crisis – Memphis Flyer

Faith and Camo

Italian political thinker Antonio Gramsci’s definition of a crisis was, “when the old is dead and the new cannot be born.” Those of us living in the United States are in the midst of finding out whether the new can be born (in November), and whether the old is really dead. A crisis? I’d say so.

One thing is certain: Representatives of the old are having real issues with the potential changes in the wind that were evidenced at the recent Democratic National Convention. Venerable conservative Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan wrote: “They stole traditional Republican themes (faith, patriotism) and claimed them as their own.”

Former Fox News commentator and Newsmax host Eric Bolling raged: “We’re losing the race! We’re losing the presidency. … The enthusiasm level on the left is overwhelming. They’re trying to say Democrats are the patriots! They’re wearing camo hats with Harris’ name on it! Camo! That’s ours!”

Democrats as patriots? How can this be? And camo? Really? How dare they! Camo can’t be woke, can it?

It’s easy to understand the GOP’s pain. For decades — at least since Richard Nixon’s presidency — the Republicans have claimed the mantle of patriotism and the title of “real Americans,” wrapping themselves in the flag, Christianity, country music, family values, and military strength. “America: Love It or Leave It” was their mantra. Guns, flags, the cross, and camo clothes were their primary fashion accessories.

It worked for more than 50 years, from Nixon on through the administrations of Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and even through the Obama years, when the nation’s first Black president was accused of being born in Africa, which, to Republicans, is as un-American as you can get. Donald Trump, of course, has literally wrapped himself in the American flag on several occasions.

That’s why seeing 20,000 “Demoncrats” in Chicago waving little American flags had to have driven them nuts, not to mention the sight of that Harris/Walz camo hat on the heads of hundreds of delegates, the Nashville sounds of Jason Isbell and The Chicks, the nightly invocation of prayers, the pledges to defend our NATO allies militarily and stand up to Putin in Ukraine. It was all turf formerly claimed by the GOP.

But you can hardly blame Kamala Harris and the Democrats for moving in. The house was empty and Republicans left the door wide open by abandoning — or twisting beyond recognition — their foundational principles. And it all started with Trump, for whom there are no principles, foundational or otherwise, only transactional exchanges. The party has been following his lead since 2015.

Republicans exchanged the American flag for the countless variations of Trump flags flown at rallies, and from MAGA pickups, boats, and front porches. “I pledge allegiance to Donald Trump” being the implied new credo. Family values? See: Trump, Donald. Religion? See: Nationalist, Christian. Country music? See: Rock, Kid. Strong military defense? See: Putin, Vladimir, a murderous despot now openly supported by Trump and his acolytes, including Tucker Carlson, Steve Bannon, Robert Kennedy Jr., most Fox News hosts, Speaker Mike Johnson, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, and dozens of other GOP senators and congressmen.

The party that once put forth a strong, conservative platform every four years, now has a platform of “whatever Trump says today,” no matter how idiotic or deranged. The party that once spent millions on an election ground game and ad buys in swing states now spends a large percentage of those dollars on Trump’s defense funds and lawyer bills.

The recent polling has been swinging Harris’ way and Trump’s campaign strategists have been urging him to “talk policy” instead of using his rally speeches to air his many grievances, hurl personal insults at his opponents, and brag about his looks. Trump counters that Harris has no policies and has ignored several of the issues he has raised, including the low-flow shower-head crisis, the boat battery vs. sharks controversy, and the problem of solar-powered airplanes that crash when the sun’s not shining. Furthermore, he says, Harris has not had the courage to take a stance on the late, great Hannibal Lecter. And she has the nerve to say Trump is “an unserious man.” What chutzpah!

At any rate, here is where we find ourselves — on the very edge of the approaching hurricane, waiting to learn the course of its final path, waiting to learn the fate of our nation, waiting to discover if the new can be born.

The Alliance Healthcare Services has been awarded an Innovation Award for their partnership in creating the Crisis Assessment Response to Emergencies (CARE) with Memphis first responders.

The award, which was presented to them by the Tennessee Association of Mental Health Organization (TAMHO), highlights their work in preventing unnecessary jail time for those with mental illness.

Specially trained police officers and firefighters named the Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) are dispatched based upon 911 call received in the area. (They talk people off of bridges — literally.) They are accompanied with a behavioral health expert, to handle the situation.

“We noticed that we had a certain subset of people who would frequently called 911. From our research, we identified 111 people that called 911 at least 3 times a week,” said Laurie Powell, CEO of Alliance Healthcare Services.

Alliance offers services for things like drug and alcohol treatment, child abuse, medication assistance, and intensive outpatient services. Therefore, they wanted to design a solution to arresting people who simply needed mental healthcare.

This significantly cuts down on excessive 911 calls and frees up more resources for the city’s first responders.

“The cost of taking them to a hospital setting is so much more than bringing them to a state-run crisis center; there’s also a cost of being in the ER and the cost of holding them in jail,” Powell said.

In fact, mental illness has affect so many Americans this year. According to the latest TAMHO newsletter in June of this year:

A June 2020 survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of 5412 US adults found that 40.9% of respondents reported “at least one adverse mental or behavioral health condition,” including depression, anxiety, post traumatic stress, and substance abuse, with rates that were 3 to 4 times the rates 1 year earlier. Remarkably, 10.7% of respondents reported seriously considering suicide in the last 30 days.

In 2017, they were awarded a grant by the department of mental health. Their crisis center serves more than 500 people per month. “We talked to the community; we met with both mayors’ offices and we said ‘What do you think this community needs to divert people more from jail?’” she said.

Some question the need for officers being on the scene of a behavioral health situation, yet because the officers are responding to a 911 emergency call, they must go. The 911 dispatcher can assess if they need the CIT, then CIT officers can assure the scene is safe.

“Our care team, which we won the award for, is able to get to know these individuals and come up with a specific treatment plan for them. There are certain individuals who are arrested that never make it to a clinic. Part of our success is that we have seen individuals gain access to much needed follow up care to try to create long term stability,” Powell said.