When people do things that others in society tend to frown upon, it's always an opportunity for dialogue. What gets lost in the whole Donald Sterling fiasco is something only Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban seems to be saying: It's going to be a lot harder to rid the NBA of Sterling than people think. Moreover, Cuban says they (the other owners) may not even have the right to remove him, correctly pointing out he has done nothing wrong other than be a moron. There are plenty of moronic things done that won't get you stripped of your NBA franchise. Just because Sterling is a buffoon, does it give anyone the right to tell him how to run his life when he hasn't broken any laws? The man is obviously sick in the head and has been enabled by everyone in his life for the majority of his existence. His bizarre behavior is right out of the mental health nut job manual 101.

And if you will allow me this stretch, a couple of recent local things caught my ear along what I think are similar lines.

First, the recent disclosure of a homeless man who unzipped his fly in Old Country Buffet and then proceeded to pee in a cup. And then drink it in front of everyone. He was arrested. But is jail what this obviously mentally ill feller needs? Since mental health help is not an option, only jail awaits for conduct like this.

Or how about the woman who jumped from the blue bridge? Police found a bottle of sleeping pills on the ledge of the bridge where she jumped. That buck-ass cold water shocked something inside her, or maybe the full effect of the pills had not yet kicked in, but in "fight or flight" mode something dramatic took over and the will to live trumped the desire to end it all.

Both the cup pee drink and bridge jump instances gave the cops a chance to tout the upcoming ballot initiative which in part, would fund mental health programs and alternative ways of dealing with addiction and other things that fall under the mental health care umbrella.

If the help or alternative to jail is there, isn't that the best option to try and break the cycle? Once in the system, it is so very difficult to get out of what you probably shouldn't have been put into in the first place.

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