Nothing new here:There's been a mini-uproar
on the right about a man with a cellphone at a homeless shelter where Michele Obama dropped by this week.
This blog made a
post way back in October 2003 that contained observations of a similar nature about Rush Limbaugh (who
also flogged the homless-with-a-cellphone story this week). Here are the relevant portions of that post (slightly edited):
Rush Limbaugh a multi-millionaire who complains when moms on welfare have "luxuries" like a microvave oven. (We vividly remember that rant from a while back.)
Here is the picture that accompanied a New York Times article about welfare moms in California. (enlarged 200%)
The thrust of the story was that the state of California was paying such families to move out of the state. This picture was of someone who was living in an apartment in the central valley. Rush Limbaugh seized on the story - and the accompanying picture - to complain that this lady was living the high life. Basing his analysis solely on the picture, Limbaugh was outraged that there was a dishwasher and a microwave oven in the kitchen.
[The New York Times story ran on Monday, 18 June 2001, and Limbaugh made comments on his radio show that same day. From the NYTimes abstract: Tulare County, Calif, which is one of poorest counties in US has been paying average of $1,600 per month to more than 750 welfare families to move almost anywhere in country ...]
We were driving around listening to Limbaugh at the time and were startled at his mean-spiritedness. Complaining about a microwave oven? Look at the picture. It's under the counter. Those things cost about $80. What would satisfy Limbaugh? Welfare recipients living in a tent with no heat?
He's a son of a bitch. Don't forget it.
Some things never change.
posted by Quiddity at 3/07/2009 04:18:00 PM
what a deal. where can i get a new dishwasher for 80 bucks?
i was listening to hannity on the radio last week. he mimicked a distraught woman who had lost her home to foreclosure. left me speechless. reminded me of a mob hit man who mocked his last victim, begging for his life.
another thing, if that was an apartment the woman was vacating, they come furnished with dishwashers already built in. it could be the case that the dishwasher wasn't even hers.
i don't know the details about the michelle story, but that's happened to me. i got hit up in front of ralphs, gave the man some change, he turned around and whipped out his cell phone. i was kinda startled at first but then shrugged it off. with throw away phones and prepaid cards, even the poor can manage to get a hold of one. doesn't make up for being homeless or being reduced to living in a tent.
this phenom of tent cities starting to pop up is being underplayed in media.
Saw a tent city story just last night. Thinking about buying a big tent for myself just in case...
