How about access for a change?

Ed Burke

2008-07-22 16:53:26

Like many of the curious, I paid a visit to the new “Obama for President” headquarters in Warrenton this past Saturday.

I was amazed to find that it was located in one of the most physically inaccessible locations I have encountered in a very long time.

Not only do you have to climb stairs to get up to the offices, you first have to go down stairs to go up the stairs.

When I asked how people in wheelchairs might be able to volunteer or participate in campaign activities, I was told that this was “not really an official campaign site.” Well, it sure looked like one to me.

For those of us who helped negotiate the Americans with Disabilities Act almost 18 years ago now through a very tough political environment, this is unbelievable.

At that time (full disclosure: I was a Bush 41 appointee), my task was to quell conservative opposition in the Senate, and later to help develop regulations that would actually make the law work for everyone.

Almost two decades later, it seems quite ironic that people representing a candidate whose whole platform is supposed to be about “progressive change” would choose to ignore the fundamental civil rights of people with disabilities to access our community.

And, yes, they are rights under the law. They aren’t a “choice,” and have not been for a long time.

Ed Burke

Warrenton