Senate Press Galleries Hate Bloggers

No Bloggers. art Darren Hester/Salon. CC License.

Not Fond of Cripples Either

The Villagers (main stream media) are the beloved of the Senate Press Galleries.

The Senate Press Galleries control access to the actual presidential inauguration.

The Presidential Inaugural Committee gives access to everything else -- balls, the parade, lunches, concerts, all the other events.

The PIC is fine with bloggers. Also working hard to take care of people who are disabled.

The Senate Press Galleries HATE Bloggers with a passion.

A former senior Hill aide has been whispering to me. S/he says the Senate Press Galleries are hostile towards anyone not in the traditional media, vicious towards anyone who tries to point out it's a whole new media world, and determined not to credential bloggers. And that anyone who wants to tell them otherwise can shove it.

Every effort to get the Galleries to see reason has been met with pure spite and venom. They are protecting the people they know -- the major newspapers, wire services, the networks. All of the entities whose market shares are rapidly losing ground to the Internet, the newspapers whom are laying off staff like crazy, at least a third of which will likely not have a physical product two years from now, and a number of which have closed their Washington bureau in the last few months.

These Villagers are whom the Senate Press Galleries are protecting.

The Galleries also don't like cripples. One of the four Senate Press Galleries, on their application, asked specifically if the applicant was disabled. This gave them the ability to weed out all disabled applicants... as happened to me.

This is illegal, a violation of the American's with Disability Act.

Asking on an application if someone is crippled is no different than asking if someone is African-American, Jewish, Gay, a woman, or has children. These questions have nothing to do with the job. But they can be, and often have been, used to discriminate.

The only question relevant to my media credentials request to the inaugural is, is Group News Blog a known and respected blog? As we were one of 120 blogs worldwide credentialed for the Democratic National Convention -- 55 state blogs, 65 national blogs (we were one of the 65 national blogs) -- the answer clearly is "yes." That I am a person with disabilities has NOTHING to do with if I'm a competent journalist.

The Senate Press Galleries broke the law by asking about ADA status on applications for media credentials.

My inside source, a former senior House aide, makes clear the Galleries absolutely HATE bloggers and have no intention of credentialing anyone they're not absolutely forced to credential. They believe they are untouchable and can do what they damn well want. As my source points out and I've confirmed myself elsewhere, this has been an ongoing problem. It's a management problem with the Galleries, from the top down.

I'm still going. The actual inauguration is only one (admittedly historic) event. The PIC respects bloggers; I expect to be credentialed to a number of different events throughout inauguration week. Perhaps even an interview with someone nifty.

Too bad though I won't be up close for the actual inauguration in an ADA seat. Given that I was discriminated against illegally in violation of the American's with Disability Act. (Which if the Bush Administration hadn't politicized the DOJ, I'd file a formal complaint.) No seats for crips though. They knew from the mandatory field on the application I was a gimp and were able to weed me out. That way there's no need to go to the trouble of ADA seating. Besides... I'm a blogger, so I wasn't getting in anyway. Probably not more than a few token bloggers at best.

Because we're not Villagers. Their pals, buddies, and chums.

The Galleries hate us because we bloggers are taking viewers and readers away from their buds. Just as buggy-whip and horse-shoe makers hated people making those new-fangled Model-Ts.

When it's time for cars to come into existence, all the hating in the world can't keep buggy-whip makers in business. New Media is the future of news. I don't know precisely how what we bloggers do will look twenty years from now, just as I'm sure the Model-T people didn't know either.

I do know the Senate Press Galleries are short-sighted fools. They hate the future of news, in a futile attempt to protect the past from passing.

There's more...

Pain: Pt. 5

LOLCAT Weekly Roundup 10, courtesy of Maggie Jochild's Meta Watershed.

Emergency Root Canal

This afternoon I'm having an emergency root canal.

Two months ago I wrote pretty much these same words. It had been ten years before that when I'd previously had root canal.

Now it's been two months. In two days, I start driving for Denver.

SUCKS. Hurts enormously. Like someone hitting me in the face with a pipe.
Not to mention enormous expense which is again, NOT budgeted for.
Again, ouch.

This would be a good time for anyone who promised to donate in August and hasn't yet, to get their donation in. Note that I'm not starting a new fundraising drive. I'm just reminding people of existing promises. *smiles sweetly*

Don't have to write a new post on pain, nope... Two months ago:

It's been over ten years since I had an emergency tooth extraction. It was an emergency because the infection had gone too far for a root canal, and the pain was so intense I thought someone was beating me in the face with a pipe.

This is rapidly approaching that level of pain, and that's in the face of MASSIVE loads of penicillin, as well as three different pain medications along with drugs designed to ease how the pain meds work. (My pain doc just approved my increasing my major pain drug to almost double for three days.)

Feels precisely like someone is hitting me in the face with a one-inch pipe. (The scar on my left lower chin.) WHAM.

This is what Lower Manhattanite went through back in April. THE FUCKING PAIN... Pain: Pt. 2

And even after LM wrote his beautiful post over the weekend about dealing with people with disabilities, THE TITLE OF WHICH SHOULD CLUE PEOPLE IN...

Some Consideration, Please?

Some people persist in nagging me...

STOP IT. I HAVE A MOTHER.


One of the larger pieces of bullshit disabled people often are hit with is, people who try and control us "for our own good."

"But Jesse... I was only trying to help. I thought we were FRIENDS." Gods... I can hear it right now.

Friends don't pull shit like that. Friends respect personal boundaries. Friends don't play concern troll with my health.

"Is this one of those times, Jesse, when you're not really angry at me? It seems to me that you've maybe taken a little too much of your meds and are having a reaction. You remember: just like that time last winter when you had to apologize to everyone. You just seem... off."

Wow... talk about misreading the space consistently.

How about, I wasn't mad, I wasn't even thinking about her/him. I was thinking about something else entirely. But it took 5 minutes to convince this person of that because s/he was CERTAIN that I MUST be thinking about her/him. Because of course my entire world at all times of the day and night, revolves around this person. 'Cause clearly, this non-family member whom I hadn't seen in person for a while, is my life.

Clue: Unless you're one of my REAL friends, one of the rare people whom a person who is seriously disabled TRUSTS, and actually invites (with words which come out of their actual mouth or hands, not imaginary conversations you have alone in your head) into their inner life to assist them in dealing with their disability... UNLESS that happens, what is really going on with me/the disabled person, is NONE OF YOUR DAMN BUSINESS.

If we want your help beyond a polite "Can I help you" we'll ASK. Otherwise, leave it alone.

Now pardon me... this cripple has to go get a car repair done, then have a root canal.

I'll do all that today without a single person at the car repair shop asking me if my medications are messed up, or if I need someone to make sure I don't injury myself as I hobble my way to my car. (They're just happy to take my money.)

This cripple will manage it by himself, searing jaw pain and all.

I'll let Maggie have the last word. I'm too angry. Gee Gidge... must be my medications.

Meta Watershed

Disability 101

If you suspect someone needs assistance in some way (and please, please, base this on their actual behavior and body language, not just the fact that they are disabled in some visible way), then simply ask "Would you like some help?" just like you would with anyone else. If they say "No", let it go, for g*d's sake. If they say "Yes", ask what kind of help they'd prefer. Use your common sense. Do not call the police or paramedics unless you've been asked to do so. (This is not a joke -- people in power chairs with certain kinds of movement disability often have to deal with strangers freaking out that they are in public on their own and calling 911).

Two major no-nos:
(1) Don't offer advice. No matter what. We LIVE with our bodies, we have thought of EVERYTHING that might pop into your head. It's not a sign of caring, it's a sign of your discomfort or panic at having to deal with what is ordinary reality to us.
(2) We're not here to satisfy your curiosity about "what happened" to us. If you're a good friend or family member who might possibly have the right to ask a personal question of someone with a disability, use the rule of thumb you'd apply when asking them who their baby's real father is or how much money they make each month. (Yeah, it's that personal.) Otherwise, turn your attention elsewhere. And if you ARE invited to ask questions, last on your list should be "What's wrong with you?" NOTHING is "wrong" wth us.

There's more...

There's more...