My friend pointed me here tonight:
http://thinkprogress.org/ --
quote:
NH GOP Senator Says The Mentally Ill Are ‘Defective People’ That Should Be Shipped Off To Siberia
State budget writers looking for cash to balance the books have stripped a cumulative $1.8 billion from mental health services over the last 2 1/2 years, with some states like Kentucky slashing their spending by as much as 47 percent. This is particularly alarming when viewed alongside incidents like the mass shooting by Jared Loughner, who many suggest was mentally disturbed.
In light of this huge wave of cuts, Sharon Omand, a community health care center manager and resident of Stafford, New Hampshire, called her state senator Martin Harty (R) recently to request more funding for community mental health programs and for the homeless. Omand was shocked by Harty’s response. The state senator told her the world is too populated and that there are too many defective people. When Omand asked what should be done with these defective people that are mentally ill, Harty suggested sending them to Siberia, something that he said Hitler was right to do
OK, Harty is described as being 90 years old:
quote:
Harty has not apologized for making his comments. Republican State House Speaker William O’Brien said that at Harty’s age [90 years old], he has earned the right to say what he thinks, but ‘he needs to appreciate that as a representative, he will be held to a higher standard.’
With all due respect (meant entirely in the Woody-Allen sense), since at that age I would deservedly be challenged as to my ability to continue driving, I should expect one to be challenged as to one's ability
to run a state.
For one thing, Hitler never ever decided to send anyone to Siberia, no matter how mentally deficient. No, he (or at least his minions) painted up buses or trucks to depict them as going to really fun places. And they loaded them up with mental deficients to go on really fun excursions to really fun places. And they piped the exhaust of the vehicle into the passenger space in order to kill them by carbon-monoxide poisoning. At 90 years old, Harly should know his history (or rather what to us is history, but to him was current events). You don't ship them out, but rather you kill them right here.
My brother-in-law is a life-long Republican and a fundamentalist (of the Chuck Smith variety, quite literally) for the past couple decades. He has since retired, about a decade ago. He really surprised me a few years ago when he said, "I've come to realize that the Republicans are not my friends."
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