Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We should focus on housing, providing mental health services and other holistic wrap around services for teens and the mentally ill.... many of whom are Vietnam veterans.

I heard someone on the radio mention they are a social worker and found teens who are committing the acts do not have food in their homes and are often unsupervised due to lack of proper parental care.

This country should be ashamed of itself for not doing enough for its taxed citizens.

Failure to care for everyone in society leads to these kind of outcomes.

Uh... what? Vietnam vets are in their 70s and 80s now, if they are still alive. I do not think that's the primary source of criminality in the District in 2024. I mean, we should absolutely provide services to veterans, and mental health and related problems (including unemployment and homelessness) are still a major risk for vets. But most vets come from enlisted services these days and the VA actually offers pretty good services -- the problem is often making sure that vets have proper knowledge of available services and ensuring they have legal or other representation to help them navigate the agency.

Most of the troubling mental illness we see in DC right now, which is leading to a lot of the crime we are seeing, is the result of people who are veterans of... growing up in DC. Sad to say it, but I'd rather spend a tour in Iraq than spend my youth and adolescence in certain DC neighborhoods. This is a homegrown issue.

Many of the unhoused claim to be Vietnam vets. Are you saying they are liars?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We should focus on housing, providing mental health services and other holistic wrap around services for teens and the mentally ill.... many of whom are Vietnam veterans.

I heard someone on the radio mention they are a social worker and found teens who are committing the acts do not have food in their homes and are often unsupervised due to lack of proper parental care.

This country should be ashamed of itself for not doing enough for its taxed citizens.

Failure to care for everyone in society leads to these kind of outcomes.

Uh... what? Vietnam vets are in their 70s and 80s now, if they are still alive. I do not think that's the primary source of criminality in the District in 2024. I mean, we should absolutely provide services to veterans, and mental health and related problems (including unemployment and homelessness) are still a major risk for vets. But most vets come from enlisted services these days and the VA actually offers pretty good services -- the problem is often making sure that vets have proper knowledge of available services and ensuring they have legal or other representation to help them navigate the agency.

Most of the troubling mental illness we see in DC right now, which is leading to a lot of the crime we are seeing, is the result of people who are veterans of... growing up in DC. Sad to say it, but I'd rather spend a tour in Iraq than spend my youth and adolescence in certain DC neighborhoods. This is a homegrown issue.

Many of the unhoused claim to be Vietnam vets. Are you saying they are liars?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We should focus on housing, providing mental health services and other holistic wrap around services for teens and the mentally ill.... many of whom are Vietnam veterans.

I heard someone on the radio mention they are a social worker and found teens who are committing the acts do not have food in their homes and are often unsupervised due to lack of proper parental care.

This country should be ashamed of itself for not doing enough for its taxed citizens.

Failure to care for everyone in society leads to these kind of outcomes.

Uh... what? Vietnam vets are in their 70s and 80s now, if they are still alive. I do not think that's the primary source of criminality in the District in 2024. I mean, we should absolutely provide services to veterans, and mental health and related problems (including unemployment and homelessness) are still a major risk for vets. But most vets come from enlisted services these days and the VA actually offers pretty good services -- the problem is often making sure that vets have proper knowledge of available services and ensuring they have legal or other representation to help them navigate the agency.

Most of the troubling mental illness we see in DC right now, which is leading to a lot of the crime we are seeing, is the result of people who are veterans of... growing up in DC. Sad to say it, but I'd rather spend a tour in Iraq than spend my youth and adolescence in certain DC neighborhoods. This is a homegrown issue.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Is one of the answers voting Republican for local elections? As someone who is a lifelong Dem (and obviously voting for Biden) I'm not above exclusively voting Republican locally if it means fixing DC. I'm over talk about mental health, racism, and remediation.

In same boat and I switched to voting R in DC general elections two cycles ago. What DC really needs is an open Dem primary so independents and Rs can actually have a voice, instead of of the lunatic fringe dominating the debate (just as it dominates the primaries in exclusively red states)

As a moderate R (who also votes for moderate Dems and independents if such a unicorn should appear), I am intrigued. Is this the way to go, ranked voting, or both?

Anonymous wrote:If this man could be shot downtown on K St. NW at rush hour, it could happen to any of us. Or our teen drivers. Shooter did not even take his car. He was picking up his wife from work. Still in critical condition.

Meanwhile, the Chair of the Council plans to appoint an unqualified murderer to the Sentencing Commission.

Another daylight shooting of a driver, on Q in Dupont, during rush hour last night. That victim may be paralyzed.

There is no urgency to change things, interpret that as you will. In fact, the Council is slow rolling the vote on Pinto's crime bill so that DC Justice Lab and others have ample time to campaign against it.

At Allen's carjacking event last night, it was parents of kids who had been arrested for carjacking who were begging for accountability. Graves and Schwab? Same old, same old. Could have been 2021, excuses never change.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Is one of the answers voting Republican for local elections? As someone who is a lifelong Dem (and obviously voting for Biden) I'm not above exclusively voting Republican locally if it means fixing DC. I'm over talk about mental health, racism, and remediation.

In same boat and I switched to voting R in DC general elections two cycles ago. What DC really needs is an open Dem primary so independents and Rs can actually have a voice, instead of of the lunatic fringe dominating the debate (just as it dominates the primaries in exclusively red states)