A friend of the blog writes:
One of my neighbors once said she likes what St Paul has become for people like those begging for money at the street corners. She thinks it’s wonderful that we “respect” them so much that we just leave them alone, let them stand outside in all kinds of weather begging for money. I have two problems with that. One, I think some of them are scammers, no different than those trying to get money from you with other stories, like the Nigerian prince. We should not encourage scams. Two, the legitimate people, who are possibly homeless, possibly mentally ill, should also not be encouraged to stand out there in the elements. How is that respecting their life? Making sure they are taking medications, giving them opportunities to be accountable, that is respectful of their lives. Giving them anything at a street corner just enables them to not be accountable.
I thought of that when I was pondering Trump’s latest about guns and the mentally ill.
I think liberals are having fun trolling him about this comment. And I can see his statement as possibly troubling because we know of lessons from history where governments actually did decide who was and was not competent for guns.
Now, I am not really versed in legality. But, in a case like the Florida shooter, where there was apparently threats or causes for concern, over a period of time, I don’t think any due process would have taken too long to happen in order to actually do something. And I think the way Trump brought it up actually opens up the possibility for discussion to actually do something, if people want it.
How does this relate to my first story? I don’t know if it does, except that perhaps in both cases, we have gone so far off the deep end in what respect for a person’s life might mean that we think no intervention or enabling type intervention is actually better than tough love, holding people accountable. While Trump’s statement could produce action in many different directions, one direction it could go is towards more individual accountability.
Cruz made plenty of threats that were themselves grounds for arrest – and could have been, were it not the school’s policy not to arrest students it they could possible avoid it.
True story, just 2 -3 weeks ago. Pulled off wb i94 at Snelling exit. The corner beggar was relieving himself towards the bridge abutment. When he finished, he bent down, retrieved a clear, flat bottle with a whiskey colored liquid and took a swig and placed the bottle back in the snow, cause keeping it cool is important. Then proceeded to unfold his cardboard sign that proclaimed he was homeless, anything helped and God bless.
Used to be, you could tell when Spring was coming because just like the swallows returning from Capistrano, the bums returned to St. Paul. In those days, bums were snowbirds – here in the summer, vacationing down south in the winter.
Then soft hearted do-gooders decided we needed to keep the bums here all winter so they built places for bums to eat and sleep between shifts at the bridge.
I liked the old way better.