Thomas Foley: “today, as most Americans awoke, they were greeted with headlines like the one I saw in my hometown Palm Beach Post…”

“today, as most Americans awoke, they were greeted with headlines like the one I saw in my hometown Palm Beach Post: ``Lindh's Dad Says Son a Good Boy.'' John Walker Lindh being described by his father as a good boy. While I ran on the Mall this morning, I was listening to NPR, and I was listening to the defense attorney for that good boy, John Walker Lindh, describe his client as a slightly misguided youth who was actually in Afghanistan fighting the cocaine traffickers and the poppy growers and the drug lords. John Walker Lindh, a good boy. It was difficult yesterday, because I received calls from two of my constituents, Ed and Maureen Lunder, whose son Christopher, at the age of 33, perished in the World Trade Center; and Stanley and Carol Eckna, whose son Paul perished in the World Trade Center at the age of 28. John Walker Lindh, the good boy, will celebrate his birthdays in a Federal prison; and when he turns 41, he will celebrate his birthdays outside in the free world. Christopher and Paul do not get any birthdays any more. They do not get any anniversaries. They do not get to see their kids grow up. But John Walker Lindh is a good boy. Maybe it does not startle people that the ethics of this Nation are collapsing. I remember when our President and chief executive officer of this Nation lied to a grand jury and lied to the American people.…”