Ruben Navarrette Jr. says our prejudices can mislead us on the causes of teen violence.
Ruben Navarrette Jr., you crazy bastard! I read your column this morning on CNN and I now I just can't stop being mad!
(article is here - CNN COLUMN (this blog post makes much more sense if you read the article)
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Your column "Commentary: Teen murders aren't about race" really got me. The opening line of your article is probably what enticed me to read it-
"Those of us in the U.S. can be so smug about what we think we know about why some teenagers turn into bloodthirsty predators -- even when it turns out that we don't know much."
What the fuck? Smug? Smug about knowing why some teens turn into "bloodthirsty predators"? EVEN WHEN IT TURNS OUT THAT WE DON'T KNOW MUCH.
Ruben what the fuck are you talking about?
Ok ok, let's go further into the article. He mentions the death of a black 16 yearold honors student (he was walking to the bus after school when he was beaten to death over nothing) and apparently some conservative radio show blamed rap music for a degradation in black culture. Ruben then immediately begins to discuss a recent murder involving four white teenagers that broke into a house to senselessly murder a woman and severely wound her 11 year old daughter.
Now remember, this column is about race right? It's about how race doesn't necessarily factor into teen murders. So what does Ruben do at this point?
He uses the next two paragraphs to describe the murder, then says that all 4 teens should be given life sentences because "Our society has no use for these creeps".
Then he mentions that one of the white kids was living in "an upscale area" of town, while another of them was studying to become a mormon missionary. He then says "Who raised these savages, and how do we strip them of their license to parent?"
That's pretty cute Ruben. You're really tackling hard issues like race and how it does or doesn't influence senseless teenage killings.
So then he cites an NBC interview with the father of one of the white killers-
"He assured a reporter that his son didn't intend to commit murder. "I know my son," he said. "I don't think he went there to kill.""
This is when Ruben completely reveals himself as a fraud. Rhetorically, he responds to the father with-
"Great. Not to kill. Just to rob? To assault? To wound? That father should be very proud."
Ugh, Ruben. You tricked me. I thought I was gonna be reading an article about racism and teenage murderers. Instead I get half baked attacks on the general public about how smug we are and then I get to hear some columnist bark at the father of a killer using sarcasm and moral high ground.
But in the next paragraph Ruben proves his vapidity even further by quoting Meredith Vieira and being a real bitch about it too.
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What made the story even more frightening, Vieira said, is that "in a small town like this, these things aren't supposed to happen."
You're half right, Meredith. This kind of barbarism isn't supposed to happen anywhere -- not in small towns, or big cities, not in the suburbs or the inner city, not anywhere."
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Oh shit Ruben, you really tell it like it is. You call out Meredith fucking Vieira on her misguided reactionary statement and then explain to her the other places that brutal killings shouldn't take place, which include "small towns", "big cities", "the suburbs", "the inner city", or (GASP) "anywhere". YOU EVEN USED THE WORD BARBARISM.
He finished up the article with this nugget of thought for his readers-
"We think we know so much about what causes young people to turn into monsters. But our conclusions go out the window when we discover that evil lives next door."
Ruben Navarrette Jr., the writer of reactionary fluff for the thoughtless majority.
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BONUS ROUND BONUS ROUND
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BONUS ROUND- list of bullshit phrases used by Ruben Navarrette Jr. in this article-
x5 BONUS *FULL SENTENCE, FIRST BLOOD* - "Those of us in the U.S. can be so smug about what we think we know about why some teenagers turn into bloodthirsty predators -- even when it turns out that we don't know much."
x1 BONUS *SINGLE WORD* - "Frankly,"
x3 BONUS *SASSY, SUCCINCT* - "You get the gist."
x10 BONUS *MORAL OUTRAGE, LOSING SIGHT OF JOURNALISTIC INTEGRITY, 3 SENTENCE COMBO* - "They should do so. They also should seek life sentences for Spader and Gribble, and show them as much mercy as they showed their victims. Our society has no use for these creeps."
x15 BONUS *MORAL OUTRAGE, JUDGEMENT, LAYIN' IT ON THICK* - Great. Not to kill. Just to rob? To assault? To wound? That father should be very proud.
x50 BONUS *MORAL OUTRAGE, CREATING ARGUMENT OUT OF THIN AIR, 4 SENTENCE COMBO, 2 PARAGRAPH COMBO* - The rest of us should be questioning our assumptions. Meredith Vieira, co-anchor of NBC's "Today Show," discussed the tragedy with some local townspeople. What made the story even more frightening, Vieira said, is that "in a small town like this, these things aren't supposed to happen."
You're half right, Meredith. This kind of barbarism isn't supposed to happen anywhere -- not in small towns, or big cities, not in the suburbs or the inner city, not anywhere.
x15 BONUS *"CENTIPEDES IN MY?", PERFECT EXECUTION* - And yet it seems to be happening more often than we think -- and in more places than we realize.
x10 BONUS *CONCLUSION, 2 SENTENCE COMBO* - We think we know so much about what causes young people to turn into monsters. But our conclusions go out the window when we discover that evil lives next door.
TOTAL BONUS MULTIPLIER x109 OVERALL RANK - BONEHEAD
(I am also ranked a bonehead, only a lame person would get so worked up over a stupid column on CNN)
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