter]

I think his office made their viewpoints quite plain already, so I doubt
we'll have an additional report on this matter.  Simply repeating what's
already been said wouldn't be worth an additional report, and an attempt
to address the concerns of people who have raised them won't quite happen
immediately.  Some of the concerns can't really be addressed to any
positive outcome.

For example, my issue with the press release was the last paragraph.  It
contained nothing but an attack on the ACB.  It didn't need to be there,
and it hurt us more than it helped.  I'd guess most Federationists would
not say the last paragraph was untrue--from our perspective they do seem
to jump at every chance to have something done for us, whether or not it
is actually a good idea.  Putting that opinion in a press release just
wasn't productive, though, and it makes the NFB look bad.

I believe it was a mistake to include that in our press release.  I liken
it to when a senator says something very unpopular in a public forum.  It
happens often, though I'll cite John Kerry's recent "joke" about going to
college or getting stuck in Iraq as an example of how such mistakes cannot
really be unmade, and how attempts to do so make things worse.

We really have to let it go and hope those words don't cause us too much
trouble later on.  What alternative do we have?  Defending the attack
makes us look as bad to others as the ACB often looks to us.  If we try to
restate our issues with the ACB more politely, we look like we did
something wrong and refuse to apologize.  An apology would be disingenuous
because we actually do think the ACB is expecting the world to change the
world and make excuses for the blind--and moreover, it would make it look
like we're intimidated by all of the pressure this has caused.

You see the problem?


As to the NFB's stand on the actual issue of altering our currency to be
identified in a tactile manner, I had no objection to that.  Oh, certainly
I (now) disagree with the policy because I believe that the positive
consequences have not been fully considered and the negative ones could be
all but eliminated.  I don't take issue with the rest of the press release
because it simply states what has already been decided.  It's now a matter
for us to consider if something has changed since we made that decision.

Several on this list have argued that things have changed, but it's also
the case that just as many have argued that they haven't.  The opponents
of this issue have precedent on their side, so without consensus that it
should be revisited now, it would not be unless something major resulted
in strong reason to do so.

We haven't got that right now, I think, so again the only thing we could
expect is a restatement of the current policy of the organization: The NFB
does not support blindness-specific changes to the US currency.  It has
further determined that society's reaction to such changes would harm our
cause more than the resulting changes would benefit us.

The fact that any change of viewpoint on this issue is likely to be slow
in coming is too bad, but then I don't always agree with every vote of the
elected officials I vote for either.  The National Federation of the Blind
is still the only organization out there that truly believes I can compete
in the sighted world without seeing.  What we're trying to create here is
a world where nobody even questions that.  This issue is at best a minor
implementation detail.  (Even if it is one we're getting wrong.)


On Sun, Dec 17, 2006 at 05:02:08PM -0500, Kenneth Chrane wrote:
> Hi Joseph I read your message, and Thanks a lot.
> President Maurer will have a board meeting this coming Tuesday.
> I hope that he and the board will submit a full report to us then.