LIVE AT FIVESEVEN: 11.21.13

You may or may not remember Bill Schmalfeldt’s personal hero, Alabama crazy-blogger Roger Shuler, who got locked up last month for contempt of court after publishing unsubstantiated defamation against evil Republicans who (in Roger’s delusional mind) are conspiring with Karl Rove to silence courageous truth-teller Roger Shuler.

If you remember this kook — see my Oct. 30 American Spectator column, “Crazy in Alabama” to refresh your memory — then you may also remember that First Amendment advocate Ken White of Popehat believes that Roger Shuler’s rights were infringed. It is necessary to keep in mind two key points about this case:

Roger Shuler has rights, just like any other American; and
Roger Shuler is crazy as hell.

Well, the Alabama judge handed down an injunction against Roger Shuler this week and, while still maintaining that there are vital First Amendment issues involved, Ken White observes:

However, Roger Shuler continues to be the biggest impediment to vindication of Roger Shuler’s rights. His behavior is calculated to court martyrdom, not to protect his First Amendment rights. That’s a shame.

Yeah, it may be a shame, but it may also be a symptom.

Crazy people act in ways that are harmful to their best interests, Q.E.D.

Elsewhere, Ken White examines Roger Schuler’s complaint that the Shelby County Sheriff’s Department infringed his rights:

A helpful tipster sent me the Shelby County Sheriff’s return of service and log of service attempts. The log generally supports the assertion (admitted by Shuler) that Shuler was evading service of process, which is part of the pattern of nutty pro se conduct that contributed to his trouble.

“The pattern of nutty pro se conduct.” Roger Shuler has been acting as his own attorney. If Roger Shuler was a competent attorney, he would advise his client Roger Shuler to plead insanity.

Category: Roger Shuler

What? Those ‘Toxic Little Queens’ at MSNBC Don’t Want Alec Baldwin Back?

Posted on | November 20, 2013 | 51 Comments

Evil Blogger Lady calls attention to the shocking news — shocking! — that the network suits aren’t eager for a return to Baldwinism:

Alec Baldwin is not welcome back at MSNBC because of his infamous angry behavior, network insiders say — including complaining that “the air at 30 Rock is too dry.”
Sources exclusively tell us that MSNBC chiefs are not exactly falling over themselves to get boisterous Baldwin back in the building. One insider said, “He would only show up at work an hour a week to prep for the show, and when he did turn up, he was in an angry mood, red-faced, and shouting at all the staff. And he said the air at 30 Rock was too dry, it was bad for his voice, he needed a humidifier.” . . .
According to Deadline.com, Baldwin’s last show hit a demo low, pulling in only 101,000 viewers aged 25 to 54 against 395,000 total viewers — a 41 percent drop from the 172,000 viewers 25 to 54 who watched the Oct. 11 debut. MSNBC suspended Baldwin this month after he hurled an anti-gay slur at a paparazzo. He apologized, “I did not intend to hurt or offend anyone with my choice of words.”

Moral of the story: You can’t be an overbearing egomaniacal a–hole on TV unless you deliver good ratings.

Category: Celebrities, MSNBC

English Professor to GOP Congressman: ‘Motherfker … Evil … Fk You’

Posted on | November 20, 2013 | 35 Comments

Matthew Boyle at Breitbart.com has the story of Langston University Professor Larry Van Meter’s obscenity-strewn rant at Arkansas Rep. Tim Griffin. The best part? Van Meter is an English professor.

You stay classy, liberal academia!

Category: Education

Sarcasm Therapy: A Hope for Cure?

Posted on | November 20, 2013 | 40 Comments

It’s astounding.
Time is fleeting.
Madness takes its toll . . .
— “The Time Warp,” The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

Mental illness is a serious problem, but taking your problems too seriously? That will drive you nuts — says the guy who’s being sued for $1 million by a convicted bomber.

Amid the swirling madness of life in the Obama Age, having a sense of humor is the only hope for maintaining sanity. The ability to laugh at your problems is an indication that you have sufficient emotional distance to see how objectively absurd your situation is.

The ghastly seriousness of what happened Tuesday in Virginia cannot be overemphasized. The New York Times reports:

On Monday, state mental health officials unsuccessfully sought to find a bed in a hospital psychiatric ward for Gus Deeds, who had undergone an evaluation, according to Mary Ann Bergeron, the executive director of the Virginia Association of Community Services Boards.
None could be found and he returned home, even though a magistrate had issued an order of involuntary commitment. “In that particular rural area of the state, it is not unusual to have contacted anywhere from seven to 15 hospitals” looking for an available bed, Ms. Bergeron said.
Dennis A. Cropper, executive director of Rockbridge Area Community Services, said Gus Deeds was evaluated at Bath Community Hospital, according to The Richmond Times-Dispatch. Mr. Cropper issued a statement late Tuesday declining to elaborate, citing the family’s wish for privacy.
In the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings in 2007 by a mentally ill gunman, the state made it easier to get involuntary commitment orders.

It is important to note that we do not yet know what kind of problem led to this involuntary commitment order. A lot of commenters were speculating last night that Gus Deeds was suffering from schizophrenia, but I felt obliged to caution against such speculation.

Historian and blogger Clayton Cramer is the author of My Brother Ron: A Personal and Social History of the Deinstitutionalization of the Mentally Ill. Cramer advocates “assisted outpatient treatment, a step in between doing nothing at all, and involuntary commitment . . . an effective strategy that reduces self-harm and harm to others.” One of the problems is that too many “experts” don’t have the kind of personal experience with insanity necessary to understand it.

But why bring up 1979 now? I got better RT @Lakecrazy most of the time drugs are involved w/ mental illness too @instapundit

— Robert Stacy McCain (@rsmccain) November 20, 2013

@Lakecrazy Psilocybin and cocaine don't make for a happy time. Trust me. @instapundit

— Robert Stacy McCain (@rsmccain) November 20, 2013

Look, I joke about this, but there is nothing remotely funny about that kind of total freak-out, when you’re the one freaking out. It was a serious psychiatric situation at the time, and thank God I made it through. The point is, when I joke about kooks and lunatics, I’m speaking with the authority of direct personal experience. And if my sarcasm seems somewhat insensitive to the plight of the demented, it’s because I know that the pitiful hand-wringing pose of sensitivity isn’t really helpful to nutjobs and schizos. Unfortunately, other people don’t see it that way:

Since the 1970s, a general policy of deinstitutionalization has meant that most people suffering from mental illness are treated on an out-patient basis, with strict legal limits on involuntary commitment, which is only for those who can be proven a danger to themselves or others. Deinstitutionalization has been facilitated by improvements in psychiatric medication, especially the development of advanced anti-depressants like Prozac and Paxil, known as selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Such drugs have side-effects, however, and outpatient treatment means that there is no supervision of whether the medications are being taken as prescribed, so that there is always the problem of people who are, in the colloquial phrase, “off their meds.”
Colloquial phrases for mental illness are frowned upon in an age where sympathy for the deranged is supposed to override our concern for public safety. To call them nuts, lunatics, or wackos might hurt their feelings or perpetuate a social stigma. People who pride themselves on being well-meaning, enlightened, and sophisticated — “the anointed,” as Thomas Sowell called them — regard the mentally ill as victims of society. . . .

Please read the whole thing at The American Spectator. And next time I tell you somebody’s crazy, trust me: I’m an expert in crazy.

Category: Crime, Health Care, Virginia

LIVE AT FIVE: 11.20.13

Posted on | November 20, 2013 | 9 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho

TOP NEWS
Supremes Refuse To Block Texas Abortion Law

Abortion Barbie addresses other pro-death agitators after the bill was passed in July

Court gives 5-4 thumbs down to Planned Parenthood

PRC Finally Sends Aid To Philippines
Hospital ship leaves port to help with disaster relief

Beirut Bombs Strike At Assad’s Allies
Al-Qaeda claims credit for bombing Iranian embassy in retaliation for Hezbollah support of Assad

POLITICS
Sen. Sessions Warns Solar City Could Be Next Solyndra

Obama talks to Solar City investor Elon Musk, one of many Obama donors involved in flaky solar firm

Firm received millions in tax credits while losing $322M since 2008

Florida Congressman Charged With Cocaine Possession

Albuquerque Voters Reject Late-Term Abortion Ban

Reid Backs Gillibrand On Military Sexual Assault Bill

Census Sees No “Systemic Manipulation” Of Jobs Data

White House, HHS Warned About Obamacare Website (Un)Readiness In March

Reid Considers Change To Rules As GOP Nomination Blocks Continue

Oregon Residents Demand Answers On Failure Of State’s Obamacare Website

THE ECONOMY, STUPID
Crude Oil Mixed As Obama Says Iran Nuke Deal Iffy: NYMEX $93.65, Brent $107.24
JP Morgan’s $13B Deal With DOJ: Protection Money Paid To Prevent Future Lawsuits?
Yellen Claims Fed Averted Worse Economic Slide
Share Prices Ebb, Pulled Down By Poor Earnings
SEC Examiner Arrested, Charged With False Financial Statements
Asian Shares Tick Down, Bernanke Comments Support
Carriers Reject Kill Switch For Stolen Cellphones
Google To Remove Photo Of Dead Teenager From Street View
FCC Chairman Calls For Transformation Of Phone Technology
Russia’s Mall.ru Arrives In US With iOS, Android Apps
CenturyLink Scoops Up Cloud Services Provider Tier 3

SPORTS
Tuukka Rask Steals One For The B’s

Career-high 43 saves

Bruins outplayed by Rangers, but Rask saves the day and a 2-1 win for Boston

Padres, Josh Johnson Agree To One-Year Deal

Celts Pummeled In Houston Humbling

Tribe Signs David Murphy Away From Rangers

Lindsey Vonn Injured In Training Crash

Cousins’ Double-Double Rallies Kings Past Suns

Oilers Rout Blue Jackets 7-0

Nats Sign Chris Young To Minor League Deal, Name Bob Henley Third Base Coach

FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
Evan Rachel Wood: Why I Won’t Release My Baby’s Name

Staying mum on motherhood

“It’s such a shame when kids get harassed just because of who their parents are before they’re old enough to decide who they are or who they want to be.”

NeNe Leakes: Thanks For All The Support!

Winona Ryder Says “Beetlejuice 2” Might Be A Thing

Kelly Clarkson Is Preggers!

Outkast To Reunite For Coachella 2014

Famous Fans Turn Out For “Catching Fire” Premiere In LA

Gucci Mane: Wacka Flocka And His Momma Ruined My Career

Forbes’ List Of The World’s Highest Paid Musicians

“Hunger Games” Screenwriter Taking On F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Last Tycoon” For HBO

Taylor Swift House Hunting In London Near Ex Harry Styles’ Digs

The REAL Drunk Housewife Of Beverly Hills? Brandi Glanville Nixes Intervention By Concerned Co-Stars

Brittany Murphy’s Father Claims Her Hair Shows Evidence Of Rat Poison

FOREIGNERS
Indian Markets Rising In Expectation of Modi, BJP Government
Car Bomb Kills Ten Egyptian Soldiers In Sinai
Indonesia Halts Aussie Cooperation Over Spying Row
Rescue Workers Seek Survivors After South African Mall Collapse
Rob Ford’s Lawyer Disputes City Council’s “Symbolic Hanging”
Thai Court Ruling Deals New Blow To Government
Wave Of Attacks In Baghdad; At Least 21 Dead

BLOGS & STUFF
Dead Republican Party: Traitorous Oath-Breakers Among Us
Proof Positive: Nuttier Than Squirrel Poop
The Looking Spoon: Van Damme And Volvo Have Nothing On This REAL Epic Split
First Street Journal: Obama Administration Failures Are Starting To Catch Up To The Democrats
Doug Powers: Obama Claims 100 Million Have Enrolled In Obamacare While Biden Angles To Pin Blame For Disaster On God
Twitchy: More “Real Reporters” Fall For Fake Congressman’s Twitter Account
American Power: Greta Van Susteren Exposes Murderous Black Thugs’ “Knockout Game”
American Thinker: Obama’s Iran Moves Could Start World War III
Blackmailers Don’t Shoot: Some Volbeat
The Necropolitan Sentinel: Obamacare Watch – The Actuaries Speak
Don Surber: Daily Scoreboard, November 20
Jammie Wearing Fools: Obama Explains Away His Incompetence – GOP “Invested” In Health Law Failing
JustOneMinute: Buggy? It’s Not Built Yet!
Pat Dollard: Hundreds Of Illegal Aliens Captured On Arizona Military Base
Protein Wisdom: On The Heels Of A Chest Cold
Shot In The Dark: Abuses And Usurpations
The Jawa Report: Vote Hadzovic!
The Lonely Conservative: IT Experts Say Obamacare “Mother Lode” For Identity Theft
Megan McArdle: Obama Breaks The Health Care Law To Save It

Category: Live at Five

Gus Deeds: What Went Wrong?

Posted on | November 19, 2013 | 60 Comments

Following up on today’s tragedy in Virginia — state Sen. Creigh Deeds was severely stabbed by his 24-year-old son, who evidently shot himself to death — I’m trying to find what led to the fatal conflict.

The good news, insofar as anything in this kind of situation can be “good news,” is that Sen. Deeds’ medical condition has been upgraded from “critical” to “fair,” meaning that he is likely to recover.

The Washington Post already has online a detailed and lengthy article:

The younger Deeds, who had withdrawn last month as a student at the College of William and Mary, underwent a mental health evaluation on Monday at a local hospital performed under an emergency custody order, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported. But the son was released from Bath County Community Hospital because no psychiatric beds were available across a wide area of western Virginia, the paper reported.
“This was preventable,” said Sen. Richard Saslaw (D-Fairfax), adding that a “breakdown in the mental health system” led to a lack of beds and prevented medical authorities from holding the younger Deeds. . . .
Dennis Cropper, the executive Director of the Rockbridge County Community Services Board, told the Richmond Times-Dispatch that Gus Deeds on Monday had undergone a mental health evaluation performed under an emergency custody order. Cropper told the paper that the younger Deeds was released from Bath County Community Hospital because no psychiatric beds were available across a wide area of western Virginia.
In a statement, the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg said Gus Deeds had been enrolled as a student there since 2007 and withdrew last month. Geller said it was not immediately clear whether Gus Deeds lived at his father’s home. . . .
Sarah E. King, 27, of Bodega Bay, Calif., has known the Deeds family all of her life. She grew up about 15 minutes from their home and attended William and Mary with Gus Deeds. She is good friends with Rebecca Deeds.
“I can’t even really process it. It’s really ground-shaking, not only for all the Deeds, but the entire community,” King said. “Everyone is just devastated.”
Heather Hannah, who attended elementary and high school with Gus Deeds, saw him two weeks ago at a nearby Pizza Hut. She said the younger Deeds seemed like he was in good spirits.
“I asked him if he was doing all right and he said he was good,” Hannah said.
Hannah described Gus Deeds as intelligent and happy-go-lucky. She said he played in the marching and concert bands at Bath County High School. He played the trombone and harmonica. Hannah remembers Gus Deeds as a talented musician. For talent shows, he performed bluegrass numbers with a group of other students.
It was not immediately clear what prompted the effort to seek the emergency mental health evaluation for Gus Deeds.

Read the whole thing. These are the questions: Why had Gus Deeds dropped out of college? Why would this “happy-go-luck” musician spiral off into viral madness with such apparent suddenness? What led to the “emergency evaluation” for Gus Deeds?

The obvious hunch in this kind of situation is that the kid was on drugs, but nobody is actually saying that yet. At this point, most of the attention is on the shortage of psychiatric beds that led to Gus Deeds being turned loose Monday. But why was this kid in need of psychiatric treatment? No answers for that yet. If you see anything, please link it in the comments or send it to me on Twitter.

UPDATE: Clayton Cramer notes research showing “that 20% of the state to state variation in murder rates could be explained by availability of psychiatric beds.” That’s very interesting as a matter of public policy, of course. Right now, however, I’m just trying to get the facts behind this particular crime.

Category: Crime, Health Care, Virginia

UPDATE: Virginia State Sen. Creigh Deeds Was ‘Stabbed Numerous Times’ by His Son, Who Died of Self-Inflicted Gunshot UPDATE: Son Had ‘Emergency’ Psychiatric Evaluation Monday

Posted on | November 19, 2013 | 57 Comments

UPDATE 1:50 p.m. ET: Austin “Gus” Deeds underwent a psychiatric evaluation less than 24 hours before stabbing his father, Virginia state Sen. Creigh Deeds, and then committing suicide Tuesday, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports:

Gus Deeds had been released Monday following a mental health evaluation performed under an emergency custody order. . .
A source told the Richmond Times-Dispatch that the emergency custody order, or ECO, allowed Gus Deeds to be held as long as four hours to determine whether he should be held longer, up to 72 hours, under a temporary detention order.
The son was evaluated Monday by the Rockbridge Area Community Services Board in Lexington. An emergency custody order can be issued by any magistrate.
A source said no psychiatric bed was available, which is why Gus Deeds was released.

A horrible tragedy, made all the worse by knowledge that it could have been prevented if officials had recognized the danger.

* * * PREVIOUSLY (11:42 a.m. ET) * * *

Breaking news this morning from Charlottesville, Virginia, and the situation is still developing. However, it appears that state Sen. Creigh Deeds, who was the unsuccessful 2009 Democrat candidate for governor, was seriously stabbed by his own son, who then committed suicide. Authorities say the son, who had previously been reported as having substance abuse problems, apparently shot himself to death, while Sen. Deeds is hospitalized in critical condition.

UPDATE: NBC News confirms:

Virginia State Sen. Creigh Deeds was stabbed by his son, Austin “Gus” Deeds, before the son fatally shot himself, Democratic sources tell News4.
Gus Deeds died at the scene, and Creigh Deeds is in critical condition in the intensive care unit of the University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville, the sources said.
The incident happened in Creigh Deeds’ Bath County home (property seen in the picture below) Tuesday morning, topolice were called at 7:25 a.m. Deeds was transported by helicopter to the medical center.

UPDATE II: Statement by Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell:

“In this tough and sad time, our thoughts and prayers are with the Deeds family. The news from this morning is utterly heartbreaking. Creigh Deeds is an exceptional and committed public servant who has always done what he believes is best for Virginia and who gives his all to public service. He cares deeply about Virginia, and the people of Virginia care deeply for him. I urge all Virginians today to join me in praying for a full and complete recovery for Creigh and for many more years of his public service to the Commonwealth. At this moment, our state unites in prayer for Creigh Deeds and his family.”

UPDATE III: Latest from the Roanoke Times:

Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Bath County, is being treated for stab wounds to the head and upper torso at the University of Virginia Medical Center, Virginia State Police said at an afternoon media conference.
Deeds’ son, Gus, 24, died of a gunshot wound at the family’s home in the 0 block of Vineyard Drive in Millboro, state police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said.
The motive is still being investigated, Geller said.
Another media conference is scheduled for 3 p.m. today. . . .
Deeds and [his son], now deceased from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, were the only people at the residence at the time of the stabbing, state police Sgt. Mike King confirmed at the scene.
Deeds was stabbed numerous times before walking down a private drive and out on to Virginia 42, where he was picked up by a cousin who lives nearby, King said. Deeds was airlifted from the cousin’s farm, King added.
It was unclear how Deeds contacted the cousin.

The senator’s son, Austin “Gus” Deeds, was a 20-year-old student at the College of William & Mary in 2009 when he was charged with illegal underage possession of alcohol, although those charges were later dropped. If the son had other substance abuse problems or mental health issues, they had not previously made news.

UPDATE IV: The Roanoke Times has now done a write-through of its article, adding further information:

Deeds was stabbed “numerous times about the head and upper torso,” state police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said during a news conference at Virginia State Police headquarters in Albemarle County today. . . .
Gus Deeds, 24, was found inside the residence with life-threatening injuries from a gunshot wound, Geller said, but despite the response of emergency personnel, the senator’s son died at the scene. . . .
Deeds was born in Richmond in 1958, the son of a former Richmond police officer and state worker. His parents divorced when he was 7, and he moved with his mother and younger brother, Greg, to the Millboro farm of his maternal grandparents in Bath County, where his grandfather, Austin Creigh Tyree, was chairman of the Democratic committee.
Deeds and his first wife, Pamela Kay Miller, had four children: Amanda,, Rebecca, Gus, and Susannah. . . .
Deeds and his first wife divorced in 2010. The Washington Post reported at the time that the marriage was “a casualty of a nearly 20-year pursuit of a lifelong ambition that kept him away from home.”
Deeds married Siobhan Gilbride Lomax of Lexington in June 2012.

Category: Crime

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The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

LIVE AT FIVESEVEN: 11.21.13

Kook Update: Roger Shuler

What? Those ‘Toxic Little Queens’ at MSNBC Don’t Want Alec Baldwin Back?

English Professor to GOP Congressman: ‘Motherfker … Evil … Fk You’

Sarcasm Therapy: A Hope for Cure?

LIVE AT FIVE: 11.20.13

Gus Deeds: What Went Wrong?

UPDATE: Virginia State Sen. Creigh Deeds Was ‘Stabbed Numerous Times’ by His Son, Who Died of Self-Inflicted Gunshot UPDATE: Son Had ‘Emergency’ Psychiatric Evaluation Monday

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