The city's Department of Homeless Services would review a family's application and if nothing had changed -- such as the city finding that the family had another option -- the family would be denied shelter. Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Lilliam Barrios-Paoli changed that policy on her first week in the job.
So that's rude? Because Ms. James was blunt and painfully truthful?
So guess what?
Since former Mayor Mike Bloomberg was forced to sit stone-faced and take a rare and unaccustomed verbal slapping, Ms. James' detractors and the former mayor's amen chorus, soon accused her of lying, trying to score cheap political shots over who did what when it came to a homeless Black child.
Ok. So take win on that one. Lying? Heck man, Letitia James do not even come close Mr. DeBlasio's mentor and celebrated former United States president, Bill Clinton, who did the honors and swore him in. You see, white politicians are the rarest of humans living in America today. They do not lie they "misspeak." Ah! These guys (and some gals) would have made Josef Goebbels Nazi Germany's Minister of Propaganda look like a devout Sunday School preacher. Remember even President Barack Obama lies but white members of Congress? They routinely "misspeak."
But history will say that Public Advocate Letitia James hit the nail on the proverbial head that chilly January 1, 2014 day at City Hall. History will record that she plainly, directly and honestly. Here's what she said:
"The wave of progressive victories our city has recently enjoyed, thanks to the City Council, was in some ways inevitable. The fabric of our city, of our nation, is made strong by the untold sacrifices of so many who are left defenseless, unrepresented, unspoken for. But at some point in history, the tide must turn. The policies that make them voiceless must give way to a government that works for them, that speaks for them, that cares more about a child going hungry than a new stadium or a new tax credit for a luxury development.
"To live up to that challenge and to be morally centered in our decisions is the task before those of us who think of ourselves as the progressive wing of our city. Even as the tide turns towards progress, we do not have the luxury to rest. You see, the growing gap between the haves and the have-nots undermines our city and tears at the fabric of our democracy."
And that, my friend, is no bloody lie.
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