Friday, December 14, 2012

A Dark Day



Today is a dark day. It is a day when evil walked on two legs into a kindergarten classroom. It is a day when a madman mowed down a classroom of kindergartners. I can’t help but think that five year olds were clinging to their teacher, the shooter’s mother, as she died. I can’t help but think they were crying and scared wanting their mommies. What kind of animal does this?

But then again, while you will hear a loud drumbeat from the White House and the anti-gun lobby, what kind of delusional person shoots a movie full of viewers enjoying a new film or a playground of school kids? Let’s look at this further-what kind of person drowns her six young children or cuts the arms off her baby to make her an angel? These people share the same problem-they are what used to be called insane. Now that has been sanitized into an “illness” for which they cannot be held responsible. The woman who drowned her six young kids pled not guilty by reason of insanity when in reality it should be GUILTY by reason of insanity. Likewise the woman who killed her baby was committed for a short time and was in the past few months discovered to be working in a Walmart. The attitude of the medical community and the liberals is that you make these people show up to get meds and then send them on their way. No monitoring, no oversight, no protection for those they come in contact with. And if they stop taking their meds, what then?

But how does it get to this point. Let me give you an illustration. A colleague of mine has been victimized to the point of having nightmares by a six foot four male student who throws furniture and has as recently as last summer was in a mental health hospital. For six months she endured verbal threats and had to intervene as this student threatened others. One day he told her “I could hit you in the head with this hammer and you can’t stop me.” Indeed, until violence occurs there’s nothing a general ed classroom teacher can do. And there’s nothing we can do to protect other students either. Luckily this student was finally removed to a unit designed for emotionally disturbed students. He lasted two weeks in a facility designed for his needs and was kicked out. Now he’s in another school district where I have no doubt he’s cycling through the same delusional and menacing behavior. Everyone’s scared of the ADA and nobody wants to make the call that this individual is dangerous. I have little doubt that down the road, he’s another tragedy waiting to happen.
The problem is not with guns. Richard Speck murdered several nurses with a knife. Jim Jones murdered men, women and children with poison. The Weather Underground murdered people with bombs. Guns have been with us a long time. But what has not been with us is the prevailing societal drumbeat that we must not judge those who act out in dangerous and delusional ways. The ADA and various liberal feelgood policies have created a situation of political correctness where seeking to commit an insane individual to a facility where they cannot harm others is “unkind” or “meanspirited.” Indeed, many of the recent events of mass violence reveal a known history of outrageously insane behavior that was deliberately overlooked for the sake of avoiding being “judgmental.”

What will happen now is yet another outcry for gun control when what needs to happen is that we must, for the sake of our nation, take back the right to keep the criminally insane from victimizing the innocent. A friend of mine who just left a position as an aide at a facility designed for the retarded told me that the majority of the people there are mentally ill, not retarded. They are allowed to act out in ridiculous and provocative ways. She left because a man tried to gouge out her eye. Nothing was done. Nothing will ever be done as long as the current ADA laws are in effect. We have actually turned over the sylum to the inmates. The uptick in homelessness, the rise in domestic crime and the increase in drug abuse are all biproducts of a society that refuses to accept that some people are simply too sick and insane to be left on their own. I am not talking about the depressed, or the bipolar or even the nasty-but of those who are so obviously insane that they pose a threat to others. I shudder and can barely hold back tears when I think of that roomful of kindergartners murdered for the sake of sparing someone’s feelings. We must take back the safety of our society. We have to realize that by allowing such people to act out with impunity, we are not helping them, we are allowing them to overtake us.

Hard Christmas

I am trying very hard to be upbeat.
I have done projects that echo Christmas. I have allowed my students to decorate my classroom door. I have attended the faculty Christmas party and am participating in Secret Santa. I just wish it didn't feel so hollow. I haven't really bought one gift. And despite the late date, I don't feel like spending the money. Our financial situation is so desperate that we may end up eventually losing the house. And this doesn't really mean much anymore as the house has serious problems that we cannot afford to repair. The roof, windows and doors need replacing. One shower walls has completely caved in and the other is falling apart. I don't have the skill or strength to do these things myself although I would if I could. I just feel like everything is falling to pieces and there's nothing I can do to stop it.

The one bright light is that my son, three years after college graduation, now has a job beyond fast food. My husband, however, is still essentially unemployed with no compensation and no end in sight. This is the Obama legacy. He is killing us by degrees.