Poster Mom's Trig Palin Promise
lc
http://bagnewsnotes.typepad.com/bagnews/2008/09/poster-mom.html#comments
Trig's Promise
http://www.newsweek.com/id/157341
March 11th, so the governess was in her 7th month of pregnancy
http://todercan.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/small_pic_with_sarah_palin.jpg
In her speech at the Republican National Convention yesterday, Alaska
Gov. Sarah Palin delivered a special message for families of kids with
special needs: "I pledge to you that, if we're elected, you will have
a friend and advocate in the White House." When she finished speaking,
she stood on stage with her infant son, Trig, who has Down syndrome,
cradled in her arms. For advocates of mentally disabled citizens,
Palin's pledge marked a rare moment in the spotlight for a set of
issues too often hidden in the wings. Donna Martinez, the mother of a
22-year-old with Down syndrome, watched the speech online later that
night, because she was on the phone with a mother in the midst of a
battle with her son's school to keep him in mainstream classes during
Palin's speech in prime time. Martinez says part of her was saying
"'Finally! Hooray! I think about how many times, when we hear
politicians, that we mumble under our breath, 'You'd understand if you
had a child with a disability too.' Well it is her child."
But that enthusiasm is tempered with the skepticism born of years of
broken promises. "God love her for saying she's a friend for families,
but I want to know what that means," Martinez says. "There are a lot
of 'friends' that insist that they're the voice of the retarded.
They're not my friends, and they're not my son's voice, so I want to
know whose voice she's supporting."
David Braddock, the executive director of the Coleman Institute for
Cognitive Disabilities at the University of Colorado, questions how
Palin will follow through on her promise. "These are words that are
easy to say, but apparently more challenging for some presidents to
implement," he says. "We've had an individual who identified himself
as an advocate for people with disabilities in the White House for
eight years. But he has not been a great advocate for eight years."
7th month of pregnancy 3-11-08 Sarah Palin
http://todercan.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/small_pic_with_sarah_palin.jpg