Hawaii State Rep.— Jesus Christ, He's A Democrat— Goes Around Smashing Homeless People's Possessions With A Sledgehammer

The minimum that should happen to Tom Brower is that he should be ousted from the Democratic Party, permanently, for life. But apparently, in Hawaii, homeless people are sufficiently unpopular that no one files a formal (criminal) complaint against him, and of course no homeless person is in a position to do so. By his own reckoning, Brower has smashed up about 30 shopping carts full of homeless people's personal belongings. And AFAIK he's still a State Representative, Dog help us all.

Homelessness in Houston reached its historical peak (to the best of my knowledge) during Saint Ronald Reagan's presidency. In those days I traveled by bicycle every day. My route to and from work took me mostly along one of the bayou hike-and-bike trails on the banks of Brays Bayou. The bike trails are routed under the street-level bridges of major streets over the bayou. In that era, on each end of each bridge, under the bridge but off the bike trail, one homeless person camped out (occasionally more, but usually only one). They never bothered anyone that I know of; some of them occasionally waved to me as I cycled past. And of course they were not visible to traffic on the street itself.

Some of these homeless people had alarm clocks beside their sleeping bags. Think for a moment: the likeliest explanation is that they were employed, but nonetheless homeless.

I don't know if this is happening again in Houston during our Not-So-Great Recession. But if it is, I think wanton, deliberate destruction of a homeless person's property is at least completely morally unacceptable, whether or not it is illegal. As to Brower, I would wish to see him jailed, but if he were jailed, he'd have a roof over his head and a guaranteed meal, which is more than the misfortunate human targets of his malice have.

(For photos and a YouTube video, follow the link to Think Progress. I can't bear to post the gut-wrenching stuff on my site.)

(H/T Atrios.)