After years of riding in the car with my head bouncing around like a cantaloupe attached to a piece of string cheese, I finally consented to using a head-strap to keep myself upright. I’ve always resisted such a device because I thought it made me look like an ICU patient out on a day pass. But after using it for a day, I have to admit that it is nice to not have my head flop on my chest every time we have to make a sudden stop on the freeway. And it kind of makes me look like a kung fu movie star, which might come in handy the next time some hottie in a Corolla pulls up beside me.

Today’s must-read is Dana Goldstein’s article in The Daily Beast on Sarah Palin and her credibility–or lack thereof–as an advocate for disability issues. Goldstein points out that, despite Palin’s lip service to “special needs” families during the election, she has made very few substantive policy statements on disability topics. This has not gone unnoticed by disability advocates:

“Since the end of the presidential election, we haven’t heard Sarah Palin articulate any specific policy proposals [on disability],” said Peter Berns, CEO of The Arc, a Beltway lobbying group representing people with intellectual disabilities. Like nine other national disability-rights leaders The Daily Beast spoke to, Berns pointed to Palin’s excusing of Rush Limbaugh’s use of the word “retarded”—even as she hammered Emanuel, President Obama’s chief of staff, for the same sin—as evidence of her lack of seriousness. “It has unfortunately politicized the issue in ways that are not productive, and it has converted what really are bipartisan issues into partisan ones,” Berns said.

It became clear during the election that Palin was not a deep policy thinker, but it always annoyed me that the press swooned over the fact that she was a parent of a kid with Down’s Syndrome without closely examining her views on funding the services that people with disabilities need to get by in life. I don’t doubt that Palin loves her son, but I doubt she favors putting more money into Medicaid community-based services or stronger enforcement of the Americans with Disabilities Act. In fact, I doubt she’s spent enough time thinking about those issues enough to form an opinion. Palin is quick to call out perceived slights against her son and his disability, but a certain hollowness accompanies those protests because it seems that, for Palin, the disability community is a constituency of one.

Thanks again to Andrew Sullivan for the tip.

The President’s health care proposal doesn’t contain any big surprises, which in itself isn’t a big surprise. It splits the difference between the House and the Senate bills on the issue of premium credits for purchasing insurance and it provides more Medicaid funding to states while eliminating the special deals cut with certain states, but it otherwise mirrors the Senate bill in most respects. But the proposal does signal something important; the President has no intention of heeding Republican demands to scrap the past year’s work and start over (or, in practical terms, not pass anything). Of course, Republicans will spend the next few days working themselves into a lather as they scream that Obama is trying to “ram” a bill through Congress. The media will eat it up, but the story really worth watching in the coming weeks is whether Congressional Democratic leaders can herd up enough votes to put a comprehensive bill across the finish line.

I just watched the Family Guy episode that has put Sarah Palin on the offensive over the past week. In this episode, teenage son Chris goes on a date with a high school classmate who has Down’s Syndrome. When Chris asks about her family, she informs him that her mom is “the former governor of Alaska.” Incidentally, the character is voiced by a woman with Down’s Syndrome.

I should note that I’m a generally a fan of the show. Its confrontational and sometimes over-the-top humor can push the envelope of good taste, but that’s one of the functions of comedy. This particular episode didn’t strike me as a cruel attack on people with Down’s Syndrome in general or on Palin’s son in particular. Instead, it seemed to be poking fun at Palin’s tendency to refer to her son’s disability in political settings when it suits her. The episode as a whole treats the character as a fairly typical teenage girl with a personality that is not solely defined by her disability. Andrea Friedman, the voice of the character, released a statement that pretty much says the same thing.

Palin’s reaction is typical of those who view disability through a prism of tragedy and suffering, making them unable to see any humor in the situation or in their own reactions to it. It’s a reaction ultimately fueled by pity and sentimentality. Given a choice between the worldviews of Palin and Family Guy, I’d rather hang out with the Griffins.

Another veto override battle is shaping up between legislators and Governor Pawlenty over the reinstatement of General Assistance Medical Care, the state health care program for our poorest and most vulnerable citizens. The scaled-back version of GAMC overwhelmingly passed the Legislature, but it’s uncertain whether House Democrats can rustle up enough Republicans for an override. I was at the Capitol yesterday on unrelated business and was impressed by the turnout of community and union advocates who showed up to support preserving GAMC. If that kind of pressure continues over the weekend, an override could happen. But I’m betting Republicans toe the line for Pawlenty, even though many of them probably will do so with deep reluctance.