This post is a bit of a cheat, because it largely consists of a comment I wrote in connection with a NYT opinion piece, "The Non-Politics Of Disability"; the NYT designated it as one of its picks. I wanted to post it here before losing the ability to retrieve it. Here goes : 


" I am 60 years old, I have cerebral palsy, and I've practiced law for 34 years. In my opinion the Trump/mocking incident exemplifies how our society views disability : we are all acculturated to treating the disabled with generosity of spirit and seeing ourselves as committed to realizing the equality of disabled people, hence the loud condemnation of Trump's behavior; on the other hand, there is still yet an element of our biological makeup which causes us to, at some perhaps subconscious level, turn away from or even be repulsed by those of us who are visibly or otherwise more obviously less biologically suitable to society, hence the lack of any real consequences to Trump's behavior, indeed among many in the electorate a quiet acceptance or at least acquiescence. Just as in matters of race, our society has a long way to go before truly extending equality to all."  

Rereading it, I think another, more cogent way to state my position might be: Our animal instincts cause us to reject (visibly) handicapped people, even if only subconsciously, whereas we are culturally conditioned to overcome that revulsion. The result is that most people are helpful and kind, and only a minority (evidently including our President) allow their ancient animal instincts to control their reactions. 

It was quite surprising to me that so many Trump voters did not give dispositive weight to his behavior, his seeming inability to reign in his animal animus to the disabled reporter, or worse yet his unwillingness to do so. On the other hand, maybe they did.