The Coalition of the Swilling

Boo hoo hoo. Cry me a river.

Little prick should be dangling from a rope.

I know it's his son and I feel for him,I do. But I sure hope there's a fair helping of guilt in his heart for how that 'decent' kid got to be such a whacko in the first place. Damn. There I go again. Back to the 'parental responsibility' thing. With an especially cheap slap at wealthy Southern CA 'parental' types. It's cheaper to pay your kid to get lost for a couple hours than have to deal with him. Saw it all the time when we were in Orange County and was astounded. Those kids were so neglected, it was unconscionable. And yes, neglected is the word for a child who gets a brand new $30K car as a freshman so a) he maintains his place in society b) his poor parents aren't inconvenienced by having to take him to his well scheduled after-school events.

Then when the inevitable happens, they're the FIRST ones amazed, appalled and worried about the lawsuit that will cost them their Mission Viejo house.

Eek. I used to live in Newport Beach. I know about the type you describe, THS.

Anyhow, whatever happened to parents who loved their children, but if their children were BAD CITIZENS, they showed no mercy and offered no excuses?

If I did something bad (and I did), and then complained about the repercussions, they looked at me and said something like,

"That's the price of doing business the way you did it."

With a heavy helping of "TOUGH SHIT, TOAD FACE."

I have extremely limited pity for his parents. Yes, it's nasty and icky that their son is in jail.

But it's nastier as to how he got there. They have to tell everyone how their boy is doing in prison, but that's far better than telling your friends over coffee, "Oh, yes, John is doing very well, thank you. He passed the basic IED course, and is busy qualifying for the advance course with lots of hands on experience." Oh, I would love to be on the other side of the table should that gem come up.

And they aren't the first parent with incarcerated children. I'm sure that there are plenty of role models out there for the parents. SO, GET OVER IT BUBBA. Life's a bitch sometimes, and then you move on.

Heh. Parents needing role models. What a concept.

Part of the problem with Dad's approach is that it doesn't admit the possibility that a spiritual quest could end BADLY. All this "who are we to judge" crap; ahem, you're an adult trying to turn your boy into a man, not merely a grown-up. He needs to know right from wrong, that there are certain things not done. "He needs to find himself" omits important facts: certain things are spiritually damaging and ought to be avoided, lest one "find himself" in jail. Getting caught is probably the best thing that happened to Johnny, because he now has leisure to repent. None of it would have been necessary if the parents had been willing to do a little actual parenting.

PS - that's why Dad's maundering about "spiritual journeys" and such. He's not trying to excuse John, really - he's trying to excuse himself by defending the obviously-failed results of his approach to child-rearing.

"...whatever happened to parents who loved their children, but if their children were BAD CITIZENS, they showed no mercy and offered no excuses?"

To take Susanna's approach (requires a confident parent who really did do a good job. A clean conscience says "This is on you, not me"; a guilty one starts whining.

I used the SoCal example having been witness to it personally. Mr. Lindh is the (They moved to Marin County when JW was 10) NoCal embodiment of it.

Walker Lindh told FBI interrogators that he became interested in Islam at age 12 after watching the movie, "Malcolm X," which discussed Mecca, Saudi Arabia and the religious pilgrimage Hajj.

In early 1997, as he turned 16, he became a Muslim and regularly attended a mosque in Mill Valley, California. He used the names Suleyman al-Lindh and Suleyman al-Faris.

...Frank Lindh called his son "a sweet kid" who was devoted and committed to his conversion to Islam. He said he was proud of his son's dedication to study the Koran and thought his conversion had been good for him.

Walker Lindh's quest for knowledge about Islam carried him to Yemen for nine months in July 1998, according to interrogation reports. After going home to California, he returned to continue his studies in Yemen on February 1, 2000, and then left for Pakistan that October.

In Pakistan, Walker Lindh enrolled in an Islamic fundamentalist school, known as a madrasah, where he became interested in the Muslim fight in Kashmir. Encouraged not to tell others he was American, he joined the Harakat-ul Mujahedeen-Al Almi (HUM), an organization blamed by Pakistan for terrorist attacks and failed assassination attempts on President Pervez Musharaff.

Soon Walker Lindh became disillusioned with the HUM's cause and, after undergoing 24 days of military training, he instead chose to join the Taliban, according to interrogation reports.

See the dates? He just turns 16, becomes a Muslim and at SEVENTEEN he's off by his teenage lone self to Yemen ~ Garden Spot of the Middle East ~ for NINE MONTHS. No one asked him "John, how 'bout Palm Springs for your summer vacation?" What is WITH these parents? So, anyway , he goes from one great decision ~ Yemen ~ to another ~ joining the HUM terrorist group ~ only to find they too didn't suit his fancy, so off to Mullah Omar and his band of women killing, Buddha blasting bastards.

Did he send any postcards home? I mean, he was a TEENAGER, for God's sake. Who was responsible for him then, Mr. Lindh? Huh?