In my years as a volunteer firefighter, standing by and doing nothing, while someone died, would have driven me crazy. However, that’s exactly what firefighters in California had to do, because Republicans gutted their budget, so they were unable to obtain the training or procure the equipment they needed to do their job. I imagine the right will say “So what?”, because the victim was a suicide, but I say it was Republican assisted suicide, and that the Republican party is pro death.
Firefighters in the city of Alameda, CA outside of San Francisco were forced to watch a man drown today due to a policy tied to recent budget cuts. First responders and more than 75 onlookers watched as the man committed suicide, drowning himself over the course of an ho’ur ein the San Francisco Bay. First responders were called to the scene. But according to interim Alameda Fire Chief Mike D’Orazi, due to 2009 budget cuts, his crews “did not have the training or cold-water gear to go into the water.”
While this is a dramatic example of the impact of local budget cuts, it serves as a perfect illustration of the problems Republican budget cuts pose to first respondents. This tragedy comes on the heels of the House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee’s approval of a Republican proposal last month “to slash funding for first responders by more than $1 billion.” This “included significant cuts to the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) and Assistance to Firefighters (FIRE Act) grant programs,” as well as “slashed funding for nearly every first responder grant program, including the Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) and State Homeland Security (SHSGP) grants” by over 50%… [emphasis added]
Inserted from <Think Progress>
The desire to prematurely end one’s own life, barring excruciating pain stemming from a terminal condition, is a form of mental illness. This man deserved the help Republicans denied him, because the US has always been a nation where we take care of our own… until now. How many other people will die because Republicans cut the safety net they need? This is RepubliCare. Everything is provided for millionaires and billionaires. The rest of us get the RepubliCare Death Benefit.
10 Responses to “Republican Assisted Suicide”
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This is awful, and I think it is probably played out on a less dramatic scale with each cut to essential services. I see people losing health and life because they don’t get basic primary and preventive care. Often these are the same people whose low-wage work supports our economy. Sometimes, in fact, they are giving health care to others and have no insurance themselves.
Nancy, I agree. It’s an obvious way to demonstrate the tragedy of Republican rule.
The victim was a suicide. HOWEVER, it could have, just as easily, been a 5 year old girl who fell in. The firefighters would have had to sit and watch her drown.
Welcome Mike. 🙂
That’s an excellent point.
Essentially I agree with you but I find this whole tragic event offensive? But not only because of the budget cuts, though. Where is the humanity? Out of all these people standing by – first responders and gawkers – there wasn’t one single individual willing to even try to save a fellow human being. This is an indictment on our times.
So you would have dove into icy water without a wetsuit, Leslie? Two dead isn’t better than 1 dead, in my view.
Exactly Mike.
Leslie, I’m also a former lifeguard. Without a wet suit, rescue is almost impossible in cold water.
What boggles the mind even further is that Alameda is TOTALLY surrounded by water – in fact its nickname is The Island City.
How can a city that is totally surrounded by water NOT be prepared to deal with a drowning victim?
Because RepubliCare cares not.