The Deeds Case Screams 'Help' for Mentally Disturbed

Creigh Deeds: A mandate on mental health care.

"The son was evaluated Monday at Bath Community Hospital, Cropper said, but was released because no psychiatric bed could be located across a wide area of western Virginia."

That horrifying sentence is from the Richmond Times-Dispatch's report on the stabbing of Sen. Creigh Deeds and suicide of his son yesterday in Bath County. The 24-year-old son, Gus Deeds, was obviously quite troubled and in desperate need of care. He couldn't get it because nobody was there to treat him.

This country--at the very minimum--has a responsibility to make sure its citizens are safe. Gus Deeds was not safe and our system did nothing to help.

When and if Creigh Deeds gets back to Richmond, he has a ready-made crusade with more credibility than could be manufactured. We must all get behind the effort to take care of our vulnerable citizens. It will cost money, and frankly not much money. But we can't allow the right to say "We can't afford it" because--goddammit!--we can afford it; we must afford it.

If you pray, say one for a good man and for all of us who care about this critical issue.