I always love it when my Beyond Blue readers direct me to a piece of news that pisses me off. There I was … smiling as I checked my e-mail, a strong cup of coffee in my hand, and then these headlines: The Chinese won’t allow anyone taking antidepressants to adopt their babies, a woman seeking treatment for alcohol abuse in Tucson abruptly died in the hands of police custody after she missed her flight in Phoenix and panicked, and Rhode Island and a number of other states are deciding whether or not the mentally ill should be allowed to vote.

A few days ago loyal Beyond Blue reader Larry Parker e-mailed me an opinion piece in the Los Angeles Times by columnist Rosa Brooks entitled “Straitjacket Bush.”
Here’s her opener:

Forget impeachment.
Liberals, put it behind you. George W. Bush and Dick Cheney shouldn’t be treated like criminals who deserve punishment. They should be treated like psychotics who need treatment.
Because they’ve clearly gone mad. Exhibit A: We’re in the middle of a disastrous war in Iraq, the military and political situation in Afghanistan is steadily worsening, and the administration’s interrogation and detention tactics have inflamed anti-Americanism and fueled extremist movements around the globe. Sane people, confronting such a situation, do their best to tamp down tensions, rebuild shattered alliances, find common ground with hostile parties and give our military a little breathing space. But crazy people? They look around and decide it’s a great time to start another war.

And here’s her closer:

Impeachment’s not the solution to psychosis, no matter how flagrant. But despite their impressive foresight in other areas, the framers unaccountably neglected to include an involuntary civil commitment procedure in the Constitution.
Still, don’t lose hope. By enlisting the aid of mental health professionals and the court system, Congress can act to remedy that constitutional oversight. The goal: Get Bush and Cheney committed to an appropriate inpatient facility, where they can get the treatment they so desperately need. In Washington, the appropriate statutory law is already in place: If a “court or jury finds that [a] person is mentally ill and . . . is likely to injure himself or other persons if allowed to remain at liberty, the court may order his hospitalization.”
I’ll even serve on the jury. When it comes to averting World War III, it’s really the least I can do.

Sensationalism put aside (just a tad of that), I don’t appreciate her use of the words crazy and psychotic.
“But crazy people?”
Tha’s downright offensive.
You’re shaking your head right now saying, “But, Therese, you refer to yourself as a holy whackjob. You tell one joke after another about being mentally ill. Aren’t you a tad hypocritical on this one?”
No. I’ve earned the right to tell crazy jokes. Crazy jokes are funny coming from crazy people. That’s common sense: You don’t tell Jewish jokes if you’re not Jewish. No pope jokes if you’re not Catholic. And never, EVER, joke about your mother-in-law’s awful green-bean casserole to your husband. No. No. No. Rag on your own mom. That’s socially acceptable, since you are her own flesh and blood.
Even I, “Miss Tacky,” know these rules.
Remember that Seinfeld episode? When Jerry starts telling dentist jokes and totally offends his dentist, who has converted to Judaism so he can tell his good Jewish jokes? It was in the same episode about not being able to “yada yada yada” through the sex: “He came over last night … yada yada yada … I’m exhausted this morning.”
Damn I miss that show. But back to the point.
Rosa, you shouldn’t be telling crazy jokes if you don’t have a prescription of some psych drug in your purse. That’s just manners. We, crazies, have earned the right to kid about our predicament with endless therapy sessions, years of support group meetings, expensive trips to the psych ward, and, of course, smashed sex drives. Joking about it is the one perk we can claim.
Now, I suggest you either come clean about your Zoloft, or you call Bush another name. Anything but crazy (or psychotic).