Whenever I see the mug shot of the Jared Loughner, the psycho-killer from Tuscon, I am, of course, freaked out by his expression. Maybe it wouldn't be so scary if we didn't know what he's done but I think he looks pretty crazy regardless. What really frightens me, however, is that he doesn't understand--he has no capacity to understand--what he's done.

Loughner was clearly mentally ill but he wasn't being treated for it. He should have been put into a psychiatric hospital before he could do something like this. Sure, he was kicked out of school but all that did was make the people in that environment feel safe. They didn't go far enough in making sure everyone was safe. I'm not faulting them. How many times have I seen someone who clearly had a problem and just shook my head with pity? Shaking our heads and sweeping madness under the rug isn't good enough. I suspect that a large part of the violence in our society stems from undiagnosed mental illness. We're putting people in jail or, worse, we're letting them roam the streets when they should be somewhere that will provide them with proper medical treatment.