I didn't think there was anything that could make me not vote for the guy running against the devil

Our U.S. Congress representative here in Athens is Paul Broun Jr. This man is not the person I want representing me in any way shape or form. No one has been able to win against him for years because the makeup of our County is entirely unlike the makeup of the rest of the area.

A third-year law student (presumably now a recent graduate) from UGA is running against Broun, and though his campaign has been haphazard thus far, I expected to vote for him because he's running against the person who's pretty much last on the list of people I want representing me.

Unfortunately, I won't be supporting Russell Edwards either. If it's close, he'll get my vote, but he won't get my support. In an email I got through a liberal listserv, Edwards questioned Broun's "mental health." At least 1 in 4 people in the U.S. has a mental health issue. With 535 congresspeople, that's at least 130 who have a mental health issue. I can count on one hand the people in my life who have not been diagnosed with a mental health issue, especially depression, anxiety, or gender identity disorder.* I can think of none who have never seen a therapist. What's the best way to deal with stigma and the very real problem of people not receiving treatment? It's to understand that mental health is something everyone deals with. Sometimes it affects your daily life, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes it's situational, sometimes it's genetic. But always, it's not an acceptable reason to question someone's humanity.

Say Paul Broun is unfit to represent us. Say his view of government comes from the 1850s. Say his moral character is questionable and his legislation is unwaveringly useless, hateful, and hurtful. Say he should get the hell out of the way and let someone less ridiculous represent us for a way. But don't question his mental health. Mental health issues aren't an excuse for racism and assholeness. Paul Broun very well may have a mental health issue, but that's not why I don't want him in office. I want him out of office because he's an ass who's wasting my vote.

*It's debatable whether this gets to count as a "mental health issue." Officially, it does, but I think that varies greatly among individuals and how they define their own experience. However, it's one of the most common topics about which my friends have gone to therapy.