Obscanity: You'll know it when you see it

You might remember Jay Leno’s recent interview with John McCain, in which Leno asked him how many houses he owns, and he answered that he lived in a prison cell for 5.5 years. Well, the McCain camp strikes again.

Obama’s campaign recently put out an ad targeting McCain as computer illiterate and out of touch with modern times. His spokespeople point out the crucial role the Internet plays in the economy.

Well, I’ll give you three guesses as to the excuse being put forth for McCain’s utter computer illiteracy.

If you guessed “Noun, verb, POW,” you are RIGHT! Karl Rove, dough-headed mouthpiece of the Republican party, is now arguing that John McCain can’t use the computer – because he was a POW.

Karl Rove recently blasted Obama’s campaign for criticizing McCain’s inability to use a computer. Found among his word vomit was the following chunk: “But they then say he doesn’t …send e-mail. Well, this is because his war injuries keep him from being able to use a keyboard. He can’t type. You know, it’s like saying he can’t do jumping jacks,” Rove said. “There’s a reason he can’t raise his arms above his head. There’s a reason he doesn’t have the nimbleness in his fingers.”

What the hell? Is this supposed to be accepted as a legitimate excuse? We’re supposed to just accept that McCain has some sort of unnamed disability called POW that he only talks about when it’s politically convenient, and while he’s been able to do just fine as a Senator for some twenty-odd years (collecting a a healthy tax-free disability pension even while voting against similar benefits for current and future disabled veterans), when it comes to modern technology his disability just won’t let him do it?

Seriously?

SERIOUSLY?

Okay, I understand that he doesn’t like to use the computer. Some people are just like that. Why doesn’t he just admit it, instead of saying that his disability prevents him from learning how to use a computer? The computer, and subsequently the Internet, is the most influential non-medical advancement in technology since the creation of television and radio – and perhaps more so, depending on who you ask. It permeates, nu, dominates every level of our economy, and increasingly, much of our society and culture. If all the computers were to shut down tomorrow, mass chaos would ensue. COMPUTERS ARE IMPORTANT – and so are the “Innernets.” A President of the United States should be computer literate, even if he chooses not to use the computer on a regular basis for whatever reason, be it indifference or pain with repetitive motion. The next few presidential terms could see Congress drafting legislation regulating the Internet. The President needs to understand what that means.

So why is it that John McCain somehow “can’t” use a computer – is it really because of his war injuries forty years ago?

So he has a disability. Okay. He tries to avoid repetitive motions. Great. He says he lacks nimbleness in his fingers. Only Cindy McCain can tell us if that’s true, and frankly, I don’t want to know. That’s really not the point.

The issue is not whether he has the manual dexterity to type however words per minute. The issue is not whether his shoulders start to ache if he types for too long. Nobody’s challenging his claim of disability (or maybe they are – but that’s another post altogether, and it’s not coming from me). That’s not the problem here. The problem is that this brushing off of computer ability / literacy as unnecessary and impossible because of physical disability is a slap in the face and a harsh, unnecessary smear against those of us who have disabilities and are not only able to use computers, but are damned good at it.

How is it that so many millions of Americans experiencing disabilities ranging from carpal tunnel and tendinitis to blindness and quadriplegia have managed to become not just literate, but FLUENT on the computer, without relying on their wives or staff to operate it for them? How is it? Oh, yes, I know. THEY CHOOSE TO LEARN TO USE THE COMPUTER.

There are TONS of devices and applications that create accessible workstations for people with a variety of disabilities ranging from ergonomic/pain complaints to access issues for the vision-impaired. Those with typing issues, like McCain, can use voice-recognition software to draft anything from a quick email to a dissertation (or legislation, in this case). People with disabilities can be computer programmers, web designers, writers, engineers, statisticians, and everything in between – if they want to. It’s true that many people with disabilities are not able to use computers because they cannot afford the technology necessary to accommodate their needs, but I guarantee you that John McCain does not have that problem. Many people with disabilities are also unable to use applications that are not accessible. That is most likely not a problem McCain faces either. He can’t say it’s his age either; plenty of elderly Americans are perfectly adept at this newfangled tomfoolery. So what is his problem?

He simply doesn’t want to learn to use the computer.

So why doesn’t he just admit it, instead of insulting disabled Americans by blaming his self-proclaimed “illiteracy” on his disability?

I’m not some able-bodied chauvinist mouthing off about whining disabled people. I have physical disabilities, including a chronic pain syndrome. Up until a car accident a few years ago, my primary complaint was related to my arms, wrists and fingers. I get it. I understand how much it can hurt to type. Hell, I gave up handwriting because it just got too painful. I use the computer instead. I’m not saying this to somehow absolve myself of any possible incorrectness; having a disability doesn’t qualify me to speak for people with disabilities, nor does it qualify me to speak for anyone else. It just means I have a perspective on the situation that a completely able-bodied person might not have. That’s all – and it’s entirely possible I might get railed on by other folks with disabilities who disagree with what I’ve said here, and that’s fine, because as I said, I don’t claim to speak definitively for a disabled population.

That said, there’s a difference between a preference for not typing and a stubborn refusal to learn the basics of computer literacy. I certainly don’t think that it’s fair for one disabled person to tell another disabled person what s/he can or can’t, or should or shouldn’t do in relation to disability and accommodation, especially when it comes to pain management. That’s not what this post is about. I don’t care whether McCain chooses to use a computer on a daily basis. Hell, I am always talking about how necessary it is to approach pain management from an economic standpoint, weighing the factors and determining when the cost of performing an activity outweighs the benefits.

But we’re talking about learning here, not about doing. McCain doesn’t have to touch a keyboard in order to know the basics of how a computer works, how the Internet works, the dynamics of computer-mediated communication, etc. Hell, you can learn all that without even being in the same room as a computer. He has simply chosen to stay illiterate, and blames this illiteracy on a disability that simply does not preclude his use of a computer if he had any interest whatsoever in using it.

Nobody says McCain has to sign onto Facebook or start playing WoW to prove that he’s “hip” to the computer age – but the president of a modern and technologically advanced country should have a working knowledge of computers and the Internet, and McCain does not. He just doesn’t want to admit that he is out of touch with modern times, and at (many) times intellectually lazy, like his predecessor, G-Dubya. How can we have somebody as our President who can’t be bothered with the most influential technological advances of our time? How can he understand our economy if he doesn’t understand the first thing about the technology that keeps it going?

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