Email from a Republican childhood friend...

[Ike Bana]

...who moved down to Nashville some years ago. Where he belongs.

Recently, while I was working in the flower beds in the front yard, my neighbors stopped to chat as they returned home from walking their dog.

During our friendly conversation, I asked their little girl what she
wanted to be when she grew up. She said she wanted to be President some day. Both of her parents, Democratic Party members were standing there, so I asked her, "If you were President what would be the first thing you would do?"

She replied... "I'd give food and houses to all the homeless people." Her parents beamed with pride!

"Wow...what a worthy goal!" I said. "But you don't have to wait until you're President to do that!" I told her. "What do you mean?" she replied. So I told her, "You can come over to my house and mow the lawn, pull weeds, and trim my hedge, and I'll pay you $50.

Then you can go over to the grocery store where the homeless guy hangs out, and you can give him the $50 to use toward food and a new house."
She thought that over for a few seconds, then she looked me straight in the eye and asked, "Why doesn't the homeless guy come over and do the
work, and you can just pay him the $50?"

I said, "Welcome to the Republican Party."

Her parents aren't speaking to me anymore.

I thanked him politely, told him it was cute, and reminded him that upwards of 25% of the single adult homeless population is chronically mentally ill (schizophrenia or bipolar-I, the really devastating stuff). As opposed to maybe less than 4% (1%-schiz, 2.5%-bipolar) in the general population. I got PFFFFfffftttt....as a reply.

They'll never respond well to facts and reason.