jchh -- All Comments -- In These Times

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jchh

- 10 Dec 06
- 9:08 am
Perhaps the reason that affirmative action has gotten a bad name is that it is solely based on the color of the skin. Blacks with all the benefits of professional parents, private schools, and a middle class upbringing are still considered to be "disadvantaged". On what basis? We see blacks in all areas of life, now, succeeding and being respected. Is this because they could hang a diploma on their walls from a school which they were not qualified to attend, or because they worked hard and had brains? I grew up with many blacks (not African-Americans - they had never …

Posted to Danger: A Policy With No Brains
- 14 Jul 06
- 6:23 pm
Am I wrong, or was Mr. Lindh captured fighting against the U.S., his own country? What would you suggest we do with with him? What if his gun was still smoking from having killed a U.S. soldier? He is not a traitor to "his culture." He is a traitor to his country. Do you think the Taliban would hesitate for a moment to torture and kill him if the story was reversed? Traitors have never been loved by any country at any time. Mr. Lindh reaps the results of his decisions. jchh

Posted to The Persecution of the American Taliban?
- 16 Jul 06
- 8:23 am
Hi Redhorse Okay, I've looked up John Walker Lindh on line. It's hard to figure out just what happened. He was, apparently, in a training camp for jihadists, and even met Osama bin Laden, who offered him a chance to prosecute jihad in the U.S. Lindh preferred being on the front lines in Afghanistan. However, the offer should have made it clear that he was expected to fight against the U.S. His jihad group surrendered to the Northern Alliance and Lindh was interrogated by Mike Span from the CIA. Later there was a "bloody uprising" in the makeshift prison, and Span …

Posted to The Persecution of the American Taliban?
- 16 Jul 06
- 8:28 am
Hi Redhorse again What I meant by the story being reversed would be an Afghani citizen fighting for the U.S. being captured by the Taliban. We have seen the jihadist view of anyone even suspected of being favorably disposed toward the U.S. in Iraq. Those who are captured are tortured and beheaded. The U.S. treatment of John Walker Lindh fell far short of that. jchh

Posted to The Persecution of the American Taliban?
- 17 Jul 06
- 5:34 pm
Yes, Frog, he was treated spitefully. The attacks on 9-11 still loomed large in the minds of our soldiers. A traitor who had gone over to the enemy was not likely to be given first class passage back to the U.S. with snacks and drinks. He was an enemy of our country; he had aligned himself with our enemies. While we would like to think that we are better than those who fly airplanes into buildings just to kill innocent civilians, we are subject to the same gut responses. The terrorists acted the way they did because they hated us. We …

Posted to The Persecution of the American Taliban?
- 23 Jun 06
- 7:29 am
I sympathize with any kids who feel endangered in their schools. However, I do not think that mandating gay inclusion in every subject and every grade (as I understand the bill) is a government matter, or even an educational matter. We have seen what such mandates mean in Mass., where a book about 2 princes who marry was trotted out immediately to be read to kindergartners. Parents who protested were told they had no right to do so. Do parents retain the right to mold their children's character, or do schools now have a mandate to indoctrinate according to the liberal …

Posted to Curriculum Wars
- 23 Jun 06
- 5:47 pm
Major Major - I admire your grasp of economic history, but I don't think that's what this is all about. I think if you polled the middle class in this country you would find a strong bent toward conservatism. It is the elite who push the social boundaries of society - not the middle class. That would mean, given your argument, that the schools are not strengthening the middle class but weakening it. For example, that same middle class has voted down gay marriage in state after state. I don't think those votes mean they want gays run down and beaten …

Posted to Curriculum Wars