Dumb, dumb dumb dumb, DUUUUUUUUMB!

At what point does society have the right to say that we’re not going to bail out stupid people? Public money is being spent, and other people are putting themselves at risk today to look for a couple from Medford, Ore., who went missing while apparently searching in the mountains of Oregon for a Christmas tree. Jennifer and Keith Lee headed out Tuesday morning after telling their four children that they were going to bring back a special tree. They hoped to get a silvertip fir, which is supposedly a really nice tree that grows only at high elevations. They did not, however, bother to tell anyone exactly where they were going, and now a search is being conducted by land and air in the high Cascades between Medford and Klamath Falls. Temperatures in that area last night were in the teens. Such an excursion is risky for anyone, but Keith Lee, 36, is a diabetic, and his wife, according to a relative, is not much of an outdoorswoman. The fact that they have four children at home makes this even more reckless and irresponsible, in my book. Oh, and it's not as if they didn't know they might run into trouble. The Lees got stuck in the woods for four hours last year while searching for a tree in the Siskiyou Mountains south of Medford. I know that the authorities always respond in situations like this and do their best to find the lost or stranded people, but I think they should be able to issue this reply when asked to look for those who disregard their safety and fail to use common sense: "Sorry, we don't search for dumb@SS#S."