Losing Ground

Cops are going around Orlando, Florida and are questioning elderly African-Americans voters, frightening many elderly volunteers and chilling GOTV efforts in the area. There may be more to the story, but it smells awfully fishy. It’s nice to see some of the polls showing Kerry ahead, but it’s stuff like this that brings out the conspiracy theorist in me. One thing that will make me feel better is if monitors from the Kerry campaign are in every polling place in Florida come Election Day.
This WaPo article describes how the number of federal employees with disabilities has fallen by 20% over the last decade. Some experts are positing that this decline can be attributed to more people with disabilities going into the private sector. I’m not so sure. The feds have never done a good job of pitching employment opportunities to the disability community. They need to make the application process more streamlined and welcoming to people with disabilities. They also need to do a better job of spreading the word that the federal government is actively seeking workers with disabilities. The feds have always been a standard-bearer in the employment of people with disabilities. Maybe this report will prompt them to try a little harder.