Collin Brewer, British Councillor, Condemned For Saying Disabled Children Should Be 'Put Down'

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Huffington Post

Collin Brewer, British Councillor, Condemned For Saying Disabled Children Should Be 'Put Down'

The Huffington Post | By Meredith Bennett-Smith Posted: 02/27/2013 4:12 pm EST | Updated: 02/27/2013 4:25 pm EST

A local politician in Britain has found himself at the center of an angry controversy in his district, after inflammatory comments he made about disabled children were widely circulated.

In 2011, Cornwall Council member Collin Brewer told a member of the charity Disability Cornwall that, "Disabled children cost the council too much money and should be put down," reports This Is Cornwall. The Disability Cornwall member was taking part in "an event to allow councillors to meet equalities organisations," according to the site.

At the time, the organization made a formal complaint against the Councillor's "depraved comment," a move that led to an investigation by the council's Standards Committee, according to This Is Cornwall.

The BBC reports that Brewer was forced to apologize when the investigation concluded recently. Brewer told the BBC that, while he had meant the comment to spark debate about budget issues, he didn't mean his words to come out the way they did.


Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/27/collin-brewer-disabled-children-put-down_n_2775019.html

[Ken Burch]

1. Did he MEAN to say "Disabled children should go live on a nice farm in the country"?

[ninjanurse]

12. like you said

Yeah, I'm wondering what is the nice way to say that we should just off those kids to save money.

[Kalidurga]

2. Too little too late...

There are some things you can say and do that an apology is no where near enough to cover what you did. In this case he needs to show he is sincerely sorry. Perhaps he can volunteer to work with some disabled people, have meetings with the parents of disabled children, work to make their lives better instead of saying things like this. No one really wants to hear that they are such a burden on society that they should be sent to get a lethal injection or some other way of being murdered.

[freshwest]

5. He's only sorry he was caught, and like any criminal, could not be trusted to caretake the disabled.

And he only said what many think, unfortunately.

[Kalidurga]

6. Well I wouldn't leave him unsupervised.

But, in order for him to develop any kind of empathy he will need to be exposed to the group of people that he holds in so much contempt he believe they should be dead.

[freshwest]

7. I understand your hope, but some caretakers manage to kill those they think shouldn't be alive.

Traditionally, the argument is that they wouldn't want to live that way, so the person is tortured by continuing to live. One of the Nazi rationales for going after the disabled was that their tormented spirits needed to be released. In other words, it was for their own good and a kindness.

Having argued with such for a few years, not with Nazis of course, but some ideologues of several types, they really think it would be a service. I'm glad you feel such people can be taught empathy. It is possible that you are right and I am wrong.

If he's a sociopath, he would only behave while being supervised because he knows he'd be in trouble. There is no learning curve with them. I think part of what we are dealing with, just as we have in the political sphere, is a strong denial that there are people who kill others without a blink.

It's too frightening to comtemplate, so we deny it in order to get about in our daily lives. Just sayin'

[Kalidurga]

10. Well there is the rub...

We don't know if he is an actual sociopath. I am thinking he might not be since many manage to keep their extreme views private, because they know what is socially acceptable and what is not. They are often superficially charming, but monsters behind closed doors. And I wouldn't make him a caretaker. I think the extent of his involvement should probably be limited to reading to disabled children with lots of supervision to make sure he plays nice. Also the children themselves might be advised to treat this guy with compassion since he is obviously emotionally crippled or something.

I also think he should resign whatever post he holds and let the public know he is working on his personal issues and hopes to regain the public trust through his efforts at rehabilitation. He truly is a vile human being. I would like to know what method he was thinking should be employed to put down the disabled and if this would be for all income groups or is it just the poor and disabled that disgusts him?

[Katashi_itto]

3. Collin Brewer: Secret Spartan...."FOR SPARTA!!!!"

Brewer: "I've personally raised a pack of endangered wolves so we can throw children to them.

Help us...Help the endangered...by giving them a new mission in life..."

[Smilo]

4. He would be right at home with the GOPT

saying what he believes and then issuing a false apology.

The fact that he only apologized now because he was forced is despicable and truly disgusting.

[dixiegrrrrl]

8. It appears that a goodly number of right wing assholes have a medical condition

which inadvertently changes words somewhere between the brain and the mouth.

Perhaps they can set up a fund drive to cure this problem.
Or at least to give it a name.

[msanthrope]

9. Akin-Mourdock Syndrome. nt

[alp227]

11. Collin Brewer costs the council too much. n/t

[ninjanurse]

13. contribution to society

how do we measure anyone's worth? All of us are 'temporarily abled' with whatever abilities we have. a child with a disability may not get a high paying job, but will contribute in ways that can't be seen in a bank account. The care of people with disabilities creates jobs. The money that supports their care cycles right back into their community. The health care aide spends her paycheck at the local grocery.
If you look at the whole picture, money spent on caring for our own generates much more economic boost than money spent on weapons or corporate bonuses.

[muriel_volestrangler]

14. He's resigned

A Cornwall councillor at the centre of a row over his remark about disabled children has resigned.
...
Mr Brewer said it was unlikely he would be a candidate in the May elections. "I was wrong, I admit it," he said.

"I will continue to apologise," he added.

Steve Paget, the chairman of Disability Cornwall, said: "Finally he's seen sense and resigned. This situation should never have got to this stage.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-21612089

[SwissTony]

15. People with severe handicaps have never contributed to society (sarcasm smilie inside)

Have you, Professor Hawking?