I heard tonight that England has a 'learning disability" . This is the

[rodeodance]

first time I have heard this mentioned. Is this so? (think it was either cnn or msnbc that I heard it mentioned in the story abour her pleading guilty).

[rodeodance]

1. and no, the newscaster did not discuss any details

[harpo]

2. then why was she in Iraq? Its the right's way of killing her credibility

[autorank]

3. They elected Blair didn't they?

[me b zola]

19. 8>)

:hi: Hiya, Autorank

[autorank]

27. J'accuse 'zola', me b glad to cya

:hi:

[blogbear]

4. and here I thought she was auditioning for the part of Mrs.

Marquis de Sade?

[knowbody0]

5. obvious to me

im betting her iq is under 75. i am sad for her and for her child conceived in a hell that we created

[proud2BlibKansan]

7. People with learning disabilities

have average and above average IQs. They are NOT retarded. If her IQ really is below 75, she is not LD.

[rodeodance]

8. I had a knee jerk reaaction when I heard it-she does have a rather

"dull" appearance --time after time when they showed her pic.
But 'learning disability' is such a broad category so many problems-cognitive, affective, --with all degrees of variablity.

[proud2BlibKansan]

14. She is kind of an FLK

I did notice that.

FLK= Funny Lookin Kid

[harpo]

9. she answered the judge that she knew it was wrong

[liberalhistorian]

20. Excuse me!

I have a learning disability diagnosed, finally, in my sophomore year of high school (though I knew something was wrong years before that-at that time, it wasn't as widely known or tested, though). I have fought against the stereotype you just spouted for the past twenty four years. Learning disabled does NOT mean learning "unabled" or mentally retarded or low IQ. Not at all, in fact, LD people have average or, quite often, above-average intelligence in the areas in which they are not disabled.

God, if I had a nickel for every time I've hears "how can you have a learning disability, you're too smart", I'd be a fucking gazillionaire. All the label means is that you have some kind of glitch in the way your brain processes and interprets certain types of sensory information. It's actually a misnomer, because it affects so many other areas besides school and it doesn't go away just because you're an adult no longer in school. I've dealt with the problems it creates every single day of my life and I haven't been in school or college for a very long time now. There are times when I'd give anything to have a "normal" brain just for one day.

[proud2BlibKansan]

25. Great post

and thanks for saying what I was hoping someone would say.

[doc03]

28. During the Vietnam war the Army had a program where

they took 100,000 draftees that were below the Army standards, even then I'm sure you had to have an IQ over 75. They are simply making this soldier a scapegoat to cover up for the people that gave the orders. Haven't they been saying we have the most intelligent as best trained soldiers the world has ever known? Now all of a sudden this girl has learning disabilities.

[proud2BlibKansan]

6. What difference does that make?

I teach LD kids and I can assure you they are perfectly capable of learning the difference between right and wrong.

And just how hard could this have been for poor little Lynndie? Trust me, a learning disability could never have led her to believe that stripping prisoners naked and posing for pictures with them (while pointing at their penises) with a cigar in her mouth is okay.

[rodeodance]

11. she was 'not brought up properly" as they used to say.

[mmonk]

10. What would be the point

of announcing that whether she is LD or not?

[rodeodance]

12. I really do not know--but this announcement really caught my ear.

[mmonk]

17. It's unfortunate

since LD people get a bad rap with "violent" labels. Usually, they are subjected to violent and demeaning behavior because they are LD.

[proud2BlibKansan]

16. It gets her the sympathy vote

from all the pro torture folks who have been looking for a reason to justify what she did.

[deadparrot]

13. Maybe, but she's got other issues, too, I'm sure.

She needs to get some psychological help. It's a shame all around.

[Cleita]

15. Yesterday, they said she had mental health problems in the past.

I guess you need to throw in everything you can in the pile for a defense argument.

[knowbody0]

18. everyone coming from iraq

has a mental health problem.

[troubleinwinter]

21. So what? Chimp is dyslexic.

[katamaran]

22. One of the networks tonight....

...can't remember which one, was saying that she didn't speak until she was eight years old. Could have been the psychologist that the defense used. That was the first mention I'd heard of it myself. He was also saying she was "controlled and manipulated" by an older, superior officer (Granger).

[doc03]

23. One question, if she had learning disabilities and mental

problems. How did she get into the US Army that is made up of the worlds best trained and qualified soldiers? Hmmmmm!

[walldude]

24. My question exactly...

Just more RW bullshit. She treated those prisoners like they were sub-human. Alot of prisoners got released after the scandal broke. They(guards) didn't even know if they were torturing innocent people. If the shoe was on the other foot the U.S. would be screaming for heads to roll. It never ceases to amaze me how much horror we can turn a blind eye to. Some loser got booted from American Idol last week and a friend of my wife's was crying about it. Then she got involved in some kind of phone campaign to get the guy put back on. As long as there is some useless shit to worry about Americans seem to be able to detach themselves from reality.

[katamaran]

26. Doesn't take much sometimes....

My boyfriend's former brother-in-law got all the way through Air Force basic training and was in tech school when they found out he had problems. The psychologist did some tests and discovered he was mildly retarded, with an IQ around 75, and had a borderline personality disorder on top of it. The government invested months and who knows how much money to train him without CHECKING things BEFORE they took him. This was about 10 years ago.

[MountainLaurel]

31. Best trained and qualified?

Have you seen the news articles and threats here about recruiters finding "instant diplomas" for recuits, hiding their physical and mental problems, and suggesting products to clean up drug tests? Remember the Wal-Mart murderer who was able to enlist AFTER being diagnosed as schizophrenic? How about the longstanding tradition of giving criminals a choice between jail time and the military?

:scared:

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

34. Right. Whatever conditions the Army accepted in recruiting her

should not now be used as defense for what she did as a member of the Army.

[Kerrytravelers]

29. I work with kids who have disabilities.

LD doesn't automatically make you heartless and without a consious.

There is no excuse, NONE, for what she did. Period.

[Chef]

30. Learn'n

If * can be presydunt, learn'n dysabilled is no excuse. Be all that you can be.

[mopaul]

32. a cheap ruse

the poor thing was just not too bright.

[Norquist Nemesis]

33. OMG! Well, that changes everything!

NOT!!!