Blame Lindh's permissive parents

Boston Globe Online ^ | December 13, 2001 | Jeff Jacoby

[William Wallace]

IT ISN'T THE CASE that the parents of John Walker Lindh - the Marin County child of privilege turned Taliban terrorist - never drew the line with their son.

True, they didn't do so when he was 14 and his consuming passion was collecting hip-hop CDs with especially nasty lyrics.

[f.Christian]

These 'sociopath-criminals' dominate the highest positions in society's institutions, particularly government positions.

And yes, I have one H*LL of a big problem with that; that's why I'm a libertarian conservative.

75 posted on 12/14/01 2:26 PM Pacific by headsonpikes

[afraidfortherepublic]

He craved standards and discipline. Mom and Dad didn't offer any. The Taliban did.

Absolutely! I always raised my kids with strict guidelines because I knew they would rebel at something. If the kids have no guidelines they will pick the most outrageous thing to do -- quite possibly something harmful or dangerous. With strict guidelines, their rebellion will be within the norm of comventional behavior.

I can't tell you how many times I heard my husband say, "No you can't do that. I don't care what the other kids are doing, you can't do that because you are a (insert family name here)." In my own adolescence, I was told that I couldn't do such and such because my parents were teachers. Same concept, but a concept that is often missing in today's fractured families where mom and dad are too busy with their careers or other relationships to pay attention to what their kids are doing.

I thank God every day that all our children grew up without any serious scrapes, graduated from college, and are raising families with similar rules to what they experienced in their own childhoods. Not only did I have God's help, I had the help of a husband who was involved with their lives -- and he says the same about me.

All kids crave standards and discipline. In fact, I think all human beings do.

BTW, I nominate WW's essay as essay of the week.

[afraidfortherepublic]

Oooops! Apologies. I mis-read the header and gave credit to WW for Jeff Jacoby's fine column. Nomination withdrawn -- but it's still a great post and thanks for the ping.

[headsonpikes]

Thank you for your post #81. All is forgiven. ;^)

[f.Christian]

Cool...not so fast.

A few acqaintences told me they went "clean(republican only)"--just to "cross the street"...

renounced their libertarian ways(fear-guilt).

I'll pray for you!

[g'nad]

"Ride with an outlaw, ya hang with an outlaw..." from Lonesome Dove

[RJayneJ]

That's ok. He's due for one soon. Tell him to get busy! };^D)

[The Right Stuff]

Great article, S. Concise and hard hitting. Hope to see you on FOX News soon! (Maybe you can replace the aging Byronic wannabe Geraldo!)

[bjs1779]

I tend to blame Bill Clinton. Poor kid was only 13 when he took office and he taught the world how to commit treason and get away with it. No doubt, the kid thought the news media would be proud of him. The latter may be right.

[Atlantian]

Years ago if someone was looking for discipline and structure they would join the Hare Krishnas and sell books at airports. How times have changed.

[bjs1779]

Years ago if someone was looking for discipline and structure they would join the Hare Krishnas and sell books at airports.

Or they could of found a Charlie Manson to lead their feeble brains.

[William Wallace]

Excellent comments, my FRiend.

I'm flattered you mistook Jeff Jacoby's for one of my rants. He's one of my favorite columnists and a phenomenally talented writer IMO.

[chimera]

...but otherwise they just wanted to ''give him a big hug.''

Reading this I couldn't help but think of Geraldo's infamous line about wanting to hug Mr. President-Scumbag, known adulterer and liar, and probable rapist that he is notwithstanding. What is it about liberals that they want to "hug" such people? I'm thinking there must be some kind of pathology here specific to liberalism, because I wouldn't want to be anywhere near these kinds of people, much less hug them.

[RnMomof7]

There is nothing perplexing about it. He craved standards and discipline. Mom and Dad didn't offer any. The Taliban did.

Awesome read..BTTT

[Ironword]

There is nothing perplexing about it. He craved standards and discipline. Mom and Dad didn't offer any. The Taliban did.

Very interesting observation.

Nice to see ya, WW. Thanks for the ping.

[Victoria Delsoul]

Liberalism attracts the mentally and spiritually weak, sweeping them up in its seductive but ultimately fatal embrace. John Walker's parents rejected traditional moral distinctions between good and evil/right and wrong in favor of ethical relativism and PC values, such as diversity, tolerance and non-judgmentalism. Without conviction, moral absolutes or ability to discern simple truths, they adopted a laissez faire approach to child rearing, without rules, moral instruction or discipline. Products of a generation accustomed to distrust and question all authority, they lacked the will and the wherewithal to exercise parental authority. When forced to confront their son's desires at odds with their own, they invariably chose the path of least resistance toward expediency and conciliation.

Despite the lack of discipline and moral instruction, John Walker probably learned much from his parents. He probably learned that liberalism condones and celebrates totalitarian dictatorships and fanatical revolutionary ideologues. He must have learned that certain forms of bigotry are not only permissible, but mandatory, if its targets were Republicans, white males, black conservatives, pro-life advocates, evangelical and fundamentalist Christians, cigarette smokers and gun owners. He surely learned to show zero tolerance for opposing viewpoints and how to demonize and destroy one's political opponents. He undoubtedly was taught to despise his country and to blame America for most of the evils in the world.

I suspect that John Walker learned to be a good Liberal from the example of his parents. Joining forces with the Taliban and the Al Qaeda network was the logical next step.

[DeSoto]

Thanks for the flag WW, I appreciate it. Great article, it's very well written.

Isn't this a perfect example of liberalism at its worst? The kid had everything, yet he had nothing. Liberalism took it away in a mad rush of non-judgmental political correctness. A pioneer family with 12 kids in a one room log cabin had a richer life that this miscreant.

Make no mistake, John Walker should be shot at sunrise, but maybe his parents should have to be the ones to pull the trigger as punishment for creating the piece of filth that they did.

[afraidfortherepublic]

See reply # 87. I'm doing my duty and telling you to "get busy!" :))

[chimera]

Isn't this a perfect example of liberalism at its worst? The kid had everything, yet he had nothing.

It is that. The kid had everything he didn't need, and nothing he did need. I'm not perplexed at all that he ended up throwing his lot in with the barbarians. He likely grew up in a moral vacuum, and something had to fill it. We see what that turned out to be. Its sad, but not surprising.

[bjs1779]

Undisaplined

Steinbrennerized!