SF Supervisor Tries To Ruin Batkid Merriment For Everyone

[RandySF]

Sheesh. District 1 Supervisor Eric Mar tried to ka-pow today's Batkid joyousness in San Francisco, saying, "Waiting for Miles the BatKid & Wondering how many 1000s of SF kids living off SNAP/FoodStamps could have been fed from the $$..."

Like, we get it, Eric. But come on, man. Such a buzzkill.

Anyway, if you're also concerned about feeding hungry kids—as you very well should be — join Supervisor Wet Blanket on 11/21 for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Challenge & Food Security Task Force hearings.

http://sfist.com/2013/11/15/supervisor_eric_mar_tries_to_ruin_b.php

[silverweb]

1. Hard not to see his point.

[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]Even while smiling at young BatBoy's glorious day, a thought flitted through my mind about the many children who will never get the kind of day young BatKid had or anything even close.

Not very different from those who look at a church's wealth and wonder how many people could be fed/housed with it.

Maybe San Franciscans will rise to the challenge and as eagerly go all out on keeping food banks stocked for the city's poor? SF leads in so many ways, generating this cohesive compassion could be one more.

[RandySF]

9. But should we deny one kid because others are doing without?

I think progressivism should be about lifting all boats to being equality, not dragging one down.

[silverweb]

32. Is it not possible to see both points of view?

[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]At no point did I say anyone should ruin the kid's day. What I did say was that I was thinking also about those children who would never enjoy an experience even close to his. Just a bit of a difference.

The situation also brings to mind the lovely outpourings of generosity for the poor at Christmas, while the same poor languish unnoticed and uncared about the the remaining 11 months every year. We should not denigrate those who give only at the holidays or begrudge the recipients of their gifts, but it would perhaps be even nicer to remember the indigent more the rest of the year.

[Luminous Animal]

2. A lot of very hungry kids would agree. I was one of those kids.

And some mornings I would wake up wondering if it was worth walking down the stairs to another quiet day of desperation.

Thank you Eric Mar for pointing out that charity does not replace an robust social safety net.

[Le Taz Hot]

3. Criminee sakes.

Can this child, his parents, the city of San Francisco and the rest of the country just have ONE happy moment? Just one? I swear to goddess some people will find a way to suck the life out of any positive situation. These people are the ones who give liberals a bad name.

[Beaverhausen]

4. How much money did it cost?

Anyone know?

[Are_grits_groceries]

5. Oh FFS!

WE CAN MULTITASK WITH OUR HELP!

Instead of dumping on the Batkid effort, Asshat Mar could have lauded the effort and encouraged people to also look for other 'Batkids' that could also use their hope and giving. Start a Batkid Foundation to save others. Instead he comes off like Nitpick McScrooge scolding everyone.

How on earth will throwing shade on this effort move anyone to keep giving or to support any other people who need help??? "I'll try to make people feel guilty and embarrassed. Yeah, that's the ticket.' Don't try to shrink the good feeling about Batkid. Try to expand it.

We have heard enough people bitching about every penny spent for anything. It is a constant theme 24/7. We need to hear voices 24/7 pointing out how deserving people were helped by SNAP and other efforts.

[RandySF]

8. +10

I heard they had to turn away volunteers for yesterday's event. Perhaps those people will go look for other kids to help out.

[Warren DeMontague]

6. Same shit happens whenever NASA gets 10 bucks to try and understand our Universe better.

Was Eric Mar out there complaining during Fleet Week when Trillion Dollar Aircraft Carriers were sailing under the GGB?

[Journeyman]

7. Almost all of our charitable giving in the last 6 years has gone to feed people . . .

We used to give to a wide array of causes, but with the economic downturn we thought it best to feed people over anything else.

That said, when I first heard of what was planned for Batkid, I told my wife it was one of those events that gives me pride and happiness to be part of our society today. I wish I'd been in the Bay area so I could be a part of it.

And yeah, we helped feed people today. And tomorrow we'll kick in some more. And maybe others, who will have seen what was done for Batkid, will feel inclined to help others as well.

[Nye Bevan]

10. How much does he think it cost?

Were there people billing thousands of dollars to help make this happen? Or did (as I suspect) pretty much everyone involved donate their time and effort for free?

[Gormy Cuss]

16. Donated time and effort is free to the recipient but generally represents unreimbursed costs.

For businesses and individuals who itemize, there is a payback potential for that donation.

Giving this one kid a massive fantasy trip isn't the problem It's the lack of attention to the needs of other kids. If even one tenth of the participants donated the same level of time and effort to bettering the lives of city kids it would be phenomenal.

[Nye Bevan]

17. I'd be prepared to bet that the folks helping out and donating time for this

also donate a lot of their time and effort to help other worthy causes.

[Gormy Cuss]

18. If that's so then Mar's comment wouldn't bother them

because they would agree that the low income children of SF deserve better.

[Warren DeMontague]

22. Google "Eric Mar" and "Fleet Week"

Apparently he has no problem getting all gooey over the tourist dollars that Bloated Military-Industrial Complex toys can bring to SF.

Trillion Dollar Aircraft Carrier? Peachy. Some charitable thing done for a terminally ill 5 year old? OUTRAGEEREEEEEE!!!

[Gormy Cuss]

26. Don't need to use google to know about Mar. I live here.

Mar isn't against bringing tourism dollars into the city. Mar isn't even against Miles/Batkid having his wish fulfilled. He was just lamenting that there isn't similar interest in spending money on all of the other kids in the city.

[Warren DeMontague]

27. Yeah and his lamentations would ring a lot less hollow and obnoxious if he complained about those

Trillion Dollar aircraft carriers, because that's far more relevant to SNAP and food stamps than the Batkid is.

[Starry Messenger]

11. I agree with him.

I wonder if 10,000 people will show up for his hearings.

[RandySF]

13. They SHOULD show up.

But progressives should NOT be in the business of dragging others down to make everyone equal. That's what Republicans do.

[Starry Messenger]

21. Who dragged who?

That's a non sequitor.

[Warren DeMontague]

23. Agreed

but apparently priorities mean shitting on people who are trying to do something nice for a sick 5 year old.

Like I said. When Fleet Week comes to San Francisco, all Eric Mar can think about is cutting the parking fees for visitors trekking in to see Trillion Dollar aircraft carriers. No griping about food stamps, then, no, that might be "inappropriate" because god forbid anything should interfere with the fun of admiring bloated and expensive military hardware.

[LuvNewcastle]

12. He's right that we shouldn't lose sight about what's really important in life,

but it comes off as being critical of the people who made this happen, and that's not cool. The kid is dying, after all. It isn't like they were just fulfilling a fantasy of some kid who wanted to be catered to. People shouldn't be made to feel guilty for making this happen, FFS.

[Warren DeMontague]

25. Like I said, if he did something during Fleet Week other than cut the parking fees for the people

who came to town to admire the aircraft carriers, I might take his blather a bit more serious.

[eqfan592]

14. With the billions we spend on corporate welfare and the military...

...a sick boy being given an amazing gift from his community is clearly the best target for our ire over those who continue to suffer with hunger in our country.

[Warren DeMontague]

24. Yeah, no shit.

But apparently the full time privilege-checkers have decided that the new unfairly entitled class are terminally ill 5 year olds.

[The Straight Story]

19. To me, he should be applauding what we can be as a people

And seeing the good that came out of this.

Use that moment of kindness in a more intelligent way to foster the spirit instead of condemning it.

[Taitertots]

20. Fire this moron immediately because of his pathetic ignorance of the economy

Where does he thing the money went? It went to people and they don't need food aid because of it.

[SidDithers]

28. He sounds like some wet-blanket DUers...nt

Sid

[distantearlywarning]

29. I think Eric the Supervisor posts on DU. n/t

[Initech]

30. Attempting to get sympathy fail.

[Gravitycollapse]

31. It brings up a good question: Why do we only care about a kid's welfare when he's dying?

And why only certain kids?

We have to consider how certain groups are favored over others for reasons that seem arbitrary (although they likely are not if we look deeper). How much money was spent on Batkid? How much money do we normally spend on sick children or children in need? Probably not much.

What's important is not to try and attack what was done for Batkid. We should be wondering why we don't go to such extremes to help other children in general. I worry that these kind of extreme cases of charity lull the general public into a false sense of achievement when we really do very little to help needy children.

[liberal_at_heart]

33. if all we are here to do is survive, why bother? Life is about survival, but it is also about

enjoying life.

[silverweb]

34. More Make-A-Wish joy.

[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]

"Make-A-Wish has granted more than 270,000 wishes throughout the world for children battling terminal illnesses. In the spirit of spreading even more goodwill, here are five more wish stories to warm your heart."