NewsLogik

If trials hinge on the jury’s sympathies, and if these jurors got their duty notices at their homes, then tried-to-be Eric Montanez, 22, is as good as guilty. And he is very guilty. The prosecution has footage of him feeding homeless people, in intentional, repeated violation of an Orlando law.

The city ordinance has stood for over a year, presumably by dint of the city’s checkered indifference and support. Outside of Mr. Montanez, his alleged group Food Not Bombs, and blanket do-good media magnets like the ACLU, Orlando residents just haven’t shown enough dissatisfaction, even at the polls. Not even the homeless themselves–and this is telling–, as they refuse to buy homes where to receive their voter registration papers.

Montanez’ flagrancy commands a swift response. He was not only feeding undesirables en masse; he was doing so at a public park frequently used for picnics. Picnics with little children. Would you take your children to eat delicious sandwiches at a place crawling with homeless? Would you take them to a hospital that treats the uninsured? The bottom line is, visibly homeless people are a thorn in the city’s paw and a threat to its soaring property values ["Housing prices in Greater Orlando went up 34% in one year, from an average of $182,000 in August 2004 to $245,000 in August 2005, and eventually to a record $255,000 in February 2007. They are tapering off, however, down to $241,900 in April 2007."]

Instead of seeking the common good, Montanez is hellbent on his own twisted personal crusade to “feed the homeless.” What’s next? “House the homeless?” Follow this slippery slope, and it’s only a matter of time before the Homeless Indulgence Virus bursts the public park cell membrane and infects such profitable industries as condo development or–Disney forbid–regional tourism.

Look, we’re not inhumane here. Spare us the junior high Swift references. No one is talking about eating the homeless, but we owe it to the children to make sure they don’t eat us.