Can I just say something about mental health?

[Stonepounder]

25. One of the greatest atrocities that St. Ronnie committed

was basically defunding mental health care in the US.

When I was a child my father was a clinical psychologist at the (mumble) State Hospital. This was a place for those who simply could not function in the outside world. They ranged from the 'nearly normal' to the locked ward. (Forgive me for not using the correct psychological terms.) Some of there were there temporarily, others for life. But it was a place for those who, for whatever reason, did not, or could not, fit into the outside world.

As an adult I had a step-son who was clearly schizophrenic. He was continually in and out of jail, and preferred living on the streets to living in a normal home. In the small town I lived in, in the Sierras of California, there was a very caring and compassionate judge. I had talked to him about my step-son's problems and he truly understood. Three different times he sent my step-son for a competency evaluation, trying to get him into some sort of mental facility as an alternative to prison and three times he was found 'competent'. The last time was when he was up for GTA. He had stolen a car in Los Angeles and driven it 300 miles to come visit us. His statement to the court was, "Well, the keys were in it and the owner obviously wasn't using it." He really didn't understand that he had done anything wrong.

So long as we refuse to medical attention to all who need it, we are going to continue to see the severely disturbed committing acts that are incomprehensible to the vast majority of us.