[nabs-l] National Federation of the Blind Comments on SaturdayNight Live Segment

[Antonio M. Guimaraes]

>From a governer who is so opened to self-criticism, I think he got what he 
asked for.

People from New Jersey should be up in arms, since he's so critical of that 
state in the skit.

If he is unprepaired to be governer, then he's  unprepaired to be governer. 
If he's a blind and unprepaired governer then that is who he is. The word 
blind is said only twice, but I am sure he displays some blindness-related 
mishaps, like missing a hand shake, and presenting a graph upside down.

I think if you asked NFB people who followed Patterson 3 nonths ago about 
his blindness, they would be quick to point out several ways in which he has 
not adjusted to blindness effectively.

I also think Saturday Night Live will make fun of whomever, no matter what 
supporters of the portraied say. They are in the business of making fun of 
people, and if they stop to listen to 50 thousand americans, they might be 
losing off of the millions who watch every week.

I think the NFB leadership did the right thing by putting out a press 
release. It was the right action to take. Otherwise, we'd have the NFB 
losing off of the 50 thousand we now call members.

I am not going to lose much sleep, or wear out my keyboard on list posts. 
This is a minor issue, and we go back to our scheduled program, including 
the very funny SNL.

Sincerely,

Antonio Guimaraes,



----- Original Message ----- 
From: <pyyhkala at gmail.com>
To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list" 
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, December 15, 2008 4:43 PM
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] National Federation of the Blind Comments on 
SaturdayNight Live Segment


Hi,

Here are some more articles, and a link to the skit.  I also have an
article I liked on Facebook, see below.

NY Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/15/nyregion/15skit.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper
(the article has more detail on the controversy)

You can also watch the skit in question at this link:
http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/clips/update-gov-paterson/881501/

You can read what the public is saying on Twitter at the link below
that does a real time search:
http://search.twitter.com/search?q=snl+blind
If using Jaws on the above Twitter page, if you press the number 2
(for heading level 2) it will take you directly to the comments that
people post.  Twitter is a micro blogging service.

Best,
Mika
Twitter Micro blog:
http://twitter.com/pyyhkala
Facebook:
http://profile.to/mika

On 12/15/08, Linda Stover <liamskitten at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hello,
>
> Could someone provide more info or links to more info concerning this
> particular situation?  I think it would be extremely helpful to
> understand if this is a spoof directed specifically at blindness, or
> if the spoof is more directed to certain "blindisms" that the governor
> frequently exhibits.  I know that when I was watching segments of this
> nature concerning the election on the show, certain
> quirks/phrases/mannerisms were used to excess to perhaps heighten
> humor/absurdity.  Keeping this in mind, I'm wondering as I said what
> exactly the comics were paridying.
> Courtney
>
> On 12/15/08, Beth <thebluesisloose at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Ijust watched CNN and they said something about this segment of SNL.
>> I don't watch SLNL, but I support Paterson, and someday I want to be
>> Governor, so there's no excuse for attacking Gov. Paerson for any
>> reason.
>> Beth
>>
>> On 12/15/08, Freeh, Jessica <JFreeh at nfb.org> wrote:
>>> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> CONTACT:
>>>
>>> Chris Danielsen
>>>
>>> Public Relations Specialist
>>>
>>> National Federation of the Blind
>>>
>>> (410) 659-9314, extension 2330
>>>
>>> (410) 262-1281 (Cell)
>>>
>>> <mailto:cdanielsen at nfb.org>cdanielsen at nfb.org
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> National Federation of the Blind
>>> Comments on Saturday Night Live Segment
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Largest Organization of the Blind Criticizes Attack on Blind Americans
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Baltimore, Maryland (December 15, 2008): Chris
>>> Danielsen, spokesman for the National Federation
>>> of the Blind, said: "The biggest problem faced by
>>> blind people is not blindness itself, but the
>>> stereotypes held by the general public about
>>> blindness and blind people.  The idea that blind
>>> people are incapable of the simplest tasks and
>>> are perpetually disoriented and befuddled is
>>> absolutely wrong.  This misconception contributes
>>> to an unemployment rate among blind people that
>>> stubbornly remains at 70 percent.  That is why
>>> the National Federation of the Blind is
>>> disappointed that Saturday Night Live chose to
>>> portray Governor Paterson in a comedy routine
>>> that focused almost exclusively on his
>>> blindness.  Attacking the Governor because he is
>>> blind is an attack on all blind Americans­blind
>>> children, blind adults, blind seniors, and newly
>>> blinded veterans returning from Iraq and
>>> Afghanistan.  The National Federation of the
>>> Blind urges the producers of Saturday Night Live
>>> to consider the serious negative impact that
>>> misinformation and stereotypes have on blind
>>> people before continuing in this unfortunate vein of humor."
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> ###
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>
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