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| BBHQ Boomer Essays: |
| Our Boomer-In-Charge here at BBHQ, Hershel Chicowitz, writes frequently about current events... from a boomer perspective. He is sometimes funny, sometimes provocative, sometimes a little of each. We hope you get a kick out of our Boomer Essays. |
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Five years ago Lindsay Llarena was a charming, eight year-old little girl. Can you remember when you or your daughter was eight? The world was an empty canvas, full of opportunities, full of mysteries. Oh, she had been taught the basic rights and wrongs of the world. She knew she was not supposed to pull her dog's tail or cut her little brother's hair. But the world was just starting to open up to her; she was just beginning to see beyond her fencepost boundaries. She was a wide-eyed, impressionable, delightful child... as were most of us at that age. And she was eager to learn what the world was all about.
But that was five years ago.
Before I continue, I need to introduce two other characters in my story:
Blaine Trimble is a former policeman. We do not know why he left the force, but until last month he served as a "resource officer" at Indio High School in Palm Springs, California. Last month he pleaded guilty to two counts of consensual sexual.... no, that is as explicit as I intend to be... with a minor. The sexual encounters involved a 17 year-old girl and took place on school grounds. There was more than one encounter, probably lots more.
Some "resource," huh?
Now... at this point I need your agreement that, based on the evidence, Blaine Trimble is a bad person. Bad in the strongest way possible. He did not just make a mistake; he did not just slip up. He deliberately, knowingly conducted himself in a despicable manner, and violated a 17 year-old girl in the process. If there is anything worse an adult can do than prey on the innocence of a minor, I cannot imagine what it is. Blaine Trimble is a very bad person. If you do not agree with that, do not read the rest of this essay. You and I are done for the day; we have nothing further to discuss. Go somewhere else.
I mean it.
When he is sentenced, the two counts of "unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor" against Blaine Trimble will be dismissed. Trimble's expected sentence: probation, community service and counseling.
Cindy Uken is a former student at Indio High. In response to the plea bargain, Cindy wrote a letter to the editor of the Desert Sun, the local newspaper. Cindy complained that the proposed sentence for this sexual predator was too light.
Now we can get back to Lindsay. Cindy's letter to the editor must have struck a nerve with Lindsay, who, by now, is an alert, aware, and knowledgeable 13 year-old, a seventh-grader at John Glen Middle School.
Lindsay wrote this letter to the editor:
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I'm a teen myself, and I am also a neighbor to Blaine Trimble. I believe what Cindy Uken said in her Jan. 12 column, "Public's complacency toward guilty officer baffling," is very "laughable" and "ludicrous." That little statement she made: "Honorable resource officers don't roam the corridors looking and hoping to pick up innocent victims to validate their manhood" is not true. That is probably what she thinks happened with Blaine; but how does Uken know he knew the girl's age? The girl should've known not to do this, unless she wasn't brought up to know right from wrong. The world has changed since Uken's high school time. I don't know whether something happened to Uken in high school that made her think this, but police officers have respect for children and the community around them. Blaine is a very kind man and is a person who wouldn't parade around school looking for innocent minors. It was consensual [explicit description deleted], which means they both agreed to have this sexual relationship. Does Uken even know what [explicit description deleted] means? She, I feel, is way out of line by saying nonsense about a caring person. Also, he probably did care when he was getting his "jollies." Blaine needed to have the girl's trust to have a sexual relationship with her. A very childish statement Uken said was "his punishment is not even a slap on the wrist." Oh, my God. How funny. Community service is a punishment. It's not like he raped her, killed her or abused her. You may think I'm way out of line, but maybe Uken should go to high school for a day and see how it really is there. Blaine is not a bad person. Uken doesn't get judged on what she does or has done recently. She has just gone way too far with this column. How does she know at the end of this whole thing they won't get back together? Everybody makes mistakes, nobody's perfect, and there is no perfect world. Look at Bill Clinton. He was an honorable person. He ran our country, and he had an affair. He didn't even get a punishment, and his authority ranked above police officers.
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I am going to repeat a few things that Lindsay wrote, to give us time to let them to sink in. Remember, this is a 13 year-old, seventh grader writing. Please read this slowly and carefully:
"That little statement [Cindy] made: 'Honorable resource officers don't roam the corridors looking and hoping to pick up innocent victims to validate their manhood' is not true."
It is not true??? They do roam the corridors hoping to pick up innocent victims??? Or they don't do it to validate their manhood? How does 13 year-old Lindsay know this? Apparently she is quite sure of herself.
"Blaine is a very kind man and is a person who wouldn't parade around school looking for innocent minors."
Would you say that if it were your 17 year-old daughter he took advantage of?
"She, I feel, is way out of line by saying nonsense about a caring
person."
"Blaine is a very kind man."
"Blaine is not a bad person."
"How does she know at the end of this whole thing they won't get back
together?"
"Look at Bill Clinton. He was an honorable person. He ran our country, and
he had an affair. He didn't even get a punishment, and his authority
ranked above police officers."
"He was an honorable person."
Again, we are at a crossroads, dear reader. If you do not believe that Lindsay is a horribly misguided young lady with some very disturbing and dangerous values, please stop reading; do not go on. You and I have nothing further to discuss.
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[December 18 - Update: We received a message from someone we believe
to be Lindsay Llarena. She wrote that she is insulted that I concluded that
she is "a horribly misguided young lady with some very disturbing and
dangerous values." She disagrees. She also still believes that Blaine Trimble is a nice man. He says he now has a girlfriend who is a college student. (Well, bully for him, huh?) I told her that my comments were based on what she wrote, and that she must be accountable for the words she writes. Words mean things. Though I admit she is a little too young to fully understand that. I told her that I was not commenting on her entire life and character, only on what she wrote. Lindsay replied, "Don't judge me on an article I wrote, Cause I'm nothing like that." Accepted. But I stand by the conclusion I drew. It was reinforced by the comments she made to me. I also told Lindsay that this essay is not about her. She is an unfortunate victim of the environment in which she has been raised.]
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What happened? What transpired that turned this innocent, impressionable 8 year-old into a depraved, value-less, amoral teenager?
We know how Lindsay views the world. How do you imagine Lindsay will view the resource officers when she reaches high school? How many more 13 year-old Lindsays are there?
Miss Siley, my wise, old, former high school Spanish teacher lectured me that people's moral values are set by the time they reach age 13. What you have then, you will live with for the rest of your life.
It will take a quarter of a century to cleanse the ugly stain that bled all over our society in the last decade.
Now... to those of you who believe that what Bill Clinton did was his private business and nobody else's.... to those of you who still believe that what he did with that woman, Miss Lewinsky, had no effect on the country and has no bearing on his legacy.... to those of you who believe it was just Bill being Bill - a harmless distraction... to those of you who think he did a great job and left our country in wonderful shape... to those of you who still harbor those ridiculous, naive beliefs.... shame on you. Shame... on... you!!
"How does she know at the end of this whole thing they won't get back together?"
Yeah, right.
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Well, this apparently has turned into a family affair. In late 2004, we
heard from someone named Pedro, who wrote: "Yes, Hershel, you are wrong. I am Lindsay Llarena's grandfather and I just learned what happened to her. You are a self rightous extra convervative person, and I disagree with you." I have no idea what happened to Lindsay, other than the obvious. I asked Pedro, in part, if he disagreed with my contention that Blaine Trimble is a very bad person... if he would not be outraged if it were his 17 year-old daughter he took advantage of... if he agrees with Lindsay, who said that "Blaine is a very kind man." I told Pedro, that certainly he has the right to disagree with me. But if he answered yes to any of those questions, then he and I indeed have vastly different values. And, of so, it would go a long way to explain how Lindsay ended up with the corrupted values that she has. |
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If you like what we're doing here at BBHQ, please help us by buying stuff through our link to Amazon.com:
| The BBHQ Album of the Month is "Old Friends Live on Stage (Deluxe Edition) (2 CD/1 DVD)," by Simon & Garfunkel. If you were fortunate enough to see them in concert last year, I do not have to sell you. The concert was terrific! This album collection includes 55 songs, plus their new recording, "Citizen of the Planet," and one of the songs sung by the Everly Brothers during the concert. The DVD was recorded during their concert in Madison Square Garden in 2003. For any S&G fan, this is a must have! But then, you knew that already, didn't you? |
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The BBHQ Book of the Month is
"Vinyl Highway," by
Dee Dee Phelps. You remember her as Dee Dee, of Dick and Dee Dee.
Together, they took a decade long ride on the rock and roll roller
coaster. It was a heck of a ride! Dick Clark, Quincy Jones, the Beach
Boys, Glenn Campbell, Dionne Warwick, Bobby Vinton... Dick and Dee Dee
rubbed shoulders with all of them. This is her "behind the scenes" story.
It's pretty cool.
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