Wolfrum, a new contributor at Shakesville (formerly Shakes Sis), has with a single entry propelled himself to the farthest reaches of my shit list imaginable.

Only children and the mentally ill lie so blatantly to get whatever they want.

What. The. Frack.

Frankly, I’m too pissed off to write, though I will pause to explain one thing. I make the claim over there that this a “fatally slanderous comment.” I do not mean this as hyperbole. Police shootings, lack of care leading to preventable suicides, deaths among the homeless, and so on are all directly attributable to the negative and false views of mental illness commonly held in this country. It’s fucked up, and it does not have to be this way. So if you haven’t read ‘em before…when this has come up in previous occasions, I’ve written “Lonesome Road Blues” and “You Can Choose.” Both deal with the fallout of the use of mental illness as negative stereotype, including the barriers to treatment, social marginalization, political deceit, and internalized stigma. Comments like this don’t just hit the intended recipient, but as ebogjohnson put it (when writing about blackface) “they also spill over from it onto, you know, my fucking lap.” As worthy as your target might be, I do not consent to be your club to hit them.

You hear that?

-sc