Like, Totally

--Rick Scott at Naples homeless shelter
on Thanksgiving thinking,
"What are those things in her hair?"

You're a rotter, Mr. Grinch
You're the king of sinful sots
Your heart's a dead tomato
splotched with moldy purple spots
You're a three-decker sauerkraut
and toadstool sandwich with arsenic sauce!
--The Grinch Who Stole Christmas (1966)

"It is required of every man,"
the ghost returned,
"that the spirit within him should
walk abroad among his fellow-men"
--A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens

"Me and my old school pals
had some mighty high times down here
And what happened to you
poor black folks, well it just ain't fair"
He took a look around, gave a little pep talk,
said "I'm with you" then he took a little walk
--How Can a Poor Man Stand
Such Times and Live?,
Blind Alfred Reed
__________________

If there's one thing Lisa cannot countenance, that is hypocrisy (OK, and lies, and willful ignorance, and cruelty . . .).

Florida's Governor "Pink Slip Rick" Scott is so utterly unctuous, so venomous to those most vulnerable in his state that it defies description. Posing for a photo op at a Naples shelter providing Thanksgiving meals, Scott said he "cared completely" about programs for the homeless, but his care is in the form of de-funding them so, presumably, they (the homeless) will go away (maybe to Missouri -- isn't that where they sent a lot of the Katrina refugees?)

Says Scott, “We've got to make this a place people can do well.” Apparently, there is no room in that plan for rehabilitation or giving someone one-down a leg up.

One Jacksonville homeless shelter official noted that Scott “zeroed out all homeless funding” — $7 million worth — in his budget proposal. That funding supported programs dedicated to homelessness prevention, housing initiatives, and programs that “re-house” people once they’re on the street. “Not only that, he took out the line items so it can never be funded again,” said the official.

To show how much he cares about the homeless, Scott went further by vetoing $12 million in funding that state legislature had passed to support homeless veterans. There are an estimated 17,000 homeless veterans in Florida — the second highest in the nation. Overall, a record 17.2 million Americans went hungry last year (Rick Scott says "I Care Completely" About Homelessness).

Earlier this year, Scott meanly proposed to eradicate Homeless Awareness Day and eliminate the $7 million funding for the Office of the Homeless which worked with housing coalitions around the state to innovate solutions for the state's estimated 58,000 homeless.

Meanwhile, 16.1% of Floridians suffer "food insufficiency", a nice way of saying they go to bed hungry, and there has been a surge in the numbers of children eligible for free school lunches. Florida was one of 11 states that had over a 25% increase in program participation over the last four years.

The NYT's reports, "Millions of American schoolchildren are receiving free or low-cost meals for the first time as their parents, many once solidly middle class, have lost jobs or homes during the economic crisis, qualifying their families for the decades-old safety-net program" (Lines Grow Long for Free School Meals, Thanks to Economy). It is a federal program, but I'm sure Mr. Scott, caring so completely in his own special way, would ax it if he could, in the name of making this a place "where people can do well."

The thing Scott misses is, the state needs to create a middle class to patronize the businesses he has so unspectacularly not drawn to the state. It should be in his state's interest to support those in need of the social safety net lest they go under completely.

To those staunch Objectivists: Your gated communities will not keep you safe from the abject desperation of your fellows.

[h/t to reader Deryle for the Thanksgiving piece.]

Larry and Me

Former U.S. Army troop, Larry

Ranger Question of the Day (R.Q.O.D.):
What happens when a soldier
is no longer "Army Strong"?
_________________

This is Larry. He lives on a park bench outside of the local VFW post, which happens to also be near a coffee shop I frequent. He served in the U.S. Army during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

He is not quick to socialize, and is easy to miss in a crowd. Larry has severe palsy and skin problems, the latter which has earned him a 10% disability from the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA). he receives treatment for his skin problems at the local VA Outpatient Clinic.

Larry can barely speak, so it is hard to know why he is living on a park bench and not receiving additional support. He seems to have brain problems.

Sometimes I wonder what separates a guy like Larry from me. Does he have physical or mental or physical problems which are insurmountable? Does he have no one who cares for him? How was and is he damaged? Is he depressed? Angry? Has he chosen this way of life?

Larry is one of the veterans in the "We Support Our Veterans", only he doesn't seem to be getting much support.

Ignorance is Bliss

How the U.S. sees the world,
according to domestic news coverage,
Alisa Miller, CEO of Public Radio International,
"Why We Know Less than Ever about the World"

What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans,
and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought
under the name of totalitarianism
or the holy name of liberty or democracy?
--Mohandas Gandhi

You know, if I listened to him long enough,
I would be convinced we're in an economic downturn
and people are homeless and going without food
and medical attention and that we've got to do
something about the unemployed
--Ronald Reagan on Michael Dukakis

Happy days are here again
The skies above are clear again
So lets sing a song of cheer again
Happy days are here again
--Happy Days Are Here Again,
Yellen and Ager (1929)
_____________

If Mr. Reagan learned one thing in Hollywood, it was to leave them smiling. And smile they still do. Even candidate Obama doesn't mind a comparison to the Gipper.

But there are two Americas, and one gives little reason to smile. As defined by the Republicans and Democrats, the nation is divided politically -- "Them" and "Us". But this rhetorical divide ignores the real America inhabited by the vast majority of us who are the suckers that pay the taxes that allow Them to rule our sorry little asses.

To many of Us, the choice of Democrat or Republican is immaterial, for our lives do not operate in the ideological spheres of political dialog. As well, there seems little difference in the initiatives for those who demographically don't count for much, those who are all but disenfranchised due to illness, or ignorance or work.

For a look at one slice of the great middle: Ranger uses the public library to do his computer work. Upon arrival at 9:55 a.m. for the 10:00 a.m. library opening, the entire outer lobby is filled with homeless people waiting for the doors to open, too. Why? Because this is their home from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. everyday except Sunday, at which time their library home hours are truncated from 1-5.

Keep this in mind when evaluating Candidate McCain's outline which envisions an Iraq victory by 2013. The great divinator said, "It's not a timetable; it's victory. It's victory. . . " Well that's just fantastic -- oh, happy day.

Of course, this does nothing for the homeless at the library, who would define victory as being allowed to sleep on the library floor in the comfort of a climate-controlled environment.

To the extent politicians are concerned about the sub-prime mortgage fiasco, it is to aid and abet wayward borrowers, or to help bailout greedy investors. But nary a word about people for whom owning a home shall never be a reality.

It is acceptable to throw $6 billion down the drain in Pakistan, but the local homeless shelter in Tallahassee turns people away each night due to lack of funds and lack of beds.

Where does democracy start, and where does it end? How has our leadership become so remote from the reality of everyday America?