Funny?
So this was on that same humor site. And yeah, it’s funny, but it also makes me want to hug him.
And then it makes me think. Seriously.
See, over on Feministing a while ago there was a discussion about whether or not Hillary Clinton’s massive income disqualified her somehow from being concerned about health care and poverty. And of course, the answer was no. Rich people all over the place, as Gary Younge pointed out, vote to make themselves poorer and to help others out.
So it’s not the income level that bothers me. It’s what they do with the money. And yes, though the controversy over John Edwards’ haircut was pretty stupid, it does matter. Because the candidate who wanted to talk about ending poverty…well, he needed a privilege check. Dude, you could feed a family for a week with the amount of money you spent on your hair.
Reading about Martin Luther King, as I’ve been doing for the past month–and made more progress on in the last two days than all month!–makes me think about these things. King felt guilty about having his own money, so much so that he fought with his wife about having a nice house and savings for his own family.
I’m not saying anyone has to take a vow of poverty to help people. Hell, I just spent more money than I needed to on two impractical pairs of shoes this week.
But the fact remains that the picture above gives me a picture of the kind of president I want to have. One whose priorities are not so superficial.
Y’know, as opposed to when Condi Rice went shoe shopping while New Orleans drowned.
(yeah, I know that picture doesn’t prove anything. but still.)
Posted: May 12th, 2008 under New Orleans, Politics.
Comments: 2