News Gnashing; Why why why did that man kill the Amish girls? Answer:

[elehhhhna]

He was MENTALLY ILL.

The real question is WHY WHY WHY the richest counrty on earth does not/will not ensure that proper medical care including mental health services are AVAILABLE AND AFFORDABLE to ALL Americans.

Oddly, the media hasn't mentioned this.

[aquart]

1. Yup. Haven't heard word one about it.

[converted_democrat]

2. Good point.. n/t

[havocmom]

3. Mental health care here is abysmal. Criminally insane in charge in D.C.

THAT is how bad it is.

Any chance the people who fell for (and pay for) the line 'fight 'em there so we don't have to fight 'em here' can make the connection between not paying for decent care for the mentally ill and the high price our society pays for avoiding the issue?

[Little Star]

4. Bingo

[Reader Rabbit]

5. The media is just upset...

...that they didn't get a chance to hire him, first. Given their penchant for giving mentally ill people—such as Ann Coulter, Bill O'Reilly, and Sean Hannity—obscene amounts of air time, it's only natural that they would froth at the mouth at having missed the chance to add to their stable of unstable personalities.

[LiberalEsto]

6. That, and guns

Too damn many guns in this country, too much easy access to them. If all the guy had were a knife, maybe he could have been overpowered.

[raccoon]

7. With states cutting budgets because they aren't getting as much

federal money as they used to, there will be less mental health services available to those who can't afford it.

In my state, Dept. of Mental Health took a big cut in funding.

[SoCalDem]

8. Why? Because we are a REactive society..not a PROactive one

I was watching a documentary the other day and in it, they pointed out that in prison, one of the biggest expenses is for MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES for th einmates. Apparently, being locked up causes them extreme stress, and with mental health services, it helps to alleviate the stress and keeps things running smoothly in prison,.

If there were services available on the OUTSIDE, like that, perhaps people would not even end up locked up..

my .02

[RaleighNCDUer]

9. But these days, the prisons are a for-profit industry.

And the more inmates they have, the more money they make.

So we have a system where 2/5 the prison population is non-violent drug offenders, 2/5 is certifiably mentally ill, and 1/5 is genuine criminals. If we were to fix the drug laws and treat the mentally ill, the prison industry would lose 80% of its revenue.

[leftofthedial]

10. what are you, a, a, a, -gasp!-

*socialist*?!?

[elehhhhna]

11. kick for obviousness

[spoony]

12. kick!

[gatorboy]

13. Considering how many conservatives suffer from mental health problems,

the program could bankrupt America in a week. :P