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markpkessinger

(8,392 posts)
Mon Jan 21, 2019, 11:09 PM Jan 2019

My response to David Brooks and to all other Covington defenders

I posted this initially as a response to David Brooks' column in The New York Times today, a column melodramatically titled, "How We Destroy Lives Today."

Mark Kessinger
New York, NY 56m ago

Having watched both the original video, and the video that the supporters of these kids claim is a vindication of them, I see nothing in the latter that in any way justifies their behavior. The claim is that the boys had been provoked by another group. Perhaps they were, but. . . provoked to do what, exactly?

They claim that the young Mr. Sandmann was "standing his ground." Really? Against what challenge? What I see in the video are two groups, one of the high school students, who are milling about, and the other the native American man and his group, who seem to be moving through the park in the course of their protest, and this is what brings the two into close proximity. Normally, in a free-flowing public setting such as this, there's an automatic give and take of space as people try to move through such a crowd. But for this young man, any such "give" is apparently too much to ask. And so this young man chooses to maintain nearly chest-to-chest contact, his face a foot from the man's face, staring directly at him and smirking. The student has said he was smiling to demonstrate that he and his friends were friendly and accepting. Sorry, but the totality of his smirk, his stare, and his chest-to-chest stance constitutes a body language the meaning of which is well known to any male over about the age of 8. It was clearly an attempt to intimidate, and those kids deserve to be called out on it.


I think there are a lot of very well-meaning people who have been hoodwinked by a clever right-wing spin machine!
23 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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My response to David Brooks and to all other Covington defenders (Original Post) markpkessinger Jan 2019 OP
I responded to his editorial but my response hasn't been approved or posted yet NRaleighLiberal Jan 2019 #1
Thanks! markpkessinger Jan 2019 #4
this whole thing has really been getting to me... dhill926 Jan 2019 #2
Exactly! markpkessinger Jan 2019 #3
Forget helicopter parents, try lawn mower parents. They endeavor to mow down anyone who gets in the onecaliberal Jan 2019 #9
They were there for the sole purpose of promoting male control of female bodies. SharonAnn Jan 2019 #5
Excellent Response Charlotte Little Jan 2019 #6
I disagree aeromanKC Jan 2019 #7
I'm talking about liberals and progressives who have fallen for this . . . markpkessinger Jan 2019 #14
But of COURSE David Brooks is defending these little prep-school assholes! bullwinkle428 Jan 2019 #8
Indeed! n/t markpkessinger Jan 2019 #15
people on the right want to be told they were innocent. D_Master81 Jan 2019 #10
But what infuriates me is that so many liberal outlets have bought into it . . . markpkessinger Jan 2019 #18
This message was self-deleted by its author geralmar Jan 2019 #20
K&R smirkymonkey Jan 2019 #11
How would other videos even show anything different from prior videos? Beartracks Jan 2019 #12
The extended version of the video shows more of what happened before and after ... markpkessinger Jan 2019 #17
Confused?? So their excuse is, "The taunting turned me into an asshat" ? Beartracks Jan 2019 #22
My reply to this on Facebook... regnaD kciN Jan 2019 #13
Absolutely! n/t markpkessinger Jan 2019 #16
limbaugh compared media take of covington kids to their take on trayvon martin's killer certainot Jan 2019 #19
Twitter is working for the MAGA punks now by suspending accounts that are anti MAGA racists. nt mastermind Jan 2019 #21
Jack has always been friendly to the nazis. SaschaHM Jan 2019 #23

NRaleighLiberal

(60,014 posts)
1. I responded to his editorial but my response hasn't been approved or posted yet
Mon Jan 21, 2019, 11:10 PM
Jan 2019

It was pretty angry - we will see

I saw yours and it is well done.

dhill926

(16,337 posts)
2. this whole thing has really been getting to me...
Mon Jan 21, 2019, 11:15 PM
Jan 2019

I've been exposed to kids like this. They're fucking assholes. Their helicopter parents are fucking assholes. All they are doing, is teaching their kids how to respond to public scorn for their asshole actions. Unfortunately, sometimes the PR works. Fuck every goddamn one of them. You better believe when they're home, out of the public eye...they are indeed smirking...

markpkessinger

(8,392 posts)
3. Exactly!
Mon Jan 21, 2019, 11:19 PM
Jan 2019

And kids like this learn very early on how to explain their actions in such a way as to create plausible deniability!

onecaliberal

(32,826 posts)
9. Forget helicopter parents, try lawn mower parents. They endeavor to mow down anyone who gets in the
Tue Jan 22, 2019, 12:04 AM
Jan 2019

Way of their asshole kid.

SharonAnn

(13,772 posts)
5. They were there for the sole purpose of promoting male control of female bodies.
Mon Jan 21, 2019, 11:20 PM
Jan 2019

They were there for the sole purpose of promoting male control of female bodies.
Teenagers bused in to demand adult women be subjected to forced child-bearing.
They weren't on a field trip to the Smithsonian."
(They were there to harass people they don't agree with).

Charlotte Little

(658 posts)
6. Excellent Response
Mon Jan 21, 2019, 11:21 PM
Jan 2019

I couldn't agree more. I watched ALL of the videos as well. This one really boiled my blood. The kid switching out his white hat for a MAGA hat gives it all away.




The teens knew exactly what they were doing and were enjoying it. The chaperones were either MIA or encouraging this.

Believe your lying eyes (and ears).

aeromanKC

(3,322 posts)
7. I disagree
Mon Jan 21, 2019, 11:31 PM
Jan 2019

"I think there are a lot of very well-meaning people who have been hoodwinked by a clever right-wing spin machine!"

They are neither very well-meaning or hoodwinked.

markpkessinger

(8,392 posts)
14. I'm talking about liberals and progressives who have fallen for this . . .
Tue Jan 22, 2019, 12:31 AM
Jan 2019

. . . including even a friend of mine who is an ardent feminist.

D_Master81

(1,822 posts)
10. people on the right want to be told they were innocent.
Tue Jan 22, 2019, 12:09 AM
Jan 2019

They had MAGA hats and were having their lives turned upside down. Most on the right wanted to believe the media had it wrong so when their side produced some new videos and providing a new narrative, they ate it up b/c thats what they wanted the reality of the situation to be.

markpkessinger

(8,392 posts)
18. But what infuriates me is that so many liberal outlets have bought into it . . .
Tue Jan 22, 2019, 12:55 AM
Jan 2019

. . . and by falling all overthemselves to apologize for having run the original story, they are feeding into the right's ridiculous persecution complex.

Response to markpkessinger (Reply #18)

Beartracks

(12,809 posts)
12. How would other videos even show anything different from prior videos?
Tue Jan 22, 2019, 12:16 AM
Jan 2019


Haven't seen many videos. Phone connection kinda sucky.

===============

markpkessinger

(8,392 posts)
17. The extended version of the video shows more of what happened before and after ...
Tue Jan 22, 2019, 12:54 AM
Jan 2019

... The boys were apparently provoked by four members of the Black Hebrew Israelites, who shouted racial slurs at them as they disembarked their bus.

The right is trying to claim that this somehow vindicates them in their harassment of the Native American man, because they boys were somehow "confused" as to who was whom. But watching the various videos, I see no confusion whatsoever. I see a group of rowdy boys who knew exactly what they were doing, and were enjoying every minute of it.

Beartracks

(12,809 posts)
22. Confused?? So their excuse is, "The taunting turned me into an asshat" ?
Tue Jan 22, 2019, 02:27 AM
Jan 2019


"Boys will be boys " doesn't always work in the real world. Hopefully.

Thanks for filling me in.

========

regnaD kciN

(26,044 posts)
13. My reply to this on Facebook...
Tue Jan 22, 2019, 12:30 AM
Jan 2019

As I posted elsewhere, the extended video provides context but not a shred of exoneration — unless you share the particularly-white viewpoint that being harassed by members of one minority group entitles you to take it out on an uninvolved person from a completely-different minority group.

 

certainot

(9,090 posts)
19. limbaugh compared media take of covington kids to their take on trayvon martin's killer
Tue Jan 22, 2019, 01:37 AM
Jan 2019

saying all media gets it wrong and tens of millions will believe him, calling the drum a "war drum" and mocking nathan phillips.....

in much of america limbaugh fills in the context

as in just now he praised the kids for doing nothing wrong and being model citizens, the kind of kids all americans should want their kids to be like - white

he says this with his mocking voice whenever he referred to nathan phillips - "ancient indian hero" etc

from a quick sonix.ai transcription

attacking 'liberal' media using a moking voice, pretending to be the 'liberal' media

: "Oh even if we got the original story wrong we can still see that this kid is a racist bigot white supremacist" ---- ----they've (media) got to do damage control somehow in the modern era. all this began with the Trayvon Martin story. That whole incident and it's just continued to descend.



everybody has seen the kid standing there and he's smiling as this scrawny aging an elderly Indian Vietnam War vet is pounding on his war drum and there were stories about how the kid was smirking and was a smart ass and was taunting and his real crime was that he was white and his second real crime was that he was wearing a Make America Great Again Red Cap



well these kids or models of composure they were models of restraint they were polite they were respectful they were everything that never Trumpers say Trump is, everything that we need in leadership and they're being thrown overboard and they're the ones who deserve the accolades and his whole encountered they're the ones who were well-mannered they're the ones we hope become future leaders in this country not this ragtag bunch of protesters surrounding him they were subjected I don't know how many people know this these teenagers were subjected to some of the most vile racist homophobic verbal abuse that you can imagine they were called the F word you know slang for homosexual they were called murderers they were clever it was said they are what's wrong with life you should have been aborted because they were on a pro-
and so on


:
These kids were the model of proper parenting. They behaved impeccably properly they were respectful.

: They were not confrontational. Everything they did was designed to lower the temperature of this entire thing. They didn't do one thing provocative and yet that's what the media is now trying to say oh that kid might not have done anything but look at his face.
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