DNC To Give Homeless Tickets To Nowhere

In one of the most cynical stunts this writer has ever heard of, the Democratic National Convention intends to get rid of Denver's estimated 4,000 homeless individuals, many of whom have camp sites set up around the Pepsi Center. In an effort to make sure that the issue of poverty can not be seen up close and personal by visiting dignitaries and delegates, the DNC, in co-ordination with the Denver chapter of the Coalition For The Homeless are going to treat the homeless of the city to free movie tickets and trips to the zoo. Theaters as far away as possible from the Convention itself. Willing to go so far as to make sure there is transportation to bus the homeless to the other side of town, the fact that the Denver Coalition For The Homeless is going along with this outrage is a disgusting statement on their mission.

Claiming to have only the best interests of the poor and the homeless themselves at heart, the Denver Coalition For The Homeless President, John Parvensky, says that the Denver area day shelters will have extended hours during the convention, with donated televisions so the homeless that don't wish to go to the other side of town can watch the convention from the designated viewing sites, all to keep them safe from those who would harass or harm them.

In addition to these measures , and even more cynical by it's very design, area health clinics that treat the poor and the homeless, as well as the day shelters they'll be forced to stay at during the convention, will be signing up these people to vote. Vote for whom? For the people who just told them they are not American enough to be part of the goings on?

Part of Barak Obama's big talking points are about addressing the issue of homelessness and poverty in America. But if this is the way that he intends to address the issue, then the poor are better off setting up camp around the Pepsi Center. How dare these sycophants and elitist scum try to sweep a group of Americans under the rug as though they didn't exist. Who cares if Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Al Gore, the Clintons, and other Democratic Party Royalty have to look poverty in the face. See it up close in the eyes of a person so destitute they have no home, no food, no worldly possessions other than the camping gear and the clothes on their back.

And how dare this chapter of the Coalition For The Homeless walk hand in hand with these very same elitists, stabbing the people they claim to serve right in the back, under the guise of wishing to provide them an alternative to the Convention "mayhem". Who are these imaginary people going to the Convention that wish to do harm to Denver's homeless population? If you tell me that the Democratic Convention attendees are the ones the homeless need protection from, then you can tear up my party membership.

With the Convention running for four days, are they going to be sending the homeless to the movies and the zoo all day for four days? Are they going to be given popcorn money? Are the bus tickets going to be round trip? Or is this another scam along the lines of Las Vegas' wishing to bus their entire homeless population 40 miles out into the desert to an abandoned prison, where there is nothing but sand for miles in every direction? You know, out of sight, out of mind?

Because as we near the day of electing the next president of the United States, and more and more comes to light about Obama and his housing policies while he was an Illinois legislator, we should be asking him point blank what he intends to do about the issue of rising poverty and homelessness in our country. And if he answers that he would do for the country what he did for the residents he represented in Grove Parc Plaza, we had better run and vote for Cynthia McKinney on the Green Party ticket. Read the June 27th, 2008 edition of the Boston Globe if you'd like to know all about Grove Parc Plaza.

Any way you slice it though, the Democrats have been running around the country talking about helping the little guy. The poor and the middle class. But the very first thing we see from them, even before they hold their Convention, is an attempt to shuffle the poorest of the poor out of the way, so as not to offend the delicate sensibilities of the delegates. I guess it would be somewhat hard to be eating a big fat sirloin steak, when right outside the window is a person scrounging through the garbage can for whatever scraps of food are available. But then again, one could probably just close the curtain and not see them.

That's exactly what this plan is. A closing of the curtain. An attempt to make believe the problem doesn't exist, and a bad decision by all involved. Here's a better idea. Instead of shuffling the homeless off to obscurity, why doesn't the DNC embrace them as victims of the Republican policies, take a couple of those hundred million dollars already in Obama's coffers, and put their money where their mouths are by helping all 4,000 of Denver's homeless obtain housing and jobs? I know. Dream on. It's much easier to make believe there is no problem for the Democrats these days, than to actually do something about it.

Like impeaching a President who makes Nixon look like an altar boy. Standing up for the Constitution by voting down the FISA laws. Not allowing the Republicans strip the food stamp allocation out of the false stimulus package. Re-instating the money that Bush has cut from so many domestic programs like Head Start and Education. You know, the things we elected them to do, but they decided that the best course of action was to kneel before the throne of an imbecile who changes his stories as often as his clothes.

Let the world see the homeless in Denver. Let the homeless have a voice at the Convention itself. Let the Democrats do something intelligent for a change and turn the cameras right on the desperate faces and show the country what Bush has done. Because if the Democrats go ahead with this insidious, evil little ploy, then they are no better than the Republicans. And all of this chanting of 'Change We Can Believe In' are hollow campaign trail words with no substance behind them at all.