No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
There I was, having a fine week of venting some righteous indignation about President Obama’s economic policies and diplomatic gaffes, when others who oppose everything to do with both Obama’s administration and his family force me into cursing them rather than lighting a candle in the darkness. Andrew Malcolm posted a story about First Lady Michelle Obama showing up at a DC homeless shelter to serve meals to the needy, and it’s resulted in a particularly ugly response.
First, appearances such as this can be tricky. High profile people such as members of the first family have to be careful when and where they show up to offer assistance. George W. Bush attracted a lot of attention when going to hand out water to hurricane victims in Florida in 2004. What many media outlets didn’t report was that his Secret Service brigade shut down traffic and wound up delaying delivery of relief, causing more harm than good. But in this instance, having Michelle Obama serve up a few meals to the homeless seems to be a harmless activity designed to draw attention to the plight of those in the greatest need of help.
A different Michelle – Malkin by name – decided to take this opportunity to cast stones on the effort and focus on the fact that somebody at the shelter had a cell phone.
Via Andrew Malcolm, here is one of the homeless cell phone owners snapping a pic of First Lady Michelle Obama — ruining what was supposed to be a sob story photo op of the compassionate Mrs. O catering to the downtrodden.
Say cheese!
Despicable. There’s simply no other word for it. So there was somebody there with a cell phone. Alex Koppelman at Salon points to an even more evil spirited person, but points out some of the pertinent questions about Malkin’s awful comments and questions.
A couple key points here: First, as far as I can tell, none of these people even know whether the man in the photo is homeless. True, he was at the shelter and he appears to be standing in line, but that was, after all, the best vantage point for taking that photo. He could just as easily have been a volunteer at the shelter or a completely unrelated person who’d heard Obama was there, and no one complaining about the photo can prove otherwise, I don’t think.
I’ll go a bit further than Alex. Frankly, I don’t care if the one individual with the cell phone is homeless. If so, is that the best use for their limited funds? I’m sure it’s not. But that doesn’t mean that plenty of other people in dire straights aren’t getting a badly needed meal there. And the First Lady seems to be doing no harm, but rather bringing a brighter spotlight to a situation in need of resources and people in distress.
Michelle Malkin is simply a nasty, partisan hack if she feels that this is a good use of her time or a valid route for her hyperpartisan bitterness over Obama’s electoral victory. Surely there are better issues for so called conservatives to focus their efforts on. This is yet another example of why crude, partisan hackery adds nothing to the nation’s political discourse.
UPDATE: Yes, to my regular comment and e-mail correspondents. I’m well aware that Malkin owns Hot Air, which I read and link to regularly. A mean, nasty person can send a check to a good charity once in a while, too. That doesn’t make them any less mean or nasty.
UPDATE 2: My apologies to T-Steel and others who have already written on this, but I haven’t been on the site for several hours. Then again, this is an ugly enough story that I’d still have written on the subject anyway.
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30 Responses to “No Good Deed Goes Unpunished”
Michelle Malkin is the female Rush Limbaugh, at best.
But you got her pegged OK: Simply a nasty, partisan hack— a crude one at that.
Homeless would need a cellphone more than anyone I'd think. Maybe we should issue them? There are so many older phones that still work well enough to contact. 911 from under the cardboard box in the alley might save a life?
This is a great example of envy- people wanting other people to lose what they have… As far as I can tell the right wing believes these people are getting something they don't deserve. Well before anyone can accuse anyone else of that then they need to know the situation and not make assumptions.
It's not my place to question why people own (or maybe even borrow) what they do. And being in a “soup line” does not mean that someone should not have a phone.
Back to envy… it's one of the seven deadly sins. I think to be compassionate one should be looking at ways of improving the quality of life for the homeless, not trying to take their few possessions away.
Everybody has a cell phone nowadays…yes, even homeless ones. Like you say, they have more need of having a phone than many of us. It's a matter of life and death at some points in their lives.
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Rodney King's words are just SO on point:
CAN'T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG??
Michelle Malkin is simply a nasty, partisan hack if she feels that this is a good use of her time or a valid route for her hyperpartisan bitterness over Obama’s electoral victory. Surely there are better issues for so called conservatives to focus their efforts on. This is yet another example of why crude, partisan hackery adds nothing to the nation’s political discourse.
Haha that was funny!
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[...] who, by the by, picked up on Malcolm’s “homeless bashing” posting, of which Jazz Shaw, at the Moderate Voice said this: Andrew Malcolm posted a story about First Lady Michelle Obama showing up at a DC homeless shelter [...]
yes cell phone industry rocks the world, Its an billion dollar industry, It plays a great role in the economy
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True the guy with a cellphone might not be a really homeless, it just happened he learned that Mrs.Obama is there and he want to take a snap. If somebody is in line, he might just ask the person to move over so he can get a snap shut, I don't think a homeless can own or afford to have that kind of cellphone. Cheers, Jacob, baby shower games
The first lady's particicipation in serving the needy homeless of washington D.C is a good gesture. It reflects the fact that in the capital city has so many needy homeless people,and all these needy people require help, direction and work to transform from the needy dependent status to contributing folks who can add to national economy and provide means and jobs to others.
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Needy and homeless peoples need home at first not cell phone.
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I think the First Lady Michelle Obama was at the DC homeless shelter for a good cause and this is something that needs to praised. And in today’s world cell phone is no longer an issue as it is nearly affordable by almost everyone.
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Interesting post,i enjoyed it.I have been wondering about this issue,so thanks for blogging. I will probably be coming back to your site. Keep up the good work
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Everybody has a cell phone nowadays…yes, even homeless ones. Like you say, they have more need of having a phone than many of us. It's a matter of life and death at some points in their lives.
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Cellphones have become a necessity nowadays, people can go out of home without wallet but not the cellphone… it is their soul:)
I couldnt imagine life without a cellphone, inside or outside of the hosue.
thats nice of michelle obama to do it
in today's hard economic environment i can so see someone with a cell phone needing help. how many millions have lost their jobs and have no income. let have a heart people. anyone in a place like this is clearly down on their luck imho
What do we always have to look at the negative sides of things, some people are too pessimist for the world, what don't we think about how generous of her to present herself in the homeless premises.
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Yes sometimes cell phones are a nuisance.I wonder who is the guy with the offending cell phone taking snaps.
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People come down so hard on political figures and their families for the smallest thing. Come on people.
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I think the First Lady Michelle Obama was at the DC homeless shelter for a good cause and this is something that needs to praised. And in today’s world cell phone is no longer an issue as it is nearly affordable by almost everyone.
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some people are too pessimist for the world, what don't we think about how generous of her to present herself in the homeless premises.
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Homeless people have phones but cant afford to eat?
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This is something that I will find very useful, thanks!
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That's really a fantastic post ! I added to my favorite blogs list..
I have been reading your blog last couple of weeks and enjoy every bit. Thanks
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I'm glad he had a cell phone. house repossession christian marriage counseling