Politicians kiss babies and proclaim their devotion to families prior to elections and then, once that ritual is over, go back to the business of politics. Politicians know there is no money in child causes, there are no votes to tally in such fields. People with gray hair, like me, we are the ones who scare the daylights out of politicians. We seniors were once this nation's principal underclass until we let them know in Washington, in state capitals, in city halls, that we were not going to take it anymore. Politicos listened because we have the power to change lives, the lives of politicians, change their lifestyle, to take away their office, their power and to send them back home.
Kids have no such power, the power of the franchise, and are largely ignored.
For almost thirty years children have been this nation's principal underclass. Shame on the land of opportunity. Over twenty percent, almost a quarter of our kids live in this land of plenty, the land of thriving business and industry, the land of booming stock markets, the land of consumer confidence, the land of plenty and promise, over twenty per cent of our kids live in poverty. And we wonder about Littleton and Oregon and Kentucky. Many of the complex answers sought to those tragedies lies in the attitude of this nation that is ready to throw away one out of every five of our children.