This is a story worth reading…
From the great blocks that once made Barret Robbins a Pro Bowler to the awful binges of alcohol and drugs that led to him being shot in the chest by police, agent Drew Pittman has had a front-row seat to the issues that have impacted his friend and client, and kept Robbins in a correctional or treatment facility for much of the past seven years.
After more than 15 years of sitting in that seat, Pittman has come to one intensely sad conclusion:
“The moments when Barret really sounds like he’s at his best are when he’s incarcerated,” Pittman said of the currently jailed former lineman. “He has a schedule he has to live by, they tell him what to do and they make him take his meds.”
Robbins, best known for disappearing just two days before the Oakland Raiders’ appearance in Super Bowl XXXVII and diagnosed with bipolar disorder, is no longer some athlete fed by the Superman complex that lives deep inside so many. He’s just a man, troubled and, in some respects, frail. Help isn’t offered; it’s required.
It’s the kind of help that might have kept Denver Broncos wide receiver Kenny McKinley from apparently killing himself last week. Like so many others in the NFL, it appears McKinley didn’t seek assistance.
I don’t care at all for sports or the insane god-worship nonsense of sports “stars”/ I am proud to never be able to know who the hell any sports figure is, unfortunately I could identify Tiger Spank That Bitch Woods and Brett Crying Diva-Baby Favre in a line-up. Well I guess I know who a bunch of NASCAR guys are but that seems different somehow. also Joe Montana, he seemed nice. But that’s all. and I never give a shit.
ANYWAYS!
This actually touches on why Tom Barrett seemed stark raving mad to me from the get-go. And I have not seen any explanation what-so-ever since then to explain his babbling nonsense. This is of course horrible since I HAAAAATE Snot Walker.
TONS of people, people who have MANY challenges and few few few resources and NO support form their FUCKED UP families ONLY get a shot at health care and rehab and mental health services that may help them AND stop tremendous costs to everyone around those “challenged” people – well they only get a shot at structured “help” while incarcerated.
Many ppl are sent to rehab from jail etc. Then they can start with enormous amounts of personal effort to get at whatever issues are beneath the substance abuse, etc etc.
This is along and miserable road, for ppl whose families and friends often are actively working against them – yet Barrett yapped on a bout stopping Cadillac healthcare for Convicts.
I never saw an explanation of that silly and destructive catch phrase. and I don’t think I’ll ever forgive him for that nonsense.
Many people are just expendable throw-away garbage in our society. ONLY because they had bad luck to be born into bad families are taught how to be morons from Day One. While we all boo hoo over the struggles of famous people.
The Lindsay Lohan stuff is obscene, in comparison to what a poor person would face as far as rehab programs, what she would be sentenced to and all that. and I see people on TV talking about maybe the Judge was “too harsh’ blah blah. A poor person with the same problems but less money will be someone for politicians to “clean off the streets”.
Of course I’m not saying addicts and convicts are a bunch of poor cuddly victims, but the mental health and addiction issues attitudes in America is insane, self-contradictory and more hypocritical than is even on the charts.
At no time does that become more apparent than in our collective emotastic concern for celebrities issues in these same areas. People suffer horribly, even “dumb gross people”. If you have the money then you “only” have the personal struggles of how and when to ask for help, if you are poor maybe you get a shot at a few services when you hit Jail.
So when Barrett the supposed “liberal hope” for WI panders to Republicans’ survival of the fittest mentality, I have to be worried about him being a cardboard cut-out weak kneed loser as Governor. Cutting healthcare services to the most dangerous and troubled among us, we will all pay for that mistake in more ways than we can ever count.
Right her on this blog I saw a Mentally Deficient commenter claim to “never have used Police of Fire Services”
I almost lost my mind.
How anyone can be so blank and innocent. You “use” those services every time a guy does NOT loot your business and come to your home and rape your wife and take whatever they want. You can go sown the street without fear of being kidnapped and held for ransom like in Venezuela, where middle class ppl live in constant fear each time they leave their homes BECAUSE the police etc are taking care of shit FOR YOU.
omg
In disasters, when you see films of chaos and looting – that is Human Behavior without laws and Police services. Enjoy that. and let’s cut all these services that “don’t benefit me personally”. If you can go to the mall without fear of being murdered for 10 dollars, you’re enjoying those benefits.
or if places you frequent are FORCED to live up to Fire Codes etc. because of Government Interference in Business, you are enjoying those services. Because we all know that Business Left Lawless will NOT build to code etc. because that cuts into profits.
Pay a little now, or pay a LOT later on, The Republicans always think they can dream the costs of Society’s ills away. But as this story proves, even with money and support and family, many things just don’t “go away” because they are unpleasant.
Ugly stuff needs to be taken care of, and not by a bunch of Church Volunteers or a Thousand Points of Fairy Light, but by trained ppl who know what they are doing.
But really, people should get off the couch, put down that bag of Cheetos and see what their social services taxes are doing while they are sitting there. An informed person living in Reality would feel proud of a lot of these things. An Ignorant bastard will feel sorry for his “wasted money”. Our local cops do amazing stuff every day. so do the social services people.
and yes, I did it, I said Ignorant Bastard. ooooh. I saw pix of the Oshkosh Tea Party, holy crap what a nasty bunch of folks.
Well, I hope I don’t get a “too short comment” notice after this rant.
You never know. But I’ve been absent lately and I owed ya a doozy. 😉