I know everyone is gushing over the feel-good story of Ted Williams, the homeless guy with the great voice. On the surface it appears to be a great tale of redemption and happy endings. But we need to know a lot more about this guy before we have him hosting the Academy Awards. This is a guy who ran out on his wife and four kids and jumped down a rabbit hole of drugs and crime. He claims he has been clean for two years but already reports are surfacing about him using and being arrested last July. Remember, a lot of street people are by definition hustlers and con men. They have to be to survive. Now I don't want to hear a lot of liberal hand-wringing about what drove him to bail out. He made a choice and old habits die hard. Just because he popped up on YouTube and the morning chat shows doesn't mean he isn't a deeply troubled man or his troubles are over. He had a wife and a good job 20 years ago and he chose drugs and the street. That impulse doesn't go away chatting with Jimmy Fallon.
There was a drug-addled homeless woman living on a subway grate in Manhattan years ago named Billie Boggs. When the cops tried brooming her from panhandling in front of a restaurant, the ACLU and other assorted do-gooders adopted her and made her their poster girl for the nobility of the streets. They cleaned her up, put her on talk shows and even took her to Harvard where she delivered some absurd "lecture." Where is Billie Boggs today? No one knows because as soon as the TV lights went dark so did Billie. Her drug habit and diminished mental capacity had her back on the streets in short order. Her liberal supporters dropped her like a bad habit because she wasn't playing the role they envisioned for her. I hope I'm wrong but Ted Williams could be the next Billie Boggs. If he is, they'll desert him just as fast.
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