No Thanks Necessary

I'm not sure if Nick Coleman needs even more time to research his clarifications on the Maxfield Elementary story or if he simply read Jim Styczinski's masterpiece yesterday and figured it's already been done. But today he ignores that topic entirely to address another, homelessness in Minneapolis.

I must admit that the tone of Coleman's column is rather understated, by his standards. His ending line pushes it a little bit:

After all, once upon a time, a homeless couple came to Bethlehem, looking for shelter.

But gratuitous exploitation is no where to be found. No angry lashing out at tax payers or scapegoating based on class or racial distinctions. His column is a reminder that there are those who are suffering on our streets this Christmas season, a valid message for any Christian soul. And a nice change of pace from what we've seen of late from Coleman. If our scrutiny and constructive criticism of him had something to do with that, well, I'm glad. Thanks to the alternative media, now everybody wins. Coleman writes better columns, the readers feel compassion towards his subject matter, and maybe some good results.

Even more good would result if more people read and acted on Craig Westover's presciptions. Today, he also comments on Coleman's column, taking it the next step, by focusing on a potential solution to homelessness in our society. Excerpt:

The solution to the homeless "crisis" doesn't lie in more government, but less. The solution lies in returning to civil society the responsibility for taking care of its own. That cannot happen as long as government reinforces the attitude of "let government take care of it." It cannot happen when government actions destroy a community's ability to act compassionately. It cannot happen as long as we believe that more taxes equals more compassion.

UPDATE: Power Line doesn't feel quite so charitable toward Coleman's homelessness analysis. Excerpts:

This month Star Tribune staff columnist Nick Coleman deserves recognition for working hardest to preserve the Star Tribune's reputation as a laughingstock.

Coleman hangs this lazy column on the spirit of the season, but the spirit of this column is entirely that of the liberal shame culture. At 425 Portland Avenue the two are conveniently confused.