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Why The Poor Are Invisible To Politicians
by James Glaser January 10, 2011 
Sometime back in the late 70s I was working in Rice Park in downtown Saint Paul, Minnesota. Walter Mondale was Vice President of the United States, and his home was just north of Saint Paul in a pretty high buck gated community. So, while we were working out in the park, a motorcade came by. First, we could hear it coming because the police had their sirens on, and then they came into view. There were a few motorcycle police in front, and they stopped traffic so the motorcade didn't have to stop for any red light. Mondale was in this big Lincoln limousine, and the windows were tinted real dark. In truth, we only saw the guy for a couple of seconds as they were coming from the airport to his house, and this was not a sight seeing trip. Even back then, Saint Paul had a good sized homeless population, and a block down from that park was the mission that took care of them. Well, with the tinted windows, the not stopping for any traffic lights, and the speed they traveled at, Mondale had little chance to see the misery of the city as he rode swiftly home. The Poor in America are invisible to our politicians, because our politicians choose to make them invisible. |
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