"What does it mean when people are huddled in blankets in the cold, sleeping in Lafayette Park on the doorstep of the White House itself," Senator John Kerry asked in his acceptance speech.
Most days, I work in an office building that's about 50 yards from Lafayette Park, so I pass by it frequently. I even go on walks through it with my co-workers. Only rarely are homeless people sleeping on benches, and if they're huddled in blankets, they're nuts, because in D.C. it's usually 80 freakin' degrees by 8 a.m. in July.
The homeless people usually sleep near the steam grates on 15th Street, south of the White House and next to the Ellipse, but I guess that doesn't sound good in a speech. And even if they were sleeping in Lafayette Park, "what does it mean"? I guess it means that the park benches are comfy....
There is one guy who sits in the park and screams profanity at passersby, telling them they are going to hell (or, to use a direct quote, "motherf------ hell, you stupid f---.") But I don't know whether he has a home.
And does it matter to you if he does?
No. Because I am heartless. But not quite as heartless your liberal Democrat friends. See, they decided back in the 1960s that the mentally ill shouldn't be institutionalized and treated, they should be allowed to roam free, as long as they "weren't a danger to anyone." That's why there are so many mentally ill homeless people -- because legally, the state can't "force" them to get help. But liberals felt really, really good about themselves, which was the whole point in the first place.
There are several other shocking-sounding places in DC where you are constantly being hounded by beggars at night. (I mostly frequent these places at 1 or 2 in the a.m. for after-work libations.)
Both the strip of Pennsylvania Avenue SE, adjacent to Congress (the Hawk N Dove, Politiki, several other bars) and the block southwest of Union Station (the Dubliner, the Irish Times) are congregation points for people who badly need a buck. You will be solicited by a beggar just about every time you try to walk into and walk out of the Dubliner -- in one amusing trick, they'll try to hail a cab for you and expect a tip.
Of course "What does it mean when people are huddled in blankets in the cold, sleeping on the doorsteps of Congress itself," might be a little off-message for SENATOR Kerry. (O fellow Republican Mole, don't you love how four months in Vietnam combat was referred to hundreds of times while 20 years in the Senate was mentioned three or four times in Kerry's speech.)
Though come to think ... I HAVE never seen a homeless dude huddled in blankets in those neighborhoods I mentioned. I've seen more such persons around Dupont Circle -- but mentioning that would upset another part of the Dems' base.
It means inter alia that Sen. Kerry hasn't prevailed upon his wife to let loose some of the ketchup fortune and help the homeless in D.C. Apparently, it is better to talk righteous about spending other people's (the taxpayers') money than be generous with one's own immense fortune.
Considering he gave virtually nothing to charity when he was between heiresses, we do have some clue as to where his heart lies.
Hey, let's not bash Teresa too much -- after all, the Republicans wanted her to run for John Heinz' Senate seat after he died. She declined, but the Republicans wanted her. Riches and all.
I'm not a Republican. I'll bash Teresa "Shove It" Heinz Kerry all I want, thank you very much.
Teresa also said that politics is "where good ideas go to die," or words to that effect, when she refused to serve in the Senate.
Considering her experience of politics at the time was largely Republican, I don't blame her. She's obviously seen that that's not the case in the Democratic Party.
Right, Nathan ... because the Dems have only **bad** ideas.
...which, like their spending programs, never seem to die, even if they fail.