Are the Republicans trying to make Obama a gift of the presidency?

[fpb]

Rick Perry has shown that he doesn't have what it takes. Sarah Palin surprised me (that Indianola speech certainly sounded like a bid for national leadership) by announcing that she won't run. Now Hermann Cain, who had briefly flashed across the sky, has committed electoral suicide and damaged the whole party into the bargain. The Republicans risk selecting Romney by default, and I have said what I think of him.

Comments

[mentalguy.livejournal.com]

I'm not against public assistance in principle, but I'm still inclined to prefer private charity where it can be made to work. You will certainly find issues of the kind that Fabio's concerned about (c.f. http://www.ncregister.com/blog/making-poor-people-pray/), but one of the things that really amazed me some years ago, when my father went on unemployment for a time, was how invasive and demanding the terms of the assistance were.

That being said, Fabio's been on government assistance before himself, but in the UK. It might be instructive if you two were to compare your respective experiences.

[fpb.livejournal.com]

Public or private assistance is humiliating never mind what, because it is not money you earned. Period. Having said that, a properly staffed office with people who care about the work they do makes all the difference. I have met both kinds. For reasons that have nothing to do with the private-public guff, I don't really want to to speak here about what I noticed and where the regularities were; I shall be more explicit if you or superversive contact me personally. However, I can say that I did not find the principle in itself wrong.