Oh Dear…From the Bush Archives

Well, at least it sounds like a Bush stumble…it wasn’t.

“Let me be absolutely clear,” Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, said today at a press conference in Amman, Jordan. “Israel is a strong friend of Israel’s. It will be a strong friend of Israel’s under a McCain…administration. It will be a strong friend of Israel’s under an Obama administration. So that policy is not going to change.”

Heh.

Fair Violence

Very recently, there was a violent assault at a Minnesota amusement park called Valley Fair. Think Six Flags for those of you who have never heard of it. For many Minnesotans at least one visit to Valley Fair every summer is the norm. This was not. It’s a terrible story. A family was leaving Valley Fair when some guys started to harass the family’s twelve year old daughter. The father stepped in to defend her. So they call five other friends and beat the father unconscious in front of his family.

Shakopee Police found the suspects in the parking lot. Seven of them were arrested and one man ran from the scene and police are still looking for him. Of the seven taken into custody, one was a 14-year-old.

Charges of third-degree felony assault were filed against Darris D. Evans, 20, of Brooklyn Park; Derry D. Evans, 19, Minneapolis; Devondre Evans-Lewis, 18, of Columbia Heights; Terry L. Arnold, 22, of Brooklyn Park; Andrew D. Shannon, 19, of Minneapolis; Anthony C. Gildersleeve, 20, Edina; and the unidentified juvenile.

What do you want to bet their logic was that the father disrespected them? You see that a lot with thugs. They talk a lot about not putting up with being disrespected. Which is ironic. I mean, if you have chosen a life of being a tough thug? You forfeited your right to get respect from the general public a long time ago. You pretty much have no right to expect respect because you don’t give it.* These guys disrespected a young kid and were rightfully chewed out. Throw the book at em.

The father is recovering, so there is some good news.

Edited to add:Of course, the inevitable soul searching has come up. My mother noted she never worried that this would happen to our family at Valley Fair. But you know, the threat was always there. I mean, no one really was all that worried that people would fly planes into tall buildings until after 9/11. The threat was there before, but until it happens? We don’t hem and haw over it. Some have come to the most obvious conclusion. It’s about the rap music. If these young men had not listened to rap music…granted, we don’t have any evidence that these guys listened to N*E*R*D. I suppose it would not be shocking if they did. The article briefly touches on something deeper. Our culture does glorify narcissism and a give me what I want, right now attitude. And it goes far deeper in it’s roots than hip hop.

We glorify people who do it “My Way” and shrug off the expectations of others to do their own thing. And sometimes? It is noble. The person who sacrifices material gain and goods for their family, friends, faith, arts, etc? That is deserving to be noted and held up. The tough guy who pushes people around and bullies his way through life? Not so much. But when you focus on a “life is short, I have to get what I got coming to me” attitude? You are bound to come up short on the nobility and goodness end of the stick. You will likely have little respect for people or human dignity. Of course, these people who indulge this attitude never seem to understand that the “get what is coming to me” part is usually what they are getting. When you you are vile and disrespectful, you get get that thrown back in your face. So, when they actually are getting what they deserve-they whine and complain about how unfair life is, and how they are being disrespected. No duh, moron. If you behave like a scumbag? You will get treated like one. You want respect? Dole it out in spades.

*This applies to reality television show stars on VH1 and MTV as well. As an aside, why can’t groups of thugs be more multi racial? White thugs and black thugs seem seem to segregate. There needs to be a government program to integrate them. Funny enough, while editing this, a N*E*R*D track come up on my iPod.