Alan K. Henderson's Weblog

My feeling, Senator, on Lieutenant Calley is obviously what he did quite obviously was a horrible, horrible thingand I have no bone to pick with the fact that he was prosecuted. But I think that in this question you have to separate guilt from responsibility for what happened there lies elsewhere.

I think it [responsibility] lies with the men who designed free fire zones. I think it lies with the men who encouraged body counts. mI think it lies in large part with this country, which allows a young child before he reaches the age of 14 to see 12,500 deaths on television, which glorifies the John Wayne syndrome, which puts out fighting man comic books on the stands, which allows us in [military] training to do calisthenics on four counts, on the fourth count of which we stand up and shout "kill" in unison, which has posters in barracks in this country with a crucified Vietnamese, blood on him, and underneath it says "kill the gook," and I think that clearly the responsibility for all of this is what has produced this horrible aberration.

Now, I think that if you are going to try Lieutenant Calley then you must at the same time, if this country is going to demand respect for the law, you must at the same time try all those other people who have responsibility, and any aversion we may have to the verdict as veterans is not to say that Calley should be freed, not to say that he is innocent, but to say that you just can't take him alone, and that would be my response to that.

When Pipes brought up the need to support moderate Muslims over those who subscribe to militant Islam, they booed.

When he brought up the need to improve the status of women in Islamic countries, they booed.

When he warned that peace in the Middle East would never be achieved as long as the Palestinians continued to subscribe to a ''cult of death,'' they booed.

When he mentioned Middle East Studies professors who have been arrested under terrorism charges, they booed.

When he discussed the need to combat Islamic terrorism, they booed.

When he referred to the perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks as subscribers to militant Islam, they booed and shouted ''Zionism''--no doubt a reference to the myth that Jews were behind the attacks.

When Pipes brought up CampusWatch.org, the website he founded to provide a voice for students feeling oppressed by their leftist professors, they shouted out ''McCarthyism'' and, of course, ''racist'' yet again.

And when he mentioned Iraqis’ ''liberation'' from Saddam Hussein’s tyranny, they booed even louder.

''I’m sure the Iraqis were much better off under Saddam Hussein.''

A photographer was there taking pictures of the children with Santa Claus. "Instead of saying 'Say cheese' to the kids, he was saying 'Say monkey.' And the kids would laugh real big," Mr. Bogg said. "My wife and I talked about what a good line that was to get a smile."

during the course of the evening, Mr. Bogg passed by a fellow employee who was there with several family members.

Someone was taking their picture, and as Mr. Bogg walked by, he blurted out, "Smile! Say monkey!"

It was a black family. Both the fellow employee, Kevin West, and another family member informed Mr. Bogg that his remark was offensive and not appreciated.

"I told them both, 'I apologize. I assure you I didn't mean anything by that,' " Mr. Bogg said. "We went on our way, and I really thought that was the end of it."

But at work a day or two later, he was summoned to meet with a young staff member from Southwest's human-relations department. "She said there had been a complaint, and I told her everything that happened ?– including about the party the previous night. I told her there was no racial intent and that I apologized immediately."

Southwest spokesman Ed Stewart said he couldn't say much about the situation since it was a personnel matter. But he said, "That one was thoroughly ?– and I do mean thoroughly ?– investigated, and the company certainly feels the appropriate action was taken."

In the land of the free, people are so brave that they freely speak their minds without fear.

In the land of the free, the average person has access to the media.

In the land of the free, people are free to be educated.

In the land of the free, all citizens have access to health care.

In the land of the free, there are no homeless.

In the land of the free, no one is chronically hungry.

The land of the free does not invade other countries without provocation.

The land of the free does not need a standing army in over two-thirds of the world's countries in order to defend itself.

The land of the free does not have over one percent of its population in prison.

In the land of the free, the earth and its life forms are responsibly respected so that people may continue to live, generation after generation

In the land of the free, diverse lifestyles and harmless behaviors are appreciated or tolerated.

The land of the free is known by the freedom of its people to peacefully assemble and to petition the government for the redress of wrongs.

The land of the free reminds others, anywhere in the world, of justice and an honest search for the truth in all matters.

In the land of the free, the common person is free to live simply, and simply live.

In the land of the free, people are free from fear.

In the land of the free, people feel secure in their homes.

In the land of the free, people can walk anywhere at any time of day or night without fear.

In the land of the truly free, doors are not locked, and possessions are left lying about in the open.

In the land of the free, children are sacred.

In the land of the free, people worship God as they please (or not).

In the land of the free, the elderly are revered and listened to.

In the land of the free, everything is constantly being improved for everyone.

In the land of the free, people live in community as a fish swims in water.

In the land of the free, everyone has an intelligent opinion, as a result of a culture which rewards truth-seeking, honesty, common sense, and open-mindedness.

In the land of the free, dialog, open-mindedness, and honest inquiry are the norm.

In the land of the free, political decisions are mostly local.

In the land of the free, the people elect their leaders directly...

...and by "instant run-off" voting -- where people's second choice will be counted if their first choice fails -- in a balloting process that is transparent and rig-free.

In the land of the free, money is a means to and end, not an end in itself.

In the land of the free, micro capital loans are available to all.

In the land of the free, people freely share; philanthropy, goodwill, volunteerism, and service are the norm.

The land of the free does not tolerate corruption, secrecy, selfishness, arrogance, or aggression.

The land of the free functions as if without effort, as a harmonious, self-regulating system.

Upon arriving in the land of the free for the first time, all pretense and neuroses disappear...

...all worries wash away, and all restlessness comes to rest.

The land of the free is at hand, and is always at hand, would that people see it, and take up residence there.

Its result was the liberation of 25 million Iraqis from a monster regime. Its cost was a third of the economic losses resulting from the 9/11 attack. Its relatively painless victory was a tremendous setback for the forces of chaos. The war destroyed a principal base of regional aggression and terror. It induced a terrorist and nuclear power, Libya, to give up its weapons of mass destruction. It induced Iran to allow inspections of its nuclear sites; it caused North Korea to consider negotiation and restraint. It induced Pakistan to give up its nuclear secrets dealer. It made the terrorist regime in Syria more reasonable and pliant. It sent a message across a dangerous world that defiance of UN resolutions and international law, when backed by the word of the United States, can mean certain destruction for outlaw regimes. In all these ways, whatever else one may say about it, George Bush’s war has struck a mighty blow for global peace.

If the President is defeated in the coming election on the issue of war and peace, as Democrats intend, his defeat will send exactly the reverse message to the world of nations. It will tell them that a new American government is prepared to go back to the delusions of pre-9/11, that it will end the war on terror and return to treating terrorists as criminals instead of enemy soldiers. Candidate John Kerry has said this in so many words. It will tell them that the United States will no longer hold governments responsible for the actions of terrorists who operate from their soil, as did Ansar al-Islam, Abu Nidal, and Abu Abbas from their bases in Iraq. Or for supporting terror, as Saddam Hussein did when he financed suicide bombers in Israel. It will send a signal that tyrants like Saddam Hussein who defy UN ultimatums are likely to be appeased – the way they were under the Clinton Administration which had the vision to stop Saddam and the Taliban but not the will to stop them with force. It will announce to the world that the American government is now reluctant to risk even a few American lives to defend international law or stand up for the freedom of those who are oppressed like the people of Iraq.

As distressing as the state of the American family is today with the high rate of divorce and adultery, the situation is far less stable among gays. This is not a slur against gays as individuals, but rather the reality of what occurs when you have what I call the all gas and no brake environment of male/male sexuality. I should know. I am a gay male.

To say that unfortunately the gay world is in a general state of hyper-sexuality that is not conducive to relationships which marriage was intended to foster is to put it mildly. Further, almost all of the issues the gay left claims it is justifiably concerned about like property, health, and financial partnership issues have already been dealt with by many states and can be dealt with through further legislation as needed. Such legal changes would encounter far less political opposition.

Forcing a change to an institution as fundamental and established by civilization as marriage is deemed by gay activists and other cultural liberals as the equivalent of the Good Housekeeping seal of approval for homosexuality itself. The reasoning goes that if someone can marry someone of the same sex then being gay is as acceptable and normal as being short or tall.

While I certainly do not think people should be judged by who they choose to love or how they choose to live their lives, the cultural liberals in America are after more than that. They want to force others to accept their social view, and declare all those who might have an objection to their social agenda to be bigots, racists, and homophobes to be scorned and forced into silence.

The gay left has still not matured into a position of self-empowerment, but is still committed by and large to the idea that the rest of society must bless being gay in every way imaginable. This includes public parades in all major cities to remind everyone else of what some people like to do in their private bedrooms while in the same breath demanding to be left alone.

"I have a right to devote two or three days to myself," Rybkin told Interfax news agency. "I came to Kiev to visit my friends. I switched off my mobile phone and never watched television."

- Jordan Tate (played by Erika Eleniak), Under Siege

Dear FrontPage Reader,

I'm writing to tell you about the way leftists in the public schools have destroyed a good man's career for political reasons - and how we are fighting back through the courts.

We're bringing a court case against a California school district that thinks conservative teachers don't belong in its schools.

If we win, it will be a tremendous blow against the leftists who think they can walk over those who don't agree with them, without consequences.

Here's the story. It's about a California man named Mark Isler who taught middle school in Beverly Hills. Mark is active in politics - he's run for school board and other local offices. He also hosts (unpaid) a local cable TV show on public affairs.

And until last year, Mark's supervisors considered him to be an exceptionally talented teacher. His job performance reviews were uniformly excellent, as was student feedback. One student said Mark Isler was the most honest person he had ever met, and another said Mark had changed the student's life dramatically.

But in May, 2002, Mark made the mistake of applying for a job teaching economics at Beverly Hills High School. When he got to his interview, he found that the people there were not interested in his competence at teaching economics. They wanted to know about his political ideology.

Mark believes in traditional values, personal responsibility, free-market economics, punishing criminals, traditional education, and strong families. He's openly stated his views through his (unpaid) cable show and his website. His interviewers had obviously researched these things. They ended the interview quickly, making it obvious he wouldn't get the job.

But it didn't end there. Having discovered that Mark didn't fit in with their liberal agenda, his "superiors" turned Mark's teaching career into a nightmare.

The following year his English and social studies classes were taken away, and he had to teach math full time - not his main field. The second half of the year he was put on P.E. full time. Mark thinks that in light of his credentials in English and social studies, this was an attempt to humiliate him and force him to resign.

At the beginning of that year he was subjected to repeated observations in the classroom - 13 times in two months, where the previous year he had had just a few the whole year. When one observer couldn't find anything wrong, she complained that the lines he had drawn on the blackboard were crooked. This was the general level of the complaints about him.

They even went searching for problems in the past, so they could create a file to document a history of deficiencies as a reason for getting rid of Mark.

They harassed him constantly, calling him into the office for bogus infractions.

And finally, in March, 2003, Mark was notified that he was not to be re-hired for the next school year.

Let me tell you that Mark Isler is not the first teacher that this has happened to. But he is the first to come to us for help.

Not all conservative victims of political discrimination are willing to go to court. Sometimes their cases are not as clear-cut as Mark's. If a conservative teacher doesn't get hired, the school board could claim it's for some other reason. If a conservative teacher is given poor assignments, it's often difficult to prove that his ideology is the cause. And then if a teacher is fired, many don't want the publicity, the cost, and the disruption that go with a court case, sometimes for fear of harming their future prospects.

But in Mark's case, he already had a terrific record as a teacher. He didn't do anything different that would cause him to lose his job, except to articulate his conservative beliefs in a job interview.

And Mark Isler is a courageous man whose principles are important to him. So he agreed to go ahead with the court case. We have filed a formal complaint in the California Superior Court in Los Angeles, against the Beverly Hills Unified School District, the superintendent, and a number of other school officials. We are asking for Mark to be reinstated in the teaching job he loves, with compensation for his lost income.

We need your financial support to carry on this case and see it through. This is our own case, and we are bearing all the costs. In addition to the direct expenses, it is vitally important to publicize the case as widely as possible, as well as the general problem it represents.

We need to raise $35,000 in the next 21 days to cover our costs.

Will you make a contribution of $25, $50, $100 or more to help us defeat the liberals who have taken control of so many school systems and are now trying to get rid of any teachers who don't follow their leftist agenda? Click here to contribute.

Here's why this case is so important and worthy of your support.

For decades, the Left has been working to take over America's schools. I've written a great deal about the takeover of the colleges and the universities, but these people are just as determined to control grade schools and high schools. And they've succeeded.

You've probably read about how the NEA - the National Education Association - has become a tool of the radical Left. They have a long history of passing resolutions on issues unrelated to education, from a nuclear freeze in the 1980s to an Equal Rights Amendment in 2003. They've pushed for radical sex education, environmental education, and "multicultural" education that result in alienating children from their families and their nation.

They supply tens of millions of dollars worth of free labor for Democratic candidates, as well as millions of dollars of money taken from their members' union dues to elect Democrats.

They provide the largest contingent of delegates to the Democrats' nominating convention - and they are largely responsible for pushing the Democratic platform far to the left.

But their most insidious achievement is the way they've brought the entire leftist agenda into the curriculum that your children or grandchildren study every school day for twelve years.

They have made sure the history textbooks teach children that Columbus was a monster who brought disease, genocide, and environmental disaster to the gentle Indians . . .

. . . that America's Founding Fathers were rich white men who owned slaves and set up a system to exclude everyone who wasn't like them - so that the United States is built on an evil foundation . . .

. . . that we are destroying the environment to such an extent that the earth will probably be unfit to live on by the time they grow up. . .

. . . that America's accomplishments in World War II were to put the Japanese in internment camps and to bomb civilians.

I could go on and on with such examples. You might not even believe what I'm telling you, it is so bizarre. But believe me, there is no way I can convey to you the extreme radicalism of the education establishment - not necessarily of individual teachers, many of whom are moderate or even conservative - but of the people who run the teachers' unions, the school system, and frequently the individual schools.

In fact, many teachers are afraid to speak out about their beliefs because of the heavy pressure to conform to the leftist agenda. Mark Isler told me about a fellow teacher who confided to him that he was a libertarian - but he never spoke a word about his beliefs to anyone at his job for fear of the repercussions.

It's just as important to expose and take on these education radicals as the ones at the university level. And this case is a terrific way to show them up as tyrants who are trying to get rid of anyone who disagrees with their extremist agenda. Through his self-funded TV show, Mark is experienced in the media and makes a good showing as a guest on talk shows or news bites. With this asset plus our the publicity we generate we expect this case will get a great deal of notice.

But we are relying on you to help us raise the money to get this done. It is people like you who are key to fighting the dominance of the left. Without you, we are done for. Please click on this link and give us your support.

Sincerely,

David Horowitz
President and Founder