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.
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- Congratulations! You just earned your Mall Ninja Badge. It would be good to know which mall you patrol with all that steel hangung from your belt.
— DonQ - Will you are the best at playing the "blame game". Are you sure that you are not one of my kids?— paulfromtheoblongtable
- Good point, tr88. Jobs or not, people who resort to beating, robbing, retail theft, are not employable. Who would hire them? This is all about poor values, and the deficiency of single, parent families.— Jean Valjean
- Comment removed.
- Senator Patrick Moynihan (D) said in 1965 that the breakdown in the black family, if it continues on its current trend, will be so destructive to society that the government won't be able to print enough money to fix all the problems that this is going to create. Absentee fathers and teen pregnancy, not limited to the black community but certainly more prevalent, is the root cause of all this sadness. Fix and the families and the reasons why this is happening and you'll go a long way to solving the problems.— frustrated 22
- Prescient but necver given consideration for democratic electoral politics. Sad the number of people they sacrificed under the guise of fighting to help them, but highly effective politically. The DNC-brainwashing has succeeded beyond their wildest expectations. The problems are critical but the votes received are nearly unanimous. That has to change. — tr88
- There will be more interest in this than most of Will's attack republican blogs. Many of these comments will be over-the-top, but most will get to the heart of the matter. Refreshing, instead of the tiresome "dialogs on race" that democrats (led by the traditional newspaper editors) pull out when they sense trouble with race in the electorate and always come to the same tired conclusions that we arent giving the black community enough support.— tr88
- Oh no....Will (Paul Giamatti), you are out of control here. Are you that warped from reality? This is coming from someone who is not a Klansman like several angry, scared trolls that post here. For real, don't embarrass thinking people with this sociological babble. This flash mob thing is a real problem, and in fairness to the truth, call it like you see it....the black community and city leadership are mostly to blame for allowing this culture to prevail. How can you deny that?— Barry O
- Amen to all of the carrying concealed advocates. The ability to carry concealed protects everyone.— 2ndNlong
- This comment has been deleted.— raptorial
- Media Matters invests heavily to assure no changes will be made. There are elections to be won, humanity be damned. — tr88
- where are Jesse Jackson and Al sharpton??? It is not racist when white people are the victim.... A CITY OF LOW LIFES AND THUGS!!!! that will soon be all that is left in Phila.!! another white moving out!— dianeoc
- Comment removed.
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