Land of the Free

An alert reader sent me a link to this story by John Marty of Minnesota:

A July newspaper headline said it all: "Homeless man decides jail's better than the streets." A 61 year old homeless man in Rochester decided that the only way he could get food and a roof over his head was to go to jail. So he broke some windows at an auto dealer, turned himself in at the police department and asked that they put him in jail.

He told police that if they would not arrest him, he would go back and break some more windows.

He realized that the only way he could get a fair shake was by going to prison.

How can Americans see the cruel reality endured by millions of their fellow citizens and not rise up in outrage? As unemployment and foreclosures climb, this kind of story will only become more common. If Republicans value liberty, shouldn't they ensure that Americans aren't forced to choose giving up that liberty to avoid starving on the streets? The New Deal wasn't an assault on liberty. The current fervent dismantling of the New Deal is an assault on humanity.