Disable TextArea on Page Load using JQuery

Disable TextArea on Page Load using JQuery

Hello Group,
 
Simple question.  How can I disable a textarea when a page is loaded(and re-enable it on a button click).
 
I have tried several things with no luck. What I have tried is at the bottom. Here is my code snippets:
 
' code to generate the text area 
<% = Html.TextAreaFor( Function (model) model.NewestComment.Comment, 2, 60, New With {.id = "comment" })%>
 
 
' JQuery Code I have tried to disable it....
< script type ="text/javascript">
$(document).ready(function() {

$(

"NewestComment.Comment").attr("disabled", "disabled");

' I also tried....
$(
"comment").attr("disabled", "disabled");
 
 
Neither of which worked. 
 
Any ideas?
 
Thanks for your help.
 
Lee