tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10348701.post4597924401117931748..comments2024-03-13T21:26:03.011-07:00Comments on Right on the Left Coast: Views From a Conservative Teacher: Freedom Is A Little Piece of Broken ConcreteDarrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15730642770935985796noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10348701.post-81270904139755799952015-09-16T14:54:21.151-07:002015-09-16T14:54:21.151-07:00I was born in 1949--I am a child of the Cold War a...I was born in 1949--I am a child of the Cold War and getting under our wooden desks to protect us from an atom bomb. I never thought I'd see the wall come down and I watched the TV and wept when I saw the people tearing it down. Thank you for all of the thoughtful posts, and here's to lots more!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10348701.post-42316171393230181542008-04-04T21:02:00.000-07:002008-04-04T21:02:00.000-07:00Sadly our new enemies will not be dissuaded from n...Sadly our new enemies will not be dissuaded from nuclear attack by mutually assured destruction. In fact, MAD is an inducement, an invitation to attack for they seek the end of the world for infidels.<BR/><BR/>Death here on Earth means nothing to someone who has 72 virgins waiting in paradise.berniehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06651895179601333716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10348701.post-66904880984332584902008-04-04T09:22:00.000-07:002008-04-04T09:22:00.000-07:00I've been reading your blog for a long time, Darre...I've been reading your blog for a long time, Darren, and this is easily the best post you've done. I hope you communicate this story to your students in some way. <BR/><BR/>I was a teenager in the 80s, literally having recurring nightmares about seeing a multi-megaton strike on the big city 50 miles away from my home and waking up in the middle of the night from them. I was in college when the USSR collapsed and the Berlin Wall came down. I was so into my studies that I didn't even hear about it until months after it happened. But I remember the sheer, liberating disbelief that the source of my nightmares was finally through. <BR/><BR/>And later on, in 2004, I stood right there in Tiannenmen Square in Beijing and wondered at the events that transpired there, and also wondered at the fact that you still can't Google "Tiannenmen Square" on a computer connected to a Chinese server. (I tried it.) <BR/><BR/>The thing that makes me the most sick? The fact that there are Americans -- at least that's what their legal status says -- who look at the same kinds of threats today from terrorists and wring their hands, capitulate, and wonder what we must have done wrong to make them hate us so much.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10348701.post-22269862240533572722008-04-04T04:11:00.000-07:002008-04-04T04:11:00.000-07:00My parents, being born in eastern Europe, had an o...My parents, being born in eastern Europe, had an opportunity to see the reality of communism, up close and personal, so I grew up with their view of the philosophy. <BR/><BR/>When the wall came down and the Soviet Union collapsed it was the first day of spring for about two months over at their place.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10348701.post-23122527007683596582008-04-03T12:51:00.000-07:002008-04-03T12:51:00.000-07:00I'm not the slightest bit ashamed to say that I ha...I'm not the slightest bit ashamed to say that I had tears in my eyes at the end.Matthew K. Taborhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09846446436531786759noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10348701.post-58004758011902038662008-04-03T11:49:00.000-07:002008-04-03T11:49:00.000-07:00That may be your best yet.We didn't have nukes aim...That may be your best yet.<BR/><BR/>We didn't have nukes aimed at us, but we lived as if we did. Fallout shelters, drills. Rocky and Bullwinkle (perhaps the most effective anti-communist tool ever devised). It's hard to describe how I reacted to the fall of the USSR, after my whole world was shaped around opposing it.rightwingprofhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12419372059353408855noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10348701.post-20059439002523266742008-04-03T10:03:00.000-07:002008-04-03T10:03:00.000-07:00Brava!-LissaBrava!<BR/><BR/>-LissaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10348701.post-72743976003245128672008-04-03T06:41:00.000-07:002008-04-03T06:41:00.000-07:00In just my last 100 visitors, I've had hits on thi...In just my last 100 visitors, I've had hits on this post from Estonia and Latvia, and several from different parts of Romania.Darrenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15730642770935985796noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10348701.post-60483813711453434252008-04-02T22:14:00.000-07:002008-04-02T22:14:00.000-07:00Great post, Darren. It serves as a reminder of tha...Great post, Darren. It serves as a reminder of that which we so easily take for granted.Dempsey Darrowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15433560573669038907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10348701.post-75994988260953367202008-04-02T21:52:00.000-07:002008-04-02T21:52:00.000-07:00Most excellent. It's interesting to take the idea ...Most excellent. It's interesting to take the idea of freedom from personal experiences and chronicle what you have seen. Having my first memories consisting mostly of Vanilla Ice on cassette tape, it is nice to hear something that isn’t from the textbook. I would be curious about experiences with freedom after the end of the cold war, and perhaps a prediction or two on what the future may hold based on you have seen in life. Maybe the next post? <BR/><BR/>I enjoyed reading the essay and it does make one stop and think. Goodonya (that’s Russian for “good job”).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10348701.post-44176219329496932662008-04-02T21:43:00.000-07:002008-04-02T21:43:00.000-07:00A great post - and a great retrospective, especial...A great post - and a great retrospective, especially your predictions and the outcomes!! I've never been to Sacramento, but I remember all the rest. It was a dizzying time and spurred me to get over there (Eastern Europe) and see what was going on for myself. I had a great time talking to Czech soldiers about our common time on the border, to Hungarians about the Russian presence, and being amazed at how welcome Americans - their opponents just months before - were in Eastern Europe. I arrived in Pilsen, Czechoslovakia just after the commemoration of the 45th anniversary of the US liberation of Bohemia - complete with US flags all over and a huge monument to the 2nd Infantry Division. Through all that time of Soviet domination (and supposed alliance in the Warsaw Pact) the Czechs had remember Americans from 1945 and kept that memory and regard for us alive through the Cold War. It attests to the power of small acts.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10348701.post-17329091367193666272008-04-02T21:40:00.000-07:002008-04-02T21:40:00.000-07:00Beautiful post. Like Nebraska Girl I was around to...Beautiful post. <BR/><BR/>Like Nebraska Girl I was around to see the wall come down, but not really cognizant of the meaning of the event.<BR/><BR/>I wonder what changes she and I will be reporting on after we see more history pass by...Ericahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04368655382722967744noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10348701.post-59732557908275807922008-04-02T20:55:00.000-07:002008-04-02T20:55:00.000-07:00Great Post. Show me your piece of the wall next t...Great Post. Show me your piece of the wall next time I'm in Sac. How cool!Dan Edwardshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13397636504405471939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10348701.post-65319408323388901112008-04-02T20:42:00.000-07:002008-04-02T20:42:00.000-07:00As someone who remembers the Wall coming down, but...As someone who remembers the Wall coming down, but wasn't around for much of the Cold War leading up to it, I really appreciate the insights you've given. I try not to take my freedom for granted although I know I do, and I try to teach my kids to respect our soldiers and flag and to understand that not all people have what we have. This was truly an amazing post.nebraska girlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14349836005034229656noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10348701.post-52204686502045820572008-04-02T20:06:00.001-07:002008-04-02T20:06:00.001-07:00Thank you.Thank <I>you</I>.Darrenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15730642770935985796noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10348701.post-8082530309157432222008-04-02T20:05:00.000-07:002008-04-02T20:05:00.000-07:00Nicely done. I am a lot older than you and I reme...Nicely done. I am a lot older than you and I remember the Cold War very well culminating in my Vietnam service, a Cold War war. My dad was in the Navy during Korea, a Cold War war. As you so aptly point out, the Cold War wasn't so cold. Freedom isn't free and it is real, especially to those who don't have it. Some of us who do have it have forgotten how important it is. It was honor for those of us who served wasn't it? I envy your possession. Nice job.Law and Order Teacherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11069306257334186404noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10348701.post-64386051394436819862008-04-02T19:47:00.000-07:002008-04-02T19:47:00.000-07:00Oh my.Thank you. That was... moving. amazing. ast...Oh my.<BR/><BR/>Thank you. That was... moving. amazing. astounding. thought provoking.<BR/><BR/>Thank you.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com