I'm So Disgusted!

The following is the most tasteless article I've seen in a long time:

"Foreign orphans better than ours
October 21, 2007

American kids just aren't as lovable as they used to be.
I can't tell you the exact moment I came to that conclusion.
But it was after Oprah Winfrey built a school in Africa and around the time Angelina Jolie went to Southeast Asia (or was it India?) looking for a baby to adopt.
I know for certain it was before Ellen DeGeneres turned up all teary-eyed on TV because the dog she had adopted and given to another family was taken back to a shelter.

America used to feel really bad about its orphans.
They made movies about them. There was even a hit Broadway play.
But it was all those red-haired kids singing, "The sun will come up, tomorrow," that got us hating the sight of orphans.
Don't get me wrong.
I understand there are children born every day in Third World countries who only have a small chance of survival.
I know this because at 2 a.m., I would regularly awaken to a vision of Sally Struthers, crying and begging me for 10 cents a month to feed, clothe and educate a child in one of these countries.

Maybe it's the cost of American kids that offends so many people today.
I mean, would anyone's heart be touched if they saw an actress appear on TV with the following pitch:
"This is little Joey who lives in Ford Heights. For just $20,000 a year you can send him to a good school, keep him in Nikes and make sure he has a cell phone and a Simpsons backpack ..."
To some of us that sounds like a lot of money, but to someone like Oprah it might be the equivalent of 10 cents a week.

But I get the feeling she and countless other Americans believe their money is better spent on foreign children who have a better work ethic.
Our orphans and poor kids just don't seem willing to pick themselves up by their bootstraps.
They're lazy. Crack-addicted. They spend too much time playing video games.
Back in the days of the Great Depression, this country had the greatest orphans in the history of the world.

If Dad was a drunken, worn-out professional prize fighter, they would take it upon themselves to get a job and earn a living.

Or, as Shirley Temple demonstrated repeatedly, they would tap dance to entertain both the wealthy and impoverished.

When's the last time you saw a poor orphan kid singing, smiling and tap dancing anywhere in America?
Poor kids these days sing angry rap songs about "ho's" and killing cops.
They need an image consultant, but that would require a lot more than 10 cents a month.
While movie stars and other celebrities span the globe trying to buy foreign babies, we have to pay people to take care of ours.
These people are called foster families, and many of them are quite wonderful.
But why do we have to bribe someone to take care of American kids when folks with millions are willing to pay big money for foreign children?
And why isn't this part of the great immigration debate?
I mean, if it's wrong for people to cross our borders to take our jobs, shouldn't it be wrong for our people to cross our borders to buy someone else's children?

Buy American children first.
Every dollar spent on a home-grown kid stays in the economy.

As for education, I've just about given up on that topic.
Almost every good American I talk to tells me it's impossible to educate an American kid no matter how much you spend on him or her.
Well, that's not true for their children, of course. Or their neighbor's kids.
I'm talking about kids who don't have the good sense to pick parents who care about them.
Children that dumb don't deserve an Oprah-type school.
I mean, if we took every dollar wagered on football games each Sunday and invested it in public education ...
Now I'm sounding like Sally Struthers.

You've got to get something back for the money you spend.
Sally used to send people pictures of the children they helped.
On TV you could see how much the money helped them because in one photograph they would be all sad and surrounded by flies and in the next they would be wearing big smiles and have on pretty clothes.
Another organization had the poor orphans write letters to donors.
"Thank you very much for the money. My three brothers, two sisters and I no longer live in a cardboard box, but in a 10-room mansion thanks to your generosity."
I always suspected those letters were written by volunteers raising money, but the people back in America seemed genuinely touched.
Suddenly, Americans were traveling 10,000 miles to adopt foreign orphans.
Maybe people are investing in foreign children for the same reasons they started buying foreign cars.
For generations, my family bought General Motors automobiles. Every time we hoped for something better. Every experience ended in disappointment.
We just don't make poor orphan kids like we used to in this country.

Phil Kadner can be reached at pkadner@dailysouthtown.com or (708) 633-6787."


Oh, you better believed I "reached" Phil. My response is below:

You are vile.
You are not amusing.
Your sarcastic approach to this issue (that you brought up, by the way) is offensive and galling.
How dare YOU, who seem so concerned about "poor orphans" put labels on them: FOREIGN or DOMESTIC.
I just thank God that you're obviously too self-centered to adopt anyone, since it appears you have no clue as to what it entails.
If you'd actually like to write an informed, unbiased, readable article about the subject of adoption, feel free to contact one of the thousands of families who have opened their hearts and homes to a child. Yes, a child. A human being. Not a "poor orphan".
Nikki
Mother of 2



I'm sure he'd appreciate even MORE emails, if you have the time :)