THE VICTIMIZING OF AMERICA - THE SUNDAY COMMENTARY
The terrible tragedy of the murder of 32 students and teachers at Virginia Teach University is revealing a side of our society that in itself poses a danger that can shake the very foundations of this nation and bring an end to the free America that was begun in 1776 when we declared our Independence.
Within a few hours of the horrific killings in Virginia, in an effort to fill the 24/7 news cycle and since then in a continuing effort to find every angle of this story, "experts, " have been found on nearly every channel and every newspaper who are describing the murderer as a, "victim, " rather than the maniacal certified killer of his fellow students and faculty members.
By describing a troubled past and his classification as a loner more or less shunned by fellow students this court certified danger to himself and others is slowly but surely becoming in the eyes of many a victim of society and not an insane cold blooded killer.
Additionally without trying to sound callas to the pain of those who survived and the families of those who lost friends and loved ones in this undeniably cruel and senseless killing, many of the very students who needlessly perished at the hands of this maniac because of what is slowly being revealed as a general lack of defending themselves became helpless victims to a murderous and evil individual.
Reports of only a few such as the Professor who was a Holocaust survivor and barred a door with his own body in sacrifice for others and two students who after being shot likewise used their bodies to bar a door from entrance by this insane killer, most either helplessly hid behind desks or somewhat timidly waited as this lunatic shot at random anyone who he caught in his sights.
This is not to take away from the horrible and senseless deaths of innocents who were in the wrong place at the wrong time nor to accuse them of any wrong or demean their tragic death but rather to pose a question that has risen in several circles in the aftermath of these murders. Are we becoming a nation of victims rather than free individuals who have a personal responsibility to ourselves and others ?
The victimizing of America is becoming a reality as it seems that an entire generation is seeing themselves as victims of society, depending on government to take care of them, blaming anyone and everyone for their plight in life and as it would seem even to the point that when in the face of imminent danger not able to protect themselves or even fight back in the face of death.
Even the horrific events of 9/11 are quickly becoming victimized as reference after reference and documentary after documentary are calling the nearly 3000 people killed on that day victims of a tragedy rather than innocent civilians killed by an undeniable act of war against our nation by a ruthless enemy who desires to kill the rest of us in like manner. Even to the point that some are defending the terrorists in their attack on 9/11 and calling those we fight today, "freedom fighters, " rather than the enemy of America.
This victimizing of 9/11 has in a very real sense sanitized that terrible day so much so that conspiracy theorists who believe that our government authored and planned the destruction of the Towers and the Pentagon are receiving more and more attention while the truth of the open act of war by Islamic terrorists is being down played.
Sanitized to the point that much of the nation and those that have been elected to Congress have forgotten why we fight and the necessity of winning against this ruthless and determined enemy of The United States. Islamic fanatics and those who support and supply them.
I will go further to say that the heroes of United Flight 93 would consider it an insult to be deemed as victims. People who in the face of a helpless situation and against all odds, as free men and women took the responsiblity upon themselves to fight for their lives and for those who this plane was being used as a weapon against. And as all indications have shown truly believed that they would be triumphant in their defense.
Have we as a society become so dependant on government and the seemingly necessity of blaming everything that takes place in our lives on circumstances, or lack of government intervention, or politicians, or even our very own country that the simple act of survival in the face of danger and taking on responsibility for our own preservation is becoming beyond our means ?
The rights that we as a nation are blessed with because of the wisdom of The Constitutional Framers in seeing to it the the words of the Declaration of Independence that describe the, " unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness, " are permanent foundational principles found in the Bill of Rights and as such the essence of the fabric of our free society.
But these very principles of freedom are slowly diminishing as generation after generation no longer are willing to accept the responsibilty of being free. That responsibility is the right to protect ourselves, care for our selves defend our selves and not depend on the government nor place the blame for our plight in life on anyone except our own actions or lack thereof.
Government entitlements and endless programs and legislation are taking the responsibility from the individual and placing citizen control in the hands of an all powerful government. Indoctrination by government schools who teach our children that government is the answer to all of our problems, that The United States is the blame for the worlds trouble and a revisionist history of why our country was founded and the tremendous heroism of the Founders and Patriots in breaking from the tyranny of Britain and creating a nation where all people shall be free.
Politicians that seize every opportunity to regulate, investigate, legislate and constantly take away more individual freedoms and responsibility while assigning it to the government. Using their Congressional powers to give the government responsibility for, "taking care," of citizens and forcing dependency on an all powerful government creating a citizenry who wait on Washington to decide everything from birth to retirement.
We were founded on the premise that in order to be free," We the People," have the personal responsibility to insure our individual freedom by taking the blessings of liberty given us by law in this nation and using them to better our position in society, prosper as free Americans, dissent when the government tries to take our freedoms by regulation or attacking our individualism and protect our own when threatened.
Within those rights are also found the necessity when attacked as a nation to seek out and destroy the enemy who orchestrated that attack and those who supply and harbor the same! That is why we are at war. To defend this nation against the attack toward the very freedoms and liberties that we have cherished since our beginning.
Abraham Lincoln once stated that, " If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide." Is the victimizing of America the beginning of the suicidal destruction of our nation that President Lincoln referred to ? To we as free individuals no longer believe that as free people we have a personal responsibility to insure those freedoms and by our actions cherish those freedoms in the betterment of our lives whether through prosperity or protection ?
We must as American understand and remind ourselves daily that our, "unalienable Rights, ...(of)... Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness, " are part of the fabric of our nation ONLY because we as a free, responsible people protect those rights from maniacal killers, Islamic terrorists and most of all from the tyrannical attack upon those rights by a government whose very existence is at the authority and allowance of the very free people who give this government its power and right to govern.
Ken Taylor
Within a few hours of the horrific killings in Virginia, in an effort to fill the 24/7 news cycle and since then in a continuing effort to find every angle of this story, "experts, " have been found on nearly every channel and every newspaper who are describing the murderer as a, "victim, " rather than the maniacal certified killer of his fellow students and faculty members.
By describing a troubled past and his classification as a loner more or less shunned by fellow students this court certified danger to himself and others is slowly but surely becoming in the eyes of many a victim of society and not an insane cold blooded killer.
Additionally without trying to sound callas to the pain of those who survived and the families of those who lost friends and loved ones in this undeniably cruel and senseless killing, many of the very students who needlessly perished at the hands of this maniac because of what is slowly being revealed as a general lack of defending themselves became helpless victims to a murderous and evil individual.
Reports of only a few such as the Professor who was a Holocaust survivor and barred a door with his own body in sacrifice for others and two students who after being shot likewise used their bodies to bar a door from entrance by this insane killer, most either helplessly hid behind desks or somewhat timidly waited as this lunatic shot at random anyone who he caught in his sights.
This is not to take away from the horrible and senseless deaths of innocents who were in the wrong place at the wrong time nor to accuse them of any wrong or demean their tragic death but rather to pose a question that has risen in several circles in the aftermath of these murders. Are we becoming a nation of victims rather than free individuals who have a personal responsibility to ourselves and others ?
The victimizing of America is becoming a reality as it seems that an entire generation is seeing themselves as victims of society, depending on government to take care of them, blaming anyone and everyone for their plight in life and as it would seem even to the point that when in the face of imminent danger not able to protect themselves or even fight back in the face of death.
Even the horrific events of 9/11 are quickly becoming victimized as reference after reference and documentary after documentary are calling the nearly 3000 people killed on that day victims of a tragedy rather than innocent civilians killed by an undeniable act of war against our nation by a ruthless enemy who desires to kill the rest of us in like manner. Even to the point that some are defending the terrorists in their attack on 9/11 and calling those we fight today, "freedom fighters, " rather than the enemy of America.
This victimizing of 9/11 has in a very real sense sanitized that terrible day so much so that conspiracy theorists who believe that our government authored and planned the destruction of the Towers and the Pentagon are receiving more and more attention while the truth of the open act of war by Islamic terrorists is being down played.
Sanitized to the point that much of the nation and those that have been elected to Congress have forgotten why we fight and the necessity of winning against this ruthless and determined enemy of The United States. Islamic fanatics and those who support and supply them.
I will go further to say that the heroes of United Flight 93 would consider it an insult to be deemed as victims. People who in the face of a helpless situation and against all odds, as free men and women took the responsiblity upon themselves to fight for their lives and for those who this plane was being used as a weapon against. And as all indications have shown truly believed that they would be triumphant in their defense.
Have we as a society become so dependant on government and the seemingly necessity of blaming everything that takes place in our lives on circumstances, or lack of government intervention, or politicians, or even our very own country that the simple act of survival in the face of danger and taking on responsibility for our own preservation is becoming beyond our means ?
The rights that we as a nation are blessed with because of the wisdom of The Constitutional Framers in seeing to it the the words of the Declaration of Independence that describe the, " unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness, " are permanent foundational principles found in the Bill of Rights and as such the essence of the fabric of our free society.
But these very principles of freedom are slowly diminishing as generation after generation no longer are willing to accept the responsibilty of being free. That responsibility is the right to protect ourselves, care for our selves defend our selves and not depend on the government nor place the blame for our plight in life on anyone except our own actions or lack thereof.
Government entitlements and endless programs and legislation are taking the responsibility from the individual and placing citizen control in the hands of an all powerful government. Indoctrination by government schools who teach our children that government is the answer to all of our problems, that The United States is the blame for the worlds trouble and a revisionist history of why our country was founded and the tremendous heroism of the Founders and Patriots in breaking from the tyranny of Britain and creating a nation where all people shall be free.
Politicians that seize every opportunity to regulate, investigate, legislate and constantly take away more individual freedoms and responsibility while assigning it to the government. Using their Congressional powers to give the government responsibility for, "taking care," of citizens and forcing dependency on an all powerful government creating a citizenry who wait on Washington to decide everything from birth to retirement.
We were founded on the premise that in order to be free," We the People," have the personal responsibility to insure our individual freedom by taking the blessings of liberty given us by law in this nation and using them to better our position in society, prosper as free Americans, dissent when the government tries to take our freedoms by regulation or attacking our individualism and protect our own when threatened.
Within those rights are also found the necessity when attacked as a nation to seek out and destroy the enemy who orchestrated that attack and those who supply and harbor the same! That is why we are at war. To defend this nation against the attack toward the very freedoms and liberties that we have cherished since our beginning.
Abraham Lincoln once stated that, " If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide." Is the victimizing of America the beginning of the suicidal destruction of our nation that President Lincoln referred to ? To we as free individuals no longer believe that as free people we have a personal responsibility to insure those freedoms and by our actions cherish those freedoms in the betterment of our lives whether through prosperity or protection ?
We must as American understand and remind ourselves daily that our, "unalienable Rights, ...(of)... Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness, " are part of the fabric of our nation ONLY because we as a free, responsible people protect those rights from maniacal killers, Islamic terrorists and most of all from the tyrannical attack upon those rights by a government whose very existence is at the authority and allowance of the very free people who give this government its power and right to govern.
Ken Taylor
posted by The Liberal Lie The Conservative Truth | 10:32 AM
37 Comments:
Great Post Ken,
I think everyone in both houses of Congress right after thier prayer should all be forced to watch a clip from the attack on America 9-11 just to refresh thier memories.
That you would speak FOR the flight 93 dead and their families...is what's truly shocking.
Frankly, no one on the left is referring to the murderer as a victim, except the murderer himself, and rightwing bloggers looking for any excuse to pin this on the left.
The guy was crazy. Period. And he had access to automatic weapons. Period.
You guys figure it out. You're smart enough?
Also, I would like to state, that rightwingers, such as yourselves, always think that any time anybody stands up for themselves they are reveling in their victimhood - that's a big thing for you guys. You hate it when people stand up for themselves.
He did not have automatic weapons. Perhaps the laws regarding guns should be left to those who have some knowledge about guns.
He also did not have the expanded capacity clips that the anti-gun nuts are claiming he did and screeming that this was caused because the Federal Assault Weapons Ban was allowed to expire in 2004.
See...now you're going to get caught up in the hairstyle of the guns he used...and miss the big point.
Mudkitty, I beleive that you not only di not read the article but if you did totally misunderstood it. It was the fact that they DI NOT stand up for themselves that made them victims.
And yes the passengers on flight 93 did not consider themselves victims BECAUSE they stood and fought for their lives and their survivsl. So in that reference it is appropriate ot consider that they would be bothered if they were thought of as victims!
No mudkitty. We are going to get caught up in the lies that the liberal left is spreading in a vain attempt to forward an anti-gun agenda.
We focus on the truth here in the real world.
This is one of the most mind-bogglingly stupid essays I've ever read. First of all, I'm pretty sure you're misunderstanding the "culture of victimhood" argument. I can understand taking exception if a someone who grew up in a low-income neighborhood is referred to as a "victim", but I think that yes, if you are shot by an armed lunatic, then yes, victim would be the technical term. You can put the word "innocent" in front of it, if you like.
Are you saying that these unarmed college students should have taken on this heavily armed, extremely dangerous person? Would YOU? If this is your line of reasoning, you've been watching too many Steven Segal movies. Generally speaking, most unarmed people don't do so well against an assailant with a gun.
Or maybe you're suggesting these college students should have been armed? That would certainly add a new dimension to the drunken brawls at frat parties! But seriously, this whole idea of putting more guns out there and turning civilians into vigilantes sounds wonderful and all, but it doesn't work out in reality. According to the FBI's 2005 Crime Report, out of almost 30,000 gun-related deaths, only 143 justifiable homicides were committed by private citizens.
"...Even to the point that some are defending the terrorists in their attack on 9/11 and calling those we fight today, "freedom fighters, " rather than the enemy of America." Where'd you hear that? Unless you can point to a source those are YOUR words. This is what you would call a "strawman" argument.
"Government entitlements and endless programs and legislation are taking the responsibility from the individual and placing citizen control in the hands of an all powerful government. Indoctrination by government schools who teach our children that government is the answer to all of our problems, that The United States is the blame for the worlds trouble." Now that is an amazing sentence. Here you've started off sounding paranoid, blaming everything that went wrong on our "all powerful government" and then in the nest breath you're complaining about schools teaching children that "The United States is the blame for the world's trouble."
You are right that responsible people have to protect themselves against maniacal killers, and that means we need to make sure that people who are placed in court-ordered psychiatric evaluation programs can't get their hands on guns, not just handing out more guns and hoping that there's an armed good guy handy when someone goes nuts.
The problem is that the system failed. Cho was not court ordered to undergo psychiatric evaluation or detention. The Judge in Virgina allowed him to be treated on an outpaitent basis. In almost all the states in the Union, out paitent treatment for mental illness or disorders will not flag an indivual. Most states require that someone be compelled to treatment or committed to a facility befor it triggers the flag.
I think that this system probably needs some evaluation in all the states as well as the laws governing privacy where it concerns the menatly ill.
As for the rest of the post. I always amazes me how some one can come on to a site spewing insults and critiques and only post with an "Anonymous" identifier. Seem a little chickenshit to me. If you are going to show up an show you ignorance and lack of manners, you should at least have the ball to post a name.
Sorry, but chichkenshits who hide behind a cloak of amomymity piss me off.
They didn't stand up for themselves at Vtech. Jesus. Are you speaking for them? Incredible. Unbelievable. Most of 32 dead, had less than 32 seconds to live...and you're going to take it upon yourself to tell THEM, the dead, how they should have behaved and how they should have died? It's an obscenity.
For this alone, you rightwingers will spend 40 years in the political wilderness.
BTW - CCC, you symbol looks like a KKK hood, in case you hadn't noticed.
Anon - what they're suggesting is that the entire United States should pack heat. And everybody can start looking at everybody else funny...and then some idiot...this is what these crazies are suggesting.
As for the "system" it was your St. Reagan who let all the crazies out of the mental hospital, cut off the funding, creating the legion of homeless...you can't commit these people if there's no money in it, according to you pseudo libertarian, rightwing reactionary captialists.
mudkitty said...
"See...now you're going to get caught up in the hairstyle of the guns he used...and miss the big point."
I am trying to be caught up in accuracy. The left makes every weapon an "automatic weapon" and everything that looks mean becomse an "assault rifle".
Perhaps people should stop the absurd nonsense of trying to blame Ronald Reagan, and quit trying to find a government solution to someone being mentally ill, and jsut acknowledge that this was a terribel tragedy committed by someone who had a serious mental illness.
Some things can't be legislated away.
"CCC, you symbol looks like a KKK hood, in case you hadn't noticed."
Again with the Republican paranoia.
Paranoia, delusions, hallucinations....
Who can name that mental illness?
mudkitty,
Shut your pie hole. My symbol looks nothing like a KKK anything. It is a nostalgic reminder of fond childhood memories.
What he was trying to say is that we have created a society of victims who do not know how to defend themselves when the time comes. Reports have said that a few stood to challenge this gunman, but only a few. When faced witht he certainty of death at the hands of a madman, is it not better to go out fighting to save your self and other rather than huddled in a corner begging for the inevitable not to come? Look at the example of the professor who gave his live to bar the entrance to a class room where students were trying to escape. This holocaust survivor sacrificed himself so that others might survive and escape. His death, while no less tragic than anyone elses, had purpose and meaning determined by his actions.
If I am ever faced with the certainty of death, I will fight with my last breath to take the assailant with me. I hope I have taught children the same thing.
All you hear in todays worls is about talking to those who wish us harm, trying to undestand them or negotiate with them. We are told that violence is never the answer, that it is not acceptable to fight or stand up to the bully. We are preached to about not offending anyone. It is drilled into us that we must be cordial, accepting and tollerant of any behavior. Even after this tragedy there were those telling us to focus on the other 8,000 some odd days of his life and not on what he did on the last one. No!
This is not how we protect ourselves. This is not how we should raise our children. We must teach them that in certain situations you must fight. You must stand your ground. I am not talking about everyone carrying a gun around, but in a class room environment, when faced with no escape and your only chance of survival is to take out the attacker, then you FIGHT! Find anything and every thing to use as a weapon and defend yourself and others.
The heroes of Flight 93 knew they were doomed. They acted not simply for themselves, but for the unknown thousand who would die if they did nothing. They were true heroes because regardless of the cost to themselves they would fight by whatever means they could to stop those terrorist from harming anyone else.
That is what he meant.
And, to your more stupid point. It is the liberal ACLU won the rights of the mentally ill to refuse to take their medication. It is the left who has championed for the release of the violent mentally ill criminals who are locked up based on the sole reason of the illness itself.
When it comes to crime and protecting the innocent, liberals have NOTHING to stand upon. This is not an argument upon which you hold the high ground by anymeans. Traditionally the Democrats are weak on crime. They want to rehabilitate child molesters, release the mentally incompitent and protect the rights of the criminal far more than the rights of the victim.
If you argue that the left is tougher on crime than the right, you loose. Simple as that.
Although, I am sure you will argue with more of the insane logic and unsubstatiated proof that you usually bring to the table. I am sure that when challenged to prove you statement or support your facts, you will ignore the challenge as you always do.
Concerned Council Citizen... you don't know what you'd do if you had only 32, or 2 seconds to live, not even knowing that, all the while your crapping your pants.
Oh, you big talker you. You talk big on the backs of the 32 dead, and the numerous bereft. It's so shocking, I'm glad it's here for all the world to see you people for who you really are.
"He did not have automatic weapons." True enough: he had a semi-automatic with a rate of fire of only about 40 rounds per minute.
"He also did not have the expanded capacity clips"..naw, just the regular quick change magazine..seventeen of them. Any nut can get this stuff at the local gunshows. Which is most unfortunate, given that most customers are responsible folk.
One would like to think that being responsible, we wouldn't mind some background checking.
You know nothing of me though you speak as if you do. I have personally stared death in the face, stared at the point of a gun. I have also stared down the sights of one.
In one situation where a weapon was drawn on me, I attacked. Being unarmed at the time, I reacted with what I had. I grabbed the gunhand of the assailant and slammed it against a counter forcing him to drop the weapon. I then grabbed a bottle of wine off of the rack I was next to and connected it squarely with his left temple dropping him like a sack of potatoes. I retrieved his weapon and held him at gunpoint until the authorities arrived.
I have also faced another situation where I again was unarmed. It was a robbery and the gunman was agitated but not threatening to kill anyone. He simply wanted the money. This time I waited and stayed out of his way. I did nothing to elevate the situation. I just prayed that he did not ask for my money because if I gave it to him he would surely see the badge I carried. I feared this would cause him to panic. He left without harming anyone. The clerk called 911 and I gave them a description and a direction of travel. He was caught 30 min later.
I have held a weapon on more than one person, with justifiable cause. I have never been forced to discharge my weapon, but I would not hesitate if it was a choice of my life or the assailant's. I would not hesitate in the defense of a third party, either.
I will never deny fear in any of those situations. I will however state that, yes, when faced with a deadly situation, I do know what I would do.
I do not stand on the back of the fallen and do anything but question if society has failed to teach our young that it is acceptable to fight when you are given no choice. I honor all those who were slain, but I do so by looking at how to prevent this from happening again. We should not teach our children to be victims. We should teach them how to survive and fight against evil. We should teach them how to defend themselves and others.
If we continue with this course of capitulation, appeasment and victimology we will only encourage others to take advantage of this weakness.
The reason that crime rates fall in states with concealed carry laws is not because people are constantly drawing their weapons to fend of disaster. The reason is because it gives the ciminal element a sense of doubt. If a criminal is assured that no one will resist him, he feels emboldened to do what ever he wishes. If he thinks that people will rise and challenge him, he is less likely to take that risk.
Why do you think mutiple victim shootings always occur where there are no guns? Why don't they ever occur where there is a high chance that there are armed individuals or good security? Because they know they will be engaged and taken out quickly. I can cite multiple situations where armed civilians or police have ended a killing spree, thus saving lives, by engaging and either apprehending or eliminating a gunman.
The 'wolrd' does see and the do not agree with your assesment. In a recent ABC News poll where people were asked was the Virgina Tech shooting grounds for more gun control, 77.5% of the 128,432 respondants said "No. Violent shootings are isolated incidents and it's irresponsible to link them to gun control." I hope I am out there for the worls to see, because I speak from a position of logical conclusions based on verifiable facts. I openly invite anyone to prove me wrong (proof is required, not unsupportable claims.)
And a side not to BB-Idaho, he passed the background check that was in place. Where the problem existed was in the fact that the court did not commit him or order psychatric treatment, they let him be treated on an outpaitent basis. This did not, and unfortunately would not in most states, trigger the flag to deny gun purchased to an individual. I do believe that this process may need some serious review nation wide.
You know CC - I have also stared at the face of a gun...you think you know it all, and I'll guess you're just a little kid. I've been in retail robbery situations, I've been mugged...my grandmother shot and killed a robber - heck we people from the city know what it's like too. Are you bragging? I know you, because you are no different from every rightwing fearmongering who wants to deflect responsibility by blaming everything under the sun on liberals and liberalism.
Let me remind you folks, that our founding fathers were the liberals of their day.
This comment has been removed by the author.
Well, you obviously know nothing about me period. If you'll guess that I am just a little kid, you show your ignorance of me right there.
No, I am not bragging. Those situations are nothing to brag about. You challenged that I did not know what I would do when faced with a deadly situation. I responded by stating that I do know what I would do, citing examples of when I had been in those situations.
Lets not talk about deflecting responsibility when you are blaming this tragedy on the guns and blaming the mental health issues on Ronald Reagan. It seems like you have the defelcting of resposiblity issue covered quite nicely.
My initial point did not distinguish between liberal or conservative. It addressed a problem with society as a whole. With our teaching that violence is never an option. With us turning our children into people who do not have the ability to defend themselves or other. I was talking about forcing on them a belief that you should always try to talk to and understand those who wish to cause you harm, as if by you understanding it will negate the threat. I was talking about a society who chastises those who stand firm and defend themselves and others or who want the right to do so. I was talking about crippling our children by indoctrinating this passivity and capitulation mentality into them.
If you identify these problems as being caused by liberals and liberalism, well then that is your choice. I did not actually say that.
I only addressed the issue of left vs. right over the statements about dealing with the mentally ill. I think, once again, you are confusing things.
However, as I said earlier, if you readily identify these problems in our society as being caused by modern liberalism, then I will not disagree with you on that point.
Preparing for self-defense is a mindset. It is an attitude that "When I go down I am taking as many of them with me as possible". Those of us who have served in combat know what it is like to spend years training and preparing for war, and for the possibility of fighting to an honorable end.
College students have no clue about defending themselves, and had no reason to prepare that mindset. Psychology has it right about the fight or flight reflex. Some fight, some flee. I would also be one of those who fought. I cannot imagine someone who simply sits and waits to be shot and killed.
I wouldn't have expected kids to have already made that decision in their life, though.
I agree. What I am wondering is if we are doing them an injustice by not instilling that in them early enough.
CC, I think we are. It begins at home, obviously, but the school system is the worst part. How about the kids who are suspended at five years of age for making an imaginary pistol with their fingers on the playground? My son can be expelled from kindergarden if he says "I am going to kill you" while playing dodge ball at recess.
I teach my children to defend themselves. My two oldest daughters are 16 and 14. When they were about 11 and 9, the nine year old used to be a little bossy with her sister, and hit her one day. So I told my oldest(Who ran to mama) to hit her as hard as she can and she would stop. It worked.
I teach my son that violence is not the solution to problems like someone not sharing toys, or if someone plays a joke on him. I also teach him that sometimes he has to stand up for what is right, and their are times when he must defend himself to do that.
I have friends who teach their kids that violence is NEVER the answer. In fact, I blogged about Randi Rhodes last week. She said that if she had a gun at Va. Tech and the guy walked in and started shooting, that she would just have to die because she does not believe it justified to take a life. She also said that it is the "normal" reflex of humans to flee when confronted with a threat.
Sad that we have become a paper tiger to the world because of nonsense like this.
"Intstilling?" Ie. brainwashing.
Bush has turned us into a paper tiger. That's the problem!!!!! Are you just now figuring that out?
I will accept brainwashing. Let's see, there was a professor who was "brainwashed" and fought abck by giving his life, on a split second decision, to save the lives of students.
Then there is the likes of Randi Rhodes, who was brainwashed into thinking that this nut's life was more valuable than hers.
If that is the term you choose, it is fine with me. I will continue to brainwash my kids with courage, fortitude, belief in themselves and things larger than themselves, an one day they may choose to serve their country instead of blog all day because they hate it.
Yes, I see where Bush personally raised all of theliberals in this ountry to be cowards.
Don't ban her Ken, I like target practice. Could we find one that actually has some intellect behind the points, and who might propose an argument of more than eight words?
Since when did KT suggest he was going to ban me, Robert?
I fear for your kids if you brag about brainwashing them rather than encouraging them to think for themselves, even if that means they disagree with you; and Randi Rhoads speaks truth to power, intellegence to stupidity.
As usual, you insert something compeltely irrelevant.
My children are welcome to disagree with me on anything. I encourage debate, and we discuss issues that they want to discuss.
That has nothing to do with teaching the the value of defending themselves, and defending their country.
Robert - you're bragging about something that every parent is obligated to do as a matter of course. You might as well brag about feeding them and putting a roof over their heads. IT'S WHAT YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO DO! So quit bragging about the very least thing you're supposed to do for your kids. You're not special because you teach your kids about defending themselves and their country. All parents do that, or should.
(What you're really talking about is indoctrinating them in your far right ideology - be honest. )
But Robert, mudkitty used the magic phrase, "speaks truth to power." Even though it is irrelevant, vague and totally out of context, you have to stop arguing when she says that. You need to brush up on your liberal debating rules. Jeez.
I agree that all parents should teach their children to defend themselves, others and thier country, but that is not happening in our society. We are being told, just as we have pointed out, that violence is never the answer. I am sorry, but some times it is. Some enemies or evils cannot be fought with ideology alone. Some do not understand anything but force. Some enemies and evil must be eliminated and not reasoned with.
To you, CCC, speaking truth to power would be vague.
Yeah. because it is a meaningless slogan whipped up by the fringe left. So you pretty much nailed it. Means absolutely nothing to me since the people shouting it are usually drinking the koolaid while pointing out how our government intentionally took down the World Trade Centers with pre-planted explosive charges and carted off all the innocent people on those flights to be killed.
Pretty meaningless drivel.
CC, I would brush up on those rules, but like everything else liberal, there is nothing committed to a rulebook that one might use to pin them down.
I will just have to approach each of my literary defeats one at a time.
Truth.
Power.
Truth to power. Only a right winger would think those words are meaningless.
I do not think that the words Truth or Power are meaningless at all. I even included one of them in the title of my site. I happen to believe that Truth is paramount in all things.
I just also realize that the people shouting the politically chared slogan, "Speak truth to power," are rarely if EVER speaking any form of truth.
Do you think we toppled those towers, mudkitty?
Do you?
No - nor have I ever suggested such an absurd thing. Nor do you define "we" so I'm having to make an assumption about you. Who's we? And when you say "we" do you include me? And if not, why not?
Straw man argument. Red herring.
Load of crap. Why can't you get ANYTHING right?
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