Obama is in town

Obama is in town and whether you can imagine it or not, he’s got things really screwed up. I know there are a few of you who are thinking “So, what’s new?” Well nothing actually, but you should see the streets of Austin. I mean in Washington, D.C. where he actually resides and travels about, they don’t take the precautions they are here. (I’m from the D.C. area and have spent considerable time in town).


I mean in a one block area along Trinity street between 7th and 8th Streets, I counted nine patrol cars lined up, just sitting … waiting. And as we stood on 8th street (between Neches and Trinity) we saw a minimum of half a dozen police SUV’s and an uncounted number of cruisers, all patrolling the area to see what they could do to clear the streets of the homeless. And in the past several days they have descended on the area around the ARCH and Salvation Army like starving wolves. And they have cleared the streets, for the greater part. But I know for a fact that most that are caught in their web are simply dumb about how not to be arrested. They are not criminals, any more than I am; they are only trying to survive. Yes, there are those I wish had been incarcerated a long time ago, those I would consider drug heads, but indiscriminately convicting the poorer innocent’s is not a fundamental value of our American system … Or is it?

The amusing thing is that just two blocks away Obama is being entertained by the officials of the city of Austin. But if you happen to be sitting in line, waiting to be fed a free meal at a local soup kitchen, you are subject to being arrested, which many have been. You see, sitting on a public sidewalk is against the law. Sitting anywhere, with any piece of your personal property next to you is against the law, it is defined as “camping” which allows the police to arrest you for breaking a city ordinance against camping, and the ones standing in line, sometimes sitting at their own risk, wearing Pro-Obama Tee-shirts celebrating the fact that one of theirs, an advocate for the poor and homeless has come to town. Never mind that they may be arrested in the fury that ensues.