An excellent piece, Andy. Two things I’d like to add. The first: Michael Shellenberger did a terrific talk on the subject here https://x.com/shellenberger/status/2002494700906033359. One thing that Shellenberger brings up is that Reiner himself could/should have used his Dem party clout to get Newsom to enforce laws that would protect both insane people and those they might harm. The second thing I’d like to add: we had an incident in October in Goleta that underscores the failure of our system to protect citizens from violence by mentally ill people. At the Ralph’s market in Magnolia Plaza, a mentally ill man tried to attack another man in the parking lot and stabbed the man’s dog. We knew about this man, who seemed to be homeless. We live near the open More Mesa field. In May, a young man knocked at our door, begging us to help him get his girlfriend to safety. This man was violently threatening them and the guy at our door had hidden his girlfriend and run (he was very fit) to our street for help. My husband helped get his girlfriend to safety as he asked the man to file a police report. The man and his girlfriend both refused. We called the police. They did a thorough search, but couldn’t find the mentally ill man.
Cut to October at Ralph’s when the mentally ill man attacked the other man, who wrestled the knife out of his dog and ran into Ralph’s. The mentally ill man followed and during the attempt to arrest him, the police shot and killed him. We shop at Magnolia. Only one hour before, my husband was parked right at the spot where the mentally ill man made the attack. It could have been my husband. And it could have been me, because often we park right there and I stay in our car with the window down while my husband goes into Ralph’s. I could have been stabbed in the neck by that man with no ability to defend myself.
I greatly resent the fact that this has never been adequately reported on in the Santa Barbara media. It has never been raised that this should not be happening in Santa Barbara. It should have opened questions about how to deal with our violent mentally ill people. Instead, there was a lot of sympathy for the mentally ill guy in our local Next Door and Reddit forums.
I feel sorry for the mentally ill. That’s why I want for there to be a change in the stupid “tolerant” ways in which our Democrat government is dealing — or rather, enabling violence from people who are not in control of their actions. It’s cruel to the souls of the mentally ill as well as their victims. As a psychiatrist friend of mine said to me “It’s definitely a big mess — I think there’s a lot of people who would be better off living in a supervised institution and that it would be better for the community as a whole as well.”
Seconding the recommendation for Michael Shellenberger. His book “San Fransicko” is full of fascinating tales, info and ideas, he’s super-worth following on X, and there are a bunch of good interviews with him on YouTube. He knows California really well, is all too familiar with Bay Area lib/radical politics, and sees right through the homelessness and drug-addiction industries.
I'm reminded of the efforts of the ACLU in CA. If they had not inflicted massive numbers of lawsuits on to the citizens and CA government with their 'self righteous' position on the function of government run mental institutions and civil rights, how much better would our CA society be today? The scourge of drugs has only intensified mental illness here and we're left to defend ourselves.
Julia, it’s a Democrat run state. I am not being partisan, I’m just stating a fact: Rob Reiner was one of the most powerful people in CA Democratic circles. He was friends with Newsom and Weiner. I think you’ll find the Shellenberger talk that I linked to interesting because Newsom was on the right track a few years ago about mental illness policies and then he took a different tack. You and I may disagree about politics but I think we both probably agree that the tragedy that happened to the Reiner family did not have to happen. You may be right about universal health care being the ultimate answer, but we need to fix the mental illness situation faster than that can be instated. Happy New Year, Julia! Wishing you the best 8n 2026;
I’m sorry Polly, I guess I should set things straight. When I‘m making a comment it’s usually on the national level, I’m rarely on the state level. The death of the Reiner family was a tragedy, but unfortunately, I believe it was inevitable due to all of their sons mental health issues. Happy New Year to you and yours.
In the last graph it appears that the incidence of mental illness was relatively stable until 2016 - 2017 when it began to increase and then in 2020 it appears that the slope or rate of increase in mental illness increased further. Beginning in 2016 the anti-Trump rhetoric increased and people were told that a candidate and eventual president was Hitler, going to put blacks in chains, has policies that are a threat to democracy, would accelerate global warming to the destruction of life on earth, etc. The increase in 2020 corresponds with the covid scam and the mass vaccination with an unsafe and ineffective therapy. I think it is enough to make anyone crazy.
Correlation is not causation. One could make an argument that Trump’s lies, policies, and governance during that period, and today as well, led/lead to more stress, depression, and heightened mental illnesses among the general population. As a matter of fact, in a poll among the American Assn. Of Psychiatrists, they state that anxiety, depression, and mental imbalance is spiking today with DOGE, ICE, job losses, and other administration policies to blame- directly- as reported by patients and doctors.
And your vaccination remark is just silly, in the context of the discussion. Might as well include UFOs with your reasoning!
Thank you for recognizing that the upswing of mental illness and acting out started in 2016. I’ve stated many times that Pandora’s box was opened and many evils were set free, when the maga leader started his racist and hateful rhetoric at his rallies. His followers saw how he acted and spoke so in turn, they took it as permission to act and speak the same.
Unfortunately his followers did not see the damage done the first time because it probably didn’t affect them, so they brought him back in 2024 to continue his devastation of our country. One of the many things this maga leader has done was to stop funding research for all sorts of ailments, probably included mental illness.
I did not claim causation only correlation. The American association of psychiatrists, an organization that is 90% democrat is a fine source for information regarding the impact of Trump policies. I would be concerned about DOGE if I was a useless government employee and I would be concerned about ICE if I was an illegal but most Americans applaud these efforts. As for the vaccine it did not work as advertised, it did not prevent infection or spread so having taken it there is only downside. Children were forced to take the shot who were at no risk from Covid and many have suffered from the side effects. It has caused me plenty of anxiety.
The UFO comment is just lame. Have you been hitting the J Daniel’s this morning? Probably because of the great and beautiful Donald J Trump. Long live the ballroom.
Ha! You really are quite a character! 🥳 yes, I need a shot or two after seeing that ballroom! Interesting remark, however: Now I wonder WHY 90% of psychiatrists ARE democrats, as you say?
I have a son that’s homeless, and unsure of his drug use but I know there’s mental illness. He refuses any kind of help whatsoever. It’s just painful to watch. I haven’t seen him in a year. All I have left to do is just pray.
My perspective: we are in a culture, particularly in California (need I say Santa Barbara), that promotes promises, “caring”, and sympathy, over sound results. If we become objective and hold accountable those expending the dollars and making the decisions, things will change.
Our society has to separate ideas from results, and focus on measurable outcomes. We are a nation that has landed people on the moon, received images back from rovers sent to Mars, been to the deepest depths of the oceans, fought and won the most important battles so we’re free and not speaking German exclusively, and more.
Those pulling the strings in California always blame racism, lack of money, weather, big oil, corporations, Trump, and you name it, to avoid accountability . And they keep their power base. Regardless of the billions wasted, unaccounted for, or recycled through NGO’s and non-profits to their campaigns, friends, and their pockets.
The time for change is now, but as long as we promote “promises” over results, we will fail.
Thanks, Andy, for this sobering examination of mental illness and society's refusal to face its impact on the mentally ill and their families. This is personal for me, my dear nephew was diagnosed with Schizophrenia in his senior year of high school. Not a drug abuser at all, this kid was playing varsity water polo, getting good grades, had lots of friends, and looking ahead to a wonderful life. ALL was taken from him. Rob Reiner had the money to get the best care possible for his son, and it didn't save him. Our system is such that the mentally ill must commit a crime, a felony, before they can be "treated." And then, of course, the institution is prison. My sister is her son's only advocate these past 14 years. Yet, she cannot sit in on psych. meetings because he has "rights." She fights with a revilving door of mental health staff who have litle idea of his background or what meds work and don't. when the public institutions were shuttered 50 years ago, local communities were supposed to take over -- with funding from the states and feds. The money never came. And here we are. Rob Reiner's family is high profile, but multiply them by thousands of families enduring same, without resources.
I am so sorry for your nephew and your family. My uncle Thomas Frost was the same profile as your nephew: well liked, good tennis player, good student. It came on in his teens and then, when he should not have fought in WWII, he was stationed in a submarine, the worst and came back with PTSD on top of schizophrenia. He became one of the mentally ill in LA’s Pershing Square, so my father and his family had him hospitalized in Camarillo for decades. I sat next to him when he was brought to all family dinners and functions and my granny, to her credit, visited him regularly. In the 80s he was able to live in a halfway house in Hollywood where apparently he was well liked and well doctored with his meds. When he died on the street from a heart attack a surprising number of people showed up for his memorial and talked about how much they liked him. I am pleased that he was tended in this way and able to live as much of a life as he could. Camarillo was not great in many respects at that time and my family fought a lot on his behalf. But I think it turned out as well as it could. Institutionalization until a schizophrenic can be safely on meds may be the kindest thing for everyone.
We know mental illness can manifest itself with age and drug/alcohol abuse, but what about political activism? The brutal murder of Reiner and his wife is despicable, tragic and dastardly, but was it predictable given Reiner’s non- stop rage against the President and Conservatives in general? Did Reiner’s own psychopathy influence his son? Why is it MANY celebrities on the left seem to struggle with mental illness, gender dysphoria and drug addiction?
I have no idea as to the validity of this, but mental illness does seem to affect those that consider themselves “liberal” more than others? Granted, mental illness does affect all walks of life.
We do know that Reiner was at a time, working feverishly with others in the Intelligence Community to push the Russian interference narrative in the 2016 campaign. So much so that he formed a formal working group to bring down Trump, which appeared to be sanctioned by the CIA and Hollywood.
Was Trump right in asserting that it finally drove Reiner (and son) over the edge?
My own anecdotal view while observing many on the left is one of pronounced unhappiness and despair, even rage. Could it be because many liberals consider themselves to be atheist as well which serves as a common finding?
Just look at social media platforms such as Facebook, X, Instagram, Nextdoor and Edhat to judge for yourself.
Great points. The Russian interference effort was a hoax based on fabricated intelligence and everyone should have known it. If mental illness is abandonment of objective reality, the Russia hoax and other efforts to undermine Trump satisfy that definition of mental illness. TDS is a mental illness.
"At a Saturday press conference, Sauschuck said Card had a history of mental illness, but there was no evidence that he had ever been involuntarily committed."
Some very good points were brought up in your article. One important point is missing. While drug abuse can contribute to mental illness, some sufferers of mental illness use whatever drugs available to cope with their symptoms. Better health care along with better protections for society is called for, as you point out.
Tolerance? Leaving dangerous people on the street is stupid. They should be locked up, but in a humane way. I don’t mean in a nut house like Jack Nicholson - ‘One Flew Over the CooCoo Nest’, but an environment where they could get help like 'Care Farms'.
Instead of locking people up in asylums, individuals with mental illness & drug problems live on a farm environment and help with everyday farm work - feeding animals, planting, harvesting etc., with doctors to help them & plenty of ‘supervision’ so they can’t leave.
One of your early statements in this piece mentions that sometimes the drugs given to help those with mental illness can actually cause harm making a person violent. Perhaps there should be some accountability with pharmaceuticals?
I loved Regan but his biggest mistake was shutting down mental health facilities. He turned our streets into psych wards and our policemen into social workers. Nobody is even talking about doing anything about it because they have watched time and again how the left pays bail to release these people back into society and their activist judges refuse to take them off the streets. We all know if we opened up a mental facility anywhere the left would sue any time a drug addled criminal was trying to be admitted there and they would focus 100% of their money and energy on forcing Trump and his allies into institutions. Change my mind.
The left existed before Reagan closed the facilities down. Reagan didn't 'close' the facilities as most think. Reagan did something similar to what Trump is doing. He was hell bent on doing the opposite of Carter. Anything Carter created, he wanted undone. In the Omnibus Act, he drastically cut funding, effectively shifting the financial burden to the states, knowing they did not have the money to fund the program.
The left sued to change a provision in the mental health laws. They, and this was the ACLU, who sued, and there was a Supreme Court Case - O'Connor v. Donaldson in 1975. Yes, it was a CONSERVATIVE court that penned that ruling.
Ended indefinite commitment: It stopped the practice of warehousing people in state hospitals for long periods without due process.
Established involuntary holds: It allows for short-term holds (e.g., 72-hour 5150) for evaluation if a person is a danger to themselves or others, or gravely disabled.
Created LPS Conservatorship: For individuals who are gravely disabled and unable to provide for their own basic needs, a court can appoint a conservator to make decisions about their care, treatment, and placement.
Guaranteed rights: It ensures that individuals have the same constitutional rights as everyone else, including the right to legal representation and judicial review.
Focus on least restrictive setting: The law mandates that treatment and services be provided in the least restrictive environment possible.
Recent changes:
SB 43: A recent law (SB 43) made changes to the LPS Act, updating the criteria for involuntary detention to include severe substance use disorder in addition to mental illness, and modifying the definition of "gravely disabled".
Lanterman-Petris-Short 1967 began process to move patients into the community. Napa Asylum for the Insane, and other state operated facilities such as Atascadero and Camarillo were eventually closes.
You mean trump continues to lie? According to him, it was foreign countries that were emptying their people with mental health issues into our country, and it looks like we did it to ourselves.
Hi Julia. Can you point to your source of information that ‘we did it to ourselves?’ Adding millions of unvetted illegal aliens simply poured gas on the fire of course. Trump is correct. The massive influx of illegals took a system that was barely functioning and crushed it. Not to mention soaring crime rates. Don’t get me started on the illegal alien health crisis. Rates of TB and Leprosy for example have increased in direct proportion to the number of illegals starting every year since Dems opened the border in 2020. So as always Trump is correct. In fact it is worse thsn he stated.
I will gladly give you my source of how “we did it to ourselves”. George Russell is my source. You clearly write you love Reagan, but that he let all the psychos out in our streets. As for the illegal alien health crisis with the TB and the leprosy, is that the new they’re eating the dogs, they’re eating the cats?
Lanterman-Petris-Short 1967 began process to move patients into the community. Napa Asylum for the Insane, and other state operated facilities such as Atascadero and Camarillo were eventually closed. Yes, Governor Reagan signed the act.
Andy’s article was written as if he read my mind. My comments follow:
The murder of Rob and Michele Reiner and how they handled their deeply troubled son is a perfect metaphor for our country and how we deal with our problematic persons. Hopefully, our country can avoid the same fate.
Can you imagine how Conan O’Brien feels about talking his party guests out of calling the police? If the police were called, the Reiners would very likely be alive today.
Can you imagine how the party guests feel about not calling the police?
An excellent piece, Andy. Two things I’d like to add. The first: Michael Shellenberger did a terrific talk on the subject here https://x.com/shellenberger/status/2002494700906033359. One thing that Shellenberger brings up is that Reiner himself could/should have used his Dem party clout to get Newsom to enforce laws that would protect both insane people and those they might harm. The second thing I’d like to add: we had an incident in October in Goleta that underscores the failure of our system to protect citizens from violence by mentally ill people. At the Ralph’s market in Magnolia Plaza, a mentally ill man tried to attack another man in the parking lot and stabbed the man’s dog. We knew about this man, who seemed to be homeless. We live near the open More Mesa field. In May, a young man knocked at our door, begging us to help him get his girlfriend to safety. This man was violently threatening them and the guy at our door had hidden his girlfriend and run (he was very fit) to our street for help. My husband helped get his girlfriend to safety as he asked the man to file a police report. The man and his girlfriend both refused. We called the police. They did a thorough search, but couldn’t find the mentally ill man.
Cut to October at Ralph’s when the mentally ill man attacked the other man, who wrestled the knife out of his dog and ran into Ralph’s. The mentally ill man followed and during the attempt to arrest him, the police shot and killed him. We shop at Magnolia. Only one hour before, my husband was parked right at the spot where the mentally ill man made the attack. It could have been my husband. And it could have been me, because often we park right there and I stay in our car with the window down while my husband goes into Ralph’s. I could have been stabbed in the neck by that man with no ability to defend myself.
I greatly resent the fact that this has never been adequately reported on in the Santa Barbara media. It has never been raised that this should not be happening in Santa Barbara. It should have opened questions about how to deal with our violent mentally ill people. Instead, there was a lot of sympathy for the mentally ill guy in our local Next Door and Reddit forums.
I feel sorry for the mentally ill. That’s why I want for there to be a change in the stupid “tolerant” ways in which our Democrat government is dealing — or rather, enabling violence from people who are not in control of their actions. It’s cruel to the souls of the mentally ill as well as their victims. As a psychiatrist friend of mine said to me “It’s definitely a big mess — I think there’s a lot of people who would be better off living in a supervised institution and that it would be better for the community as a whole as well.”
Seconding the recommendation for Michael Shellenberger. His book “San Fransicko” is full of fascinating tales, info and ideas, he’s super-worth following on X, and there are a bunch of good interviews with him on YouTube. He knows California really well, is all too familiar with Bay Area lib/radical politics, and sees right through the homelessness and drug-addiction industries.
You can’t mention San Francisco politics and mental illness without mentioning Scott Weiner.
https://youtu.be/eLZ2vIOrDiU?si=Og0pq8TFR-rub8p8
That is absolutely true, LT.
I'm reminded of the efforts of the ACLU in CA. If they had not inflicted massive numbers of lawsuits on to the citizens and CA government with their 'self righteous' position on the function of government run mental institutions and civil rights, how much better would our CA society be today? The scourge of drugs has only intensified mental illness here and we're left to defend ourselves.
I believe at present it’s a Republican administration. Also, this is a case for universal health care, don’t you think?
Julia, it’s a Democrat run state. I am not being partisan, I’m just stating a fact: Rob Reiner was one of the most powerful people in CA Democratic circles. He was friends with Newsom and Weiner. I think you’ll find the Shellenberger talk that I linked to interesting because Newsom was on the right track a few years ago about mental illness policies and then he took a different tack. You and I may disagree about politics but I think we both probably agree that the tragedy that happened to the Reiner family did not have to happen. You may be right about universal health care being the ultimate answer, but we need to fix the mental illness situation faster than that can be instated. Happy New Year, Julia! Wishing you the best 8n 2026;
I’m sorry Polly, I guess I should set things straight. When I‘m making a comment it’s usually on the national level, I’m rarely on the state level. The death of the Reiner family was a tragedy, but unfortunately, I believe it was inevitable due to all of their sons mental health issues. Happy New Year to you and yours.
In the last graph it appears that the incidence of mental illness was relatively stable until 2016 - 2017 when it began to increase and then in 2020 it appears that the slope or rate of increase in mental illness increased further. Beginning in 2016 the anti-Trump rhetoric increased and people were told that a candidate and eventual president was Hitler, going to put blacks in chains, has policies that are a threat to democracy, would accelerate global warming to the destruction of life on earth, etc. The increase in 2020 corresponds with the covid scam and the mass vaccination with an unsafe and ineffective therapy. I think it is enough to make anyone crazy.
Correlation is not causation. One could make an argument that Trump’s lies, policies, and governance during that period, and today as well, led/lead to more stress, depression, and heightened mental illnesses among the general population. As a matter of fact, in a poll among the American Assn. Of Psychiatrists, they state that anxiety, depression, and mental imbalance is spiking today with DOGE, ICE, job losses, and other administration policies to blame- directly- as reported by patients and doctors.
And your vaccination remark is just silly, in the context of the discussion. Might as well include UFOs with your reasoning!
Thank you for recognizing that the upswing of mental illness and acting out started in 2016. I’ve stated many times that Pandora’s box was opened and many evils were set free, when the maga leader started his racist and hateful rhetoric at his rallies. His followers saw how he acted and spoke so in turn, they took it as permission to act and speak the same.
Unfortunately his followers did not see the damage done the first time because it probably didn’t affect them, so they brought him back in 2024 to continue his devastation of our country. One of the many things this maga leader has done was to stop funding research for all sorts of ailments, probably included mental illness.
I did not claim causation only correlation. The American association of psychiatrists, an organization that is 90% democrat is a fine source for information regarding the impact of Trump policies. I would be concerned about DOGE if I was a useless government employee and I would be concerned about ICE if I was an illegal but most Americans applaud these efforts. As for the vaccine it did not work as advertised, it did not prevent infection or spread so having taken it there is only downside. Children were forced to take the shot who were at no risk from Covid and many have suffered from the side effects. It has caused me plenty of anxiety.
The UFO comment is just lame. Have you been hitting the J Daniel’s this morning? Probably because of the great and beautiful Donald J Trump. Long live the ballroom.
Let us know when you enjoy your first waltz there.
I would like to dance with you in the Big Beautiful Ballroom.
I have conditions. It has to be a Mexican band because they’re the only ones that play good dancing music.
I agree.
Ha! You really are quite a character! 🥳 yes, I need a shot or two after seeing that ballroom! Interesting remark, however: Now I wonder WHY 90% of psychiatrists ARE democrats, as you say?
I have a son that’s homeless, and unsure of his drug use but I know there’s mental illness. He refuses any kind of help whatsoever. It’s just painful to watch. I haven’t seen him in a year. All I have left to do is just pray.
I am so sorry, Matt.
I will add you in my prayers.
I’m unable to do anything unless he commits a crime or tries to harm himself my hands are tied
How are you managing to deal with this? I hope you have support for yourself.
I have my ups and downs, but my Faith keeps me on solid foundation
I can tell that you are a wonderful father. I hope 2026 brings your son back to you.
My daughter knows LA. (Press Secretary to one of last two GOP city
Councilmen) Now represents
Firemen statewide.
She tells me over 13/: of LA fire
Service calls are to homeless.
Its time to bring back vagrancy
Laws and move these folks to
Rural resident farms where they
Work for sustenance and structure.
The rest unable to do so need
Institutionalization.
The life style and expense are no
Longer supportable or defensible.
Sound points, Andy.
My perspective: we are in a culture, particularly in California (need I say Santa Barbara), that promotes promises, “caring”, and sympathy, over sound results. If we become objective and hold accountable those expending the dollars and making the decisions, things will change.
Our society has to separate ideas from results, and focus on measurable outcomes. We are a nation that has landed people on the moon, received images back from rovers sent to Mars, been to the deepest depths of the oceans, fought and won the most important battles so we’re free and not speaking German exclusively, and more.
Those pulling the strings in California always blame racism, lack of money, weather, big oil, corporations, Trump, and you name it, to avoid accountability . And they keep their power base. Regardless of the billions wasted, unaccounted for, or recycled through NGO’s and non-profits to their campaigns, friends, and their pockets.
The time for change is now, but as long as we promote “promises” over results, we will fail.
Thanks, Andy, for this sobering examination of mental illness and society's refusal to face its impact on the mentally ill and their families. This is personal for me, my dear nephew was diagnosed with Schizophrenia in his senior year of high school. Not a drug abuser at all, this kid was playing varsity water polo, getting good grades, had lots of friends, and looking ahead to a wonderful life. ALL was taken from him. Rob Reiner had the money to get the best care possible for his son, and it didn't save him. Our system is such that the mentally ill must commit a crime, a felony, before they can be "treated." And then, of course, the institution is prison. My sister is her son's only advocate these past 14 years. Yet, she cannot sit in on psych. meetings because he has "rights." She fights with a revilving door of mental health staff who have litle idea of his background or what meds work and don't. when the public institutions were shuttered 50 years ago, local communities were supposed to take over -- with funding from the states and feds. The money never came. And here we are. Rob Reiner's family is high profile, but multiply them by thousands of families enduring same, without resources.
I am so sorry for your nephew and your family. My uncle Thomas Frost was the same profile as your nephew: well liked, good tennis player, good student. It came on in his teens and then, when he should not have fought in WWII, he was stationed in a submarine, the worst and came back with PTSD on top of schizophrenia. He became one of the mentally ill in LA’s Pershing Square, so my father and his family had him hospitalized in Camarillo for decades. I sat next to him when he was brought to all family dinners and functions and my granny, to her credit, visited him regularly. In the 80s he was able to live in a halfway house in Hollywood where apparently he was well liked and well doctored with his meds. When he died on the street from a heart attack a surprising number of people showed up for his memorial and talked about how much they liked him. I am pleased that he was tended in this way and able to live as much of a life as he could. Camarillo was not great in many respects at that time and my family fought a lot on his behalf. But I think it turned out as well as it could. Institutionalization until a schizophrenic can be safely on meds may be the kindest thing for everyone.
Read the book Psychoheresy..written by a couple from Santa Barbara...it is eye opening to say the least.
I looked the book up on Amazon. Does look interesting. Thanks, Andy.
We know mental illness can manifest itself with age and drug/alcohol abuse, but what about political activism? The brutal murder of Reiner and his wife is despicable, tragic and dastardly, but was it predictable given Reiner’s non- stop rage against the President and Conservatives in general? Did Reiner’s own psychopathy influence his son? Why is it MANY celebrities on the left seem to struggle with mental illness, gender dysphoria and drug addiction?
I have no idea as to the validity of this, but mental illness does seem to affect those that consider themselves “liberal” more than others? Granted, mental illness does affect all walks of life.
We do know that Reiner was at a time, working feverishly with others in the Intelligence Community to push the Russian interference narrative in the 2016 campaign. So much so that he formed a formal working group to bring down Trump, which appeared to be sanctioned by the CIA and Hollywood.
Was Trump right in asserting that it finally drove Reiner (and son) over the edge?
My own anecdotal view while observing many on the left is one of pronounced unhappiness and despair, even rage. Could it be because many liberals consider themselves to be atheist as well which serves as a common finding?
Just look at social media platforms such as Facebook, X, Instagram, Nextdoor and Edhat to judge for yourself.
Great points. The Russian interference effort was a hoax based on fabricated intelligence and everyone should have known it. If mental illness is abandonment of objective reality, the Russia hoax and other efforts to undermine Trump satisfy that definition of mental illness. TDS is a mental illness.
Yes, TDS is a mental illness. The major population susceptible to TDS, as we have seen are magas.
Reiner even self commited for his obssession with Trump
Sorry, trump is rarely right about anything.
Thank you for bringing this sobering information forward
Maybe it will provoke discussion and create better outcomes for our citizens w substance abuse and mental health issues
I read this article titled "The Steep Price of Tolerance" by Andy Caldwell
that is really about Mental Illness. Unfortunately, "Tolerance" can get people
killed as shown here in this Mass Shooting Incident among many.
https://apnews.com/article/maine-shooting-what-we-know-40e373f7f2f0e0fb012ad4b26f4b78cd
"At a Saturday press conference, Sauschuck said Card had a history of mental illness, but there was no evidence that he had ever been involuntarily committed."
Howard Walther, member of a Military Family
Some very good points were brought up in your article. One important point is missing. While drug abuse can contribute to mental illness, some sufferers of mental illness use whatever drugs available to cope with their symptoms. Better health care along with better protections for society is called for, as you point out.
Tolerance? Leaving dangerous people on the street is stupid. They should be locked up, but in a humane way. I don’t mean in a nut house like Jack Nicholson - ‘One Flew Over the CooCoo Nest’, but an environment where they could get help like 'Care Farms'.
Instead of locking people up in asylums, individuals with mental illness & drug problems live on a farm environment and help with everyday farm work - feeding animals, planting, harvesting etc., with doctors to help them & plenty of ‘supervision’ so they can’t leave.
One of your early statements in this piece mentions that sometimes the drugs given to help those with mental illness can actually cause harm making a person violent. Perhaps there should be some accountability with pharmaceuticals?
I loved Regan but his biggest mistake was shutting down mental health facilities. He turned our streets into psych wards and our policemen into social workers. Nobody is even talking about doing anything about it because they have watched time and again how the left pays bail to release these people back into society and their activist judges refuse to take them off the streets. We all know if we opened up a mental facility anywhere the left would sue any time a drug addled criminal was trying to be admitted there and they would focus 100% of their money and energy on forcing Trump and his allies into institutions. Change my mind.
The left existed before Reagan closed the facilities down. Reagan didn't 'close' the facilities as most think. Reagan did something similar to what Trump is doing. He was hell bent on doing the opposite of Carter. Anything Carter created, he wanted undone. In the Omnibus Act, he drastically cut funding, effectively shifting the financial burden to the states, knowing they did not have the money to fund the program.
The left sued to change a provision in the mental health laws. They, and this was the ACLU, who sued, and there was a Supreme Court Case - O'Connor v. Donaldson in 1975. Yes, it was a CONSERVATIVE court that penned that ruling.
Yup. And end result is exactly as I stated above. Sadly.
Facilities such as Camarillo were shut down by the Lanterman Act.
Key aspects of the LPS Act:
Ended indefinite commitment: It stopped the practice of warehousing people in state hospitals for long periods without due process.
Established involuntary holds: It allows for short-term holds (e.g., 72-hour 5150) for evaluation if a person is a danger to themselves or others, or gravely disabled.
Created LPS Conservatorship: For individuals who are gravely disabled and unable to provide for their own basic needs, a court can appoint a conservator to make decisions about their care, treatment, and placement.
Guaranteed rights: It ensures that individuals have the same constitutional rights as everyone else, including the right to legal representation and judicial review.
Focus on least restrictive setting: The law mandates that treatment and services be provided in the least restrictive environment possible.
Recent changes:
SB 43: A recent law (SB 43) made changes to the LPS Act, updating the criteria for involuntary detention to include severe substance use disorder in addition to mental illness, and modifying the definition of "gravely disabled".
Peter, I was not familiar with the Lanterman act. But from what I just read, are you sure this is the correct law? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lanterman_Developmental_Disabilities_Act
Perhaps I am missing something here, but how is this about mental illness?
Lanterman-Petris-Short 1967 began process to move patients into the community. Napa Asylum for the Insane, and other state operated facilities such as Atascadero and Camarillo were eventually closes.
You mean trump continues to lie? According to him, it was foreign countries that were emptying their people with mental health issues into our country, and it looks like we did it to ourselves.
Hi Julia. Can you point to your source of information that ‘we did it to ourselves?’ Adding millions of unvetted illegal aliens simply poured gas on the fire of course. Trump is correct. The massive influx of illegals took a system that was barely functioning and crushed it. Not to mention soaring crime rates. Don’t get me started on the illegal alien health crisis. Rates of TB and Leprosy for example have increased in direct proportion to the number of illegals starting every year since Dems opened the border in 2020. So as always Trump is correct. In fact it is worse thsn he stated.
I will gladly give you my source of how “we did it to ourselves”. George Russell is my source. You clearly write you love Reagan, but that he let all the psychos out in our streets. As for the illegal alien health crisis with the TB and the leprosy, is that the new they’re eating the dogs, they’re eating the cats?
I thought you were a troll, as usual I was right. Thanks for confirming.
You asked! It’s right there in black-and-white.
maybe calling you a 'troll' is an insult to trolls ha ha. There must be a 'sub troll' category for people like you.
Lanterman-Petris-Short 1967 began process to move patients into the community. Napa Asylum for the Insane, and other state operated facilities such as Atascadero and Camarillo were eventually closed. Yes, Governor Reagan signed the act.
the shutdown was called the Lanterman Act
Excellent article, observations. Beware, Be Ready to defend yourselves.
Andy’s article was written as if he read my mind. My comments follow:
The murder of Rob and Michele Reiner and how they handled their deeply troubled son is a perfect metaphor for our country and how we deal with our problematic persons. Hopefully, our country can avoid the same fate.
Can you imagine how Conan O’Brien feels about talking his party guests out of calling the police? If the police were called, the Reiners would very likely be alive today.
Can you imagine how the party guests feel about not calling the police?
Berney
The people we are discussing are a threat. It’s crazy that no one can force them to get help. Not parents, spouses, adult kids.