8 words that haunt me

[Sapphire Blue]

"Please, ma'am, I'm hungry. Can you help me?"

The year: 2006

The country: the United States of America

The 8 words came from an elderly man, hunched over, a weathered & wrinkled face, gnarled, age-spotted hands... one of the tens of millions of Americans living in poverty.

I can still hear his voice. I can still see his face.

I did what I could to help him; I wish I could do more. His 'thank you' was worth more than all the gold in Fort Knox.

A while back, bush said he hears the voices. (I don't recall what he was talking about... not that it matters, as he does nothing but blather, anyway... perhaps he was admitting to being delusional?) I wish he could hear the voice of this elderly man, I wish that he could hear the voices of the 37 million Americans living in poverty. I wish he could hear them for the rest of eternity, knowing that he is responsible for much of their pain.

I hope that the Democratic Party hears their voices. I hope that the Democratic Party believes that poverty is an important issue. I hope that the Democratic Party believes that 37 million fellow Americans are important enough to stand up for. I hope that you do, too.

[acmavm]

1. The homeless and the hungry sit in a park downtown here, on a corner,

and they wait for a truck that comes around to bring them a sandwich and water. It makes me sick.

And there have been women there. One I remember in particular, a woman with a little girl dressed in something pink.

I should have brought them home. I really should have because although my house in not huge, I do have the room, at least enough for them. In fact, I went back later and tried to find them and I couldn't. And that's my fault. I knew at the time what I should have done. I know now what I should have done.

And I didn't.

[Sapphire Blue]

3. Do what you can, what you "should have done", NOW... any & every time...

... that you can.

[liberal N proud]

2. It is not hard to find those scenes in any city these days

I have seen it on the streets in three American cities this year alone. All those states went for bu$h in 2000 and 2004.
As I see these people, I wonder to myself, what was these peoples situation 2 years ago, 6 years ago? Were they in a position they could have voted and if so, how did they vote.
The ones that really get me are the mothers standing along the street holding a sign, "Help need food three kids to feed" How did this happen in America?

Of course, I do not ask and I wish I could help them more than a few dollars.

[Sapphire Blue]

4. No, it's not hard to find those scenes all across America. Yet what is...

... the Democratic Party doing about it? Who is focusing on poverty other than John Edwards? Why do so many Dems say that 'Democrats shouldn't focus on poverty because it's not a winning issue'? Are 37 million of our fellow Americans not important enough to make it a winning issue?

If you wish you "could help them more than a few dollars", please do all you can to encourage the Democratic Party to focus on poverty. We voting Democrats are 50-some million strong. Surely we can do something about poverty.