Doing Better in America...an observation

[Atman]

I spent the night in the country last night, and had an hour-long drive home early this morning, during which I listened to Morning Edition on NPR. There was a story about the government's deep cutback in Section 8 housing vouchers. It was followed by another story about the CIA report coming out.


"Doing Better"

First, I was surprised at my own reaction to the Section 8 story. I was actually not very sympathetic with the plight of the young unwed mother of two, who was upset that her voucher was "suspended" (the admin's term for "FU lady"). She spoke of how she had found a wonderful apartment with big sunny windows and bedrooms for each of her kids, and how nice it was, and her kids deserve it and she deserves it and now she can't get the beautiful new apartment.

Hmm...since when was a Section 8 voucher intended to provide people with beautiful, sunny apartments with bedrooms for everyone? I thought this was to provide subsistence shelter for people trying to get a leg up? This woman's attitude was truly one of "entitlement." How she felt she "deserved" a beautiful new apartment at 1/3 the market rate is beyond me, and I tried to squelch that tiny conservative voice in my head, upset that women had so many excuses for why she wasn't doing better...but that really isn't even the point.

They interviewed an advocate for the poor, as well. This woman gave some of the whys and wherefores, and spoke of how a decent home in a crime-free neighborhood enables people to "do better." The story actually wound up being about how the Section 8 vouchers enabled people to "do better," and eventually society in general does better. By inference, the Republicans in this administration don't feel the poor are entitled to do better.

Do better. It was repeated in another story...

The CIA report is coming out. And NPR played a clip of George Tenet's speech in which he said we should not look back toward our failures, rather we should look forward to how we can...you guessed it..."do better."

The most massive intel failure (or manipulation) in American history, and we shouldn't punish the people responsible, we should help them "do better."

You can see where this is going. The need focus only on what could be, to "do better," seems only to apply to republicans when they've been caught doing something terribly wrong.

America, we really can "do better" than these clowns in the White House, can't we? Please.