Bully Sets Girl's Hair on Fire in School

Well, those of us in Colorado (all what? two of us?) also read the Rocky Mountain News which is slightly less sensationalist. Yes the incident did happen, but the knife in question was plastic, not real. School officials are red-faced, admitting the incident was deplorable and the boy who did this HAS been disciplined. The acting principle of the school will probably end up being disciplined as well, for his mishandling of the incident.

Here's what the Rocky Mountain said on its Op-Ed page: "Children can be cruel, of course, but they can also be held to standards, if not of empathy, then decency. But they also need adults around them who live by those standards and who expect them to do the same."

...Long Silence...

Colorado is a state where the disabled are expected to live on $140.00 a month plus $140.00 in food stamps until they are approved for Federal Aid. That's it. Period. End of the discussion. There is NO medical help. With the recent HUD cuts, there is NO help with housing. The waiting period to get on SSI/SSDI in Colorado averages two years or more. Waits of 3, 4, and 5 years are common. I spoke with the local Democratic representative for my area who serves in the Colorado State Legislature about the largely Republican legislature's attitude to the disabled. This man said, and I quote, "The Republican majority in the Colorado legislature don't care about the disabled. The instructions come out from party leaders and they vote the straight party line. They believe that the disabled of Colorado deserve what they get." End Quote.

OK. "minen kinden," here's a little exercise in logic for you. Take a group of people who have become disabled for non-work related reasons. These people are already too ill or too injured to work anymore. Put them out on the streets with $140 a month food stamps and $140 cash a month. Don't help them with the prescriptions they almost certainly need. Don't give them any but the most minimalist medical care. For God's sake, don't give them shelter, or if you must, make sure its in an environment where they are likely to be victimized by crimes such as knifings, rapes, and muggings. Tell these disabled folks to go play nicely out there until the Federal Government calls them to come in and eat a few left over scraps from the dinner table two or three years later.

How many places should you set at the table when that bell finally rings? Hint: All essays returned using the phrase "arbeit macht frie" will be given an automatic "A+".

That kid in Denver was doing to that disabled little girl exactly what the adult world in the state of Colorado had modeled for him. He just hasn't picked up on how to be less blatant about it yet (Yes, I'm back on my soap box. But I LIVED this reality and until it stops being the reality for the disabled in much of this country, I'm not shutting up.).