Bipolar Disorder Is Not An Excuse For Everything: The insanity defense

Recently, a well known political figure was arrested and charged for groping women. Although he had done very bad things in politics prior to his arrest, he was never charged with anything.

Now, because bipolar disorder can cause sexual urges, he is using that as a defense for what he's done. I do think there are times, insanity can be used as a defense, this is not one of them. Sexual urges can be controlled. If you have trouble with that, tell your psychiatrist or your therapist. I don't think he had a doctor of any kind until he was arrested and it was convenient for him to have a mental illness.

Once a thought a crippled, mentally retarded boy was my son. His care taker was dragging him around, trying to get him to his next class. Instead of thinking it through, I took him away from her by putting my arm firmly around him and walking him across the street to my house.

I was trying to decide who to call and what to do, when I saw him looking out the window at the school and the crowd that had gathered there. He said he did, so I told him to go and be careful. By then, I knew he wasn't my son.

Soon afterward, the police showed up. They were very gentle with me and took me to the police station. I was put in the room with two female officers. Evidently they decided I was nuts because the original police officers took me to the hospital. I didn't know where we were going, but I had nothing else to do, so I didn't ask questions.

I waited patiently while they decided what to do with me. They checked me into the psychiatric ward where I belonged. After about a week, I was released because the psychiatrist said he was just "warehousing" me. By then, I had been charged. I didn't know what I had been charged with, but they told me I was in serious trouble. My significant other hired a lawyer.

So, when I went to court there was someone to defend me who was more than a public defender. They charged me with three things. I don't remember what all of them were, but the worst thing was felony kidnapping.

My lawyer conferred with the police and the district attorney, and told me they were willing to drop that charge, if I would plead guilty to something else. I told him either I was guilty of all of it or nothing. He said, "All we need is one man on the jury to decide he doesn't care what you did."

Although I thought my looks had nothing to do with it, at that moment, I was grateful I wasn't unattractive. They dropped the charges completely and drafted a diversion agreement, which meant if I didn't do anything someone would call the police about, there would be nothing on my record. Of course, nothing happened.

When I see a mistreated child now, I still feel like doing something, but I don't do anything, not even say anything. The only time I violated that rule was when I called child protective services on a woman I knew to be abusing her children. She lost custody of them soon after and I was greatly relieved.

If you feel like doing anything violent or immoral, go see your therapist at once, or check yourself into the hospital. Men like this politician help create the stigma we have been fighting against so long.