You Give And You Give, And It's Never Enough

Father of Cherie Irving calls three sentenced in connection with her death selfish, careless, unapologetic

Always adaptable, commenters will attack the father if there's no mother available.

Not only should he have prevented his daughter from becoming a drug addict with the power of his mind, he should pay the legal fees and cost of incarcerating the people who tried to conceal her body. After all, if the drug-addled slut hadn't called up her friend to demand a fix, none of this would have happened! It's victim-blaming taken to absurd extremes.

Here We Go Again

Should Michigan drug test welfare recipients?

We went through all this some time ago, and it ended with an injunction against the law and a settlement stating that it was unconstitutional for the FIA (now DHS) to drug test without a reasonable suspicion that the welfare recipient is actually using drugs. Naturally the commentariat is eager to explain why they should be the boss of you.

Because "workers" and "welfare recipients" are vastly different classes of people, never to meet. Also: eliminationism!

If only we were a nation of Pavlik Morozovs. Also, did you know that I drink your oxygen? I drink it all up!

I don't think dh realizes that by this logic, if he earns less than $166,000 per year or thereabouts, he too is a bottom feeder.

On a related note: Finding summer employment won't be easy for teenagers.

Why would anyone want stupid welfare or food stamps if they could have free slave labor instead?

I'm Just Waitin' In Line For My Government Heroin

10 years of Grand Rapids' drug needle exchange program: Why backers say it works

No, sweetie, Mars Hill and Dick and Betsy DeVos take their money and give it to drug addicts. Somehow, commenters are able simultaneously to decry government intervention and to deny or overlook the very existence of private charity. This never ceases to amaze me.

Contrary to popular belief, you cannot get high by inhaling the delightful aroma of poppies, nor is incinerating addicts with roadside bombs considered a form of rehabilitation.

For reference, all are welcome at this year's flamer parade, and the citizens of Houston like their lesbian mayor very much, thank you.

And A One, Two, One Two Three Hey! [UPDATED]

Shootout between two groups leaves three wounded in Muskegon Heights

Blood sport involving animals is illegal. Blood sport involving humans is totally okay by us. We find your pain and desperation entertaining!

Second story, same as the first:

Heroin use up in Northern Michigan: 3 young adult deaths linked to drug

We are in favor of depopulating Benzie County. Didn't need any of those damn kids anyway,  with their "rock music" and their "hopes and dreams for the future."

[Updated to allow CENSOREDNEWS to sound his single, quavering note: Benzonia man identified as latest of three recent suspected overdose victims in Benzie County

Bearing in mind that there's a sucker born every minute, for society to register a net drop in number of fools you would need a supply of dope sufficient to kill at least two every minute. If you have that much dope on hand, I imagine the DEA would like to know why. And "Social Darwinism" is not considered an acceptable response.]

Humanitarian of the Year

Genesee County Jail's work release program to be put under microscope after inmate death

Due process is reserved for blood relatives of Old Man Mushmorton.

Genesee County planners could dump I-475 extension plans next week

Ah, for the days when an article about planning commission proceedings provoked thoughtful comments discussing road improvement and land use!

Genessee drug addicts and criminals are still addicts and criminals, but at least they're white. In related news, mushmorton's rhetoric sounds awfully familiar.*

He just can't leave it alone. And who, exactly, does he believe is on the verge of armed insurrection? The ghetto creatures too hopped up on goofballs to quit their "rap music?"

In other news, I hear the United Northern and Southern Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, conveniently located in Fraser, is seeking white warriors for night riding and related activities.

* If you're sick of Nazi references (I am), this anti-Tutsi propaganda comic refers to Tutsis as "cockroaches" and a "cancer race." It's in French, though.

Racist Non Sequiturs For the Win!

Medical marijuana coming to a greenhouse near you? Fenton planning commission recommends growing in city's industrial park, talks about greenhouse use too

SageofthePage is on the case. Don't make him break out the caps lock key. He means business.

Every marijauna-related article is guaranteed at least one comment by Sage invoking "mind poison." christina counters by pointing out that the nation has more pressing concerns than micromanaging others' psychophamacology choices.

I guess even potheads can be birthers. You learn something new every day. Oh, by the way, christina? I'm just saying. It was in the news and all. Thought you might be interested. You know, take a look when you get a chance. No hurry.

No, Your Comments Are a Waste of Space

Woman who gave man heroin hours before he died sentenced to 18 months to 40 years in prison

To clarify, she isn't charged with delivery of heroin causing death. The man definitely overdosed, but had so many different drugs in his system no one can tell which ones directly caused his death. Oh well, too bad!

Everyone knows that rehab is only for famous people (and previously).

Heh, Heh...You Said "Drugs." Like, You Know, Drugs.

Flushing Police Department is encouraging people to drop off unused prescription drugs during Drug Take Back Day

Dialect is hilarious. So is the blithe assumption that all black men are drug dealers.

It's a Solution Seeking a Problem

Editorial: What we should do to win the war against methamphetamine

This seems to presuppose that undocumented immigrants are already being rounded up and shipped to work camps.

The Hippocratic Oath is Only for People We Like

Portage police looking for woman after meth lab explosion in house with child inside

Would matt also deny medical care to death row or life-sentence inmates, on the grounds that they're going to die in prison anyway? If he withholds pain medication, would he at least deign to treat these people's burns?

On a related note, you should read this contemporary version of the Hippocratic Oath. So should matt, though I doubt he'd approve of it.

We Only Favor Retroactive Abortion

Both of these posts are a day old. Sadly, the comments I'm highlighting are still up.

Mother who had baby in car with mobile meth lab pleads guilty to felony

Apparently rehab is only for the rich and famous. Another police-blotter story, a little farther north:

Homicide suspect could be responsible for several Flint shootings this year, Chief Alvern Lock says

The people in these articles have done horrible things, but they are not animals. Furthermore the kid's parents are not mentioned at all, and without information any attack on them is baseless.

 I'm always disturbed by how easily people can reclassify others as subhuman, and how often they assume that [fill-in-the-blank undesirables] constitute a static group that can be eliminated with no effect on nice people like them. Eugenics: Now that's Pure Michigan.

He Just Had to Go There, Didn't He

As weather warms, police warn about meth dump sites in roadside ditches

This is actually a public-health article, though you wouldn't know it from the comments. Free-floating bile: not just for zero-g airsickness.

Come to think of it, this could be attached to any article containing the word "meth." I think cocotoo just flunked the Turing Test.

Kick 'Em While They're Down, Part II

Heroin use on rise: Genesee County agency treating more young people

It took a long night in jail in dire physical condition after being arrested for armed robbery to get [Ben] Johnson to resolve to turn his life around. "The ultimate decision was my own that I needed to stop, but I couldn't do it without the rehab centers and the programs,” he said. He spent several months in inpatient and outpatient rehab programs and hasn’t touched an opiate since. Today, he counsels others in 12-step treatment programs and speaks to youths about his struggles in an effort to reach them before it’s too late.

Too bad:

And:

I am sure Mr. Johnson is pleased to know that your thoughts and prayers are with him, but he'd probably rather have reliable access to recovery programs and quality health care than your grudging, mealy-mouthed gestures of support.

A Comment on Comments About a Comment

We're going meta here, so bear with me. MLive trawled its comments for reheatable content, and came up with the perennial hobbyhorse of drug-addicted welfare queens. One reader commented that "[u]nlike three lefts, three wrongs to not make a right. Why punish the kids because their parents smoke pot, the only detectable drug is most testing. Sorry kids, you have to starve because daddy smoked down at a rock show two weeks ago."

Should welfare recipients be drug free? Readers weigh in on proposed tests

Not content merely to take away daddy's weed, two commenters double down:

Two issues. First, poor people are entitled to nothing beyond what is absolutely necessary to keep body and soul together. After a day of grueling overtime at their minimum-wage jobs, they are to retire to their hovels and contemplate their children's dim future while munching stale bread and commodity baked beans.

Second, trophytaker seems perversely proud of never going to concerts. At best, "I never go out" is a neutral statement. At worst, it's a depressing indictment of someone with no interest in culture or entertainment beyond cable TV. If trophytaker won't spend hard-earned cash on concerts, why should a poor person be allowed to do so? Maybe if the poor person would get a job trophytaker approves of, instead of dealing drugs, s/he would be permitted an occasional night out to enjoy wholesome local music. Like Carol Johnson.