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The Continuing Crisis
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The Current Crisis
The Mysterious Stranger
The strange case of the shoeless beneficiary of a policeman’s kindness.
WASHINGTON — Jeffrey Hillman is a man who shambles the streets of New York City looking quite unkempt, drab, and hopeless. He panhandles sometimes and mutters to himself. Frankly, he looks a wreck and apparently often in need of a pair of shoes. On cold winter nights he gets them.
One cold November night Officer Lawrence DePrimo spotted Hillman seated shoeless on the pavement of Times Square, and the young policeman left his post, went into a store nearby, and bought Hillman a pair of shoes costing $100. He even helped Hillman put them on. A tourist snapped a picture of DePrimo doing this, and the picture appeared on Facebook. It went viral, and was seen around the world — a young New York City cop, putting shoes on a beggar.
What an auspicious way to begin the Christmas season. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg declaimed, “That’s what they’re trained to do — help people.” Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly was more appreciative. He gave the 25-year-old policeman a pair of police department cuff links at a private meeting. Others now claim to have bought Hillman shoes over the years. My guess is he has got a stash of them some place. Possibly he is planning to open a shoe store. Assuming, that is, that his tax rate does not go up under President Obama.
We are learning more about Hillman as time goes by. He is not homeless. The New York Daily News reports that the 54-year-old lived from 2009 to 2011 in transitional housing sites called “Safe Havens.” Owing to his status as a veteran, he then secured his present apartment through the Department of Veterans Affairs. Veterans outreach services have continued to try to help but apparently for naught. A spokeswoman for the city’s outreach services reported that Hillman “has a history of turning down services.” Doubtless some day he will become ill, and the city will put him in some government program to recuperate, possibly Medicaide, possibly Obamacare.
The more one looks into the case of this beneficiary of state and federal welfare the more curious his plight is. The Daily News reports that he played basketball for South Plainfield High School in New Jersey. A smiling Hillman is pictured in the South Plainfield High School yearbook horsing around with classmates, one of whom, John Graf, became a minister. Actually Hillman looks much different than the shambling vagrant seen in Times Square without shoes in November. He looks pretty middle class. His classmates look rather prosperous too and quite happy. What happened?
Today he seems crazed. He is grateful for DePrimo’s kindness, but he is angry at the world. I sense a notion of entitlement. “I was put on YouTube,” he says, “I was put on everything without permission. What do I get?” Perhaps he will get a media agent. Possibly he has been reading Paul Krugman’s diatribes in the New York Times. He goes on, “This [his picture without shoes and with DePrimo looking on] went around the world, and I want a piece of the pie.” That certainly sounds like a Krugman idea. I wonder if Krugman is going to help him with the pie. Could Hillman become a lecturer at Harvard State University Law School? Derelicts have lectured there before.
Recall back in the late 1980s when Joyce Brown, a homeless woman who was quite mad, was invited to Harvard State to give a lecture on homelessness. She came to a bad end, returning to the streets shortly thereafter, shouting obscenities at passersby, lurching into traffic, exposing herself. Her end was not edifying. At any rate, she was just part of a long parade of unfortunate wretches who have been invited to our nation’s college campuses, starting with our leading college campuses, there to illustrate one or another of the weird desiderata of the left-wing’s credo.
Hillman, as the beneficiary of endless state and federal largess, might well be memorialized in American history with a special designation. Call him “Obama Man.” In Hillman’s belief system and his lifestyle he represents roughly speaking all that President Barack Obama has in mind for America. It is a citizenry basically beholding to government. And DePrimo, what will we call him? Call him the modern Good Samaritan, and tax him to death. He deserves it.
About the Author
R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr. is the founder and editor in chief of The American Spectator. He is the author of The Death of Liberalism, published by Thomas Nelson Inc. His previous books include the New York Times bestseller Boy Clinton: the Political Biography; The Impeachment of William Jefferson Clinton; The Liberal Crack-Up; The Conservative Crack-Up; Public Nuisances; The Future that Doesn’t Work: Social Democracy’s Failure in Britain; Madame Hillary: The Dark Road to the White House; The Clinton Crack-Up; and After the Hangover: The Conservatives’ Road to Recovery.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (89) | Leave a comment
More Articles by R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr.
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Frank Drackman| 12.6.12 @ 7:10AM
Sorry if I don't feel bad for Master Hillman(don't call General Holder/NCAAP/UN, isn't "Master" the proper title for a male Child?) He's not bald, handicapped with a name like Sh'ak'a'tw'at'av'ios, or saddled with 2 X Chromosomes.
And although I haven't heard him speak, I'd bet he doesn't have that Barney Frank Daffy Duck Lisp(Why don't Black People's lisp? My Future, I see, a million dollar NIH grant)
Might wanta ditch those Capri's though, Black People's be a little Homo-fobic, Nome Sane???
And that Cops violating about 53 basic rules of Police Work, you let a guy without shoes in Alabama reach into a bag, he's likely to pull out an angry(is there any other kind?) Pit Bull...Much more prudent to slap on the cuffs, apply a little gentle pressure wih the PR-24 to the Vagus/Carotid/Jugular complex(Brutalized for Your Protection!), till the NCIS check comes back...
Then have Nero the Dobie do a proper field body cavity search, don't wanta be caught in County with Contraband!
And I really don't blame Master Hillman, a $100 pair of boots on Manhattan? He'd get laughed out of the Homeless Shelter he wont go to because they're "Drug Free" Zones and the staff make Elizabeth Warren look Intercourse-able...
Frank "Scrooge" Drackman
Pecos Pete| 12.6.12 @ 8:02AM
Dear Frank,
Elizabeth Warren will NEVER qualify as Intercourse-able. Although, on further thought, she might very well be the democrats next presidential candidate.
With fondest regards,
Pesco "I agree with almost everything Frank writes" Pete
Albert Constantine Jr.| 12.6.12 @ 8:54AM
Honorable Pedro:
While I believe your assessment is correct, as a man who has consumed adult beverages in some quantity in my life, while I would never imagine taking a woman who looked like Elizabeth Warren to bed, to my shame, I can imagine waking up with one.
Albert “Can Dr. Drackman surgically reattach my arm after I gnaw it off to escape” Constantine
Pecos Pete| 12.6.12 @ 9:11AM
Dear Albert,
I think we are on to a new category for the Friday contest: The best signature lines ala Dr. Frank "never says anything he can't later regret" Drackman.
With inestimable regard,
Pesco "been there, done that" Pete
Albert Constantine Jr.| 12.6.12 @ 9:54AM
Senor Pete;
I think you're on to something.
Albert "How do we make TLP think it's his idea" Constantine
TLP| 12.6.12 @ 9:56AM
That's not gonna happen.
Rule 11, Artical 6, paragraph 12.
"No Contest Category shall be determined due to one Commentor's Mancrush on another Commentor."
I'm sorry.
And, you spelled - Pecos - wrong, Pesco.
Get a Room.
Pecos Pete| 12.6.12 @ 10:02AM
"Artical 6" = Article 6
Gotcha!
TLP| 12.6.12 @ 10:11AM
Again, I'm sorry that you couldn't get your Boyfriend's 5th Grade Schtick-lock as a Category for Tomorrow.
Rules are Rules.
And, Articals are Articles.
Moe Blotz| 12.7.12 @ 9:47AM
You spelled Gefilte wrong, Timmy.
Alan Brooks | 12.6.12 @ 9:54AM
Hillman is a vet, ease off on him.
markenoff| 12.6.12 @ 10:20AM
As someone with 23+ years of military service and counting, one's status as a vet does not make you immune to criticism. Lea Harvey Oswald was a vet. Charles Joseph Whitman who killed 14 people and wounded 32 others in the Texas Tower Shooting was a vet.
John McCain is not only a vet but a decorated war hero but that didn't stop the liberal media from castigating him endlessly. They even made fun of his inability to use a computer which was a result of the tortures he endured in a North Vietnamese prison camp while Jane Fonda was giving aid and comfort to the enemy and John Kerry was throwing someone else's medals over the White House fence.
Both Bushs are veterans. So apply your own standards AB and never ever criticize either one of them again.
TLP| 12.6.12 @ 4:49PM
The Contest is up and running at Monday's Story - The Artist as Ethnographer.
You're gonna need the "Previously" Button, and the Contest runs until Saturday at 7pm.
Good Luck.
Tom Kyba| 12.6.12 @ 11:21AM
Do you understand the concept of lip service, Mr. Self-serve?
Alan Brooks | 12.6.12 @ 12:06PM
Don't know Hillman, so no reason for me to bring up his case- but he looks so bedraggled I felt a phony-liberal bleeding-heart pity that passed after a nanosecond; I have the heart of a choirboy-- pickled in formaldehyde on the fireplace mantle.
and BTW, I like the Bushes as people, not as presidents... am not alone at AS for that sentiment.
KyMouse| 12.6.12 @ 2:02PM
I have great respect for military personnel, and served in the USAR for almost 12 years. I make it a point to say something such as "Thank you for your service" when I see someone on active duty (I hope they don't get tired of hearing that, since lots of people say it).
However, I've seen a number of people in uniform who made me hesitant about generalizing that they're all heroes, or anything close to it.
In one of my early units, there were a couple of sergeants who spent much of their morning in the latrine, reading the paper behind closed stall doors. I served under a captain who acted chummy to enlisted folks, then pulled rank on them just to jerk their chains. We also had a warrant officer who swiped things and let other people take the blame (he was finally found out and maneuvered out). No doubt other people have similar, or worse, tales mixed in with the good ones.
Not all vets are good guys (or gals). God bless the ones who were a credit to their uniform.
TLP| 12.6.12 @ 4:49PM
The Contest is up and running at Monday's Story - The Artist as Ethnographer.
You're gonna need the "Previously" Button, and the Contest runs until Saturday at 7pm.
Good Luck.
Grzmlyk| 12.6.12 @ 6:22PM
When supposedly thinking people offer the reflexive "thank you for your service," it rubs me the wrong way. First of all, if it's a mindless, reflexive comment, as it is with many conservative talk types, it loses any semblance of sincerity.
Second, as has been said here, not all vets are worthy of gratitude. I knew many in high school who joined because they were strongly encouraged to do so by adults and various authority figures who had had their fill of not-so-innocent mischief.
Many people who are just plain lost, or have no other options, join the military. Often, these people are thinking of nothing beyond filling the next few years, or learning a marketable skill. I'm not sure thanks are in order for many who get more out of the military than they put into it.
And not all people in the military acquit themselves so well (just look closely at Petraeus’s rise), and many do not get any closer to risking their lives, or committing themselves to their country, than your average liberal Obamunist who spends time trolling this site. These people do not automatically deserve our thanks.
Worst of all, this increasingly ostentatious, pro-forma ritual takes away from the genuine gratitude we owe those who really have made a sacrifice to serve their country. The people who can legitimately be called heroes (and no, I don’t just mean those in combat).
TLP| 12.6.12 @ 6:55PM
The Contest is up and running at Monday's Story - The Artist as Ethnographer.
You're gonna need the "Previously" Button, and the Contest runs until Saturday at 7pm.
Good Luck.
markenoff| 12.7.12 @ 3:49PM
I am embarrassed when people thank me for my service. But I tell them I am just following in the footsteps of those who gave more than I have. And I thank them for their appreciation.
Appleby| 12.6.12 @ 7:12AM
I used to donate to charities for "street youth" who, in time-honoured fashion, have a habit of running away from their rural homes to the Big City in search of the Big Rock Candy Mountain. I am the inquisitive sort and get along with young people well, so I started asking questions of those who hang around the front doors of the downtown charity that exists to help them. Not surprisingly, the tattooed, pierced, freakishly dressed crowd with the spiked and coloured hairdos mostly said they remained on the street "because I don't want anybody telling me what to do." Of course they have a narrative they spin for the folks inside the shelter; find out what they want to hear and feed it to them, and they'll follow you anywhere, that's the first lesson they learn. Personally I don't care if they maintain this attitude; it's all the freedom Canadians have left. But I no longer care about wasting my charity on them. Charity, as we know, begins at home; and for me, that includes my family and my friends. And I walk past the kids in the subway rattling their pails and yelling "Spare change for street kids!" with a clear conscience.
markenoff| 12.6.12 @ 10:22AM
I taught for some time in Toronto and was amazed at the number of teenagers/young adults that you describe hanging out on the streets at all times of the day and night.
TLP| 12.6.12 @ 6:56PM
The Contest is up and running at Monday's Story - The Artist as Ethnographer.
You're gonna need the "Previously" Button, and the Contest runs until Saturday at 7pm.
Good Luck.
KyMouse| 12.6.12 @ 1:52PM
When I worked in Washington, D.C., there was a homeless man often camped out on our doorstep, calling out "Change!"
One day, we took him a nice plate of sandwiches and other goodies from a board meeting. He took one look at it, sneered, and put it down on the steps. Then he went back to yelling, "Change!"
It was pretty clear that he wanted money for drugs, not food to eat. Sorry, I won't help with that.
Jim Adcox| 12.6.12 @ 7:15AM
Still, what the police officer did was noble and exemplary.
Frank Drackman| 12.6.12 @ 9:35AM
Wasting time on some Hobo(why don't we use that word anymore?) while real crime runs so rampant even Batman would just give up and go back to screwing Vicki Vale is "Noble and Exemplary"??? Please Sir, just do yourself a favor, come out of the closet, rock that Pink TuTu, and get that place on Fire Island your Superego's been crushing for your whole life...
Frank "a homeless man never gave me a job, well that one guy did" Drackman
markenoff| 12.6.12 @ 10:25AM
The poor will always be with us as Christ said. They are there to give us an oportunity to reflect the grace and glory of Christ Jesus in the world through our actions towards them.
Your rant assumes that because he helping the homeless man at least one crime occurred that he would have prevented had he not been helping the homeless man. That's quite a leap of logic.
cuban pete| 12.6.12 @ 10:26AM
I recall being told that in the past the terms hobo,tramp and bum were not interchangable for unemployed individuals.
A hobo was a guy who would ride the rails from place to place, do some labor and move on.
A tramp was a guy who just traveled around looking for handouts.
A bum didn't travel. He just hung around in his own town and mooched.
For what its worth department.
All the best,
cp
Albert Constantine Jr.| 12.6.12 @ 10:50AM
Like dwarf, midget; idiot, and moron, these words used to be a part of a vocabulary with specific meanings, and to confuse one with the other was not only imprecise, but could be quite insulting.
TLP| 12.6.12 @ 4:50PM
The Contest is up and running at Monday's Story - The Artist as Ethnographer.
You're gonna need the "Previously" Button, and the Contest runs until Saturday at 7pm.
Good Luck.
MelvinNC| 12.6.12 @ 7:31AM
"Humbug, Humbug I say."
TLP| 12.6.12 @ 7:38AM
"Other people have claimed to have given him shoes, before. My guess is he has a stash of them somewhere."
Isn't there a Hillman's Shoe Emporium over in The Bowery? I understand that his Prices are so low, they're Crazy.
This Officer is what Christmas is all about.
It's not about Santa Clause, and it's not about Baracka Clause. It's about US, doing for others of our own free will. It's the time to remember The Prince of Peace, who gathered his followers with his Words and Deeds, and not at the Point of a Sword.
I tell my Wife that being a Christian is hard. It's not easy to be Nice to people who don't like you. (Fortunately, I don't have to deal with that, as EVERYBODY likes me. Even some of the @-holes on this site) It's not always easy Turning the other cheek all of the time. It's difficult, at times, to be Charitable when you, yourself, are hurting. But it does have its Rewards. Inner Peace, comes to mind.
I thank God for this Officer, and every other person who gets it. Who understand what is meant by the words: It is better to give (of your own free will) than to recieve.
It's a time for Barack Pontius Pilate to take his Family on a $4 Million Vacation to Hawaii, even as Hurricane Sandy Victims huddle together in Shelters, their Homes destroyed. It's time to do as Obama SAYS, and not as Obama DOES. Time to Turn the other cheek to this Narccissist's Hypocrisy on Wealth, and The Wealthy, and Lavishing One's Self, while others have less.
Such are the ways of Kings.
Von Mises Jr| 12.6.12 @ 8:36AM
I say let him bunk in with his soul mate Joe Biden in the VP Mansion at the US Naval Observatory. Kurt Vonnegut wrote a novel "Slapstick" that we can have Joe and Jeffrey recreate. In Vonnegut's novel, Wilbur and Eliza are mentally retarded and Eliza can't read (that could be Joe). But when they put their heads together, they can write classical music and have great epiphanies like Paul Slugman. In can be a great revenue enhancer.
Heck, if Jeffrey is hung like a horse, Ms. “Bite Me” will be ecstatic. She can tell us all with hand animation who is more impressive. It got a giggle on the campaign trail, so it is sure to endear her with the left again. Actually I only found it funny since it speaks so eloquently of liberalism.
TLP| 12.6.12 @ 10:03AM
Ya know.......The Contest is Tomorrow.
How is it that you write one of these Monday thru Thursday, and then get Stage Fright when Friday rolls up?
"Philosipher. Get thee to The Contest!"
(and bring snacks for the rest of us)
markenoff| 12.6.12 @ 10:26AM
Because you can't schedule inspiration. Instead of scheduling and scripting your contest just give an award for the best post of the week.
TLP| 12.6.12 @ 10:44AM
How about just The Worst Comment of the Week?
Now, I just need to come up with a Prize for you.
(this is tough. what do idiots want as prizes?)
(i'm whispering)
Don't go anywhere. I'm still thinking.
Warrior| 12.6.12 @ 12:25PM
Markenoff returns home and advises his mom he has the biggest johnson in the 3rd grade. He asks, "Mom, is this because I'm so genetically gifted?" His Mom answers, "no dumbass, it's because your 18!"
TLP| 12.6.12 @ 1:51PM
If the Judges were here?
I'd be looking at them, right now.
mike 3/505| 12.6.12 @ 10:48PM
I know that wasn't poetry...but SNAP, SNAP, SNAP anyhow.
markenoff| 12.7.12 @ 3:51PM
HAH HAH HAH! HOW INCREDIBLY FUNNY! There should be a cover charge for W's posts.
Von Mises Jr| 12.6.12 @ 11:06AM
Can I be winner, runner up and third place since I think I have the three most sarcastic and creative analogies and metaphors this week.
TLP| 12.6.12 @ 11:33AM
Actually, if you had been there last week?
Every Category recieve the Same Prize.
An Envelope of White Powder (it was Baby Powder, but the guy we sent it to, doesn't know that) addressed to the POS that Pissed Me Off, the Friday after Thanksgiving, which you weren't at, either.
Stop playing the Diva.
John II already has that position filled.
TLP| 12.6.12 @ 4:50PM
The Contest is up and running at Monday's Story - The Artist as Ethnographer.
You're gonna need the "Previously" Button, and the Contest runs until Saturday at 7pm.
Good Luck.
Cobalt| 12.6.12 @ 9:09AM
George Orwell coined the term "oligarchical collectivism", a society in which the few control the many, and where the few are rewarded at the expense of the many.
Oligarchical collectivism can be abstractly illustrated as a social class pyramid, where the few, the Inner Party or top 2%, get to live at the top of the pyramid. Right under the Inner Party comes the administrative Outer Party, and on the bottom of the pyramid are the Proles, comprising 85% of the population.
The Obamas will always get to live at the top of the pyramid.
So you see, Barack Pontius Pilate and Moochelle feel they deserve their lifestyle, including $4 million dollar vacations. They enjoy this lifestyle, and don't really give a damn what we think about it.
King and queen Obama live at the top of the pyramid. They are right where they want to be, and unfortunately, we are right where they want us to be.
TLP| 12.6.12 @ 6:56PM
The Contest is up and running at Monday's Story - The Artist as Ethnographer.
You're gonna need the "Previously" Button, and the Contest runs until Saturday at 7pm.
Good Luck.
Albert Constantine Jr.| 12.6.12 @ 8:13AM
Officer DePrimo acted as a follower of Jesus and gave of his own heart and own free will to one who appeared to be in need. Obama acts as if he wants to be Jesus (though he is anxious to skip the whole Good Friday thing), so give up your loaves and fishes, he’s got adoring masses to feed following the water to wine summit, and don’t forget; he’s The One standing between you and the pitchforks, all you non-camel passing through the eye of a needle wealthy Pharisees.
TLP| 12.6.12 @ 4:50PM
The Contest is up and running at Monday's Story - The Artist as Ethnographer.
You're gonna need the "Previously" Button, and the Contest runs until Saturday at 7pm.
Good Luck.
Nancy in NC| 12.6.12 @ 8:13AM
It's sad this pathetic excuse for a human is attempting to ruin what should be a nice story of someone's generosity and compassion.
In life there are no rewards or punishment - only consequences. Unfortunately the government is such an enabler that many never are able to benefit from the rewards or punishment. In other words, they are stuck.
It appears this guy just might prefer to be shoeless. He makes decisions based on that premise.
Too bad this story had to go viral. The cop would have been more blessed if no one knew about his generosity. Now others are making hay on his goodness.
Maisy| 12.6.12 @ 10:01AM
It pains me to see how many people in this day and age are ignorant about mental illness. Schizophrenia is a fate I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. The government and the ACLU has thrown these people out on the street at a time when medications could help them better cope with life. Just another victim of the liberal agenda.
Kingofthenet| 12.6.12 @ 12:31PM
Yeah, that's it Nancy he 'prefers' to go shoeless, what POWERFUL insight.
Nancy in NC| 12.6.12 @ 8:16AM
I suppose the church may be responsible for making the poor into such noble characters. The fact is they are often neither noble or even nice. And the rich aren't always evil either. Too bad the left doesn't get that simple concept.
c. j. acworth| 12.6.12 @ 9:21AM
Well, Nancy, the trouble with letting the
church care for folks like Hillman is they won't supply him with free birth control you see.
TLP| 12.6.12 @ 10:05AM
They will, or they'll be COMPELLED to.
Unless it's a Black Church.
Stick| 12.6.12 @ 2:49PM
I recall reading an interview with an elderly French woman who as a child had met Vincent Van Gogh several times in her father's shop. Her memory was that he was an exceptionally rude and smelly man. She had nothing nice to say about him. I suspect Hillman fits the bill.
Frank Drackman| 12.6.12 @ 9:40AM
OK, Yes, I went to College(2010 BCS CHAMPION AUBURN TIGERS!!!!!!!) and Med School(NO BCS CHAMPIONS EVER!!!)in Ally-Bama, before doing what 90% of Sucessfull Auburn Grads do, LEAVE, make that 100 mile trek up the 85, get that Fo-Oh-Fo Area Code...
Oh yeah, where was I?
OK, coming from Alabama, I Know Things, like alot of Black Peoples Secretly like the design of the Confederate Flag,
And alot of us don't like wearing shoes, and I don't just mean at home, or on the beach, I mean EVER, and if y'all had really wanted to Make Jesus's moment of Pain and Doubt even worse, Pilot would have made him wear Wingtips..
So I totally Get Mr. Hillman's aversion to being Shod, it's part of why I went into the Gas-Passing Biz,
Seriously, where else can you make high 6 figures wearing flip flops??
Frank
Albert Constantine Jr.| 12.6.12 @ 9:56AM
Flip Flops-did you go to the John F Kerry school of naval staff officering? I believe the correct term from the sea service school is "shower shoes".
Frank Drackman| 12.6.12 @ 11:45AM
You ever see the Showers Marine's use??? We wore friggin "Shower Combat Boots"
Frank
markenoff| 12.6.12 @ 10:28AM
Auburn winless in the SEC in 2012.
Frank Drackman| 12.6.12 @ 11:44AM
I'll have you know the 2010 BCS CHAMPION AUBURN TIGERS won FIVE SEC games in 2012...
Too bad it was in that "Sport" that noone South of the Carolina line cares about, Basketball, Hoops, Roundball, or my favorite,
"What do you call 10 black guys runing around dribbling"???
Seriously, 65 Teams make the NCAA Tournament???
Frank
Maisy| 12.6.12 @ 9:58AM
Having a sibling with schizophrenia I can tell you I bought her numerous coats over the years....often she gave them away to other mentally ill people who had no one else. Obviously this man is mentally ill but I appreciate that the officer showed him kindness as their illness is the blackest and worst hole anyone should endure.
Bill8472| 12.6.12 @ 12:45PM
The issue of the cop is pretty simple, but it has some interesting implications. Let me give you an example: a guy in my city is a bicycle mechanic. He collects broken bikes that are given to him, and fixes them up at his own expense. Then he takes the fixed bikes and gives them to the derelicts in our town so that they can ride instead of walk. Unfortunately, all too often those derelicts take the gifted bicycles they receive and turn around and sell them for dope or booze. So, is the guy in my town a good person because he has good intentions, or is he an enabler who makes it easier for our addicted derelicts to obtain their drugs of choice? When Mr. Hillman sold the boots the policeman gave him, what did he do with the money? Buy booze or a night in a shelter bed?
Appleby| 12.6.12 @ 1:55PM
Same here with people who beg in the subway station for "money to get home." Give them a token for the subway and they look at you like you've lost your last marble -- then turn around and try to sell it to the guy behind you. One time in my experience this didn't turn out to be a sell -- a young woman asked me for enough change to get a token, and I suggested she give me whatever change she had, and I'd give her a token. She immediately handed over 35 cents or so, and I exchanged it for a token. She immediately put it in the subway box and headed for the train. The problem is you never know which of these people is the honest one. Jesus pretty much says you have to assume they all are.
Bill8472| 12.6.12 @ 3:06PM
Jesus didn't say you have to take everybody at face value.
TLP| 12.6.12 @ 6:57PM
The Contest is up and running at Monday's Story - The Artist as Ethnographer.
You're gonna need the "Previously" Button, and the Contest runs until Saturday at 7pm.
Good Luck.
Anthony| 12.6.12 @ 10:38AM
Poor, poor Joyce Brown. If only she had claimed to have had American Indian blood, Harvard would have offered her a tenured position at the Law School.
And instead of Elizabeth Warren, the blued eyed, blonde hair phony Indian princess, Ms. Brown would have been a sterling new addition to the Congressional Black Caucus, where her insanity would have gone on un-noticed, and indeed, would have been proclaimed "Brilliant".
What a waste of political talent.
Albert Constantine Jr.| 12.6.12 @ 10:56AM
The somewhat porcine quality of Senator-elect Warren's upturned yet smallish nose is also not a phenotypical characteristic of North America's aboriginal population as well, but hey, those high cheekbones on both sides of her face each have to each be capable of establishing 1/64 of some tribe's heritage.
TLP| 12.6.12 @ 4:51PM
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loulou| 12.6.12 @ 10:44AM
I am tired of these trolls lolling around public spaces when we all would be better off if they were placed in state psychiatric hospital/housing.
Have you been to your local library lately?
Albert Constantine Jr.| 12.6.12 @ 10:59AM
Where do you think our own trolls come from, and clearly much of what they write would qualify them as you suggest.
If it weren't for public libraries, how could Purp post?
TLP| 12.6.12 @ 4:51PM
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Kingofthenet| 12.6.12 @ 12:29PM
Hillman doesn't have a 'world-view', He is a mentally ill Veteran in need of help. Have some sympathy.
TLP| 12.6.12 @ 4:52PM
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Bill8472| 12.6.12 @ 12:39PM
Hillman is just the derelict du jour. A few months ago the darling transient of the moment was the guy with the great voice. What happened to him? Does anybody care, or want to know?
Like the golden-voiced son of fortune, Mr. Hillman will receive his fifteen minutes of fame. I applaud his All-American desire for a piece of the pie - all of us in our right minds do, so it's good to see that even the erratics among us share that particular aspiration. But Hillman will probably wind up with some money in his pocket, which he will immediately blow on drugs or booze, or have stolen from him.
kjwb| 12.6.12 @ 1:05PM
Interesting background info on the beneficiary of Officer De Primo's largesse. Like most homeless/transients/street people (whatever you want to call them) he obviously has problems, likely brought on by either substance abuse, trauma, or unfortunate brain chemistry. Like many such people, what treatment is available only works of he does his part and he appears to prefer the state that he's in. Nonetheless, the officer had no way of knowing that this was not a truly homeless man - he simply saw a fellow human being in distress and tried to be of assistance. I hope this doesn't make him cynical though God knows I couldn't really blame him if it did.
TLP| 12.6.12 @ 1:57PM
I feel compelled to agree with Kingofthenuts.
As someone who lost EVERYTHING, including my Mother's Love, during 25 Years of Cocaine Addiction?
I have nothing but Simpathy for Mr. Hillman.
And, so should all of you.
I hope he can find his way to The Lord, like I did.
GOD BLESS, Mr. Hillman.
TLP| 12.6.12 @ 2:04PM
As the Great Bugs Bunny said: "He was somebody's Baby, once."
I Pray he gets better.
Kingofthenet| 12.6.12 @ 3:01PM
Good thoughts TLP, I hope someone can eventually talk him into getting some treatment and he turns his life around.
TLP| 12.6.12 @ 4:54PM
I invite you to our Contest.
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Bill8472| 12.6.12 @ 3:04PM
Ah, THAT explains it!
Have fun with the Contest.
TLP| 12.6.12 @ 4:56PM
Oh, I will. and so can you.
The Contest is up and running at Monday's Story - The Artist as Ethnographer.
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Bill8472| 12.6.12 @ 3:07PM
"Derelicts" is a fairly comprehensive umbrella term.
Elle| 12.6.12 @ 2:14PM
Hillman has 2 college educated brothers and a family that says he is welcome in their homes any time. They also say they have tried to help him without success. Short of forced institutionalization there is no help for an individual who doesn't want it and won't work to get better.
On the other hand God bless the officer, and any other, who is willing to help someone who seems to be in need. It may not make the recipient a better individual but giving strengthens the giver.
cowgirl| 12.6.12 @ 2:31PM
As Paul Harvey said in his legendary "If I Were The Devil" radio dialogue in 1965, "Our Father Who Art in Washington DC"....
The seven deadly sins, pride, greed, anger, lust, gluttony, sloth and envy are color blind, ethnic blind, and wealth blind. Obviously Mr. Hillman is a great example. Taxing the wealthy will not solve his problem, fixing his soul and his sin his the answer.
TLP| 12.6.12 @ 4:53PM
The Contest is up and running at Monday's Story - The Artist as Ethnographer.
You're gonna need the "Previously" Button, and the Contest runs until Saturday at 7pm.
Good Luck.
Kingofthenet| 12.6.12 @ 3:25PM
Obviously the people calling Mr. Hillman derogatory names, don't understand mental illness. It is as real as ANY illness, it can't be snapped out anymore than you could say to someone with a broken leg, 'Stand up and walk' Is Rick Santourm's 'Bella' A derelict? Well she would be if she didn't have someone looking out for her.
TLP| 12.6.12 @ 4:57PM
Indeed.
GobBluthe| 12.6.12 @ 5:16PM
What happened to Emmet's pieces on the imminent demise of liberalism?
sdfhlk | 12.6.12 @ 8:02PM
No small chump change there.
sotto voce| 12.6.12 @ 8:19PM
A few days after hearing the Hillman story I started wondering about the outcome and if Mr. Hillman had perhaps sold his boots. That very day I read the follow-up that indeed, he was back to wandering sans boots. The kind cop still deserves kudos for his compassionate act, but human nature is such that the end of the Hillman episode was entirely predictable. There was another news story, not long ago, about a hobo with a golden voice. Someone tried to help him get a job in the radio business but that attempt came to naught because the hobo's problems were as intractable as Mr. Hillman's.
Bill8472| 12.7.12 @ 9:15AM
Actually, a year later, Mr. Williams has a job in radio and a home of his own. He is no longer a derelict.
How long that will last is anybody's guess, but that's the status quo as of now.