It Could Have Been Your Son

Well, it's happened again: Some guy has apparently wandered into the middle of an ice-encrusted Susquehanna River. What a nut, eh?

Well, no.

As it turned out, the man (who was rescued by a brave team from the PA State Police and Harrisburg River Rescue) has mental illness. In a time of rapidly diminishing resources for those struggling with mental illness (not to mention the families of those with mental illness), I can understand how this would happen.

What I can't understand is the drumbeat of ignorant comments:

"I for one wish he would have fallen in and just went on down the river. That would be one a**hole less in the world"

"What a waste of taxpayer money in our current economic climate."

[the fine] "ought to be sterilization. We don't want people that dumb reproducing."

Nice.

Seriously, people. This is somebody's son. He could be somebody's brother. He could be somebody's dad or grandfather. He could just as easily be a member of YOUR family. Where is the compassion?

This hits close to home because my son has autism. And it wasn't that long ago that autism was considered a mental illness; some would still say it is a mental illness. And since autism, like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression, has its roots in the physiology of the brain, maybe it *is* a mental illness after all.

My point is that this could easily be MY son someday.

And I don't even want to tell you what I'd want to do to all the half-wits who had funny comments about today's ice adventure then.

Still "The One" to Many People

I am proud to be a citizen of the United States today. And it's not because I voted for Barack Obama (I didn't). It's because our country has such a grand tradition of coming together to support the president, even after a long and acrimonious campaign. There is a seamless transition of power and united front.

And I get that this is a transition more historic than most, as our country welcomes its first African-American president.

But -- and here's where the "miffed and vexed" part comes in -- I do *not* get those who would deify this man. It does him and our country a real disservice. Barack Obama is going to have a difficult enough time lowering the huge expectations placed on him in the coming months, and turning him into some kind of god (or at a minimum, a superhuman) makes his task harder. C'mon -- he's going to have to work with Congress. 'Nuff said.

Ah, maybe not *quite* enough said. The other aspect of this that I dislike intensely is the vilification of George W. Bush. For all the man's deficiencies, I believe he is a man who tries to do the right thing. And there's that working with Congress thing again -- Bush is not SOLELY responsible for the war in Iraq or the flagging economy.

And yet, I've read and heard a number of ugly things today:

"FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BUSH IS GONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"President Bush deserved to be booed...worst president in history U.S."

"I got the same feeling watching Bush walk away as he did when OJ left the courtroom, scott-free."

These people (and all those who jeered as President Bush was announced on the Mall today) are showing their ignorance. They disgust me.