"WE
CAN'T MAKE IT HERE ANYMORE" goes the song...
For a lot of reasons, there's disparity. But we
KNOW the reason the divide between rich and poor is GROWING! Oh, YES, we
do!
Isn't composer James McMurtry singin' his song for some o' the
clueless but fortunate few hereabouts and everywhere else y' go in this
country?
... I can see them all now, they haunt my dreams
All lily white and squeaky clean
They've never known want, they'll never know need
Their shit don't stink and their kids won't bleed
Their kids won't bleed in the damn little war
And we can't make it here anymore
Will work for food, will die for oil
Will kill for power and to us the spoils
The billionaires get to pay less tax
The working poor get to fall through the cracks
Let 'em eat jellybeans, let 'em eat cake
Let 'em eat shit, whatever it takes
They can join the Air Force, or join the Corps
If they can't make it here anymore
And that's how it is, that's what we got
If the president wants to admit it or not
You can read it in the paper, read it on the wall
Hear it on the wind, if you're listening at all
Get out of that limo, look us in the eye
Call us on the cell phone, tell us all why
"HOLD ON!" says the SELF-MADE MAN.
"Everybody has an equal shot at the AMERICAN DREAM!"
Uhmmm - MAYBE NOT!
UNLESS the SELF-MADE MAN has an ancestor who was bound in SLAVERY prior to 1865, or had
ancestors who were deprived of equal access to education and public services,
decent housing choices and opportunities for employment, home and small bidness
loans, etc., the SELF-MADE MAN surely must recognize that All of US don't start out on a level
playing field.
He surely must realize that upwards of 50% of homeless males are vets. While the SELF-MADE MAN won't let anyone forget HE'S a vet - obviously his experiences in service to his nation have not left him
wandering through the mean urban streets talkin' to his SHOES! 
There but for fortune go you and I, Brother. And Brother SELF-MADE MAN - you have been fortunate
to have a mental/emotional equilibrium that has served to enable you to provide
for your needs and the needs of others you care about. I congratulate the SELF-MADE MAN on
making good use of his "talents" - as his Jesus taught - but I have read
that his Jesus also counseled against the sins of pride and ostentatious piety. 
IF we all were to concur with the predominate conservative rhetoric splashed
about in wing-nut blogs and talk shows, magazines and in the people's own gummint buildings - then what? 
IF we were all able to convince ourselves that the
homeless have brought their situations upon themselves through making wrong
choices in life - what then? 
Would we then ignore their human needs and let
them rot where they fall?
If the sight of homeless people on our streets makes
us uncomfortable, will we find comfort by averting our eyes and ears from their
presence - even as their numbers increase toward a point of socio-cultural
crisis? 
LET JUSTICE ROLL! is an organization sponsored by the United Church of Christ (UCC) to raise awareness concerning the minimum wage (which is hardly even that):
UPDATE - Senate Defeats Democrats Minimum Wage Increase
Reuters - Wednesday 21 June 2006
Washington - The US Senate on Wednesday defeated a proposal pushed by Democrats to raise the federal minimum wage in increments from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour by January 1, 2009.
Sen. Edward Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat, unsuccessfully tried to attach the proposal raising the wage for the first time since 1997 to a defense authorization bill that is expected to be passed by the Senate soon.
While a majority of the Senate, 52 senators, backed the move to increase the minimum wage, it failed to win the 60 votes needed for passage under a procedural agreement worked out earlier.
...The battle to increase the federal minimum wage is once again a topic for ranting on the Right. Senator Edward Kennedy has offered an amendment in the Senate to the Department of Defense authorization bill to increase the federal minimum wage to $7.25 an hour, a $2.10 increase from the current stagnant wage floor. Last week, a House sub-committee passed a minimum wage increase amendment to the Labor, Health and Human Services appropriations bill in a bi-partisan vote, but the House leadership refused to allow the bill’s consideration by the full House...
The current minimum wage has failed to keep pace with the increased cost of living over the years. Stalled at $5.15 an hour since 1997, a person working a full-time minimum wage job will earn $10,700 in a year, nearly $6,000 below the federal poverty line for a family of three...
Henry Ford paid his auto workers $5. an hour, which was WAY above the
prevailing rates of the day. He reasoned that if he paid his workers enough so that they
could AFFORD to BUY a Model T, he'd sell more Fords, gain brand recognition and
have more loyal, productive workers. It proved to be good bidness for Ford, the workers and the nation.
Has raising the minimum wage has EVER CAUSED inflation or INCREASED UNEMPLOYMENT
or the CLOSING of significant numbers of small bidnesses? That's the argument of the ag'iners. I believe it IS true that when
the minimum wage goes up, most other wage workers benefit also.
The CLASS of people opposed to raising the minimum wage is the wealthy elite
whose income is from investments. While the workers who get raises pay more
income taxes as a result - the elites are exempted from paying taxes on much of
their income.
When the wing-nuts wave a red herring (which is beginning to become increasingly offensively odiferous, by the way)
of a $20. / hour minimum wage to try to discredit the proposal for increase, they are attempting to avoid the relevant facts of the argument.
There's NEVER BEEN an outlandish raise of the sort and there NEVER WILL be - so
that rotten fish should be buried for good...
Da Rev ran across this poem on Garrison Keillor's EXCELLENT "Writer's Workshop" website: Poem: "Who Was That Man?" by Paul Bussan from A Rage of
Intelligence: Poems. © PSB Publishing. Reprinted with permission. (buy now)
As I read "Who Was That Man?" it made me think... so I came up with a list of movies.
Read it and see if it reminds you of some, too!
I love those movies
About a stranger
Who rides into town
On the back of a horse,
And proceeds to start
A chain of events
That makes each person
Take stock of their lives,
So that after he's gone
Everyone's better
Or worse for the wear
Than they were
Before he arrived.
Audie Murphy's hired gunslinger (John Gant) in "No Name On The Bullet";
Clint Eastwood's "avenging angel" in "High Plains Drifter";
"Shane"; "The Lone Ranger"; "Batman"
...
Remember - the character is a "stranger".
Welcome to The Last Chance Garage! 
We don't SEE many o' THESE 'round here... 
Hot Summer Days call for a jog over to the Last Chance Garage and a cruise in this 1960 Studebaker Silver Hawk. 
Good fortune. COMMENT!! Please spread the meme. Don't smoke in bed...
