A close one!

[clodbuster]

My wife and I were shopping in Omaha yesterday at the Mall but not Westroads Mall where the shooting happened.  It was just 5 miles west of where we were.  According to Omaha TV news the killer kid had received $250,000 worth of psychological treatment while a ward of the state.  The one thing he didn't get was a set of parents that cared for him.  Cost to the taxpayers priceless.  This just underlines the obvious once again.  More government spending cannot solve problems that should be cared for by the nuclear family.  A caring Mom and Dad are still a vital part of medicine for most problems.   

[beemanbeme]

I haven't followed it too closely but I thought he was 21 or 22 years old and his parents had just kicked him out of the house.  To my way of thinking, 21 or 22 ain't no kid.  Too many good men that were 17, 18 and 19 years of age have paid the ultimate price for this country to be calling some 21 year old loser a "kid".  Maybe he should have tried $250,000.00 worth of Marine Corp boot camp therapy. 
If he had $250,000.00 worth of head shrinking behind him and knew enough to blame his parents for everything, somewhere in that $250,000.00 he should have learnt he was a big boy now and needed to start being responsible for himself. If he hadn't, he should have blamed his head doctor for everything. Not everybody has a Beaver Cleaver upbringing. And the world is not a just place, it is just a place.  At a certain time, you quit whining, take yourself in hand and get on with life. Its called growing up.
I feel sorry for his victims.

[clodbuster]

Beeman   I would judge from your comments that you have never had a close relationship with someone  suffering from a serious mental illness or you wouldn't tell them to suck it up and get over it.  I'm not saying its not the responsibility of the patient to participate in their treatment,  they must if it is to succeed.   This 19 year old did not kill those innocents because he lost a burgerstore job and no, a good marine corps kick in the ass is not always the cure for mental illness.  As far as kicked out of the house by his parents, its more like washing their hands of the inconvenience of him.  The problem goes back several years when a 14 year old had to be made a ward of the state.   Oh great, foster care.   This country has pretty much turned the mentally ill out on their own.  I don't have the answer to this problem but millions of citizens suffer these horrible problems.  Today a city mourns, families suffer, businesses are closed.  Don't we want to get a real solution for this?

[alsaqr]

"This country has pretty much turned the mentally ill out on their own."

They did that 30-40 years ago.  Now when a mental case commits a violent crime they put him in prison, thorazine his butt and call him a behavioral problem.   Doing away with mental institutions was a bi-partisan issue.   The  Democrats saw no need for mental institutions and the Republicans did not want to spend the money. 

[beemanbeme]

Well, Clodbuster, since you are so quick to judge me, I guess that gives me the same privilege. I judge you to be a bleeding heart liberal apologist that is the reason we have so many of these problems.  And before I wash my hands of this thread, believe me, I am certainly not someone you would want to tell that they are unfamiliar with folks/kids with mental and social problems. I'm 70 years of age and my creds go back to when I was a "kid" of 22, doing volunteer work (that means unpaid) at Tall Trees in Memphis, TN. Tall trees was a home for first offenders. This was after a tour in the Marine Corp had helped me get my life on track after a tormented youth.  While I lived in Memphis, I helped out at Tenn Psychiatric and several other agencies for the indigenous and impaired. I was an instructor in the "Each one teach one" adult literacy program.  When I moved to Tulsa, I instigated and formed a community help group where I worked called "We don't just work here".  
There are so many programs and entitlements that only a few do not learn how to work the system.  Only a few do not learn how to play to the nickle seats full of bleeding heart liberals that are quick to point out how the state failed, how the parents failed, how the system failed but do nothing to correct it.  Only a few don't learn how to say the right words to stay on the gravy train when what many of them need is a DI to kick 'em in the butt and tell 'em to grow up. So I felt very comfortable making the assessment that I did. I do understand that there is no one size fits all. At least he did take his own life after killing those innocent people (think about wives and husbands and children at Christmas) so some bleeding heart won't be able to rush in and suggest that he needs another $250,000.00 worth of head doctoring.
And so, Clodbuster, how many disadvantaged kids have you had in your home?  How many orphans have you taken fishing?  How many angry teenagers have you looked in the eye and told "if you want to be treated like a man, act like a man!"  
Any of my other character faults that you'd like to point out?  

[Chilachuck]

The foster mother said that when she got him, he was curled in a fetal position and had bloody finger nails from chewing them. A kid really can be destroyed, and he can remain a destroyed person for years if he does not have a template to put over his life or can get somewhere without pressure and minimal human contact so he can heal as much as he can.

(It took 4 years semi isolated out in the woods for me to get straightened out. I'm not saying that's what everyone needs, though. Some people would be worse off if they tried it.)

The Marines can provide a pattern for some kids to follow, but some kids would be destroyed even worse if they were forced into that route.

Yeah, I pity him, but that does not mean I accept him destroying others. The chain of destruction has to be stopped some where. Better him dead than dozens of others dead.

[dw06]

I try to see something good in any thing,same with this thread.Learned something today about beemanbeme.After reading his post,and what he has actuality done,my hat is off to you sir.Thank you for sharing.
As for government spending solving our problems,hell  I knew that 40 years ago.If $250,000 was spent on this a$$ what a waste of hard earned tax payer money!He had parents and from what I've seen they got tired of his bs and threw him out.The woman who took him in and tried to help him out is the unsung hero here imo.What a lady!

[clodbuster]

Beeman I guess even though we have much in common in the history of our lives; we see things from the opposite end of the spectrum.  Anyone in my life will tell you I believe in personal responsibility but I wouldn't tell a mental patient to "suck it up and get well" any more than a diabetic.  I commend your service to others.  Too many people are focused on only what they can do for themselves and what they can get from others.  None of my comments were made as an attack towards you.  I apologize if they seemed so.  Merry Christmas to you and all at Graybeard