Jason Hines had his question all ready yesterday for President Bush, who came a-callin' to Baltimore and talked to nine members of Jericho, a re-entry program for nonviolent, adult male ex-offenders.
Hines said he had served a year and a half for a theft conviction. His parole and probation officer recommended Jericho, which helps ex-offenders find jobs and housing once they get out of prison. Since the Episcopal Community Services of Maryland runs Jericho, it comes under the category of what's called a "faith-based initiative."
That's what brought Dubya to town; that's why he wanted to talk to Jericho. But there was something else on Hines' mind besides a job, or housing, or faith-based initiatives.
"I asked him about voting rights for felons," Hines, 32, said. "He informed me that that was something that was not going to be done across a broad level. He told us that anyone who's really passionate about their voting rights should write their senator or congressman, explain the circumstances about why they committed the crime and express remorse."
This is the second year for the Jericho program. It was funded from a three-year grant from the U.S. Department of Labor's Prison Reentry Initiative. The second year will be officially completed at the end of February; the third will run from March of this year through February of 2009. Jean Cushman, the executive director of ECSM, said there is money to fund a fourth year.
So perhaps Hines' question should have been: "Mr. President, wouldn't programs like this be easier to fund if the federal government weren't spending billions on the war in Iraq?"
But this was not a day to embarrass Dubya. Hines and other enrollees in the Jericho program said they were impressed with the president. He spoke to them about his own addiction to alcohol. He told them that his favorite food was enchiladas and that he hadn't given much thought to his post-presidential plans.
Then Bush autographed their GED certificates, address books or anything else they had handy. He gave them all official presidential pins, which they sported proudly on their shirt pockets. At the end, according to Jericho staffers who witnessed the scene, the guys in the program wrapped their arms around Bush as if he'd been one of their buddies from around the way and posed with him for snapshots.
You read that right: George W. Bush became a "Homey for a Day."
