too long, didn't read: Florida is the worst place to be homeless in the US.
This will mainly argue the atrocity perpetuated on the homeless. From this aspect alone, no one should defend Florida or stand by them during any crisis as they do not stand by others.
I see no issue arguing the view that Florida has failed to provide a proper front. The view that is seen is always the bad side, and what the State itself decides to do with this mess. Make no mistake, states, like any major corporation, can be torn to pieces if they cannot control their own messes. Having a politician backing the wrong cause always torpedoes their support groups.
Prime examples are the Watts riots in California, Segregation and lynching mobs in the South, gay bashing in Tennessee (which they handled properly by having their elected officials decry such violence), and defending corrupt officials in Arizona.
Each state has it's quirks that much is true, but when it comes to Florida and how it handles its issues is neither proper nor acceptable. I remind you that Florida crippled the 2000 election through lies and deceit, upholds the kill or be killed laws possibly more vehemently than Texas, and for the most part headlines news in some of the most ridiculous and heinous ways often. To say that the media blows things out of proportion is a rather easy way to place blame and move on. There is far too much 'bad news' that comes out of Florida for it all to be just happenstance and coincidence: behind each story lies a kernel truth, and by now Florida has enough kernels against it to treat you to a delicious all-you-can-eat corn on the cob BBQ.
I hold hate for Florida for a myriad of reasons, and how it treats it's homeless people is not acceptable. I've been homeless three times in my life, once with my parents, and twice on my own as a teenager and young adult. I've volunteered at various shelters and food banks, given the shirt of my back literally to cover up a naked woman who clearly needed mental and medical attention; resuscitated homeless people who have suffered heat stroke, given gallons of water to a family I saw drinking water from a gutter pipe, given them food intended for myself, and in short I hate seeing homeless people because I also see myself. It hurts to be in that position.
OOO: I've been spit on in Florida, have had eggs and balloons filled with piss thrown at me, in addition to all that I have mentioned before, so no love lost there. It also rings in at number 8 on a top ten most criminally inclined states. Where did those numbers come from? None other than the good ol' FBI. Basically, you have 1 in 205 chances in becoming a victim to a violent crime. Also, the median for the amount of crimes committed per square mile throughout the country is around 39, while Florida breaks in at over 70. Terrific. This can all be found on the FBI's domain and is public knowledge.
Further more Maria Foscarinis, executive director of the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty mentions the top ten cities in the US that are unkind towards the homeless, three of which are Floridian cities, taking places at 2nd, 3rd, and 5th beaten out only by LA which also happens to boast the largest Population on the list
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/0..._n_231476.html.
To further my point
http://www.nlchp.org/reports lists a wonderful look at how the homeless are treated in America. Reading through their No Safe Place report, it mentions Florida a whopping 114 times. The runner up? California with 39. California is mentioned 34% less than Florida by a recognized organization based in DC. While California is not the best when it comes to handling the nation's homeless, it certainly isn't the worst, regardless of how Reagan left it and that's actually saying quite a bit.
Perhaps my attitude reeks of poor judgement and ignorance, but to justify why one doesn't like something is not always easy to do so every single time. So yes, I take the shortcuts that people rue so much and say the place is choke full of fruitcakes.