Dear old Bernie Sanders stepped in it big time last night in Birmingham, Alabama but few will even hear about it. In Alabama, when the weather drops down to below 40 degrees F. there are specified locations called "warming areas" which open their doors to the homeless. One such location was previously reserved by the Sanders group for a Political Rallie on the same night the temperatures dropped down into the 20's with a wind chill factor in the single digits. Over 300 homeless people showed up at the location and were refused entry with the excuse that the Rallie took precedence because of the previous reservation. What was just as bad is Birmingham had no where else to put them and all of the other available churches and missions were already at full capacity. Sanders is a self proclaimed socialist who is obviously NOT for the common man otherwise he would have made room (and probably gotten overwhelming applauds and great press) for the freezing poor standing outside the doors of an extremely warm building. So warm in fact, that one of Bernies staffers passed out because of the heat and had to be carted to the ER. What's almost hilarious about the event is that there was more than enough room for the exiled because Bernie's rallies are rarely packed houses and could have used the extra folks in his audience, some of which are more than able to vote. Right now, I have to guard my own emotions and perhaps look to God because of the amount of hatred building up within me against Sanders for such a negligent and willful action against our homeless, hopeless, and last night, freezing poor all because he felt his Rallie was more important. "Let them eat cake" comes to mind and the reaction of the public to that statement also seems reasonable.
I always make excuses for people...to a fault sometimes but…. 1. Doesn't Birmingham have a Red Cross?? I remember, in Charlottesville VA, The Red Cross opened a Gymnasium during the blizzard of '93 and stocked it with cots and blankets in no time flat. 2. . Doesn't the Mayor have any ideas for a place for them? I would look askance at the Mayor instead of Sanders 3. So a city as large as Birmingham has no place for the homeless except in churches??? The government has nothing other than the Rally location? 4. Isn't it possible Sanders didn't know about it and only the "Sanders Group" did? 5. The homeless are very important as well as these critical 2 weeks before the Iowa Caucus for choosing someone who might eventually be our US President. The polls are so close that the loss of a rally could tip the scales in Hillary's favor. Seems Birmingham could accommodate both and if not, the fault lies with Birmingham's Mayor. No?
Indeed, dear @Lara Moss, there are always two sides to every conversation, so, while pretty perturbed at Sanders I'll try to be gentle here. 1. Yes, Birmingham has a Red Cross and is part of the coalition for the Homeless and is part of the reason the building was set aside as a warming area. 2. The mayor depends of the coalition but has no real answers as to why the police stations and firehouses were not used to help out. But, perhaps the police were busy patrolling for criminals and the fire department busy waiting for fires to put out and helping out heart attack victims. 3. Yes, as I said, the MISSIONS as well as the churches were at full capacity last night. 4. If a person does not know what is going on outside the front door then someone is seriously lacking. In this case, even if Sanders did not have 1st hand knowledge of the homeless activity outside, then certainly the staffers HE picked to help out his campaign should have informed him. Lack of information is the failing of the leader, not the staff. I.e. Our 43rd president on the WMP's in Iraq. 5. One man is not more important than the people he is supposed to want to serve. Last night's 300 represent nearly one percent of the population of the United States. If it were me, I would have canceled the Rallie, asked everyone there to help out and order pizza, coffee, and blankets for the homeless and let the cameras roll. It would have been a victory here in the entire south for a presidential hopeful to be compassionate to a people of much lesser wealth and stature.
I agree that hypothetically you're solution is best but in reality regarding the media coverage, the media would have ignored it because they're all about Hillary and boosting her poll numbers.
What I d like to know is how come no one is questioning his age like they did with McCain and Dole? Off topic but who do the Republicans want? Who is more beatable, Hillary or Bernie?
While you're analysis of the situation is sadly enough probably true, now Hillary can use this incident as ammo against Bernie. There is one thing I CAN say that Bernie did right is he had 7,100 people at his rallie, which, is one of the chief criticisms against my very opinionated way of thinking. But, I wonder how many of those homeless were military veterans and I also wonder how many people in the past have paid hundreds of dollars to go to a concert but had to leave because the concert was called off for........whatever reason.
Most republicans, from what I have read or heard in the news would rather Bernie take the dem nomination because he might be easier to beat than Hillary. No matter what Hillary does, she always seems to float to the top, like so many distasteful substances.