Letter to the Press-Banner from Michael McClish, August 2010

I am finding out a lot of interesting information in the course of researching this book. From the file marked "WTF?" (I really do have a file with this title) comes the following letter to our local paper, written by McClish from Soledad Prison.  Apparently he sends these heartwarmers from time to time as form letters to family and friends. Remember as you read that this man beat, bludgeoned, and strangled a pregnant woman for the precise purpose of killing the baby she carried, and her, as both were a problem for him, and this was his solution.  He is also a violent rapist, was convicted of all these crimes, and will never, ever get out of prison.  Still, he remains a concerned citizen, as you will see:

30, 2010 | 2309 views | 29  | 36  |  | 

EDITOR,

I found Ronaele Findley’s response (“Plenty wrong with BC park,” Aug. 6) to Denese Matthes’ letter (Boulder Creek Rec must get serious,” July 30) concerning atrocities at Junction Park disappointing and unproductive. Dismissing local youths as “trash” is unacceptable. Perhaps calling law enforcement immediately when witnessing “troublemakers carrying booze,” rather than waiting for a “fight” (dousing a spark before it becomes a raging fire?) would be a more responsible act for a concerned adult! It saddens me to hear local youths-of-our future so callously described as “trash.” We need to show more attentive concern toward local youths, make attempts to assist them in making proper choices and give them more viable options of recreational choices. “It takes a village to raise a child.”

A timely concerned call to police may enable them to discover where minors purchased alcohol and take action to eliminate similar future events. I commend Matthes’ willingness to draw attention to horrific events taking place at Junction Park, and I hope that doing so may inspire others to take vigilant, concerned stances to ensure that local youths are given every opportunity to become useful, productive members of society. I thank Findley for showing how overwhelmingly familiar many have become with the concepts of “there’s nothing I can do; it’s not my problem.” That’s easier than taking accountability and working toward bettering our surroundings.

“It’ll never happen” is a defeatist attitude and discourages others from even trying. Perhaps Matthes’ ideas are unrealistic or outdated. But presentation of viable options is more productive than laughing off another’s ideas. Neighborhood children showing proclivity to chaos is indeed “despicable.” But any adult’s refusal to become involved or to inspire better decision-making is negligent and irresponsible. When we refer to children as “trash,” we condemn ourselves to living in the dumps.

Love thy neighbors.

Mike McClish, Soledad

All righty, then.  Frankly, there aren't enough swear words in the English language for a sufficient response to this article.  Yes, great concern for youth there, and it sure does take a village to raise a child, huh?  It would have been nice if our little community would have been able to be happy for Asha and Richard Veil when their little girl had been born.  It would have been nice for them to see Anina smile for the first time, take her first steps, go to preschool, go to her first day of kindergarten, have fun dressing up and trick-or-treating at Halloween.  It might have been nice for our community to have two loving parents taking care of a sweet girl as she grew up.  Instead, Asha and her daughter are cremains in her childhood home in Poland, and Richard is left to grieve, forever, and her family, and every single person who ever knew her, or heard about her.  To imagine how hard Asha must have fought McClish to save the life of her baby girl, to imagine her fear, is beyond anything even I can stomach.  Babies are quite conscious at Anina's gestation, and I can only imagine the little baby's terror as her mother was being hurt--and to know that the baby was alive in utero for several minutes after her mother died puts the final, unconscionable coda on this.

Why is it that child molesters, rapists, murderers, and other criminals try to show themselves as paragons of virtue, human concern, and compassion? Why in the name of God do they try to promote social good, when they have done some of the worst crimes against humanity, with a ripple effect that goes out and out, especially when they are not sorry for their wrongdoing?   I've known a couple of people like this myself and wonder how they can look at themselves in the mirror. Even Charles Manson has an organization, albeit scarce in number, devoted to the environment.

Well, um, thanks for the advice, McClish.  I only wish you'd followed it.  Asha would be a first-grader today, the daughter of a wonderful mother.  You not only killed them, you killed the happiness of having them in the world--another great theft in a long, long line of such things. Love thy neighbor, indeed.