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We Should Get Our Priorities Straight
Townhall.com ^ | February 6, 2021 | Kathryn Lopez

Posted on 02/06/2021 5:56:49 AM PST by Kaslin

You may have heard that a 9-year-old was recently pepper-sprayed by a police officer in Rochester, New York. But did you happen to watch the whole 10-minute video of what transpired? There is so much more going on there than just another police brutality story. It's a window into pain.

The police were called to a domestic disturbance. According to the mother, mental illness is involved. It's a sometimes under-the-radar plague in our country -- certainly for the individuals and families suffering from it. And the children!

The Pennsylvania Parent and Family Alliance shared one mother's reaction to the incident on its Facebook page, relating some of her family's experiences of having to make frantic 911 calls in fear of her child hurting herself or someone else, with police having to handcuff her child for the sake of everyone, including herself. Her 13-year-old is currently in residential treatment because "only a hospital setting" can keep her safe.

"I have received death threats that ended with my child in police custody. I have been physically attacked with fists, with feet, and with broken glass. I have called 911 while my other children ran to a neighbor's home for safety. I have cleaned and bandaged my child's self-harm wounds. I have been to the ER and been to the ER and been to the ER," the woman writes. She suggests that the media spend more time asking questions about family life and needs rather than simply writing another cop brutality story.

Again, I don't know all that was going on in the Rochester situation, but it cannot be mere fodder for the woke wars. There are children in America who never have a chance. They may be victims of cycles of misery. Some of them may be sick and not have the help they need. Some of them are in homes incapable of giving them what they need because of illness, addiction and trauma.

The other day, I saw a young woman walking into a Planned Parenthood clinic while on her phone. It seemed clear the person on the other end was trying to talk her out of an abortion. One wonders what the circumstances are to make choosing life for your child not a conceivable option. We live in a time that seems to support abortion instead of working to make motherhood possible. Life is hard for families, and our culture and politics don't value them as the precious resource they are.

In a new book called "What It Means to Be Human: The Case for The Body in Public Bioethics," O. Carter Snead from the University of Notre Dame argues that our public bioethics needs to be "grounded in the whole truth of who we are and how we stand in relation to one another as vulnerable, mutually dependent, finite, and embodied beings." That would be a game-changer. Snead argues that "we can only govern ourselves wisely, humanly, and justly if we become the kind of people who can make each other's goods our own." That means doing more than putting up a sign on the lawn or assenting to the current political mantras in vogue. It means actually loving one another and working to help each other, no matter the sacrifices involved.

Before he got to the moment in the video that obviously got the most play, the police officer asked the girl what she needed. We need to ask that question more, and get creative about resources. We don't need to defund the police, but we do need get people the help they need. That's a question for civil society to take the lead on and for government to support.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: nevertrumper; plannedbutcherhood; policebrutality; priorities
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I agree completely with the author when she says "We don't need to defund the police, but we do need get people the help they need. That's a question for civil society to take the lead on and for government to support".
1 posted on 02/06/2021 5:56:49 AM PST by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

She should be happy, Biden is in office now.


2 posted on 02/06/2021 6:06:00 AM PST by PghBaldy (12/14 - 930am -rampage begins... 12/15 - 1030am - Obama's advance team scouts photo-op locations.)
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To: Kaslin

Ever wonder why so many children are being born with autism and severe behavioral abnormalities? The numbers have grown in an expotential manner since the 1960’s. If you compare graphs, the rise in autism and behavioral abnormaities closely parallels the graph that estimates the rise in American usage of illegal drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, opiods anf methamphetamines. It would appear that a good percentage of babies are born these days with scrambled brains. That is they are natural born Democrats.


3 posted on 02/06/2021 6:07:41 AM PST by allendale
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To: Kaslin

I watched the entire video. The girl was a large 9-yr. old, and out of control. I wonder if she was on psychotropic meds. If the cops had tried to man-handle her into the car, they would have been accused of groping her, or some such thing.


4 posted on 02/06/2021 6:11:36 AM PST by ryderann
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To: allendale

Your comments make a lot of sense. Thank you.


5 posted on 02/06/2021 6:15:43 AM PST by ryderann
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To: allendale

my autism theory-
All the Woodstock hippies who took chemical drugs scrambled their systems and it skipped a generation.
Their grandbabies are paying the price.
Just an opinion.


6 posted on 02/06/2021 6:15:46 AM PST by ronniesgal ( no fool like an old fool!)
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To: ryderann

we’ve tried to turn cops into social workers - message should be sent out to everyone: don’t call the cops unless you are ready for someone to get pepper sprayed, tasered, body-slammed, hand-cuffed, or - God forbid - shot.


7 posted on 02/06/2021 6:17:36 AM PST by ghost of nixon
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To: ronniesgal

The harsh, politically incorrect truth is that many women party heartily with drugs and alcohol not knowing or not caring they are pregnant. You don’t have to be an embryologist or neuroscientist to speculate what these foreign substances are doing to developing brains. Widespread illegal drug use among women was relatively rare in the United States prior to 1965. Since then it has become very common.


8 posted on 02/06/2021 6:23:45 AM PST by allendale
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To: Kaslin
According to the mother, mental illness is involved.

Well then, this is a perfect opportunity for psychiatric social workers to be called in to show us all how to defuse the situation.

9 posted on 02/06/2021 6:25:48 AM PST by Bon of Babble (In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, Baby!)
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To: allendale

yeah I guess you make a good point.
you can’t hold them responsible if they don’t know....but if they know and do it anyhow, they are horrible.


10 posted on 02/06/2021 6:29:53 AM PST by ronniesgal ( no fool like an old fool!)
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To: Kaslin

Weren’t all or most mental hospitals shut down in the later part of the Carter days? All those nuts walking around talking to themselves while pushing shopping carts were there, now they sleep on the street. Likewise for boys that think they’re girls. Get them some mental healthcare, don’t coddle their sickness.


11 posted on 02/06/2021 6:31:39 AM PST by bk1000 (Banned from Breitbart)
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To: allendale

You’re right. In the US now we have a feral society.

Bearing and rearing children is serious business, not something you do, until you decide what you really want to do. Most young women don’t look at it that way


12 posted on 02/06/2021 6:35:08 AM PST by SMARTY (“If you have ten thousand regulations, you destroy all respect for the law.” Winston Churchill)
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To: allendale

The spike in autism parallels the use of mercury as a preservative in vaccines.

Just saying.


13 posted on 02/06/2021 7:11:00 AM PST by MercyFlush (Donald Trump is my President and Free Republic is my social media!)
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To: Kaslin
In a new book called "What It Means to Be Human: The Case for The Body in Public Bioethics," O. Carter Snead from the University of Notre Dame argues that our public bioethics needs to be "grounded in the whole truth of who we are and how we stand in relation to one another as vulnerable, mutually dependent, finite, and embodied beings." That would be a game-changer. Snead argues that "we can only govern ourselves wisely, humanly, and justly if we become the kind of people who can make each other's goods our own." That means doing more than putting up a sign on the lawn or assenting to the current political mantras in vogue. It means actually loving one another and working to help each other, no matter the sacrifices involved.

There's actually already a Book like that. It's called the Bible.

14 posted on 02/06/2021 7:32:24 AM PST by Sirius Lee (They intend to murder us. Prep if you want to live and live like you are prepping for eternal life)
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To: Kaslin

Oh, I watched the video of that incident in Rochester. I don’t know if it was so much an incident of poor mental health, or if it was a matter of general negritude.


15 posted on 02/06/2021 7:37:14 AM PST by Responsibility2nd (Trump is a deposed Pres. in exile. America is truly a banana republic. Our govt. has been overthrown)
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To: bk1000

Here in California, it was under Reagan. An unholy alliance of budget-cutters and the ACLU made it impossible to institutionalize the crazies against their will.


16 posted on 02/06/2021 7:59:10 AM PST by RedStateRocker ("Never miss a good chance to Shut Up" - Will Rogers)
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To: Kaslin

“”the police officer asked the girl what she needed””

Don’t ever ask Kamala that question!


17 posted on 02/06/2021 8:07:23 AM PST by Thank You Rush ( )
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To: allendale

I read a few months ago that autism is being linked to older fathers. As people are delaying having children more and more, I think this could be a reason for the sharp rise in cases. Having said that, the “Mental Health Industry” also has incentive to push for more and more “conditions” they can add to their DSM manuals. I NEVER heard of austism growing up, it’s only been in the last 15 years that this “condition” has been pushed in society.


18 posted on 02/06/2021 4:21:46 PM PST by Amberdawn (Want To Honor Our Troops? Then Be A Citizen Worth Fighting For.)
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To: MercyFlush

Possibly, but as I mentioned in another post, autism is being linked to older fathers. I think of DeNiro and his son.


19 posted on 02/06/2021 4:23:40 PM PST by Amberdawn (Want To Honor Our Troops? Then Be A Citizen Worth Fighting For.)
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To: Sirius Lee

Exactly. People need to stop referring to Conehead social “scientists” who’ll only suggest the same failed policies of the last 50 years.


20 posted on 02/06/2021 4:25:42 PM PST by Amberdawn (Want To Honor Our Troops? Then Be A Citizen Worth Fighting For.)
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