[MikalM]

[Sir Gawain]

There shouldn't be any poor people in a socialist utopia.

[Psycho_Bunny]

....This is.....so....incredibly shallow.

Liberals are pathetic.

[quark]

Who's the guy wearing the silk tie? Not bad for a bum, err...hobo, err...homeless person, err...downtrodden victim of capitalism.

[Conspiracy Guy]

Did he eat out of a dumpster or sell a pint of blood?

[TRY ONE]

...Another Liberal trying to spread misery around.

..Now that he knows what it feels like to be homeless,the people should let him know what it feels like to lose one's job....come next election.....

[octobersky]

I wonder if he will use his experiences as ammunition to raise taxes (as if they aren't high enough).

[onedoug]

This bum, uh...mayor...in fact everyone, should read Alexis de Toqueville's Memoir On Pauperism, circa 1840.

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

Read the article - these people are homeless by choice. They include a "former" carperter and "former" nurse.

So their significant other or loved one died - DEAL WITH IT AND MOVE ON LIKE FRICKING EVERYONE ELSE

[NEWwoman]

I'm sure the Mayor feels real good about himself for doing this. But the real question is - How has this stunt really helped the homeless?

Another thing. I noticed that the people that really helped the homeless in the article where Christian churches - free breakfast at Berkeley's Trinity Methodist Church, lunch at McGee Avenue Baptist Church, etc.

Hmmm...

[ClearCase_guy]

I sure look back fondly at that wonderful period Jan 1993 to Jan 2001 when the US had no homeless at all and the media had to find other things to write about.

[Taft in '52]

"I ain't got no home..."

--Clarence "Frogman" Henry

[Yo-Yo]

He was awakened again at 4 a.m. by TV crews converging on the makeshift campout of about two dozen homeless people and their advocates.

Mayor Bates' first remark to the gathering reporters was "What took you guys so long? My publicist is going to be homeless tomorrow."

[MPB]

"It's exhilarating to see the kinds of things volunteers are doing in our community," he said. "On the other side, it saddens me because we're spending all this money in the Middle East, and we're not taking care of people here."

Well maybe Berkeley should stop sending all that money to the Middle East. Oh wait, they don't? What? You mean taking care of the homeless is a local issue, and the military spending is a federal issue? Oh... never mind. :)

[telebob]

Bates is the same guy who was busted for stealing about 2000 copies of the Daily Cal newspaper and throwing them in dumpsters during the campaign. The rag didn't endorse him and even said a few snotty things about his style.
This was a typical example of freedom of speech, leftwing style. The Berkeley idiots elected him anyway...

[heleny]

Didn't this Berkeley Mayor get in some trouble last fall for discarding stacks of newspapers from the UC Berkeley campus (in Sproul Plaza?) that were critical of him? Or was it some other Berkeley area candidate?

[TroutStalker]

Bates won cheers by his stopping and talking with many of those he met, his sleeping outside on the ground and other gestures like using the truly foul public toilet in the park behind City Hall.

He said later he intended also to have the toilet fixed

So he was the one responsible for the toilet not being fixed before this? Why did he wait until he had to use it before fixing it? Maybe the homeless should go crap on his doorstep.

[laurav]

Boy, of all the indignities of being homeless, being condescended to by a do-gooder mayor has got to be right up there with a lack of toilet facilities.

[Charlie OK]

how long before Martini Sheen is doing this on the Left Wing?

[GoreIsLove]

Next week, Tom Bates will be donning black shoe polish on his face and spending the night in a tenament just off Ashby Avenue to demonstrate the plight of African-Americans.

[Ruth A.]

Those unaware that the event wasn't the mayor's idea might easily have assumed publicity-seeking motives.

I'll admit to reading this quickly and not wanting to re-read, but whose idea was this stunt anyway?

Too many in our society live from paycheck to paycheck and don't save or "can afford" insurance and put themselves at incredible risk when something tragic happens. Those self-reliant safeguards can help a person get through a rough spell. Their families should be able to help, too.

They have a nurse and a carpenter/painter. Was there a plumber there who could have fixed the toilet? After all they are using it. Why wait for the government to fix it? But, no, we must wait for the government to help...

This mayor wants to experience the homeless pain, but should be doing some creative thinking. How can these people work to gain their self-respect and start pulling themselves up again? Graffiti problems, litter problems...