Letters to the Editor
captainlarab
Published Letters: 536 Editor's Choice: 41
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Mental illness and security clearances
[Read the article: I'm mentally ill but I'm no mass killer]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Just wanted to respond briefly to "Anonymous," who wrote a posting entitled "College Students and Mental Illness," in which he/she described his/her reluctance to seek mental health counseling for fear of someday being denied a government job that requires a security clearance.
Let me assure you that, in most instances, a history of mental health treatment or even a severe psychiatric disorder will not result in the denial of your security clearance. If you make an entry on the security clearance application form showing a history of mental health treatment, you will then have to sign a release form allowing the investigator to ask your treatment provider three very specific questions, all of which go to your ability to be trusted with national security information. Reporting this information can cause a *delay* in the processing of your security clearance (since this is one more thing that some investigator has to run down), but generally not an outright denial.
I say this as someone who works regularly with forensic psychiatrists and psychologists who work for the federal government, and who make determinations on a regular basis concerning the fitness of employees to hold a security clearance. They have an enlightened and modern view of mental illness, and it is extremely rare, to my experience, that they would find someone ineligible for a clearance for mental health reasons. The instances where this has occurred have usually come to their attention following an incident of workplace violence or bizarre behavior (such as stalking) that is disrupting the workplace.
So please, folks, don't put off or avoid mental health treatment out of fear that you will be ineligible for a security clearance. There are plenty of people walking around with Top Secret clearances, and in some cases, toting firearms for the federal government, who have been in counseling for years and are on a variety of meds.
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But isn't there a distinction...
[Read the article: This little piggy]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]between being strict and engaging in name-calling? I think we're pretty darn strict with our daughter, and I think she's exceptionally well-behaved (at least, we get compliments regularly on airplanes and in restaurants). I have to talk to her very sternly sevearl times a day and frequently raise my voice with her, and have definitely lost my temper (she is a very strong-willed 2-year-old). But not once have I given in to the temptation to call her names. With the right tone, I can say "What you did was BAD," and she'll burst into tears. If she's out of line on the playground with other kids, I grab her up and take her home, and we have no more playground that day, no matter what she has to say for herself. Why do I need to call her nasty names in order to reign her in?
Sorry, Heather, this article was fun as a good, light-hearted, nostalgic piece, but as a serious treatise on modern parenting, I'm not buying it. Sure, our parents called us names. They also let us ride around without seat belts and served us fast food, disgusting canned vegetables and Wonder Bread. Doesn't mean any of these things were a good idea.
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Good, then let's own it
[Read the article: Memo to Mitch McConnell: It's already broken]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]If Democrats shy away from showing leadership and taking ownership of this mess because they're afraid their political party will be blamed for "failure in Iraq," then to hell with the Democrats. I've been operating under the assumption that Americans voted the way they did last November because they felt it was high time to put grown-ups back in charge in Washington. Grown-ups and *leaders* take responsibility for things, even things that aren't their fault.
Please, Democrats, our country is crying out for leadership. Take Dubya's toys away from him. Take Iraq from him. Own it.
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I'm just waiting...
[Read the article: "I'm the commander guy"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]for the "commander guy" to start designing and wearing his own military uniform. Something with big bulky gold epaulets and a row of ribbons the size of a license plate, and a hat with some sort of elaborate plumage sticking out of it. Maybe he'll even invent his own special salute.
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A good relationship model for you
[Read the article: My husband read my journal]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Check out a documentary called "Crumb," about the cartoonist Robert Crumb. If his life partner could fall in love and stay with him, with the disturbing images that not only roll around in his head but spill out onto the page AND get published, then clearly your husband should be able to differentiate between your creative dark side and who you are as a person. It helps that Crumb's partner is a cartoonist herself and understands the need to go "to the edge."
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Have you ever been to Dallas?
[Read the article: "Brothers"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]My Dad is a longtime Kennedy assassination conspiracy theorist, and I always thought it was a bunch of hooey. But when I was in college, we took one last family trip together out West, and my Dad insisted that we stop in Dallas to examine the grassy knoll. Well, it changed my perspective completely. The grassy knoll had a high fence, behind which someone could easily stand and hide while aiming a weapon and then make an embarassingly easy getaway to a parking lot, which accessed a road that led in a completely different direction than the one in which Kennedy's motorcade led. In the confusion and chaos, an assassin with experience and coolness under pressure could have made a clean getaway before anyone could have even figured out where the bullets were coming from. I took one look at that layout and thought to myself "mob hit," and my basic gut feeling has never changed since then.
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Doesn't it all come back to Adriana?
[Read the article: "Sopranos" wrap-up: "Is this all there is?"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Christopher loved her. Carm loved her, too, and her blissful ignorance about what happened to Adriana mirrors her wilfull blindess to Tony's business. Isn't the truth about Adriana's murder the one thing that can blow this whole ship apart?
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But they have to keep Paulie around as long as possible...
[Read the article: "Sopranos" wrap-up: "Is this all there is?"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]because he's the greatest character ever. I've been enraptured with Paulie ever since they showed that 15-second scene of him sitting in a bathrobe at home clipping coupons. He may well get whacked, but please, let's postpone that as long as possible.