Happy MLK Day, everyone! Who here remembers any of his marches and speeches as they happened? I was a little girl back then but I do remember the “We Shall Overcome” song during one march on Washington. That was a very important thing.
I was a military brat during my childhood and I can honestly say that for the vast majority of my school years, most of my 14 schools were integrated. The only exception was in South Carolina and I thought it was very weird that black kids went to a different school. My second grade class picture from San Pedro includes black, Asian and Hispanic classmates and we thought that was normal.
It’s the most important thing to know that you belong. So most of my school years were conflict free towards the end of the civil rights era.
That doesn’t mean that racism or sexism or any other injustice has gone away. It just means that some of us didn’t know anything but integration and equality. It’s one of the few benefits of growing up military.
So I have to assume that the reason that Dickhead von catholic school dude did not enjoy the blessings of a military life where diversity was the norm.
I read his three page apology and it was almost believable (almost). It might have been his perception and who are we to invalidate that?
Well he invalidated it himself when he didn’t bother to remove his MAGA hat. Yes, Dickhead kept that swastika alternative firmly affixed to his empty head throughout that whole scene. You can watch it from many different angles. A lot of people recorded the event and none of those videos validate Dickhead’s account. Not one.
Note the kid in Phillips’ entourage behind his right shoulder if you want to see what fear looks like. They were surrounded by a mob of boisterous and jeering boys.
Dickhead says he was trying to defuse the situation. One can only imagine why he didn’t take off his hat or move away. But no, Dickhead della Eternal Incels stands his ground and blocks the steps to the Lincoln Memorial where Martin Luther King Jr gave his famous speech. He could have set an example to his friends. But he does not appear to understand the mechanics of defusing a situation or respecting people unlike himself.
This is a failure of his community.
His school sent him there without any instructions on how to behave. It did not rigorously enforce a dress code. It saw no need to caution the students that in their uniforms, they were representatives of their school, diocese and religion. Indeed, his community probably thought the Trump regalia was perfectly acceptable. Everyone seemed to have something MAGA.
The chaperone was aware of the exchange and did not intervene. He just rounded everyone up at the end, when the damage was already done, and whisked then onto the bus.
This was probably the worst possible image Dickhead and his friends could communicate to the country and I think the rest of us have had enough.
We’ve had enough of the taunts and bullying and disrespect and “up in your grill” and insults about what language people speak to each other. We’re incensed that some human beings are unable to be left alone because their skin produces too much melanin or they have the wrong junk. We’re fed up with these MAGA heads threatening kristallnacht on the rest of us if they don’t get to force their ignorant president down our gullets.
No one should accept excuses from this kid or any adults who want to make this image go away. If they want it to go away, they can start by taking off their MAGA logoed “Made in China” paraphernalia and act like decent human beings to other human beings.
It’s time to stuff the genie back in the bottle.
Covington, Kentucky has a lot of soul searching to do. As in, searching for a soul because I’m not sure it has one.
I hope it proves me wrong.
Filed under: General |
The Confluence 
Thank you for writing on this
I thank you also for pointing to the obvious: the MAGA hat and what it stands for. Followers of their fuhrer: Brutus Ignoramus Trompus.
Thanks for this post. The PR firm and his rich connections have effectively reduced this to both sides in the news media. Bottom line Phillips did not go up to this guy and bang his drums in his ears. The kid moved into Phillips’ personal space and stood there staring down at the elder, not for a few seconds but minutes, at least, with disgust and disdain amplified by his MAGA hat in his gaze. That is wrong. Whatever happened before or after is irrelevant.
Here is the ‘fish rots from the head’ article:
Well, he is not a kid, I thought I removed that word in my comment above. He is old enough to right from wrong.
No, he *is* a kid. The frontal cortex (the part of your brain responsible for impulse control) isn’t fully developed until your early-to-mid-twenties. That’s why teenagers need adult supervision in circumstances like this. This is also why routine adult sentencing of minors is barbaric. Even if they know the difference between right and wrong, they often lack the self-control to put that knowledge into practice.
I think this is a failure of discipline and supervision (i.e., of the school itself and of the chaperones in particular). Catholic schools are supposed to be good at that stuff.
I don’t know. When I am talking about knowing right from wrong, I am talking about conducting oneself appropriately in a public forum and that ought to happen sooner than later. He was the face of that mob with a MAGA hat for all it stands to represent now and he made that old man cry and feel unwanted which is horrible. All he could have said was sorry and he didn’t. Catholic schools like the one Kavanaugh went to? Looks like rules don’t apply to the these rich students.
Like I said, I think this represents a failure of the adults who were supposed to teach and supervise these kids.
He is responsible to a point. However he apparently grew up in a community where this type of thing is acceptable behavior and normal. I think that is the larger problem. This type of thing was acceptable to his parents, his school and the town he resides in. Like RD says put the genie back in the bottle. It’s about the only solution we have right now for this problem.
The thing is, the Internet is forever. No matter what else this young man does or who he grows into, he’s going to be immortalized as “that kid in the MAGA hat with the smirk” on the basis of a viral video. He might actually be a halfway decent kid caught forever at his single worst moment. He’ll never live it down. Whatever you think of his behavior, there’s something tragic about that.
I think the chaperones should have gotten those kids out of there just as soon as it was apparent that a multi-group confrontation was brewing. And given them a stern lecture about respect for their elders while they were at it.
Personally, I also object to jumping to conclusions about his entire community or, for that matter, his 1.2 billion fellow Roman Catholics, based on this incident.
I said nothing about Roman Catholics just this particular school. It apparently is another school like the one Brett Kavanaugh graduated from. If this kind of thing was not acceptable in his community there would have been some sort of blow back already from his behavior and he would have realized that there are some consequences to acting like this. This type of behavior is typical in the MAGA communities.
to your recent comment, the “kid” could have watched himself on the viral video and said sorry to Mr. Phillips and he would have instantly redeemed himself on the Internet. But no, his mom and a PR firm put out a BS statement where they made him, maybe with his active participation to dig his heels. Yes Internet is forever and that should be a cautionary tale to all these youngsters in trump era. Throw those MAGA hats out in the trash. They should know that they won’t get far in life with that. trump will die soon but these young people have their whole life ahead of them. this is where the adults in his life are failing.
My teenage experience with Catholic school kids collectively was that they thought they were superior just by virtue of being Catholic school kids. They looked down on us public school kids, and god forbid if you were from the city or not white.
I’ve watched several video versions of what happened and I saw a lot of adults behaving badly on all sides. But color me unimpressed by the behavior of the Catholic school boys. I don’t see any evidence that they have been taught any better than the rest of us.
This perhaps is the most important video that I have ever watched that made me understand better Blacks plight in America.
Thank you so much for this video. I wish -at least half of America would watch to learn blacks predicament and fight for equality.
RD, very eloquently expressed. Sadly, there have always been arrogant bullies, most of them male, but not all. They filled up much of Europe in the 1930’s, and enabled and then supported the Nazis. They spring up again and again. Some are fueled by their impotence, and then others by some kind of sense of entitlement based on their parents having money. That is where Kavanaugh and his buddies came from. And then the Trump candidacy just brought all of these people out of the shadows, and gave them a sense of newfound power. If the President can insult people of other ethnicities, then they have more license and cover to do so. He is toxic. He is George Norman Rockwell, but with more power. He is an abysmally stupid, angry, hating person, who deliberately recruits people to his cadre. There are unfortunately far too many people who delight in the sense of power that arrogant bullying gives them. It’s all they have.
“Some are fueled by their impotence, and then others by some kind of sense of entitlement based on their parents having money.”
A little quick Googling reveals that the median household income in Park Hills, KY (where Covington Catholic is actually located) is $42,227/year. This is over 28% below the national median – so it’s probably not the latter. Not impossible, of course, but unlikely.
This is a private boys school.
The median income has no correlation to the parents having money. How many people making $42,227/year have the horsepower to hire a PR firm and send them out on the attack overnight. His mom is a VP for Fidelity and I bet you your next paycheck she makes more than 42k. I also don’t agree that “kids” have no impulse control until their 20’s.
I may be wrong but it appears that you don’t agree with this post and just don’t want to say it. If I am wrong I apologize in advance.
I read somewhere it is outside Cincinnati suburbs? Yeah, his mom is piece of work. And these don’t appear to have any money problems and it is a rich school.
Yes, there have always been arrogant bullies – teen-aged boys in particular. Teen-aged boys are pack animals who respond to dominance displays and are prone to unthinking aggression. That’s why the military loves them – if you provide them with a group identity, a common enemy, and a rigid hierarchy, you can get them to do pretty much anything you want.
This kid has been indoctrinated from an early age with the notion that supporters of women’s reproductive rights (and therefore by extension nearly the entire Left) are bloodthirsty baby killers in league with Satan himself. Somebody forgot to teach him to disagree respectfully. No wonder he acted like a lout. He probably thought he was being “brave” staring down an elderly man half his size.
And yes, I think the President’s general behavior has a lot to do with all this. Hillary was spot on during the campaign when she asked what sort of example he setting for young people. Regardless of whether he’s committed any criminal acts, he has certainly debased the political process as a whole and dishonored his office.
One more thing to remember is that even the worst imaginable 16 year-old can grow up to be a decent human being:
http://articles.latimes.com/2001/aug/19/news/mn-35781
Kind of ironic that the people watching the films of the concentration camps were calling them “fake”.
I think the MAGA hat is a dead give away in this environment, don’t you think? If he was not wearing that hat and was just as obnoxious, people perhaps would have made all the concessions you appear to be making toward him. But people who know better are reacting to the fear that wholesale generation may have fallen prey to trump effect and their reaction is not necessarily directed at this one boy. They are crying foul and saying it is unacceptable so that it will dissuade others.
I think that you are correct about the indoctrination.
I read this story from the NY Times this morning. When the students recite the Pledge of Allegiance, they are required to add “born and unborn” after saying with “liberty and justice for all.”
I’m not sure that amending the Pledge like should be allowed. If it is so important to the Catholic Church, then perhaps the school administration should lead a prayer that includes that sentiment.
It’s an interesting article that gives a good overview of the environment
in which the students are being raised.
LOL, We have skylights in our bedroom and the angle of it catches the Moon perfectly everytime. So last night I watched the eclipse lying in bed.
https://twitter.com/waltshaub/status/1087202863263166464
Yep, the R forces got the media to do a both sides and everything is now a muddle.
I think that the most likely thing is that our side will outnumber their side, and thus win most elections, but their side will turn to massive violence, because they will not accept being a disempowered minority. The next President must be a Democrat, and he or she must bulk up the FBI and all intelligence agencies, to combat these people and groups.
I just viewed a video in which one of the Covington Cuties singles out a young girl to yell at. What did he yell? “It ain’t Rape if you enjoy it.” Charming, huh? Please spare me any pleadings that their poor cerebral cortexes are squiggly and immature because I could care less. They’re little shits, plain and simple.
Chilling and it all looks intentional. We have to go after Republican senators.
If it is a genius move, then we know Benedict Donald did not make it.
I smell Vladimir. 👿
I think Maddow also said, these federal workers will lose their health insurance in two weeks if the shutdown continues. People in red states call your Republican senators.
I don’t know about you. I am very concerned about what the Republicans are doing to this country.
I think it is time to ascribe motive and deliberate intent to #theAsset for why he is continuing this shutdown other than that it is ego or vanity or whatever the fuck it is. We need to ask why and question the motives of the Republican senators and in particular, why that motherfucker McConnell is blocking house bills to reopen.
Lest we forget, the “new”, “peace-loving”, “friendly” Russia hacked the Republican computers, as well as the Democratic computers. That makes me wonder what blackmail material Putin has on McConnell and a host of other Rethugs. 👿
Yes, we want this (the very least) recognition.
And the tweet replies don’t do justice to what Hillary accomplished on that thread. Yes, there were other women before her but Hillary WON the damn thing and got stolen from TWICE!
I don’t think that any of them are close to Hillary in ability, and certainly not in accomplishments. Wait until we see various Democrats stumble in debates; and remember that in every single debate she did, Hillary never made a slip or error–except perhaps in one minute detail in a debate with Obama, where she said something a bit unclear about illegal immigrant getting driver’s licenses. Chris Matthews literally spent two hours,with diagrams on that, in his efforts to damage her, and help the leg tingler, Obama. Of course, that was how the media always treated Hillary. The rest of these will never be treated in that way, and they aren’t half as capable.
I realize that we can’t be forever stuck in 2016, or even 2018, that we have to win the next election. But I will never get over the whole thing. And I also am well aware that any Democrat outside of Gabbard, and the intermittent Democrat, Sanders, are better than any Republican. But even so, I believe that much of the support for various candidates or possible candidates, is a function of what they might symbolize, rather than what kind of President they might be. I can think of several of those. The one who most bothers me in that way, is Harris, who like Obama, has been in the Senate for two years, and has not done anything significant, though I realize that the Republicans held all the power. I am of course willing to be impressed by her in debates, and policy statements, but I’m wary of the whole thing, plus, I don’t think she would win a national election, though maybe we will be lucky enough so that any Democrat would. As so often happens, the best person somehow doesn’t win, but paves the way for someone else not as good, but whom we have to accept, because of the alternative on the other side.
In not completely unrelated musings, I have been reading about Jennifer Miro of the group the Nuns, who for whatever reason, never made it big, despite her talent as a singer and songwriter (if anyone is interested, listen to the original version of “It’s a Dream,” which is one of the most hauntingly beautiful songs I have ever heard), while, Terri Nunn of Berlin, who I enjoy in her own right, but who purposely or unconsciously copied Miro, made stardom. And the other night, I went to a movie tribute to Nicholas Roeg, at which the superb actor, and his former wife and muse, Theresa Russell, was to speak, but apparently she was ill, and could not come. Her performance in “Bad Timing,” was literally perhaps the best that I have ever seen. And yet she has always had trouble finding work, much less stardom, while lesser actors get the plaudits. Forgive me if I do not eagerly join any Kamala Harris bandwagon.
William,
What’s your beef about Kamala Harris? She is being compared to Obama when he ran, and the media loved him. At first, the DNC and African Americans thought Obama would be a risky nominee but after he won Iowa, the sea changed with that mindset and the media fluffed his pillows throughout the primary and general election (something Hillary was NEVER given even though she was the most qualified). Moreover, the democrat party has become even more the party of women and they are motivated like never before to put a woman in the White House. Not only is Harris a female version of Obama, but she has more experience than obama had when he ran (of course, no woman would even be considered if she only had Obama’s experience running for President). Women are recognizing their power like never before and we are hungry for our day in the sun by taking the White House. We’ve waited long enough!
I can’t imagine either Biden, Sanders giving trump a run for his money nor being the right guy at the right time (if trump does manage to hang on to the oval office). I like Senator Sherrod Brown a lot but, again, he’s an older white man, and I believe the time is right for women to get behind and work hard to elect a woman to be the next president. Otherwise, we will be playing this game inperpetuity that the woman (or women) who are running are NOT the right ones! I can’t even count how many men who have been president were not the right one and no one gave them the kind of scrutiny that these women are already getting.
Wynne05, if you are focusing upon electing a woman president, then I think that there are better choices than Kamala Harris. But as I said, i would be open to being impressed by her, as compared to the other ones. Barbara Boxer, who held the seat for many years which Harris won two years ago, was someone whom I liked much more, and would have supported for president, but of course she is not of the age to run now. I just don’t know what it is that Harris has done, or shown, in terms of great knowledge of issues. Warren is not my favorite, but she certainly knows a great deal about consumer issues. Klobuchar seems even-keeled, and very good on facts.
Harris is better at marketing herself than either of those two. She gets headlines. In the Kavanaugh hearings, she kept asking him about having talked to the Kasowtiz firm. “Answer carefully,” she said. But what came of it? Nothing. Was she just trying to score points in the “tough questioning” competition? Why ask these questions if there was no punchline, no evidence which could have shown his answer to be a lie? I personally would prefer Sherrod Brown, but I think that Harris has a much better chance to be nominated. We obviously need a Democratic President, but we saw that Obama, for his virtues, was not the right one to have elected in 2008, and the end result of that was losing virtually every state legislative seat, plus both Houses of Congress, giving Republicans immense power to gerrymander and suppress votes. Make another mistake like that, and it will be more of a symbolic victory, than an effective one. Harris is tougher than Obama in a political sense, but I don’t know that she has any real knowledge of foreign affairs, or that she could get at least a substantial part of the populace behind her in terms of fighting on issues. If the Democrats cannot win three Senate seats, McConnell will thwart everything that a Democratic President tries to do. Is Harris the person who can help Democrats win Senate seats in red states, which is where at least one of them has to be from, even to get to 50? And how would we do in the midterms two years after that?
P.S., I think, and I’m far from the only one, that this election, like the last one, will be decided by the Midwest states. So we had better nominate someone who will be able to get at least some of the votes from people who voted for Trump last time. Brown could win Ohio, Wisconsin, and maybe even Iowa. What other Democrats are likely to do that? From that group, is the person we should nominate.
My worry with Harris is that being a black female she’s going to motivate the magats. Maybe I’m wrong about that but they seem to show up in mass against any POC candidate running these days. I would prefer that they be demoralized. We are not going to get their votes ever. So that’s an exercise in futility. The answer to winning is to get as many D voters to show up as possible and for a bigger win have the magats sit home. The whole “female Obama” thing really leaves a bad taste in my mouth. It makes me think that it’s gonna be repeat with Harris like it was Obama. In the end it has got to be a candidate that win with POC and win the suburbs. I don’t know who that candidate is but it’s not Warren, Biden or Bernie.
William,
Just who is a better candidate right now than Senator Harris? If you are hinting that it may be Senator Warren then I disagree. I like her and her spirit, but she lacks the kind of gravitas that when she hits back when taking on trump, it will pack a punch that the American people will readily see and appreciate. Senator Warren cam come across somewhat shrill when responding to trump verbally. I also like Senator Klobashar but from what I’ve seen so far, she appears almost too nice to face trump and anyone who faces trump can’t be “nice” in the conventional sense. I don’t care at all for Senator Gillibrand.
So far, Senator Harris has more in her arsenal than the others do and I’m keeping a close eye on her and the other women throughout the next year and a half.
None of the men running so far are the “right ones” IMO.
The justest of mots.
Amen. And if one of them makes it all the way, she damn well should give a shout out at her Inauguration.
Spread this far and wide. Motherfucker McConnell is putting up #theAsset bill which they know will not pass and their strategy is to say an unpassable bill even with Rs is blocked by Dems. Don’t let that happen.
What a massive waste of energy. The Trump shut down will end when he and his followers either find another group of people to demonize and abuse or Election Day 2020 they love all this suffering it makes them believe they are great again. Im helping out where I can for folks I know who are being hurt.
And I’m banning news-talk media unless it involves a Trump perp walk. The Republican Senate not just the Wizard are the ones responsible.
How about making this content go viral instead of giving that MAGA jackass visibility? What is happening with this shutdown is unbelievable. We need to defeat every republican in 2020.