Bfgrn
New member
Absolute Bullshit!!
With what we know about this tragedy there should be cries for more help for the mentally ill. But is there?
No. There are dozens of threads blaming Palin and the teabaggers for this shooting.
I have no problem with Palin catching shit for her stupidity. But this is not about Palin. This is about a lunatic opening fire and killing people. Trying to place that blame on Palin is disgusting.
Historically, you have as much chance of the right calling for 'more help for the mentally ill' as you will finding ice cubes in hell.
The Republicans and the right in America today believe the only way to solve our problems is through punishment. And if that doesn't work, the punishment is just not severe enough. I suggest you research the 1994 Crimes Bill and how Republicans and the right demonized the most constructive part of that bill that included many 'more help for the mentally ill' ideas.
In the early to mid 90's Congress crafted a crimes bill. I will not not go into the many unintended consequences of the bill, but the original funding framework called for equal thirds of the money to go to 1) police enforcement 2) prisons 3) crime prevention
The crime prevention part of the bill would go toward education, job training, community engagement by law enforcement, child-centered activities (money for arts and crafts, dance programs, recreational activities, nutrition training, and so forth), assorted inner city youth activity programs, urban parks and recreation, schools (money is to be used "to improve the academic and social development of youths by instituting a collaborative structure that trains and coordinates efforts of social workers, teachers, and principles."), youth development for such activities as "providing youth with life skills" , drug treatment programs in prisons. and facilities like community centers.
Statistics showed that the majority of youth crimes are committed after school lets out and before dinner time. It is not difficult to see what is missing during that time period, adult supervision. So the idea was to provide a safe and supervised facility where these kids could go.
It was during this period that Newt Gingrich and the 'Contract with America' Republicans took over Congress.
The 'Contract with America' Republicans attacked and demonized this part of the bill. They tried to label the whole crime prevention part of the bill paying for 'midnight basketball'
The real irony of that debate; Police Chiefs from around the country ascended on Washington to lobby Congress FOR the prevention provisions, because they knew that the best way to help law enforcement was not more police or more punishment, it was through education, training and community activism.