I bought a homeless Bush supporter dinner & you need to hear her story

[WinterStorm]

I don't know how to explain this but I started talking to a homeless woman and she told me that she hadn't eaten in days.

It was late at night and the only place open was a coffee house that was not cheap and I didn't mind.

I gave her the menu and i told her to pick something out and she picked a burger deluxe and then I ordered her soup, some fresh fruit, coffee and a dessert.

I kept asking her why she would want to vote for Bush and she kept telling me that Kerry isn't going to pay anyone to vote for him.

I kept asking her about Bush and she said that she went to dinner with a bunch of homeless people and they were told that if they voted for Bush they would be guaranteed housing.

I kept trying to figure out if this lady was mentally unbalanced or was she telling the truth.

She said that she was told that Bush is going to get rid of all of the foreigners and that would create more jobs and housing for the homeless.

She told me that she was taken in a huge limo to a dinner at a hotel.

At the end of the night after I finished talking to her I had the waiter pack up an extra meal for her and I gave her $20.00.

She told me that she sleeps in department stores at night after they close.

I don't know what to believe but I need some input on this.

Is Bush paying the homeless to vote for him and are the re-thugs picking the homeless up and taking them to a large dinner held in hotels so that they will vote for them.

Has anyone else heard about something as far fetched as this woman described it.

She said that they played videos and had guest speakers and that this happened a few weeks back. She told me that her cousin lives in SF and it happened in CA as well as NY and other cities.

Was she disturbed or was she telling the truth?

[ScreamingMeemie]

1. I have to raise my eyebrows at this entire story. It seems a bit

farfetched. Apologies...

[WinterStorm]

3. She acted normal

But when she started talking she seemed off the wall.

[AngryOldDem]

53. Chances are very good she is mentally ill

...the mentally ill comprise almost the majority of homeless single people. The shelter I work at has seen a marked increase in mentally ill clientele. They are schizophrenic, bipolar, you name it. Some are on so many medications it's scary. They are no longer cared for by institutions (another long-lasting legacy of God Reagan) so they most often wind up on the street.

Trust me: The Republicans (at least where I live) would rather cross the street than deal with these people. Not even a sure vote would get most of these people involved with the homeless.

Thanks for taking the time to talk with her, and buy her a good meal. That meant more to her than you'll ever know.

[freeplessinseattle]

87. schizo doesn't necessarily

mean living totally in a fantasy world, some of what they say is true, but does get jumbled up with other things. plus some people aren't technically schizophrenic, more schizotypal, which is milder.

[AngryOldDem]

91. I wasn't making a diagnosis of this woman...

...mainly pointing out that some homeless have a myriad of mental prolems.

Depression, bipolar, alcohol dementia....

My point is the woman most likely is mentally ill.

[WinterStorm]

99. I keep thinking more and more about our dinner together

She had mental problems but what she was saying was so far fetched that some of the bits and pieces could have been true.

[AngryOldDem]

103. Bits and pieces maybe...

Perhaps she was approached by a Bush campaign person on the street, or something...and things in her mind just took off from there. Hell, in this climate what seems far-fetched anymore may not be.

The very tragic thing with some of the homeless is at one time, they were highly successful, capable people. I remember one guy from last winter who could talk economics like Greenspan. Situations just went bad for them and they could not recover. This can happen to any of us -- one thing happens, life snowballs, and before you know it, you have nothing. That's what I try to convey when self-righteous, judgmental people claim that all the homeless are lazy, etc., etc. etc.

I think it's neat what you did, and you can bet that she appreciated it too.

[Scairp]

116. You have to have an address to register to vote

If wingers were doing something like this, they would first have to establish phoney addresses for all of them before they registered to vote. I know they are evil, but this seems farfetched. Who know though. We all know that you cannot put anything past these criminals.

[olddem43]

It doesn't sound right because Rethugs wouldn't waste their

money in Calif and NY - swing states maybe. We all know they don't give a damn for anyone except thier rich friends.

[cheshire]

14. I disagree there is something going on in CA I live here and something

is in the air.

[Renew Deal]

21. What do you mean?

[cheshire]

100. I've heard of problems with electronic machines. I just don't think we are

as Blue as we use to be. How the hell did Grey Davis get so screwed and everytime a actor gets in I worry about what the hell is wrong with this state. The voting machines were bought from a lady in SF and they were found to have problems.

[linazelle]

2. Why would Bush go after the homeless vote?

This sounds fishy to me--like one of those planted stories that somebody wants to test for traction.

[WinterStorm]

8. She was homeless

She didn't look homeless but she had bags and she talked like she was off the wall.

I think that she was one of the mentally disturbed that Reagan turned out of the hospitals years ago.

She wasn't dirty at all and she kept bumming cigarettes off of other customers which was embarrassing.

[phish420]

47. Especially in staunch Kerry-Kountry (CA, NY?!?!?)

Would have to dine a LOT of homeless people!!

[belle]

113. ANyway, you can't vote if you don't have an address, I thought...?

[codegreen]

4. so how would anyone know who they vote for? couldn't they just say Bush?

and i'd have to agree, her story does sound awfully farfetched, no offense...

very good of you to help her, though

[WinterStorm]

10. She looked normal in the face

I didn't know what to talk to her about so I started discussing how important it was to vote in November.

[KoKo]

50. How does a "homeless person" register to vote...no address...how

do they even have a "polling place." This sounds quite strange.

[Eric J in MN]

56. They can use a shelter addres (nt)

nt

[punpirate]

5. My guess is...

... disturbed.

There's one almost universal reality in this country--to be registered to vote, you have to have an address. The homeless, by definition, don't have an address.

The only exceptions possible would be people who are recently homeless. Over time, and without voting, that registration eventually disappears.

Her story is faintly possible, I suppose, but highly unlikely.

[dmr]

15. Something like this happened in Miami

investigators found that many people were registered at certain addresses, and of course these people didn't live there. So, it is possible to register someone who is homeless by using another person's address.

See post # 9.

[punpirate]

25. I can understand buying votes outright...

... on or near the day of the election (after all, even the dead are sometimes paid to vote in Chicago) :) , but promising housing and getting all the foreigners out to make room for Americans getting jobs sounds more like fantasy, as does the reference to limo rides to fancy places.

At some point, that sort of thing would attract attention.

[SoCalDemocrat]

27. Not true

Homeless can get a P.O. box to register to vote from lots of sources. I volunteered at a city services location that allowed homeless people to receive their mail. Most of them are adept enough to have mail service, and thus can register to vote.

[punpirate]

33. Sure...

... that makes sense for people recently on the streets and in shelters. But not for the aimless homeless wandering the streets as in this example.

And, a PO Box is an address. I said you can't get voting registration without an address. Didn't say a "home."

Cheers.

[deckerd]

75. Doesn't sound like

most people don't seem to think about whether homeless people or other disenfrachised people (DC residents, Naderites, etc) are able to vote -- unless it somehow benefits their party. I remember a DUer posting an angry note about DC Electors saying they shouldn't be trusted, because of their "so-called" Taxation Without Representation protest vote in 2000. Dems deserve their vote but they don't deserve ability to vote for Congress... now we hear Kerry's support in the black community is soft because Dems just "assume" blacks are fired up about 2000, without asking. Thank goodness Michael Moore addressed that issue in F911, because it didn't make Dems look good either.

[deckerd]

74. Not true

Anyone who is a citizen of the US over 18 is eligible to vote unless they are a ward of the state. Whatever address a homeless person can list as a primary address is acceptable, usu. a shelter or the house of a relative. There are a large number (2/3?) of homeless who live with impoverished relatives, do not sleep on the street, and work.

[punpirate]

76. Let's stick to the example given...

... as I have tried to do.

Tell me. Does this woman have an address, do you think? Do you think her story is credible, which was the original question?

Do you believe, based on the description, that there is the likelihood that there's a well-funded program to wine and dine the homeless and promise them jobs and housing in exchange for their votes? That was the original question.

And, my simple statement still stands. One cannot register to vote without some kind of an address. You continue to offer me examples of people with some sort of address who are able to register to vote.

Now, simply. Can one register to vote in most states in this country without any sort of address?

Cheers.

[WinterStorm]

80. I think that some of them would be willing to vote for Bush for cash

They must be at a point in their life's that it doesn't matter who is in office. They must feel like neither party cares about them.

I think that if they smoke and they are desperate enough for a smoke that they would sell their votes for a carton of cigarettes.

[punpirate]

85. But, as I have probably mentioned...

... none of the inducements are worth anything unless they are immediate and dependent on an impending vote. How many street people will remember or feel obligated to vote in a certain way roughly two months after the fact, if indeed they could vote?

Very few, I would guess.

Nevertheless, you did well by this unfortunate person and are to be commended for your charity.

Cheers.

[WinterStorm]

92. Thanks

I hope that the homeless will get more help when Kerry is in office.

[Senior citizen]

81. The registrar of voters in San Diego told me this wasn't so.

If someone does not have an address, they can register by putting down as their address the place where they usually sleep, such as "under the highway Rte. 00 bridge where it crosses X Street," or "on the south side of main street, the third doorway from the corner of 17th Avenue." They do have to have a place where they can receive mail, but the mailing address does not have to be their residence.

[punpirate]

86. But, there is an address required....

That's my point. Registration requires an address, somewhere they can receive mail, some place in which they are reachable. California likely has broadened that definition, but they still need an address.

The truly homeless, those outside the system, those who for practical purposes have no real access to the system, either because of inclination or disability, can't vote.

A hundred years ago, a signature was all that was necessary, in most states and territories. The complexities of modern-day registration to prevent fraud have, in many ways, disenfranchised the truly dispossessed in society.

But, then, if we'd taken care of the dispossessed in the first place, there wouldn't be hair-splitting over the nature of their voting rights.

*sigh*

Cheers.

[Senior citizen]

88. I still don't understand the "coding"

A while back I lived aboard a small sailboat at a mooring area where there were more than 50 boats. One year I went to vote and found that we had all been recorded as if we all lived aboard one boat together, instead of each boat being a private residence. I complained, they gave me some lame explanations, we went back and forth by snail mail and phone for a few weeks, and finally I took it to the County Board of Supervisors. After all, people who live in the same apartment building, but in separate apartments, aren't all registered as living at the same address. They tried to say it was for uniformity, since many of us listed our address in different ways (Roadstead or Mooring Area, for example). The BoS staff phoned the RoV and I got a long letter explaining that was what they did for Navy people aboard ships. But in that case they ARE on one big ship. 1st the Ass't RoV, and then the actual RoV spent many HOURS on the phone with me. I mean THEY called ME trying to explain it. I just didn't like going in to vote and finding that my address was on the rolls differently than I'd written it when I'd registered to vote, that all my neighbors had the same problem (how can you write it correctly,((On Edit: on an absentee ballot)) if they've changed it without notifying you? S((Also on edit: And if you get your address wrong on the absentee ballot, they can disqualify it))), and what they explained as their "coding" made it look as if we all lived in a single residence. They finally wore me down and I gave up, and I no longer live on a boat, but I still don't know what they were doing, and probably never will.

[punpirate]

89. All this in Florida, or where?

That said, you should have been given a voter registration card at time of registration. That should be good enough to satisfy any poll worker, regardless of address.

As for the absentee ballot, a photocopy of the registration card attached to the ballot should be enough. Don't know what that might mean for your other neighbors on the dock. Sounds screwed up.

Cheers.

[Senior citizen]

90. California

They sent me a copy of something that they claimed showed that my absentee ballots in previous years had been counted, even though the address I'd written was the one I'd used to register, not the one they'd listed, but I don't know whether to believe them. I suspect that liveaboards had been coded for exclusion because we tended to be poor and were moored within the geographic limits of a wealthy community. But that's just paranoia--I can't prove anything. On the other hand, after reading "Votescam," and BBV, it is also possible that I'm nowhere near paranoid enough.

[UnapologeticLiberal]

109. A few states have mechanisms for people to vote without an address

In Pennsylvania, for example, people can draw a map or diagram of where they usually sleep in lieu of writing an address. Few states have laws prohibiting homeless people from voting, though few states have a mechanism to enable people to vote without an address. Years ago, there was an effort to pass a law requiring states to guarantee the right of the homeless to vote, but unfortunately, it has yet to be acted upon.

[madmax]

6. Doesn't one have to have proof of residency to vote?

I should know this but, I'm a mental mush ball lately.

[liberal N proud]

7. Put nothing past these bastards.

They will do anything, exploit anyone. Nothing is too low for Carl Rove and his band of puppets.
I do not know anything about the legitimacy of this story but not surprising.

[cheshire]

18. I agree and they accused the Dems of this which tells me that they think

like that. Do not underestimate the evil forces.

[dmr]

9. In Miami a few years ago

they were giving people money from twenty dollars up for a specific vote. So, I believe her.

Did she say when they offered this? I sure would like to see them caught in the act with a hidden camera.

[WinterStorm]

17. Two weeks ago

Can someone check back and find out if a rethug held a meeting at Navy Pier two weeks ago?

[mzmolly]

11. You may want to refer her to the media?

I wouldn't put anything past the Bushies.

[Carni]

12. The "sleeping in dept stores after they close"

Sounds ludicrous and I don't see that happening in general...

These Dept stores don't have security? Yeah, sure.

[WinterStorm]

19. My Dad use to work in a dept. store on the weekends

I asked her how did she keep from being noticed and she told me that she laid under the clothes racks.

[blondeatlast]

38. Cleaning crews come in VERY early AM; they would notice her.

I worked many years in a department store; the cleaning crews were amazing at finding weird stuff. She wouldn't escape their notice.

Not to mention the stores I worked in had motion detectors all over the place.

[WinterStorm]

39. My Dad told me that it was impossible to hide

Unless she kept moving around as they were cleaning but you would still notice the person because of the cameras.

He said that the only place that she might go unnoticed is the stock room.

[dweller]

23. yeah sure, maybe

before the cutbacks..

:shrug:
dp

[RobinA]

35. Not Ludicrous

This probably doesn't happen at the local suburban mall, but I worked for a department store with a large NYC flagship. The place was old and a huge, multi-floored, rabbit warren behind the scenes. Department stores knock out and rebuild walls almost constantly, and the old ones are pretty chopped up behind the walls you see. There's also all kinds of junk that accumulates in the back areas over the years. Homeless people absolutely lived there. For years. They simply hid at closing, which wasn't hard to do. No security was going to check every corner of that place, and some would probably look the other way on a cold night.

[WinterStorm]

43. The one that she claims she sleeps in has 9 or 10 floors

The basement level leads to the subway so I don't think that its that far fetched if they can find a hiding spot.

[Bridget Burke]

106. Maybe in front of the department store?

There's a transit stop next to Foley's main entrance. (That's Houston's biggest--& last--downtown department store.)

Catching the very early train, I've often noticed people sleeping in the doorway. Sheltered from the weather, with transit cops patrolling, it's probably one of the safer places downtown.

[Catherine Vincent]

13. What you did for that homeless woman was very touching.

You have a kind heart. But I don't know if I would believe her, you never know though. You would have to have proof (video).

[quaoar]

16. She's probably telling the truth

But she probably heard from someone who heard it from someone who heard it from someone....

[Renew Deal]

20. Weird... I saw a lady sleeping on a subway bench today

with a First Family 2004 button on. It had a picture of the Bushes. I wasn't sure if she was homeless, but I found it strange. This is in NYC.

[WinterStorm]

26. Who does the general public ignore the most?

The homeless right?

I am going to start looking at them instead of turning away like I have to do when I don't have any cash on me.

The rethugs need voters and they might be providing them with a "future" address.

What was funny was she mentioned that a burnt out building was being rehabbed and she was offered an apartment in it by the speaker of the house. She kept talking about the speaker of the house and I started to feel sorry for her at one point because I felt that she needed to be in a home or looked after.

They might be giving the homeless addresses to burnt out buildings for a voters card.

How far fetched would it be for a homeless person to have an address to a burnt out building which would be the reason that they are homeless.

[serryjw]

59. I would believe the story if it wasn't CA.

It would be too difficult to get all the homeless registered & keep track of them to get them to vote on November 2nd. Even with this silly effort they have to know they will never carry CA. BUYING votes ON election day in a place like FL I could see, but not CA......It's just not money well spent...after all they are cheap thugs!

[WinterStorm]

64. I am not in CA

Chicago!

[serryjw]

68. Ohhhhhhhh, Sorry

Still a little far fetched....But you were great for what you did,

[LisaL]

22. How can you vote if you are homeless?

Aren't you supposed to have an address to register?

[atre]

77. good question

I don't know the process that they would have to follow (perhaps a listing of a mailing address through which the person may be contacted), but I am certain that the fundamental right to vote is no longer limited to persons owning property.

[faithnotgreed]

24. thank you winterstorm for your act of kindness. we should all help

& work for the homeless whenever wherever possible.

all the utter disaster that bush has created everywhere causes the homeless to fall even further away from the publics attention, where its quite low anyway

so thank you for your sweetness to care for her and talk to her. im not so concerned right now with whether or not what she says is true, i care about her spirit - and thank you for yours.

[WinterStorm]

29. I felt that she was mentally unbalanced

Her story was so far fetched that I couldn't believe her.

I met her when we were both walking down the street and a waiter came running out of a restaurant with his customers wallet. We both commented on how nice that was and that he deserved an extra tip.

She kept following me and she didn't look homeless or what someone would think was a homeless person.

Her bags were from Bloomingdales and she looked like she had been shopping.

I still would have talked to her even if i knew that she was homeless.

I help them out every time I have extra cash on me but most of the time I don't have enough money to help out.

She pointed at a rehab and said that she lived there and I asked her if she was staying in a hotel while it was being rehabbed and that's when she admitted that she was homeless.

I asked her if she was hungry and I offered her some dinner. I didn't want to take her to Burger King or McDonald's because I wanted a cup of coffee and something to eat myself and I felt that she deserved to be treated like a human instead of like she was nothing.

At the end I offered her some sheets that I had bought for $10.00 bucks on sale. They were expensive sheets that were marked way down and she wouldn't take them.

I gave her my cell phone number and I told her to call if she ever needed help and I offered to look for a place for her to stay but she hasn't called.

I found a womans shelter that said that they had vacancies and I keep looking for her but she isn't around.

[faithnotgreed]

48. thank you so. i really really mean this. treating her like a human

like you said, is what should be expected but of course it isnt what happens very often. most often, they are invisible at best...

God bless you. you did all you could.

[WinterStorm]

52. Your welcome

They aren't invisible to me.

If I have an extra bus pass on me I will give that to them and tell them that it's a good one to use it another day when they need it. If I have food on me that I know that I shouldn't have bought because of the calorie content like cookies of something I will give it to one of them if they want it.

I am not a rich person and I could have made some coffee when I got home but I didn't. I wanted this women to have a good meal and to be able to pick out something that she wanted to eat. She couldn't make her mind up on whether she should get French fries, fruit or soup with her meal so I asked the waiter to bring her all of them.

I didn't do it to feel good about myself I did it because I pass the homeless all of the time and most of them are hungry and they want to be looked in the eye and treated like a human. Rethug or not I am glad I bought her something to eat. Maybe I touched her heart or something like that I don't know I hope she calls and I can help her find a place to live.

[faithnotgreed]

72. thats awesome. hoping for her to call....

[WinterStorm]

78. Could they be using mail in ballots for the homeless?

I am worried about her because winter is coming and I don't want to see anyone on the streets when it gets cold. It's hard enough for them when it's warm but the wind chill can kill someone.

I sat with her for 2 1/2 hours talking to her and making sure that she had plenty of food to eat. Every time she finished her coffee I would go and get the pot and pour her another cup because our waiter was busy with customers. I wanted to make her feel good and to be honest I felt my mothering instincts coming on. She was about 12 years older then I was but I felt bad for her. She could have been anyone of us or anyones relative needing help.

She kept complimenting me on how perfect my face and hair were and I had to tell her at one point that she didn't have to tell me that and that if she needed anything that I was down the street and to call me on my cell phone and I would help her.

If we all can touch one persons life and make it better then we can make the world a little better no matter how bad Bush has screwed up everything.

I think that this woman was brought up in a right wing household and she was recalling the past. Possibly she had a much better life that went wrong along the way. She might have served in a prison and the prison might have driven her up a wall.

I know that she told me that she tried to commit suicide several times in the past so I feel that she had some major issues with her life. That's one thing that I had in common with her but I didn't tell her that because I had thought about it at one time in my life.

What I would really like to know is if the rethugs are registering homeless people with a burnt out bldg. address and giving them ballots to mail in. That way they can make sure that they fill them out for Bush and then pay them.

[faithnotgreed]

112. i think we have all heard these stories about homeless people used

politically in certain republican areas but im not sure if its been verified. incredibly sad is how we can all believe just about anything that some people would do if it suits their purposes

about the woman: homelessness as you know, is very complicated and theres no one profile. so its difficult to know what is verifiable truth or not. the companionship and reaching out is what matters

now if you really wanted to try to find out the veracity i imagine you could do some online searching for this story, snopes perhaps
or if you knew a local social worker or service agency, though they are likely flooded as it is.
you could talk with a local democratic organization that you know

there are ways to search for this is it matters to you to do so.

thank you again for your true concern. i wish we could all help each other out. each of us standing on a ladder reaching out to help pull up those beneath....

take care... and let us know

[clydefrand]

28. I don't believe this woman because

1. You have an address--not a shelter for homeless people
2. You have to be registered
3. You must live in an area long enough to establish residency--number of months may vary from state to state; not sure about this.


And the biggest reason of all...I've never heard of a republican helping a homeless, poor, unkempt person. They look through them as if they don't exist.

[WinterStorm]

32. She wasn't unkept

She didn't look homeless to me.

[AngryOldDem]

55. Not all of them wear "rags" or look "unkept"

and most of them take good care of their clothes because it's all they have. Also, some shelters will outfit them with new clothing, especially if they are job hunting.

[WinterStorm]

60. I know this

We have families on the streets in my town.

I never pass judgment on anyone.

People expect the homeless to be in rags but most are not.

[AngryOldDem]

93. Yep...

The misconceptions most people have about the homeless are a big part of the problem.

I was asked once, "Why do people CHOOSE to become homeless?"

[Nadienne]

104. I've never heard of a republican helping ANYONE

unless it gained them something. But, think about it: this would gain them something.

As to the other points you mentioned, I think it all depends on where you live. Denying the homeless the right to vote sounds pretty sad... Similar to only letting landowners vote, or men, or white people. I can easily believe it's possible, though.

[PaDem]

30. The limo bit is over the top

no way they did that. It's not efficient. I am certain both parties pursue homeless close to election time with money or cigarettes. Certainly there isn't a well organized effort or investment of campaign resources into the homeless population.

[WinterStorm]

36. Red flags went up before the limo ride story

She kept talking about the speaker of the house and how the rethugs were going to get rid of all of the aliens and foreigners.

I was getting real embarrassed because our waiter was from Poland and I go into the Restaurant all of time and the comments about foreigners was so loud that I felt like dying and I knew something had to be wrong with her.

[KoKo]

51. Many folks who are homeless are mentally ill and can't afford meds...she

sounds like she had some problems. I wouldn't take what she said too seriously. Parts sound reasonable, but she could be Schizophrenic and they sound very believable until you put all the pieces together of what they are saying.

[GreenArrow]

31. They Live!

[bobbyboucher]

34. Maybe she was playing you.

Did you bring up politics? Maybe she surmised that you were a Kerry supporter and decided to pretend that the Repubs are taking better care of her than you. And it worked. You bought her two meals and gave her a twenty spot.

I am kidding, I don't know what to think about this.

[WinterStorm]

37. She was unbalanced

I don't think that she was playing games on me about being homeless because her clothes and blankets were in the bag and they were dirty.

She ate like she hadn't seen food in a long time.

If she was playing me for a fool I don't care.

Maybe I was a fool but my intentions were good.

[MsTryska]

97. Actually - i've been thinking the same thing....

it could have been a con job.

[Guaranteed]

40. The whole thing sounds pretty ludicrous to me.

Taken in a "huge limo" to a hotel for dinner? That smacks of grandiosity.

This woman is trying to give herself some kind of power in a powerless situation. She's clinging to her God-figure- that piece of shit George W. Bush.

My guess is that she made most, if not all of this stuff up.

[WinterStorm]

41. She knew all of the rethugs names

I can't remember some of their names but she knew them all.

She told me that her last residence was in CT and that she was a Lawyer at one time and she had gone to jail for lying under oath.

I think that she was unbalanced.

[Demonaut]

44. after reading all these post this one seems to hit the mark.

and a piece of shit he is

[WinterStorm]

58. She had to be schizophrenic

She kept shouting at the waiter and saying that he didn't belong in this country.

She kept talking about things that didn't make sense but some of it seemed like the rethugs were dirty enough to play the game of screwing with the homeless.

[zulchzulu]

42. Where are you?

I used to live in SF and would find homeless people that were for Bush when the war was starting to brew in 2002.

I was puzzled by their choice in "heros". I would try to convince them that they are falling right into the trap.

So much suffering in their lives for so long had left them seeking someone who could be the Cowboy In The White Hat saving them at the last possible moment.

Delusion....

[WinterStorm]

46. It's hard enough to believe CA residents would vote for Bush

I am in Chicago.

[zulchzulu]

62. Homeless in Chicago....

SF is the place to go if you're an urban camper. Nice views..decent weather......lots of spots to hang out in...the crack industry is booming!

Actually, there were so many homeless in SF that you felt like you had to help out at least during the holidays. I would walk 10 blocks and run into at least 5-10 people per block that were either camping out or asking for money. Some of them had been at the same location for five years or more.

Chicago seems like they have the homeless problem "under control" from the times I've been there recently.

What amazed me about a lot of the homeless I helped out with or encountered was that they were Vietnam vets. Some were so burnt out or lost to addiction that it was just plain tearfully tragic.

Imagine what we will see in the next 10 years with this war.

[WinterStorm]

65. Camps?

With all of the jobs being outsourced and the guys and gals that will not come back to their kids that are over in Iraq right now. We are going to see homeless camps going up if Bush steals the election again.

[zulchzulu]

67. Soylent Green!

Actually we are not that far from that reality.

THIS IS WAR!

[Nadienne]

105. From what I hear,

Hispanics tend to vote for Bush... Because of reasons of morality.

Edited to add: I don't live in CA, but I thought CA has a pretty high percentage of Hispanics...?

[Terran]

45. I think most homeless people who are not mentally ill

understand that neither Bush nor most Democrats are very likely to get them any housing. So even if she seems superficially normal, she may well have been telling you a tale.

[WinterStorm]

49. I don't want to pass judgment on her

But she didn't seem mentally stable.

[Terran]

70. Of course...

she may have simply been messing with you too. Wild Tales from the Street, and all. If I were chronically homeless I might well do the same thing, for fun.

[Zero Division]

54. Could be that she's distorting/exaggerating about something real

But if her story is based on something real, it could be something as simple as some asshole Repub giving her some change and saying, "Vote for Bush" and talking about some bogus Bush plan for the homeless.

I thought I saw a thread on DU a long time ago about homeless people allegedly being paid by Nader's campaign to hand out pamphlets. I could be mistaken.

Anyway, what you did was beautifully compassionate. Something of which we need a lot more. :)

[WinterStorm]

61. I think that bits and pieces might have been true

I will help her again if she calls.

Thanks :hug:

[AuntPatsy]

57. If I would hazard a guess, I would say she is a bit of both, a scammer

and a bit unbalanced, I once began talking to this apparent homeless women as well, at first she seemed like a fairly bright and knowledgeable woman in need of monetary assistance, it soon became apparent though after she let on she was in hiding from the cia of whom she used to work for, her husband she said was also cia and was the one hired to kill her, I swear until she began talking about all this spy stuff, you would not have known she had problems, very articulate and as yours, well kept, I did find out she was staying at some kind of home but I was not sure what it was, but really, cia? And telling me about how she being hunted by her own cia so called operative husband..

Some people lose it later in life and could have at one time been very viable citizens, I dont believe she was promised all these things by anyone but she could have been bought for a twenty dollar bill I am sure if it is true all you need is a po box to be eligble to vote..

You should not have given her your cell phone# though, I guess growing up in the city one must take precautions no matter how much you might feel bad for someone...

I give too when hit up for money here and there, quickly and cleanly and then smile and leave..

[A_Possum]

63. Heh, this just reminds me...

Back when I was in college, decades ago, I applied for a summer secretarial job at the CIA (I already had a partial security clearance, and it turned out to be the most BORING job of my lifetime, but that's another story.)

Anyway, there I was at college, having applied for this sec'y summer job, and one day my roommate told me that someone from the CIA had come to the dorm asking about me. They talked to several of my friends also, asking if I'd ever done anything illegal or unamerican or unusual or whatever. It was pretty routine, really, but quite startling and exciting to everyone. So the next day I was in a small class, and out of curiosity to see just who they'd talked to, I asked my prof if the CIA had come around asking about me.

LOL, he gave me the STRANGEST look and said huh? I said, "The CIA has been asking questions about me, did they talk to you?" ROFL. He backed away slowly. Not realizing at the time what he must have thought, I never did explain to him.

So it's not always schizo paranoia when someone says the CIA is after them. ;)

[AuntPatsy]

66. I would agree if I had been alone but there were a few with me

and I would hazard a guess that someone hiding from the cia would not want it know to so many of us that might talk about his later and perhaps give her ummmm location away...

Crazy that they asked about you, it must be a strange business always looking into other people's lives. With all this talk about terrorists and things even I have had a tendency to look a little more closely at those I might otherwise not have given a seconds thought to..

[usregimechange]

69. According to the DSM 1/3rd of all homeless w/ Schizophrenia nt

[karlrschneider]

71. I did read the whole thread, and confess I don't really know what to think

but it reminded me of a similar experience I had a few years ago. Two of my buddies and I went up to Tulsa to see Leo Kottke (an amazing guitarist) at a joint called Cain's Ballroom...which enjoys some fame in certain circles as the starting point of Hank Williams and others...but I digress - it's in a pretty seedy part of town. Anyway we were standing in line waiting to get in and this guy walks by and asks if anybody can spare a quarter. We hadn't run into street beggars before, really, living then in Muskogee and engaged him in conversation. He said he was homeless after losing his job as an aeronautical engineer.

Well, as you can imagine, we thought that sounded pretty preposterous, but as it happened I was (am) an aeronautical engineer, so I asked him a couple of questions about aerodynamic formulae and he KNEW them perfectly! We invited him to come to the show as our guest...he did and loved it. Afterward (trying to make this short) he led us to where he "lived"...underneath the 2nd street overpass. One of my friends actually stepped on one guy sleeping under newspapers. What a nightmare. I was outraged...we tried to get him some clean shelter but there wasn't anything available that we could find. I think we scrounged up about 25 bucks and gave it to him. (He wasn't a wino as far as we could tell, hopefully he used it for food)

I still feel guilty at not doing more.

Well, shit.

[faithnotgreed]

73. wow. what a situation. many people reach out then wish later

they had done more.
thank you for what you and your friends did. i can understand that you would feel ike you hadnt done enough or whatever, but i appreciate you doing anything at all

yet another reason to be really upset with bush is he has botched things up so badly on every possible front, that not only has he added to the homeless numbers, but hes also gotten much of america concerned with even more things than they normally would. thus the homeless fall further down the list

heres to doing the best we can. caring enough to reach out when were not sure and to getting bush out of our government

God bless you

[WinterStorm]

79. That was wonderful what you did for him

This woman was very intelligent and her mannerism were above someone that had been poor all of her life.

She talked about going to the yacht club and having dinner at various country clubs in Connecticut. She also talked about cases that she had worked on and It didn't sound like she was full of it.

I got a feeling that she had either worked in the legal field or handled her own case if she had been locked up in prison.

[crickets]

82. Leo Kottke

is an amazing guitarist!

And that is a humbling story. It makes you wonder. It makes you grateful. And it does make you say things like, "well, shit."

There's got to be a better way. :sigh:

[karlrschneider]

83. Thanks. It certainly is an event I'll never forget.

...

[Senior citizen]

84. Putting my tin foil hat on

If you aren't crazy when you first become homeless, simply being homeless for any length of time is enough to do it to you.

But people often become homeless because they lose their jobs for "acting crazy," which can mean anything at all--in some places it might mean wearing a Kerry button or sounding like a liberal.

People who are, or who have been labelled crazy, have very little credibility.

One of the techniques of sophisticated child-molesting rings is to stage something totally unbelievable, so that when the child tells what happened, people will just say, "What a great imagination!" Like people dressing in costumes so children will say they were raped by cartoon characters. The more the kid insists that is what happened, the less they are believed, which was the intent of the preverts.

I was homeless for many years. I was also considered mentally ill, and I used a lot of drugs. One day I was in L.A. and this rich Republican guy comes over and reminds me who he is. I'd known him in Mexico years before. He turns me on to some VERY strong drugs, and takes me for a ride in a car. He leads me onto a lawn where there is a group of people I don't know, but who are all apparently in the same condition I'm in--homeless, very stoned, and probably mentally ill or considered so. He leaves me there. I'm too stoned to go anywhere and so is everyone else. I don't know how I ever got out of there. I must have blacked out or fallen asleep, and I woke up somewhere else. As I pieced things together later on (some of this MUCH later on), I'd been on the lawn of the Ambassador Hotel the night Bobby Kennedy was assassinated. Conspiracy theorists will remember the bunch of hippies on the lawn. I don't know why I was taken there--probably some sort of back-up plan for a back-up plan for a back-up plan they didn't need to use after all. But I can tell you that no matter how fucked up and dirty and homeless you are, rich pukes will take you into their big cars when it suits their purposes.

And nobody will believe you when you tell them.

[RandomKoolzip]

108. weqweerruuiiop[p[]]\asddffjjkjjkkllvcxzxzxvm,lll

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[merh]

94. This is not far fetched....

They have been doing this sort of thing for years. From buying bottles of alcohol for "winos" to free meals to homeless and the hungry.

They find the weakest in our society, offer them creature comforts for a time and empty promises and take them to the polls to vote.

In the south, they threaten workers - they tell them they will know if they vote democratic or republican and if they vote against their candidate, they will lose their job. We should have Carter and the UN monitoring our polls. This type of coercion and corruption goes on all the time.

[WinterStorm]

95. We need the UN to come in and monitor this election

Florida needs more then a few people monitoring and double checking how people voted or we will be doomed with 4 more destructive years under the dictator.

[RoyalWickedness]

96. I don't think the homeless can vote

You have to have an address to register.

Wouldn't put it past 'em, but sounds to me like the poor gal has some mental difficulties. Of course, anyone who would vote for Shrub ain't right....

Kudos to you for looking out for her though. Most people would have just ignored her.

[merh]

98. You don't think they can register at shelters?

No one checks on the status of the address - they just require an address. It does happen, this is not beyond the repukes.

[WinterStorm]

101. I asked her where she lived at so that I could continue to walk with her

She stopped at a bldg that was burnt out and it was being rehabbed. I found out she was homeless after we stopped in front of the bldg and I realized that no one could have possibly lived there.

They might be using the rehabs as addresses. How perfect would it be for them to use a burned out bldg that someone might have lived at one time and became homeless when it burned down as an address.

[troubleinwinter]

102. Regarding voting from National Homeless Org

• Residential Address Requirement

Homeless people who can identify a "home base"-- a specific location they consider their home base to which they return regularly and intend to remain for the present -- should not be denied the opportunity to register to vote solely because the home base is not a traditional dwelling. With respect to state elections, courts that have addressed the issue have held that states may not refuse to allow a homeless person to register to vote on the ground that she/he does not have a traditional residential address. As far as federal elections are concerned, the uniform "national mail voter registration form," which the NVRA requires states to accept as a means of registration, allows the applicant to draw a map to indicate where he or she lives "if the applicant lives in a rural district or has a non-traditional address." This means that homeless people who can identify a street corner, park bench, etc. as their home base by drawing a map should not be prevented from registering to vote for failing to provide a traditional residential address.

• Mailing Address Requirement

Almost all states require prospective registrants to provide a mailing address. This requirement is not prohibited by the NVRA and it does not appear to have been tested in the courts. Whether or not a court will uphold a mailing address requirement is likely to depend on how rigidly the requirement is applied; a requirement that actually prevents homeless applicants from registering to vote is likely to constitute an unlawful restriction on the fundamental right to vote. Several states explicitly allow registrants to identify a government office or post office "general delivery" address, or other reliable "contact points" (e.g., a shelter, church, or municipal building) as a mailing address. If the mailing address requirement simply imposes a burden or inconvenience on the homeless applicant but does not actually prevent him or her from registering, such a requirement is likely to be upheld by the courts.

**************

If your local election officials are imposing voter registration requirements that substantially hinder homeless people from registering to vote, you may wish to attempt to resolve the problem by contacting the chief election official in your state, the office of the State Attorney General, or a representative of your state legislature before considering commencement of a formal legal challenge. For a more detailed legal memorandum that contains a discussion of legal issues and case law concerning homeless people’s right to register to vote, please contact the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty at [phone].

http://www.nationalhomeless.org/vote2004/legalrights.html

[Logansquare]

107. Illinois is not a swing state--the GOP wouldn't waste its money

buying voters here. Then again, the state GOP was stupid enough to invite Allen Keyes...

[WinterStorm]

114. Allen Keyes is crazy

He doesn't stand a chance in hell of winning.

[Myrina]

110. I'm no shrink but ...

... is there any possibility she saw any of the GOP convention on TV somewhere and is .. projecting, or due to lack of meds, might actually believe she was there ?

Just curious ....

[HEIL PRESIDENT GOD]

119. VERY good point! nt

[Claire Beth]

111. Show *THIS* to the lady....

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/22/nyregion/22housing.ht...

September 22, 2004
U.S. Seeks Cuts in Housing Aid to Urban Poor
By DAVID W. CHEN

he Bush administration has proposed reducing the value of subsidized-housing vouchers given to poor residents in New York City next year, with even bigger cuts planned for some urban areas in New England. The proposal is based on a disputed new formula that averages higher rents in big cities with those of suburban areas, which tend to have lower costs.

The proposals could have a "significantly detrimental impact" in some areas by forcing poor families to pay hundreds of extra dollars per month in rent, according to United States Representative Christopher Shays, a Connecticut Republican. That extra burden could be too much for thousands of tenants, "potentially leaving them homeless," Mr. Shays wrote in a recent letter to the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

[HuskerDem]

115. Seems like an unlikely demographic to blow $$ on. Unreliable as hell

A limo? Guest speakers?

Bless you for your kindness, but I'd give 50 to 1 that the woman isn't even registered.

[Jacobin]

117. She's schizophrenic. It's very sad

A large number of homeless people have this malady. They can't be confined involuntarily anymore for better or for worse, unless they are a danger to themselves or others.

I think you did a nice thing by helping her out.

She's living in a fantasy world. I hope she stays safe.

[Kimber Scott]

118. Are there enough homeless people who will actually go to the polls in

large enough numbers to actually tip the vote? I mean, I don't want to sound mean, or anything, but if you see those "Will Work for Food" people on the street and offer them a job, 9 out of 10 never show up. I can't imagine the RNC, or the DNC, driving these people around in limos and promising them the world hoping they'll show up to vote. This seems too weird, but I'm glad you got the lady something to eat.