Captain's Quarters -

She goes to Barnard College, not Columbia. If she doesn't even know what school she attends, why the surprise that she doesn't know the Naval Academy is part of the Navy?

Fortunately her name is easy to remember when she starts writing for the MSM next year.

The whole operating theory of the left is that individuals (especially individuals who aren't leftists) just are not smart enough, or mature enough to run their own lives.

That's why we need govt to make all of our decisions for us.

It is a silly story written by a kid. She is at Barnard studying PoliSci and the whole thing is clearly labeled an opinion piece. Nowhere does it say she is studying journalism.

Surely there are more important issues to talk about in the world than one misguided 18 year old.

THE GOOD NEWS: "Baby" brother cut his own umbilical cord. At just the right age. And, ahead? He will be trained to hold his beer, all right. And, to check his anger at the door. He'll learn all there is to know about "being polite to women." Heck, even whores. Because that's how good the training can be. And, ahead? A whole new life. In a whole new world. Full of MEN. Not cry-baby women at home. One on the rag. And, one going through her "changes."

Good grief.

It really is.

Ace of Spades and Worldwide Standard both scoff at the notion that any adult could possibly be surprised that a military university teaches a military curriculum. They explicitly train men and women to defend their country, and openly express that defending one's country is a noble and honorable thing to do. This has Idris and her mother aghast that such a place could be allowed to influence young minds.

Of course, the fact that almost all other universities in this country are "allowed to influence young minds" by pushing Left-wing ideology instead of critical thinking and a diversity of ideological viewpoints never seems to leave these tender souls aghast.

Perhaps she thought her brother was going to the Navel Academy? Good lord, this country is just going down the tubes. 18 or not, I knew what the Naval Academy was back when I was 14. Another Jay Walkin' candidate for Jay Leno!

Teresa, let me help you out. There ain't no single course labeled "journalism." What schools do is what Hsu did for Hillary. BUNDLE.

In other words, you can avoid having to get credentialed in anything; like English Lit. Or some other topic. "Jouralism" means the credential comes at you as a piece of this. And a piece of that.

A grab bag of courses.

As to the lineage, here, a mom produced two bright kids. With different ideas about how to use their minds. The gal? Didn't choose well. And, the boy? BRILLIANTLY. And, he got away with it, too. Which means he knows how to "talk the talk" to people who should be smart; but are practically infantile.

The other thing? Annapolis isn't going to strap him with college tuition bills, like his sister carries. He'll be committed to making the education he's getting "pay off" in the service of America.
'
With changes ahead. Anyone, today, investing heavily in affirmative action, might as well open a store that sells buggy whips.

So, yeah. An interesting read.

And, another way to see how "journalism" isn't always journalism. Sometimes, it's a tennis match. A weak handed serve, ends up on the Internet court. And, BINGO. They served it; and we won the point.

Journalism majors also have poor math skills. LOVE. Expect this to be more true, most of the time, than less so ... Or the left would have already learned ...

Don't know whether or not to engage in gut-busting laughter at this one or not. I'd especially like to see the Annapolis course that teaches Middies "how to lead troops in combat," according to Leppla's article in the Spectator.

The idea of Mommy calling the Navy to get her son out of a cherished and hard to obtain billet at Annapolis because she did not understand that an entry-oath at Annapolis is the same as any other entry-oath in any of the military services is almost comical.

But understandable...

There are about 300,000,000 Americans according to the US Census Bureau's latest stats.

There are about 1.5 million Americans in uniform, active and reserve combined.

That means that about one-half of one percent of Americans are in uniform, if my math skills haven't failed me, carrying the water for the other 99.5 percent. MOST Americans, unless they have served, are serving or have a close family member who has or is serving, do not have a clue about the US military except from what they gather from the entertainment Media and MSM.

For ANY educated American to think that because the academic standards at Annapolis are as high as elite Ivy League schools, thus Annapolis is just like Dartmouth, or Brown, or Princeton, and, yes, Columbia, and not the premier Naval Academy in the world is beyond laughable.

What did they think "naval academy" meant? Permanent seats at the Orange Bowl?

If you want to know about what they teach at Columbia, you need only check out their course listings. The Fall 2006 list was particularly galling, as all the courses I checked out seemed focused on constructing narratives. One course description promised to teach students how to report on the economy without the use of cliches, even while the description itself was bursting with them.

"as a kid who did not want to sit around and drink beer during college... and have a purpose..."

Hmmm... Maybe that his comment on what he saw as the sum total of his sister's so-called education.

Boy, you bloggers will stop at nothing to bash traditional journalism. Jumping on a student? I'm glad you guys are having fun skewering this girl, but it's kind of pathetic.

What's more pathetic is believing that one story by one student reflects the state of J-school as a whole.

I know you're biased against traditional media, but this little blogosphere episode is... really, the only word I can think of is pathetic.

To second Teresa...

I missed this at first. She's not even a J-student.

Again, pathetic.

As to the reference that Leppla and her mother were not able to speak/pfevented from speaking to the Midshipman whenever they wished during his first summer [Plebe Summer] at Annapolis...consider that the first summer/Plebe Summer is a highly intense regimented period of time, just like Beast Barracks at West Point, similar to Marine Boot and Army Basic training rolled together only more intense. One cannot pick up a cell phone whenever they miss Mommy and call home, and Mommy cannot call her kid to the phone whenever she wants to talk to him. This has been the regimen on the Hudson and on the Severn for the last century. Not because "they" do not want the midshipman or cadet to be talked into desertion, as Leppla asserts, but because their focus is on learning ALL the basics prior to the start of the Academic year, learn those vital first important steps, ingrain them into their consciuousness, before the rigors of academics takes precedence in the Fall.

Sheesh, to think how many Americans will read this article and sympathize with the Mommy and sister and call for Congressional hearings, and possible impeachments, whatever it is they do when they are angry and haven't a clue, because the Leppla's were "duped" into letting their kid and sibling enter Annapolis?

He only has a few minutes to talk because he is going through Plebe Summer, which is the academy equivalent of basic training. They do not let anyone talk more than a few minutes a week and it has nothing to do with his particular predicament. If he wants to quit, all he has to do is raise his hand. To his credit, he has not done so even though he was raised in this same home as the nitwit author and by the same parent. Good for him!

Teresa, let me help you out. "Journalism" means the credential comes at you as a piece of this.

Carol, Let me help you out. There may not be any one course call "Journalism," but there is a major called "Journalism." And this girl is a poly-sci major, not a Journalism major.

I wonder how many moons circle the planet this girl lives on. I do not know any student that does not know that West Point, Annapolis, Air Force, Kings Point, the US Coast Guard Academy, the Citadel, VMI, Norwich Academy, are not Military Academies, with military discipline and traditions.

Secondly, we all knew what we signed up for. It was a military academy. One year of hazing: push-ups, hanging-fives, the bench, butts and muzzles, square meals, orderly duty and more.

Finally, as a graduate of the Coast Guard Academy I can attest to the fact that during Swab Summer we swabs were 1) too tired to call home and 2) too tough to complain to our parents/girl-friends that it was difficult. To be labeled a "pussy" for complaining about the training regime is not a goal anyone strove for. We did not want to wash out.

This kid may succeed in spite of his family. I hope his training officer is successful in keeping this kids family away from him.

Maybe Mommy thought that he was going to the "Navel" Academy to learn about bellybuttons.

ColdWarrior,

Looks like we are making the same points, with you providing more detail. Sorry for the duplication.

I will disagree with one thing; As a former army enlisted man, I would not categorize Beast Barracks as more intense than Infantry OSUT at Ft. Benning!

As someone who spent 15-years in journalism, I'm never surprised by any stupid idea held by a journalist. As a group, they are the most ignorant of college graduates.

Tom Shipley and Teresa,

I think you both miss the point: Idris Leppla may not be a journalism student, but the people who decided to publish her (ahem) article almost certainly are. We can presume, therefore, that they have aspirations to become full-fledged journalists. Once they have a sheepskin from Columbia, one of the more prestigious j-schools, there's a good chance that they WILL become professional (snort!) journalists. If they think that idiotic drivel like Leppla's heartbreaking story of her brother's suffering at the hands of the brutish Navy is worth column space... Sheesh!

As for Leppla and her mother: how stupid can they get??? Did they really have no idea what the Naval Academy would be like or what its purpose is? How humiliating for her brother. The guy is (we hope) making the tough transition from civilian to midshipman to United States Navy officer (a title proudly and honorably born in peace and war by generations of men and women since 1775); he doesn't need Mommy pestering the Navy to let her dear little baby boy go and he doesn't need his sister to be plastering the embarrassing details of his family's stupidity all over the news. I hope he's not as moronic as they are; the Navy doesn't need to be wasting time and money on a imbecilic pantywaist who somehow got into the Academy thinking that it was nothing more than a rather stodgy Ivy League university. I would also hope that the Navy would have a talk with whatever member of Congress got him his appointment and remind them that (a) he needs to be a bit more selective because (b) the service academies have a serious purpose beyond merely providing a good education in a quiet, alcohol-free environment.

On a related note, do the peacenik members of Congress still make appointments to the Academy? If so, why? Doesn't it bother their consciences that they are sending kids off to become murderers for Halliburton?

In a later post, which I read before this one, Ed laughs off being called a retard. I'm sorry to use the silly word, but there are clearly some retards at the Columbia Spectator and in Idris's brother's family.

The Opinionator, I was referring more to the mental intensity, vice the overall physical intensity. Take a kid right out of high school, good grades, perhaps a fairly good athlete, top of his game and center of attention, perhaps, and within minutes of saying goodbye to Mom and Dad dropping him off "at college" finds himself face to face with an upperclassman, eye ball to eye ball learning all about Jesus from a whole new perspective...and having a whole summer of this BEFORE the real hard work starts? Intense.

OSUT? [One Station Unit Training?] That after my time in uniform. I do not doubt the intensity of ANY initial military training that it is conducted properly. "More sweat in training, less blood in battle," isn't that what the old Russian dictum says?

I surely hope this kid has the stones to press on down there on the Severn. "Non sibi sed patriae!"

Judging from I see here I am not sure that the content of the story is actually true. Sounds like a fictional writing assignment to me. Come to think of it, don't most J-Schools double up as creative writing institutions as well? The MSM certainly does like to spin yarn and call it news now and then.

Journalism schools are the place where a student with no math beyond high school and rocks-for-jocks science prepares one for understanding the complexities of global warming.

The cited article is really satire.

Isn't it?

Read as satire, it is funny and pretty well written.

I suspect it was not intended as such, however.

BTW, I don't see anything in the article to suggest the author is planning a journalism career. Did I miss something?

Cap'n,

It ain't mock outrage. I don't know about you(well, actually now I do), but but I do give younger people a little slack... especially students.

Both of them have a lot of learning to do, and it doesn't appear it's happening at Columbia or Barnard.

What exactly does the editor have to learn? It seems this poly-sci student wanted to write an editorial about her brother's experience at the Naval Academy. And they agreed. I don't see any incorrect facts in the op-ed, and you don't know how this piece read prior to publication.

What exactly did the editor do wrong?

University is a time for learning. It's good to know the blogosphere is out there to pounce on students (this IS a student publication) any time a they make a mistep.

Seriously, NOT mock outrade.

If he doesn't want to be in Annapolis and doesn't want it BAD, he won't be there for long. They never kept anyone there that didn't want to be there. There are a hundred thousand young men and women who would gladly take his place.

I'm more than sure the USNA provided the family with numerous brochures and seminars to present a vision of what the plebe year would be like.

The USNA does not want to trick anyone into thinking it's going like going to Columbia (or the Air Force Academy, for that matter). They have more than enough applicants each year and they do not wish to have people wash out the first week because they were unaware of what they were getting into.

Not to mention, for a j-student (or for any student, for that matter), a quick trip to the Academy website will give one a semblance of an idea what to expect:

http://www.usna.edu/plebesum.htm

So I don't really buy this chick's "opinion" column. The midshipman was informed and his mother was informed. The USNA has no real obligation to inform the nitwit daughter, who apparently does not know to operate the Internet.

FYI - for a great book about the USMA and the USNA, plebe summer AND football, read "Army-Navy: A Civil War" by John Feinstein.

To call these people stupid would be a affront to stupid people.

I suppose that Idris and her mom thought that the Naval Academy members sit about contemplating there navals[sic].

I hope this is not too off the point, but many of my friends from USNA (and the other academies) laughingly describe their experience as "a $350,000 education shoved up your *** one nickel at a time".

More seriously, I think that this is not an uncommon experience among academy families for moms and sis's to be "shocked" by the academy's curriculum and commitment, although being able to publish the gory details is rare. What would they be saying if it was a sister who joined the military?

Hurrah for her brother!

And no doubt, Tom Shipley, you'll next say that those "young" Clinton staffers who lapped up every one of Norman Hsu's dollars, not to mention those "free" hotel rooms in Vegas, should be viewed with great compassion for their missteps.

Limbaugh just said that Hillary Clinton micromanages her campaign. That means she supervises everything closely. The story put out by the N.Y. Times that "young staffers" with the Clinton campaign were responsible for the Hsu scandal is risible, but I suppose it's slightly more credible than saying that Hsu was insane.

Tom,
well what about the mother who was also surprised to learn that enrolling in a military academy meant joining the military?

Dave, that's hysterical! Even better, a guy gets to clean out the umbilical debris, instead.

Up ahead? Well, one of the things gained at Annapolis will be friends. Who have families. So if "junior" thinks his mom can wrap her candy around his "time off" from school; she might discover another step along the way of independence? A kid who has friends who take him home for the holidays.

And, then?

What if love comes along?

And, a new family forms;

You think these turdlings from rational thinking, do well? You think kids can't wait to grow up, and then continue this bilge with their own kids?

Something tells me a guy found a way OUT of his own choosing.

This is a key.

As to those here who see a difference between "jounalism courses" and poli science; just haven't been back to school in a long, long time.

Journalism courses, by definition, are a po-puri(le) of other departments. Making kids take a "little bit of this. And, a little bit of that." As their college debts mount. And, their opportunities after college get restricted.

The other thing I noticed? The "mother" in this story is a lone operator. Her son had no dad. About to be fixed NOW, though. And, good luck to him, too. He's got a whole broader outlook than ya can get just from some dames.

well what about the mother who was also surprised to learn that enrolling in a military academy meant joining the military?

You, I don't know. Make fun of this woman if you want. I know my mom had a hard time when I went off to school. I'm sure it's only tougher knowing it could also mean your son is very likely going off to war in 4 years. I'm not going to judge this person.

I mean, "yeah, I don't know."

Journalism courses, by definition, are a po-puri(le) of other departments. Making kids take a "little bit of this. And, a little bit of that."

Carol, you really don't know what you're talking about do you?

Journalism course have their own set of courses:

Article writing
New reporting
Media Law
Media Ethics (go head, have one with one guys!)
Investigative reporting
etc...

It's a major just like any other.

Sorry for the typos... i just type very fast when I get worked up.

Who cares if she's a j-student? She's an idiot, and idiots of all types should be called out and mocked.

"I'm sure it's only tougher knowing it could also mean your son is very likely going off to war in 4 years."

Well, not exactly 4 years.

Presuming the Ensign makes it through four years of schooling, he will be attending further schooling.

For example, ship drivers attend Surface Warfare Officers school, which takes six months.

If he wants to be a Marine, he'll go through Marine Corps Officer training. If he wants to be a pilot, he'll go through years of training.

But whatever he decides, he won't be going to war in four years.

Because by then, we all know Ms. Rodham will be elected President, peace and love will reign and I will be able to purchase shore front property in Annapolis for a song (being "What do you do with a drunken sailor?").

1. Poor little Idris -- not good enough to take her brother's place in mommy's eyes.

2. What kind of a mother delegates harassing the United States Navy to her teenaged daughter? Mom passed out on the floor and too tipsy to take on the task herself?

3. Where is the father in this dysfunctional family? I see two witches dancing around a cauldron at full moon, celebrating his demise.

All in all, no wonder the boy-child was so eager to flee. I wish him all the best, and while Annapolis would certainly not be my cup of tea, it has *got* to be better than the house full of twittering moonbats he has escaped from.

Who cares if she's a j-student? She's an idiot, and idiots of all types should be called out and mocked.

Well Rob, considering the header for this post is "The Truth About J-School" it matters plenty.

I guess that whole compassionate conservative thing is out the window, eh?

feh, this article reads like one of the plot points in that show, "Mothers and Sisters" or whatever it's called. Seems the one episode I've seen featured Sally Field begging her daughter Ally McBoy to ask the congressman she worked for to get her son out of the service, because he apparently couldn't make decisions on his own. Histrionics and piss-poor acting ensue.

Tom:

What is to get worked up about?

When a senior in college is as ill-informed as this young woman appears to be, and then advertises it in a prominent college newspaper, she puts herself in a position to be ridiculed.

Especially when her expressed reaction to the common-knowledge realities of her brother's experience at a highly competitive (and highly desired) military academy is hysterical and ridiculous.

As for the mom, if she is as described by her daughter, she is one sheltered woman it seems to me.

BTW:

Do you really think it is a serious article?

Teresa,

Why not talk about a misguided 18-year old? That 18-year old is an adult, and will shortly be seeking a position which will allow her to influence the more gullible among us. In fact, she is already trying with the content of her opinion piece.

I doubt she will be denied what she seeks, but the really cool thing about the Internet is that what you put into it becomes permanent.

We can watch the evolution (we hope) of Idris Leppla, but Idris has already left her indelible mark on the Net, and has ticked off several seconds of her 15 minutes of fame.

Her brother may suffer a bit more as a result of Idris' article, just as those serving in Iraq suffer a bit each time a Democratic lawmaker opens his/her mouth against the war. Idris may well learn from his letters what she has done to him.

A point Idris makes (and which the USNA site also makes) is that the Oath-taking is a required part of induction, and happens later in the day. (see here for an example of a non-Oath taker). The point here is that the middie has a chance to opt out after a very tough day.

Idris's right, though, about one thing. There's a lot of pressure to stay in, not the least of which is the fact that the inductee has had to secure a slot from a Senator or Congressperson, one of ten allowed per lawmaker (and one of two actual appointments to the Academy); obviously, there is a lot of competition for these slots, and the person who takes one and then gives it up has harmed his/her state's representation in the Academy and, by inference, another applicant who was not placed on his/her lawmaker's nomination list.

Idris Leppla is a 21 year old college senior. She's not a "kid". She is also a practicing Jew. What I find most interesting is that she is troubled by her brother joining the military during a war in which the enemy wholeheartedly supports those who want to slaughter "her" people. She should pray for the wisdom and courage that her brother possesses.

God bless Midn. Leppla. I hope he embraces his new “Navy” family!

Can't wait for part two!

She is also a practicing Jew.

???

Just imagine Tom, if she had written a column SUPPORTING her brother's decision to attend the Naval Academy. And added that she was proud of him.

Just think of the nasty, hated filled E-mails she would have received from the moon bat left.

And that's presuming her column would have been published at all, given that Barnard is a typically far-left bastion of close minded, anti-military reactionaries.

The softballs tossed her way from the right, would have turned to bean balls hurled by the kind, tolerant left.

As for Tom Shipley's complaint that I'm picking on a student

LOL.

Shipley is doing to the author the same thing the mother and daughter are doing to their boy... infantilizing them.

Well, at least the editor had the good grace to strike all the "like totallys" and "oh my gawds" that were no doubt in the first draft.

So now we move from criticizing an 18 year old kid to speculating where her father is? Some of you people are unbelievable. Does it ever occur to you that maybe, just maybe the kid's father is DEAD. Criticize her for being naive all you want, but lay off speculating about things not in the actual article.

As far as stupid things that people say, I've seen all sorts of things that ADULTS write on this blog that they should be embarrased about, but conveniently never bother giving us their real names. How about comments about killing liberals and the rest? How ever stupid this girl is, at least she had the honesty to sign her OPINION piece.

Finally, as the wife of a college professor, I am a little tired of all the crap on right wing blogs about how "liberal professors" are indoctrinating students. Frankly, at the college my husband is at the winger professors are the only ones blathering on about politics in class. The rest are concentrating on teaching math and so forth.

IF colleges are so damn liberal, then how do you explain the fact that despite rising numbers of college grads that people like George Bush keep getting elected? If colleges are indoctrinating people they sure are lousy at it.

Barnard is the all felale college in Columbia University.

Just to be precise: Barnard College is one of the subsections of Columbia University. Lots of universities have this kind of designation (I'm a graduate of Livingston College of Rutgers University, for instance), so she is a Columbia student.

I agree with Tom Shipley to the extent that this isn't really a fair criticism of the journalism school (though there are lots of valid ones). The Columbia Spectator is the student newspaper of the University, and probably doesn't have any journalism school students on its staff, such newspapers being primarily for undergraduates. There may be journalism majors among its editors.

That having been said, Ms. Leppla really ought to have checked her facts before exposing her ignorance in public this way, and her editors shouldn't have let her embarrass herself this way ("uh, do you REALLY want to tell the whole University that you didn't know that going to the Naval Academy means that you are also signing up for a stint in the Navy? You did say you're a PoliSci major, right?). As for her mother, she's just pathetic, and I hope she's proud of her daughter for making her look like a fool, as well.

Tom, you claimed there were no factual errors in her opinion piece. Did you read any of the comments? Many many people commenting there were or are in the military and they expose dozens of errors in her viciously anti military tirade.

I agree with you, Teresa that speculating on her Dad is in poor form. But, I submit that she is not a poor 18 year old, but probably more like 20 or 21. Seniors are not supposed to be sophomoric.

I think NahnCee touched on the point I wanted to make. There's no father around and it looks like the two Leppla women are more aghast at all that maleness that the academy represents than anything else. I mean, they changed baby brother's hairstyle and didn't have the sensitivity afterwards to sit down with the boy and talk about how it made him feel? No wonder he's seeking "structure" and male authority figures, he's been smothered by these two for who knows how long. Best of luck to him.

I bet you $ to donuts that, the moment my sig.other (a Kings Point grad) reads this girl's sorry excuse for an article, he will have a good laugh and will utter a well-deserved "What a moron!"

Where did she think her brother was attending? Hogwarts U? (With apologies to Harry Potter fans.)

CI,

I did see those comments, but I also didn't see them citing any particular facts she got wrong. In my experience, when someone gets a fact wrong, they usually cite it and correct it. It seems to me that they are more referring to her opinions, ie... the Naval Academy misled her brother.

Not only is Idris treating her brother like an infant, she is a sorry excuse for a journalist- if her story is being at all accurately reported. From the exerpt given by the Captain:

1) You don't take the Oath of Office after being yelled at all day. To the contrary, the yelling begins only after the Oath of Office. The reason is simple- you are not in military service until you do, and legally, the upper class have no right to yell at you, any more than at any civilian.

2) Midshipmen bilging out (dropping out) do NOT need to go through 13 exit interviews, much less with the "Head of the Navy". There is, technically, no such position. The closest thing would be the Chief of Naval Operations- and trust me, he has more important things than to do exit interviews with departing midshipmen.

D F Eyres USNA '86

"Poor form"?

No one here has said anything disrespectful about the father.

NahnCee writes: "Where is the father in this dysfunctional family? I see two witches dancing around a cauldron at full moon, celebrating his demise."

Guess that comes from the Ann Coulter playbook of saying that the 9/11 widows were enjoying their husband's death.

And the most fundamental error in her piece! She mentioned he would get to play the bugle in the band! Good God girl Fact Check. You play the BUGLE in the USNA's world famous drum and bugle corps, not the marching band! As an old drum corps vet, we hate when they refer to us as bands! Sheeeesh!

Mistatements of fact in her article Tom? Maybe not.

But whether the Naval Academy misled her brother would be what the legal profession calls a mixed question of law and fact; not an opinion.

And her evidence does not appear to advance in any material way her thesis that the Navy misleads its candidates for Annapolis.

On the other hand, anyone who is seriously seeking an appointment to any of our military academies would probably not be impressed by her sob story.

"It seems to me that they are more referring to her opinions, ie... the Naval Academy misled her brother."

Misled = "lied".

So if our little hero here is saying that her brother was lied to, he was lied to by Naval Officers?

Did Hillary Clinton ghostwrite this article? Good to see she can actually write something for herself, but what is it about Hillary labeling military officers as liars?

Once again - her brother was not "misled". You don't have to trick people into a $250,000 education. The Naval Academy has more than enough applicants.

That this woman has the audacity to claim her brother was lied to, opens her up to severe criticism. The left labels anyone with whom they disagree with as "liars", then shrieks like little girls when they are criticized for it.

Now, in the old days, Navy recruiting consisted of getting the recruiter getting a man good and drunk, and when the man woke up, he was on a ship sailing away from shore for a two-year cruise, but we're far beyond those days now.

Her brother is a legal adult and should consider himself fortunate to be gaining distance from such a smothering, dysfunctional disrespectful family.

more sorriness from Idris:
"... let it be known: the U.S. Naval Academy is not an elite college; it is first and foremost a branch of the U.S. military..."

USNA is an elite college. A few years back, it was ranked in the top 25 colleges and universities in the country.

D F Eyres

"That having been said, Ms. Leppla really ought to have checked her facts before exposing her ignorance in public this way, and her editors shouldn't have let her embarrass herself this way ..."

This is the crux of the matter: lack of basic research. Which BTW, is an ability sorely lacking in modern journalism and a host of other fields.

This is what happens when they ban military recuiters and ROTC on campus.

ColdWarrior 415 said:

" MOST Americans, unless they have served, are serving or have a close family member who has or is serving, do not have a clue about the US military except from what they gather from the entertainment Media and MSM."

As I recall, service families who are stationed with the service member are also "under the command" of whoever is in charge of that particular district, so they could be considered "military members" too, although not in the strictest sense of the term.

Teresa said:

"Guess that comes from the Ann Coulter playbook of saying that the 9/11 widows were enjoying their husband's death."

Yawn. Coulter said that about only three of the 9/11 widows, not all of them. Get your talking points correct!

Not a Yank: is the US Coast Guard Academy still tougher to get into than the other ones? It was when my Dad went there 57 years ago.

By the way, Columbia University's School of Journalism had a scandal earlier this year, when some grad students there apparently cheated on a take-home exam. The course? "Journalistic Ethics".

College students do not just sign up at the Naval Academy. This is a subject about which I have first hand knowledge.

To get into Annapolis, you must apply for admission, take the ACT or SAT, send in a high school transcript and obtain references. Secretary of the Navy and Presidential appointments are competitive but every member of Congress has one appointment each year. You must also take a physical at a military hospital and have 20/20 vision. If the applicant is younger than 18, he must have written parental consent. Many applicants also visit Annapolis between their junior and senior years.

It is impossible to believe that any 4th classman or any member of his immediate family was unaware that the United States Naval Academy was part of the armed forces. If they were, the first clue came on 27 June, when all his hair is cut off and all civilian clothes are locked up in storage and replaced with sailor uniforms.

That same day, the midshipmen form up in Tecumseh court, raise their right hands and swear to defend the United States Constitution from all enemies, foreign and domestic.

I suspect that some J-School student is practicing the common journalistic art of reporting as fact a fiction you would like to believe. She and her mother should shut up and let the Midshipman cope with the upper classmen who just returned from their summer cruises. He's busy saying, "Aye aye, sir; I'll find out, sir; No excuse, sir." No time to talk to Mom and Sis.

Sounds to me like there's another Cindy Sheehan in the making.

"grad students there apparently cheated on a take-home exam. The course? "Journalistic Ethics"."

That's a pretty tough course. No textbooks exist.

Now reporting a story without a pre-determined, leftwing bias, without trying to "make a difference, without trying to become the next Woodward/Bernstein/Redford?

That will get you tossed out of J-school.

I'm surprised he didn't run away and join a circus years ago to get away from them. I really feel sorry for him, he will hear about his family's efforts, probably several times.

Most telling is that a no time did dear old mom and sis attempt to ascertain their boy's feelings before deciding to yank his ass out of what he worked hard to get into. Ostensibly, it was because he was too young and stupid (tho smart enough to make it into Annapolis) to make decisions for himself.

Where does one begin to comment on not only Ms. Leppala's article, but also on how Left and Right perceive institutions such as the military, but also basic values and, especially, each other. Ms. Leppala and her mother come across to me as perfect examples of Diane West's thesis refusing the refusal of many of us to grow up--the stubborn and narcissitic clinging to adolescence. In many ways, her piece reads like an adolescent's temper tantrum that her brother did something that she and her mother didn't like. Like spoiled children, she and her mother refuse to accept that he made an informed adult decision and to respect him as an adult.

Also, like many on the Left, she does not understand the role of the military in society. This I think is a commonality amongst the Left--and is also something of a desired ignorance on the part of leftist who neither seek nor desire to find out the facts--keeping to the adage of "I know what's right, so don't confuse me with the facts."

A commenter on another boardmade what I think is an interesting observation: that those on the Left view the Army and Marines as the military and see them as being basically cops, and, because, like police officers, they represent authority, there is a reflexive dislike towards them. While that probably does reflect the view of many on the Left, I'll be charitable and say that probably isn't a predominant view.

Another element coming into play is that Left and Right do, in many ways, ascribe to a different value system. Those of us on the right emphasize what can be called "hard values": honor, duty, patriotism, stoicism, etc.; while those on the left ascribe primarily to "soft values" such as empathy, showing emotions, etc. Now, don't get me wrong, conservatives do acknowledge the need and importance of "soft" values: it's just that we feel that our institutions such as school have done a poor job in inculcating the "hard" virtues--and, partly, it's our fault for letting this happen.

to conclude, I wish Ms. Leppala's brother success in his Naval career and applaud his admission into the most prestigious naval academy in the world, and hope that one day his sister and mother can also take pride in their son's service to them and their country.

If an adult in America can write a piece like Leppla's without understanding what the words "U.S. Naval Academy" mean, especially while less than two percent are engaged in a war, and write them with a straight face, she deserves to be picked on. This reminds me of my time in grad school and Air Force ROTC at a large university in western Pennsylvania when Operation DESERT SHIELD was in full swing. A tenured physics professor at the neighboring university wrote an opinion piece in his school's newspaper claiming that the university had a obligation to assist ROTC students get out of their contracts. He felt that cadets/midshipmen were getting involved with the military without understanding what we were getting into. A staffer at my ROTC det told me that this professor had been invited on numerous occasions over the years to attend our events and participate in scholarship boards and he never accepted. So, here we have still more examples of ignorance about what those in uniform do. And a lack of understanding that our young people really are making informed decisions. I applaud her brother for his decision to serve the country.

Tom:

Ms. Leppla is an adult, and therefore she cannot avail herself of the "I'm just a child" defense to criticism. Second, it matters not that she is simply a student, because student =! child. Third, her status as a student should not render her immune from criticism. Serious work is done at the university, whether scholarship, research, publishing or the like. I am amused that you think that such work should be adjudged more lightly because the authors and researchers are mere students. Fourth, she is not immune to criticism because she freely submitted her work for wide publication. On the internet. I can understand if this was some private scribbling on a private blog or a MySpace page, but this was published in a newspaper. Here's a lesson: Don't announce your stupidity to the world and then complain about the audience. Finally, her article has garnered criticism because it (1) expressed a juvenile opinion, (2) revealed the author's own foolishness and ignorance, (3) supposed that the reader shared in the author's own ignorance, (4) expressed dismay and even contempt for institutions upon discovering her own stupidity, (5) attempted to interfere in her adult brother's life, and publicly infantilized him, and (6) patronizingly presumed to pass along some greater lesson.

I was also rather put off by the first paragraph. She doesn't go to Columbia. She attends Barnard. Second, I went to a better liberal arts school than she, but I didn't attend to revel in the "ooh, you must be smart" bullshit. This lady's entire attitude is offensive to me.

My reference to the J-school at Columbia applied not just to Idris but also to the editor who approved this for publication. CE.

From The Truth About the Academies:
The author (sic) a Barnard College senior majoring in political science. [verb, (presumably "is," but tense may vary) absent in the original].

There's plenty to criticize about the author and the J-School (which, incidentally, is a graduate school, not likely to be attended by a Barnard senior)without continuing to intimate that she is an enrollee of the latter.

And because the article is so lame, criticism abounds at its Web site. From all appearances, this is no longer your grandfather's Morningside Heights of the 60s.

One last remark on the take-it-easy-she's just-a-student theme. When her brother attains her present age, he'll most likely be months away from Ensign John Leppla. Because, despite his mother's and sister's best Cindy Sheehan impression,

[He]ended up liking Annapolis and he has decided to stay.

Sounds to me like there's another Cindy Sheehan in the making.

That's the first thing that came to mind. "The only thing she could talk about was how to get him out." Puhleeze, next she'll be threatening to run over him with a car.

As for "she's just a student" -- B.S. when she pulls the lever in a voting booth it counts as much as mine. If her younger brother can step up to the plate like a man, she can defend her published works. No quarter, eh captain.

It appears that Ms. Leppla has been taking her directions straight from Cindy Sheehan's playbook. Once again some poor boy is too dumb to know what he wants to do and now his mother and sister need to protect him.

A for Tom Shipley's comment "I did see those comments, but I also didn't see them citing any particular facts she got wrong. In my experience, when someone gets a fact wrong, they usually cite it and correct it. It seems to me that they are more referring to her opinions, ie... the Naval Academy misled her brother.," I suggest he go back and read the comments again. Ignorance is not bliss and there were a number of comments posted directly refuting some of Ms. Leppla's statements, some by people who claimed to have been there at the time of Midshipman Leppla's induction.

I pity Ms. Leppla because, if that article is an example of her thought processes, she will have a very disappointing life. When you act in a foolish manner it has a way of coming back to haunt you. I personally find it hard to believe that she and her mother were so ill informed about the United States Naval Academy that they were unaware that it was a branch of the military. I can understand that some people might be unaware of that fact, but when her brother was applying for and then appointed to the Naval Academy causes me to question that belief. There is quite a bit involved in getting such an appointment and many steps to go through. If they truly did not know, that has to be the most dysfunctional family I've heard of and I can well understand why Midshipman Leppla might want to get away from them.

Perhaps more interesting is that it is a good example of the type of story many on the left seem to believe. To them anyone who would join the military or go to one of the service academies is too stupid to make his or her own decisions. At least this time the argument that only the poor have to join is refuted because obviously there is sufficient money for the sister to go to school.

Barnestormer, she's the one who wrote this in the first paragraph:

I know why I chose Columbia: the campus is magnificent, the education is top-tier, and my peers are intelligent. I could look at a stranger, tell him or her that I went to Columbia, and hear the predictable, “Wow, you must be smart.”

She's probably attending both, don't you think? Or does she not know which school she attends?

I have to admit, after I read the next to last paragraph of the quote, I had the sneaking suspicion that getting away from an over-clinging mother just might have been part of John Leppa's motivation. And sister Idris seems like part of the problem.

Assuming the person who posted this comment is, in fact, the initial author and not someone's sockpuppet, she admits this opinion is not factual but based on emotion.

But, hey, isn't that how libs always discuss things, based on emotion?

Posted by: Idris Leppla, author (not verified) | September 7th, 2007 @ 2:11pm

To all of you who took the time to read this article:

First of all, thank you very much for reading it. I do not know how to respond except to say that you are right in many respects: this article was not meant to be a piece of investigative journalism. It was not meant to serve as a litany of facts about the miltiary or specifically about the navy. It was not meant to dismiss the importance of having a military and it was not meant to pubically embarrass my brother.

In fact, my brother is such an incredible person that he and I have talked about how this reflects poorely on me, and he feels sorry that I come off as someone unable to conduct thorough research.

All I can say is that this article is not factual. It is based on emotion--and sadly emotion is what hinders rationality. Emotion and fear, emotion and uncertainty, emotion and sadness--is what prevents our clear vision and our normal perception of things. And I wrote this article as a function of my emotion. Because, truthfully, when any member of my family could be in danger (be it in the next month or next decade), I get emotional and I get fearful. Perhaps we all do. And for mothers and fathers whose lives have been bereaved by losing a son or daughter in the military, their lives may too become run by emotion.

The real question is: how do we balance an emotional knee jerk reaction to a personal experience with what should be done on a national level such that fewer families have to have this emotional shading of facts because they are too hurt to see anything else? How do we prevent either emotion, an an obstruction of facts, or personal motives from running our national polity? How do we do this on a citizen level, and how do we do this as a public official?

Before you criticize this article, please help me on the above questions--and if you can do this--if you can balance the emotional needs of military families with just and right conduct in the world--you can run the world.

Reason I was wondering about the father is because if there *was* a daddy any where nearby, he could have put his foot down and told the two dingbats to back off - which I have seen my father do when my mother was in full-throated pack-baying after some poor soul or other. The fact that a father isn't mentioned may mean that the kid is on his own against these two harridans, which is unfortunate because he'll need all the support he can get at Annapolis.

It also may mean that the two moonbats sacrificed the poor father under a full moon, unless the boy-child is a product of in vitro fertilization because the mother is too pathetic to even get herself successfully impregnated.

Barnard College is a women's undergraduate affiliate of Columbia University. Columbia College used to be its mens-only counterpart, but in the 1980s, went coeducational. So in other words, both Barnard and Columbia Colleges are undergraduate branches of Columbia University.

NOTE: I posted this comment three days ago on the Columbia Spectator website. Interestingly, it disappeared, then reappeared several times... I am reposting it here, as some of you commentating have said that Idris Leppla reported the truth, and not lies. WRONG.

I'm a mother of a USNA plebe (who knows MIDN 4/C Leppla, BTW). I am offended by Idris' opinion letter, as it contains blatant lies. Here is my post disputing her verision of the "facts" as she reported them.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Well, I am not going to engage in ad hominem attacks against you, Ms. Leppla. Tempting as it may be, and as angry as I am, I won't indulge myself.

But I do think that what you wrote is blatantly untrue - and that you deliberately put in details so that the Naval Academy would be shown in a very poor light. Here are three very specific examples of what you implied about USNA in your essay:

(1) deliberately deceptive

[example: your implication about the USNA course catalogue containing false or misleading information]

I have a copy of the 2007-2008 course catalogue right here on my desk. The courses your brother will be taking have titles like "Naval Leadership" and "Military Applications." It is hard to misinterpret these titles unless you are either developmentally challenged or living in a non-reality-based community.

(2) hyperviolent

[example: your description of Induction Day, with a "Navy marine shooting off an endless supply of rounds" on a video screen...]

No that didn't happen, the video didn't exist ... I was there in Tecumseh Court on I-Day, front and center, and saw nothing of the sort. Fabricating a salacious little detail like that is designed to show the Academy in the worst, most bloodthirsty kind of light. Oh, and there is no such thing as a "Navy marine" - if you are going to invent a new branch of the U.S. Military, you should do your research first and do it well.

(3) mind-controlling and brainwashing

[example: her depiction of how hard it would be for her brother to quit... it made USNA sound like the Moonies]

Plebes can - and do - leave the Naval Academy. At this point, three months post-induction, approximately 50 of your brother's 1,200 classmates have left, or "tangoed out". Again, you misrepresented the entire process of outprocessing in order to show the Academy in a poor light.

Ms. Leppla, no doubt you feel like our current administration has engaged in lies and deception - and we are now engaged in a war in Iraq as a result. You, however, have done precisely the same thing - your falsehoods about the Academy were done to "sell" your incorrect and deceptive essay to the Columbia (?) and Barnard community. You truly should be ashamed of this essay.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - -

What a lucky man John is. He’s going to have such a head start on life having gone through Annapolis! I wanted to go to Annapolis, but my grades didn’t allow for me to qualify. Today, I’ve done okay despite having attended Kent University (tin soldiers and Nixon coming…4 dead in O – HI –O,) and having graduated from their School of Journalism and Mass Communication. I did okay because I married an Accountant from Miami, and I disregarded my Journalism degree and went into Sales.

That said, my Nephew, a few years back, graduated as Valedictorian of his High-School Class. Had an opportunity to go to Annapolis including the recommendation of a State Representative. He didn’t. He wanted to go into psychology and graduated from a liberal college in Tennessee.

Today, he’s a tele-marketer. I love him anyway.

docjim505
On a related note, do the peacenik members of Congress still make appointments to the Academy? If so, why? Doesn't it bother their consciences that they are sending kids off to become murderers for Halliburton?

Eric:
Doc..you're awesome.

All I can say is that this article is not factual. It is based on emotion--and sadly emotion is what hinders rationality. Emotion and fear, emotion and uncertainty, emotion and sadness--is what prevents our clear vision and our normal perception of things. And I wrote this article as a function of my emotion. Because, truthfully, when any member of my family could be in danger (be it in the next month or next decade), I get emotional and I get fearful. Perhaps we all do. And for mothers and fathers whose lives have been bereaved by losing a son or daughter in the military, their lives may too become run by emotion.

First of all--don't try to use bereaved parents as cover for what you did. You didn't 'accidentally' misrepresent the facts, or write that out based on emotion. You made sh*t up. You got called on it. So now you're trying to reframe the debate. You haven't a freaking CLUE what parents who lost a son or daughter in the military feel. The fact that you try to equate your ignorant reaction to your brother's choice with a grief that deep is pretty low and disgusting. My brother and sister have both been deployed. To Iraq. As Marines. You want to talk about fear? When your brother's deployed, THEN talk to me about fear. Until then--you ever heard the saying, "it's better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open your mouth..." Yeah. Now's the time to shut up, listen, and learn.

On a citizen level, try moving beyond the typical knee jerk reaction that the institutions of the US military are kill-bot factories. Treat your brother and the other members of the armed services as people who are just as intelligent and capable as you--judging by what I've seen so far, quite a bit more so--who made an informed choice to serve their country.

You asked some absolutely fascinating questions, though you probably weren't anticipating the answers you're going to get.

How do we balance an emotional knee jerk reaction to a personal experience with what should be done on a national level such that fewer families have to have this emotional shading of facts because they are too hurt to see anything else?

I fail to see how you are 'hurt,' first of all. Leaving that aside, if you want a national-level solution, how about we stop slandering, insulting, and misrepresenting our military's traditions, institutions, training methods, and ethics? It takes one person to start a trend. YOU could be that person, Idris. You could do some research on these here interwebs and find out that the US military is better educated, as a population, than the rest of the US. You could look up the crime statistics of the US military as compared to the general population and find out they're far LOWER. Then you could start reading the Code of Conduct for each service to see what's required of every service member. You could read the damned oath your brother took. You could look beyond the propaganda you've been fed your entire life about the US military and learn what the institution ACTUALLY is. Then you could report accurately on it. If more journalists did that, that would alleviate a lot of pain and hurt in all those other ignorami suffering just like you. The distorted perception of soliders, sailors, Marines, and Airmen might finally be purged from the national psyche. Which answers your second question, too.

You want a serious response and a way to avoid putting yourself in this situation again? TAKE JOURNALISM SERIOUSLY. It used to be a respected profession. Do your homework. Report the facts even when they don't jive with your personal opinion or agenda. The country wouldn't be so deeply divided if partisan reporters hadn't worked decades to make it so. It's hard to come to ANY agreement when you have two sides that don't even work from the same source material anymore. If you're serious, apply yourself to honest reporting MINUS YOUR PERSONAL BIASES. It'll give you credibility as a reporter. It'll win the trust of your readers. And it'll save you a lot of embarrassment.

The post mac cites, if genuine, sounds like a cry for help from someone who loves her brother and is afraid to lose him.

It also helps to explain the article she wrote which bears the characteristics more of an hysterical rant than of a serious analytical piece.

BTW, there is a passage in her original article which implies that there is a dad on the scene:

During the first two “induction days,” the head of the Navy openly admitted that their goal was to transform these boys into men who would willingly die defending our country. They said to my parents, “We will manage to do in 18 minutes what you could not do in 18 years—we will discipline your boys and have them calling you Sir and Ma’am.”

Well said, Zoomie.

NahnCee, always a vigorous and colorful writer, describes a... " full-throated pack-baying after some poor soul or other..."

Gee, now what does that remind me of? Arghhh... can't quite put my finger on it... I'm sure it'll come to me eventually...

Captain,
My understanding is that Barnard College is affiliated with Columbia University, at the latter's Morningside Heights campus. I would think that she could properly claim to be considered a student of both. Perhaps the two entities bear a similar relationship to what Notre Dame's and St. Mary's might have been had that "merger" gone through. Or Harvard College/Harvard University. But that distinction is NOT the nit I'm picking.

Rather, it's that your indictment of the J-School seems to result in part from the (mistaken)apparent identification of the author as a J-School student, and thus reflecting the suspect quality of the school's student/products.
Not that there isn't ample evidence for that proposition. I just don't think that Idris, qua budding journalist, is Exhibit A.

And it's not like the "academies" article and its author aren't target rich for derision in their own respective rights. What kind of reach by an assignment editor does it take to search out a "four-part-series" like this anyway? Have all the ROTC buildings been burned? Isn't Neil Young still alive and kicking; even if Jim Rhodes isn't? (See Eric, above.)

I posted above re: the "Lies From Leppla".

Now, I want to say something else. I am sick, sick and tired of hearing that "liberals don't support the military". I am a USNA parent, and I'm in regular contact with other Academy parents, both here in my home state and online.

I must say: we are about 50% Democratic/liberal.

Shocking to you guys, I'm sure. But a huge number of liberals DO support the military, despite what your mythology says. My dad was a US Army Msgt. - oh, and a straight-ticket Dem. My grandpa? Old-school Democrat, and a WWII vet.

You know, both Michelle Malkin and Ann Coulter - oh, and Tucker Carlson, too - are of age to put their bodies where their pro-war mouths are and ENLIST. Heck, they've got college degrees - they could even go the officer route.

I double-dog-dare you to go watch the below YouTube video, which has been seen by >150,000 people in the last few weeks. Tom Blumenthal from "The Nation" took a video camera in to the Young Republicans national conference, and asked them why they don't sign up.

If you dare to challenge your stereotypes of "liberals are chicken***t wimps", you will get an eyeful watching this video.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=gFGit_tZDqs

Carol Herman:
Up ahead? Well, one of the things gained at Annapolis will be friends. Who have families. So if "junior" thinks his mom can wrap her candy around his "time off" from school; she might discover another step along the way of independence? A kid who has friends who take him home for the holidays.
And, then?
What if love comes along?
And, a new family forms;
You think these turdlings from rational thinking, do well? You think kids can't wait to grow up, and then continue this bilge with their own kids?
Something tells me a guy found a way OUT of his own choosing.
This is a key.
As to those here who see a difference between "jounalism courses" and poli science; just haven't been back to school in a long, long time.
Journalism courses, by definition, are a po-puri(le) of other departments. Making kids take a "little bit of this. And, a little bit of that." As their college debts mount. And, their opportunities after college get restricted.
The other thing I noticed? The "mother" in this story is a lone operator. Her son had no dad. About to be fixed NOW, though. And, good luck to him, too. He's got a whole broader outlook than ya can get just from some dames.

Eric:
Home run Carol. You hit it out of the park.

Del Dolemonte:

"As I recall, service families who are stationed with the service member are also "under the command" of whoever is in charge of that particular district, so they could be considered "military members" too, although not in the strictest sense of the term."

No, service families are not considered military members by anyone within the military. Yet another civilian misconception about the military and military life.

They are "dependents." They, as "dependents," are permitted certain perks/privileges for being a family member -- spouse or children. Access to the Post Exchange and Commissary, access to on-post recreational activities, on post medical facilities, and other facilities which are under appropriated and non-appropriated funding, among others. But, they are "dependents" and the perks/privileges allowed them can be cancelled at any time should they abuse any of them, and in cases where they are not "Command Sponsored" they may be allowed NO privileges at all. Sometimes, rarely, an elderly parent(s), under certain specific conditions AND if the parents) reside with the servicemember[sponsor] and are "Command Sponsored" they may be given "dependent" status. Brothers, sisters, cousins, and the like are NOT considered part of a service member's official family, and are not "dependents."

As "dependnets" they are required to follow ALL military regulations on the military base/reserve/station/post. In the case of overseas dependents they may or may not be covered by the most current Status of Forces Agreement in that country. In ALL cases they are subject to national and local civilian law, in the US and abroad. They cannot be represented in court by military lawyers, and are not subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Any action by the military against them is focused on their sponsor first. Failure to follow military regulations on the part of dependents subjects their sponsor to military sanctions, not themselves.

Yes, a good number of dependents make huge personal sacrifices married to a service member or as children of a service member. Most of the time they are given short shrift in the kudos department, which most richly deserve. They are a vital part of the service members life. And over the past several years the military is once again acknowleging their positive benefit to the service member.

But under no circumstance should they be considered a military member.

I think everyone's missing the obvious here. This seems more like a bratty sister trying to embarrass her brother possibly because she's jealous of the attention he receives. Sure, she's attending Columbia but he's at the NAVAL ACADEMY. Columbia is a big deal but come on, getting in there is like being accepted at a community college compared to admission at the naval academy.

Never underestimate sibling rivalry.

I didn't read all 93 comments, but it seems to me there is one thing lacking in this story: a father.

Kinda susplains everything.

Teresa says:
IF colleges are so damn liberal, then how do you explain the fact that despite rising numbers of college grads that people like George Bush keep getting elected? If colleges are indoctrinating people they sure are lousy at it.

Eric says:
Parents. Both Parents. That's how I explain it.

Filistro writes:

NahnCee, always a vigorous and colorful writer, describes a... " full-throated pack-baying after some poor soul or other..."

Gee, now what does that remind me of? Arghhh... can't quite put my finger on it... I'm sure it'll come to me eventually...

-----------------------

I agree with you Filistro. Some on here say that she made this a public issue by printing it online. I'd say that she probably thought the audience was the other people who attend Columbia -- many who disagreed with her. When was the last time any of you read the Columbia school newspaper? Instead what she got was some folks who purposefully troll the web looking for any excuse to get outraged in order to deflect attention from the woeful problems in their party.

So she got sucked up in a situation in which now people are checking to see her religion (!), speculating on whether her mother is so awful that she had to be artificially inseminated (!!), that she and her mother were happy that her father is dead (!!!)... Wait until Michelle Malkin gets hold of this and posts the girl's picture on Fox News and she starts getting hate mail from wackos in her personal mail.

Maybe college students these days will get the idea that what they write AS AN OPINION PIECE makes them fair game for adults they have never met in states far away and maybe it will have the intended effect of stifling debate. I wonder how many people here would feel if their college age kid got his name drug through the mud on big liberal websites.

(And I say this as someone who did not agree with the premise of her piece.)

Teresa says:
As far as stupid things that people say, I've seen all sorts of things that ADULTS write on this blog that they should be embarrased about, but conveniently never bother giving us their real names. How about comments about killing liberals and the rest? How ever stupid this girl is, at least she had the honesty to sign her OPINION piece.

Eric says:
Comments about killing liberals? I've never seen it even once. Show us that comment.

Teressa says:
Finally, as the wife of a college professor, I am a little tired of all the crap on right wing blogs about how "liberal professors" are indoctrinating students. Frankly, at the college my husband is at the winger professors are the only ones blathering on about politics in class. The rest are concentrating on teaching math and so forth.

Eric says:
Stop reading if it bothers you. Or, stop the liberal professors from spending their time preaching to the students. I vote for the later.

mak: Idris Leppla, author (not verified) --- The real question is: how do we balance an emotional knee jerk reaction to a personal experience with what should be done on a national level such that fewer families have to have this emotional shading of facts because they are too hurt to see anything else? How do we prevent either emotion, an an obstruction of facts, or personal motives from running our national polity? How do we do this on a citizen level, and how do we do this as a public official?

She's HURT because your brother is a midshipman at the Naval Academy and (gasp!) might have to go to war one day? Is this like "Starship Troopers" when Johnny's parents were outraged because he enlisted in the MI? What sort of person is "hurt" or feels anything other than pride when a loved one is accepted into one of the Academies, is commissioned from ROTC or OCS, or enlists in the armed services? I can understand worry: my family worried when my brother got sent to Bosnia. But "hurt"? What is there to be hurt about? Does it somehow insult her that her brother wants to be an officer in the Navy? I have to say that I don't really understand her thought processes. I don't feel bad about that: apparently, she doesn't understand them, either. Brainless twit.

In my mind, there is only one thing to do when a loved one goes off to war: give him every ounce of love and support your soul is capable of. You may not agree with the reasons he's going. You may not like the decision to send him. You may hate the man who gave the order. But the fact remains that your loved one is going to need all the moral support that you can provide. He DOESN'T need to be treated like a feeble-minded child who's been tricked into something or didn't know what he was getting into.

How do we prevent either emotion, an an [sic] obstruction of facts, or personal motives from running our national polity [sic - policy?]?

I love it when people get caught being stupid and try posing as an intellectual to cover for it! "Maybe if I ask what sounds like a deep philosophical question, people won't think I'm such a dumbass."

But let me take a crack at answering her deep philosophical question: DON'T LET YOUR EMOTIONS RULE YOU! If you are smart enough to realize that you're having a "knee jerk response", then you ought to be smart enough to take a deep breath, count to ten, get your emotions under control, and try to start thinking rationally.

As far as preventing emotions from running our national policy... Well, not letting liberals vote would help a lot in this regard, but I believe in democracy and think that citizens should be allowed to vote regardless of race, color, creed, sex, national origin, or brain function.

PROPOSED:

1. Raise the age of majority to thirty. Obviously, people even in their middle- to late 20s are not adults and should be treated with the same tolerance presently extended to six year-olds. Mentally handicapped six year-olds, I should say.

2. If a person is self-identified as a liberal, there is no age of majority: they are never, ever to be held responsible for anything they say or do.

Teresa: ... folks who purposefully troll the web looking for any excuse to get outraged in order to deflect attention from the woeful problems in their party.

Why, Cap'n Ed, I do believe she's talking about you! I didn't get the memo this morning: what woeful problem are we trying to cover up today?

Oh, and Teresa: if I had a child who wrote something as stupid as what Idris wrote, the outrage and scorn of people on the internet would pale to insignificance in comparison to the earful she'd get from me.

vnjagvet said:
The post mac cites, if genuine, sounds like a cry for help from someone who loves her brother and is afraid to lose him.

Eric says:
Nonsense. Is she afraid that he'll be lost to the war with Virginia? Are we at war in Virginia? Do we expect to be at war with Virginia in the next 5-6 years? I don't.

Eric -- I'm not sure how to look through my old comments on this blog, but there is one that dealt specifically with threats to "hang" all the traitorous liberals. There are some very odd people that comment on this blog. Perhaps Filistro or Starfleet is better versed in how to pull up those comments than I am.

DocJim -- I am saying that the response is way over the top to the offense. Sure, go ahead and berate your college age student, let the other kids on campus berate her, her professors berate her, etc... But strangers who would have never seen this had not Ace of Spades and World Wide Standard and, yes, even the beloved Captain decided to broadcast it far and wide with no respect for the fact that some loon could decide to retaliate against her? That I think is out of bounds.

As to the many things which might have been discussed today instead how about Alan Greenspan's comments about how the Bush taxcuts were a bad idea? But, no, let's go talk about what some unknown college student wrote about in the school newspaper.

But strangers who would have never seen this had not Ace of Spades and World Wide Standard and, yes, even the beloved Captain decided to broadcast it far and wide with no respect for the fact that some loon could decide to retaliate against her? That I think is out of bounds.

Call it a hard lesson in real-world journalism--actually, a lesson most journalists never get to learn and badly need. Accountability for what they publish.

docjim505 says:
She's HURT because your brother is a midshipman at the Naval Academy and (gasp!) might have to go to war one day? Is this like "Starship Troopers" when Johnny's parents were outraged because he enlisted in the MI?

Eric says:
Doc -- you're double awesome.

Eric,

Thank you. Back at you.

filistro says:
NahnCee, always a vigorous and colorful writer, describes a... " full-throated pack-baying after some poor soul or other..."

Gee, now what does that remind me of? Arghhh... can't quite put my finger on it... I'm sure it'll come to me eventually...

Eric says:
Let me help you. It reminds you of yourself.

Zoomie -- You say: "Call it a hard lesson in real-world journalism--actually, a lesson most journalists never get to learn and badly need. Accountability for what they publish."

Except for the fact that NO ONE has established that she is a journalism student. Lots of people publish opinion pieces -- like General Petreaus -- in newspapers without being journalists.

A friend of mine wrote a letter to the editor of our local newspaper complaining about the fact that the local junior high was giving course credit for bible study at a public school. (He and his kids are Jewish and felt highly pressured by the school to sign up for this class which is held off campus at a local fundamentalist church.) You can agree or disagree with his position, but you would not believe the hate mail to his home address, phone calls to his home, harrassment of his kids that occurred afterwards. And we live in a town of about 50,000 people in South Carolina.

Imagine that reaction times a thousand now that this student's words have been broadcast over the internet.

My son just graduated USNA class of '07. It's pretty straight forward that the trade off for a free education is 5 years service after graduation. There was no mystery or misconception about it. That was the deal. The academy gives you plenty of information on their curriculum and objectives. As I said it is not a mystery to anyone who pays the slightest bit of attention.

BTW, graduates who chose the surface warfare community do get deployed right after their four years. My son is serving as a division officer on LSD-44 operating in the Persian gulf right now.

Doc writes:
How do we prevent either emotion, an an [sic] obstruction of facts, or personal motives from running our national polity [sic - policy?]?

I love it when people get caught being stupid and try posing as an intellectual to cover for it! "Maybe if I ask what sounds like a deep philosophical question, people won't think I'm such a dumbass."

Eric says:
Doc...You're either triple awesome, or I've fallen in love with you. Not sure which.