Roving mobs -- they're real and they're not spectacular
Sometimes people -- and when I say people, of course what I really mean is Matt Drudge -- can get over the top about youth violence, especially when there's a racial spin, taking a string of less-than-remarkable episodes that don't have a lot to do wiith each other and making it look like "Days of Rage II.' Indeed, my friends over at Media Matters took Drudge to task today for once again stringing together headlines about racially changed youth incidents, but this one time I have to note that...
Roving mobs -- they're real and they're not spectacular
Sometimes people -- and when I say people, of course what I really mean is Matt Drudge -- can get over the top about youth violence, especially when there's a racial spin, taking a string of less-than-remarkable episodes that don't have a lot to do wiith each other and making it look like "Days of Rage II.' Indeed, my friends over at Media Matters took Drudge to task today for once again stringing together headlines about racially changed youth incidents, but this one time I have to note that...
a) These incidents -- while perhaps overhyped by Drudge in his usual fashion -- are still all too real.
b) and they're alarming, especially the ones I know the most about, here in Philadelphia. In fact, what I find truly appalling is that a horde of young people assaulting random, innocent people on Spring Garden Street probably wouldn't have even made the news had it not been the case that a current and a former Daily News staffer -- the latter broke her leg in the melee -- were caught up in it. You have to wonder -- how many other incidents like this are taking place that the police aren't bothering to tell us about?
I'll make the same point I've made about urban violence in Philadelphia in the past. Conservatives portray this strictly as a case of personal responsibility, of the perps and the parents who allegedly raised them. Liberals look toward societal causes -- lack of jobs, unequal schools, laws that make it easy to buy guns, etc. For some bizarre reason, this becomes an either/or debate.
But clearly, it's all these things.
Ultimately, people who think it's a good idea to rob and maim innocent people are the ones responsible for their irresponsible and thuggish actions, with -- in the case of the younger perps -- an assist from blase or outright bad parents (like the ones described in this other mob incident, involivng Philly kids in neighboring Upper Darby).
But why is it suddenly worse now? CBS News reported recently that the unemployment rate for kids 16-19 years old is a whopping 24 percent, while as recently as 2000 is was just 13 percent. Aren't you less likely to take part in a mob when you're busy flipping burgers or valet-parking cars in Center City, and why aren't policy makers taking aim at youth unemployment? So school's out, no one has a job but everyone has a cell phone and a Twitter or Facebook account, meaning dozens of bored teenagers can come together in a matter of minutes? That's a recipe for disaster.
It certainly was for Emily Guendelsberger, the fomer DN copy editor. now Philadelphia editor of The Onion's entertainment guide called the AV Club. She's in the hospital with that broken leg (get well soon) and you can follow her tweets about bad hospital breakfasts and morphine here. In fact, you can help Emily get well. You can donate money to pay for her medical care.
Why? Well, it turns out that The Onion/AV Club hired her as "a contractor," a fancy way of saying they don't provide health insurance. You know...that's the kind of 2011 corporate America bull(bleep) I've counted on The Onion to make fun of, not perpetrate. Their campaign to win a Pulitzer Prize just got a lot less funnier -- shame on them.
Will, you are the first person I've every heard of that admits to having friends at Media Matters. Guess that makes you unique.
— cb54- That is a careless admission for a Marxist commentator to make. Media Matters is paid for by George Soros, one of the most vile dirtbags alive today...who has ruined, or attempted to ruin the economies of several nations for his own profit. Media Matters also seeks to crush all voices of dissent to any of the socialist policies being enacted today...not thru argument, but by lawsuits, censorship or getting the FCC to wipe them out. That this author would run with this crew tells you everything about what he is, and what he is about. A so called "commentator" who would be quite happy to force out dissention opinion through Gestapo strong arm tactics. That's the far/extreme left of today.
— Henry Howard Earl of Surrey - Do you thinlk it makes any sense to blame a mob attack that could have resulted in he death of an innocent victim on youth unemployment? his makes as much sense as to blame New Year's public drunkendness in Broad Street on the presence of string bands.— DonQ
- Look at where this Dope’s anger is directed at? He is angry that she works for an overly saturated struggling entertainment internet company that does not have the money for health insurance? Not these vicious predators that roam our city! Will is as mixed up as dog’s breakfast! — CrashTestCorzine
Comment removed.- 33 people shot, Sears vandalized and robbed and a Daily New Employee with a broken leg due to a hate crime. Where is nutter in all this?— The Philly Shadow
- We're talking specifically about youth crime -- young people had something to do (i.e., school) through mid-June and now it's late June and there's no school and no jobs. I'm not saying youth jobs would eliminate youth crime, but you'd be crazy to think it wouldn't help.— will
- Comment removed.
- Comment removed.
- **...the latter broke her leg in the melee...*** WRONG, Will. It should have read "the latter had her leg broken in the melee". Additionally, it's an even bigger mistake to even try to blame anything other than a complete and total lack of self respect, dignity and responsibility on part of these people. Take a look at the video of the melee at Howard University over the weekend - Howard alum must feel a deep sense of shame today -- I know I would. It's disgraceful and repugnant - and your atempt at deflecting the responsibility is almost as bad.— michael_b
- Comment removed.
- Comment removed.
- We now see the failure of storing underachievers in high density cities. Whites have successfully hidden their less capable brethren in relatively low density enclaves on either side of the I-95 corridor (think Appalachia, the Pine Barrens, Delaware...all the way down to Jacksonville). The Black community needs to start a similar program.— 2ndNlong
- yep, another "program". That'll fix it. — michael_b
- Andrew Sullivan
- Blinq
- Blogorrhea
- Blonde Sagacity
- Free Republic
- Instapundit
- James Taranto
- ScrappleFace
- The Corner
- Buzzmachine
- Eat the Press
- Editor and Publisher
- Media (Huffington Post)
- Media Bloodhound
- Mickey Kaus
- Pressthink
- Romenesko
- The Inksniffer
- A List of Things Thrown Five Minutes Ago
- Above Average Jane
- BlankBaby
- Citizen Mom
- Keystone Blog
- Metroblogging Philadelphia
- Phawker
- Philadelphia - America's Hometown
- Philadelphia Will Do
- Philebrity
- Philly Future
- Phillyblog
- Phillyist
- The Clog
- The Next Mayor
- Welcome to Phillyville
- Young Philly Politics
- Afro-Netizen
- All-Spin Zone
- Atrios
- Bad Attitudes
- Billmon
- Booman Tribune
- CorrenteWire
- Fables of the Reconstruction
- iFlipFlop
- Kiko's House
- MyDD
- Philly (Dragonballyee)
- Rowhouse Logic
- Slacktivist
- Suburban Guerilla
- Tattered Coat
- upyernoz
- AmericaBlog
- Andy Borowitz
- BuzzFlash
- Crooks and Liars
- Cursor
- Daily Kos
- David Sirota
- Drudge Report
- Echidne of the Snakes
- Fire Dog Lake
- Glenn Greenwald
- Hullabaloo
- Jesus' General
- Jon Swift
- Josh Marshall
- Juan Cole
- Kevin Drum
- Mad Kane
- Majikthise
- Matthew Yglesias
- Oliver Willis
- Raw Story
- Swing State Project
- Talk Left
- Taylor Marsh
- TBogg
- The Carpetbagger Report
- Think Progress
- War and Piece
- Wonkette
- A Citizen's Blog
- Balls, Sticks and Stuff
- Beer Leaguer
- Dick Polman
- Phillies Nation
- Philling Station
- Shallow Center
- The 700 Level
- The Good Phight
