President Obama comes to town; CIW gets question on slavery to the Commander-in-Chief!…

 

And now for something completely different… On Tuesday, President Obama came to Ft. Myers for a town hall meeting on the economic crisis (Ft. Myers and the Southwest Florida area generally are at or near the top in both foreclosures and unemployment rates nationally). The picture above is from the Ft. Myers meeting.

The town hall was, of course, standing room only, with people camping out two days in advance to secure tickets. Thanks, however, to the efforts of a determined ally, the CIW managed to get inside for the big event. But with a crowd this feverish, it was no surprise that, when it came to the question and answer period, the house went wild with waving hands and jumping people yearning to be heard. Alas, the CIW representatives were lost in the din and never got a chance to ask their question of President Obama.

But all was not lost. As President Obama worked the crowd following the event, our intrepid representatives made their way to the front, got his attention in the five-second window of conversation one is allowed in such settings, and managed to hand-off the question in written form to President Obama, who actually overrode an attempted Secret Service intercept to personally take the question and a CIW button. The President promised to check out the question and the website further later.

Let’s hope he did. If so, here’s what President Obama saw once he settled down in Air Force One and reached into his pocket for the folded note:

“Mr. President – I’d like to ask a question about human rights.

Last April, Senator Durbin and Senator Kennedy held a hearing in the Senate HELP Committee into the extreme poverty and shameful exploitation of our state’s farmworkers, prompted by the latest of seven federal prosecutions for modern-day slavery in Florida’s fields over the past decade in which workers were chained inside trucks, beaten, and forced to pick tomatoes for little or no pay.

Sir, Florida’s farmworkers have known nothing but economic crisis for decades. What is your position on the epidemic of modern-day slavery in Florida’s fields, and what can you do as president to help farmworkers win the fair wages and dignified working conditions they deserve? Would you consider visiting us Immokalee — the town federal prosecutors call “ground zero for modern-day slavery” — to learn more about the problem?”

The ball’s in your court, Mr. President!

ps – And speaking of balls and courts, if you’re reading this, we can definitely work out a pick-up basketball game for when you’re down here, so bring your shoes..