A couple of surprises maybe. Did you know Sonia Sotomayor was disabled? Did you know diabetes was a disability?
The White House is claiming that among President Obama's many judicial "firsts" — first female judge of Vietnamese descent, first openly gay federal judge, etc. — was his appointment of the first Supreme Court justice to be confirmed with a disability. No idea who they're talking about, right? Well, Kevin Drum did a little Googling and concluded that this must be a reference to Sonia Sotomayor's diabetes. Which seems like a stretch.
As the writer notes, diabetes is a disability under the Americans With Disabilities Act "when it substantially limits one or more of a person's major life activities ... such as eating or caring for oneself." That would seem to disqualify Sotomayor, unless the ability to uphold the Consttitution is considered a "major life activity." But accordingto to amendments to the ADA passed in 2008, just having diabetes is now pretty much a disability because diabetes "substantially limiots endocrine function."
We may call this "defining disabilities down," with apologies to Daniel Patrick Moynihan. It's fascinating how elastic definitions become when the government gets involved. Anytime money is paid for something, what that something is will always become broader and more populated. My father was classified as having a "partial disability" for a rash on his hand he picked up in India during World War II. This entitled him to a monthly pittance from the government. I think he was a little embarrassed about taking it, but I don't think he ever sent any of the checks back.
