Friday, March 19, 2010

Democrats make laws using thuggery and evil

I am a witness to humankind herd instinct. As a Boy Scout, I and my fellow scouts followed our scout master where an alligator wouldn't go. Throughout history, unscrupulous leaders have used herd dissatisfaction to build political platforms to hold followers who aren't wary of the unseen planned defective timbers in its construction.

In the presidential election, McCain and Obama became the choice. One was a lawmaker and the other a lawyer. The lawmaker had military experience, character references beyond reproach, a senator with a record of working for the people, descended from a distinguished family of public servants. The lawyer devoid of military experience, management expertise, character references from radical-minded persons, a record of voting "present" in the Senate, grew up in a different culture with one parent uncommon to America. I ask who among you would call such a lawyer to be CEO of your business? Why did you employ this empty suit to run the country's business?

Democrats chanted change, brainwashed by radical out-of-sight leadership into believing Republicans would destroy America. Democratic Party radical out-of-view leadership needed an empty suit in order to control America through the suit; thus Hillary out, Obama in: America in the fabled missionary pot, radicals lighting the fire for a feast. Not even the I's of I's, Bill Clinton, could prevail against empty-suit Obama handlers.

The Constitution framers created a document based on doing the right thing; it set the world on a better course. Its mother was desperation, its father, chaos, and its mission: binding us in God and right.

Obama, Reid and Pelosi have made a mockery of the Constitution in spirit and directive, engineering laws through thuggery and evil.

Auto manufacturers, banking, health, energy, education, bribes; Democrat government controlled by empty suits and behind-the-scene hoodlums.

"The budget should be balanced, the public debt reduced, the arrogance of officialdom tempered, people must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance": Cicero, 55 B.C., Rome.

Really, folks, does America mean so little to you? November, straighten out some of this mess.

Arthur J. Gandolfi

Sugarloaf Key

City becoming mean toward the homeless

Is your grandfather a vagrant? How about your mom, brother, aunt, father, cousin, niece? In a time when Americans are struggling to put food on their tables and roofs over their heads, more and more people are in need of help or assistance. That does not make them a public nuisance. A vagrant is a public nuisance. ... A person who is homeless is simply un-housed. Key West needs to understand that.

In 2003, Key West was named the seventh-meanest city in the country toward individuals experiencing homelessness, and in 2004 Key West dropped down to number 12. Since then, the city has made excellent progress with the addition of shelters servicing the city's un-housed population.

In the past weeks, articles ("When tolerance wears thin," Feb. 28) have discussed the increasing focus on enforcing quality-of-life laws. Although these laws are not limited to un-housed individuals, the homeless -- referred to by Police Chief Donie Lee as "vagrants" -- are most often targeted. In practice, these laws resemble quite closely the vagrancy laws outlawed by the Supreme Court in the early 1970s.

Increased complaints from tourists and residents ... have sparked the newest emphasis on enforcement.

With nobody agreeing that arresting homeless individuals is a positive or effective solution, experts say the criminalization of homeless individuals worsens the problem.

Key West plans to use $800,000 of federal grant money provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to employ four new police officers that will focus on these quality-of-life laws.

If the selected enforcement of the laws continues, Key West could end up back on the list of meanest cities in America.

Key West should build upon its rich and wonderful history as a welcoming community. An important measure of a community and its residents is how they respond to those in need.

People who are temporarily un-housed are, at the very least, in need of housing. But they are also in need of compassion and understanding during a challenging and difficult time in their lives.

Sean Anthony Cononie

South Florida Coalition

for the Homeless

Hollywood, Fla.