HENRIETTA HUGHES: A CLOSED MOUTH DOESN'T GET FED

"I have an urgent need, unemployment and homelessness, a very small vehicle for my family and I to live in," she said. "The housing authority has two years' waiting lists, and we need something more than the vehicle and the parks to go to. We need our own kitchen and our own bathroom. Please help."- Henrietta Hughes (At Fort Meyers Town Hall Meeting)

Move over "Joe The Plumber" there's a new sheriff in town, and her name is "Henrietta The Homeless". That's right, folks, she is the latest political meme. Now, I'll be honest, when I watched the Obama Town Hall meeting, and saw her speak, it brought tears to my eyes. As a person who has worked with homeless people, and being briefly homeless myself some years ago, it was moving. When she spoke of living out of her car and having to sleep at parks, it hit me.

Obama when he spoke to her mentioned that there are many people like her. And you know what? He's right. Given the current mortgage meltdown, and housing crisis, homelessness is just one part of the ripple effect. What's sad to know is that in the Stimulus Package debate, not much has been said about doing anything about foreclosures. Oh well, maybe it was considered pork after Obama pledged $50 billion towards it and it got removed in the Senate.

The good news is that Henrietta, who had been living out of her pickup truck with her son, had a place to sleep last night. She was allowed to stay at a home by Chene Thompson, wife of State Representative Nick Thompson, who heard the homeless woman’s pleas for help to President Obama before a local and national crowd. I don't know how long she'll be allowed to stay there; surely not forever. But I do hope that something is done for her more on a permanent basis. I'd like to think that if "Joe The Plumber" could become somewhat of an icon for conservatism, and reap the rewards of his then new found fame, that this woman can as well. It would be a definite blessing especially since she couldn't vote because she had no address.

In a followup interview...

Hughes says she was not able to vote on election day because she does not have an address. She said without a vote, she prayed that Mr. Obama would win. “I said, ‘Lord please have mercy on Mr. Obama.” and the Lord did so.

But, you wanna hear something funny? There has already been talk about her being a plant at the meeting, and her story being fake. Yup, RiPPa reads a lot of shit online and runs into the stuff he expects to hear when it comes to any minority in relation to Obama. Here's a snippet from a comment from over on the great Michelle Malkin's site...

"You know you cannot just “enter” an Obama town hall meeting. They give out tickets in advance. Who gets the tickets? People who stand in line and wait. Who tells people when and where Obama will appear next? Certainly not the Secret Service who has to protect this man. Not the MSM, who are too busy telling us how great he is without asking any critical questions.

Sooooo… how does a 61 year-old homeless woman who’s living in a pickup truck with her son JUST HAPPEN to get a ticket so she can VERY PUBLICALLY ask Prez. Obama for a HOUSE? Anyone? Who pushes her up on stage? She’s right at the front of the crowd. Did she just happen to get a seat there?

Now, within moments of this happening, it’s trumpeted all over the news. AND, surprise, surprise, the wife of State Representative Nick Thompson, Chene Thompson JUST HAPPENS to have a spare house worth $150,000 lying around, so she GIVES it to this unemployed, homeless, living-in-a-truck woman. They’ve been homeless for “more than a year”, which coincidentally, predates the current housing and banking crisis by quite a while. How did they learn about the “Obama Town Hall and Tent Revival”? Were homeless people simply rounded up? Did someone pre-canvas the area in search of “great, tear-jerking stories”? Of all the people in the audience, SHE’S one of the ones Obama chooses to ask a question?

BTW-the taxes which will be charged on this “free house” will bankrupt the poor woman. Taxes are levied based on the home’s assessed value, not on the basis of it being a “free gift”."

Yup, that was the talk over on Michelle's site and probably as was among right wing conservatives across the country. You know how those people are all about pulling up yourself by your own bootstraps. Yup, even them are unaware of what's going on in this country right now. One only has to look to the Republican Senate to see how out of touch they are with reality. Yup, only 3 of them voted for the Stimulus Package.

Oh well...

moving along, it was also inspiring to see that kid Julio Osegueda pose his question to Barack. The 19yr old kid was energetic and enthused almost to the point of being scary. No joke, at first when I saw him I thought he was on something. But I guess being able to stand before Barack Obama, and ask a question when you have the day off from McDonalds where you've been working at for 4yrs, while trying to better yourself by going to college would do that. If anything his issue with education should be an inspiration to other young people to be a part of the political process. But as with everything Obama, there are haters.

More comments from Malkin's site...

"On a second, double-snort, the last guy who gets to ask a question JUST HAPPENS to be a 19-year-old kid of Hispanic descent who’s going to Edison State College (free tuition perhaps for in-state students?) and has worked at McDonalds for FOUR AND A HALF YEARS. By my math, he started working there when he was 14! Florida child-labor law infraction, anyone? Now, having worked at McDs several times in my past I can say that they DO offer health care plans. You have to PAY for it, just like everyone else in the country does. It’s OPTIONAL. It’s not a God-given right."

SOURCE

Umm, this kids question was never even about healthcare. And did you notice the assumption that he's going to school for free? Conservatives and haters alike are some of the most stupid people in this country. Ok maybe not all conservatives, but this ass clown who said what I featured above is. Here we are in the most dire of economic times in our country in modern history, and Obama is trying to push urgency in the passing of a Stimulus Bill (which did pass the Senate by the way), and these asholes just don't get it.

Here's more...

"If you follow me on Twitter, you saw my comment earlier this afternoon about the savior-based moment in Ft. Myers this afternoon between President Obama and a woman named Henrietta Hughes — who demanded that Obama give her a home with her own bathroom and kitchen. The entire event was like a revival meeting" - Michelle Malkin

SOURCE

In the end, I wish nothing but success to both of these people from the Town Hall yesterday, as well as to everyone struggling to stay afloat in the country right now. Lets hope that Henrietta doesn't have to wait for that Stimulus money to trickle down to her state, and county before she finds some semblance of permanent housing or work. Here's to hope, and the hope that she's not swept by the wayside because of being a minority. Or worse even drug through the mud in the media with anything in her past being brought up which may have led to her current circumstances. Even if it were the case, to me, what's important is doing something for all the impoverished people in this country right now, in spite of how they got there. Both of these people were minorities, so don't be surprised if there is a negative backlash about this; even from fellow minorities.