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You are here: Home / Civil Rights / Racial Justice / This Week In Blackness / Better Question, CNN: Why Not More Time?

Better Question, CNN: Why Not More Time?

by Elon James White|  March 18, 20137:05 pm| 143 Comments

This post is in: This Week In Blackness

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Over the weekend, the two teens accused of raping an intoxicated 15-year-old girl were found guilty. CNN reported from an interesting perspective:

Needless to say, we discussed this and the Steubenville case on today’s #TWiBRadio, as well as the NYPD’s new domestic violence policy, and a literal roach coach.

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And this morning on #amTWiB, #TheMorningCrew discussed the March 21st rally against gun violence on March 21 and how the RNC is trying and failing yet again to recruit minority membership.

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(Cross-posted)

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Previous Post: « Seriously? Sizzurp?
Next Post: North Dakota to Restrict Abortion to Point of Ridiculousness »

Reader Interactions

143Comments

  1. 1.

    Captain Haddock

    March 18, 2013 at 7:14 pm

    Purely business – CNN wants to host future GOP debates after all.

  2. 2.

    Ben Franklin

    March 18, 2013 at 7:19 pm

    Gawd ! Can’t we talk about Greenwald and Portman, for a change?

  3. 3.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    March 18, 2013 at 7:25 pm

    Said to me today by a male “all they did was finger-f**k her that’s not rape.” *headdesk*

  4. 4.

    geg6

    March 18, 2013 at 7:25 pm

    @Ben Franklin:

    Yeah, because all the mansplaining that has been going on here and everywhere else about this particular case and about rape in general is just too too boring and not important in the grand scheme of things, right? It’s not important at all to keep pointing out this so-called rape culture thing. It’s like reverse racism!

  5. 5.

    geg6

    March 18, 2013 at 7:27 pm

    @Litlebritdifrnt:

    Oh, so you know Ted & Helen IRL?

  6. 6.

    JPL

    March 18, 2013 at 7:27 pm

    @Litlebritdifrnt: Well in Ohio it’s rape. I still can’t believe that they had such a light sentence and hopefully those at the party who did nothing to stop it will be charged too.

  7. 7.

    Comrade Jake

    March 18, 2013 at 7:29 pm

    @Litlebritdifrnt: you should thank said male for self-identifying as a grade-A asshole.

  8. 8.

    Ben Franklin

    March 18, 2013 at 7:30 pm

    @geg6:

    rape in general is just too too boring and not important

    Important as anything else going on the world, so let’s focus, focus, focus ad infinitum.

  9. 9.

    rikyrah

    March 18, 2013 at 7:30 pm

    when this happened, the victim was FIFTEEN YEARS OLD!!!

    15!!!

    passed out.

    how the hell could she give consent?

  10. 10.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 18, 2013 at 7:31 pm

    @Litlebritdifrnt: Tell him to read the fucking Ohio Revised Code, Chapter 2907.

  11. 11.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    March 18, 2013 at 7:31 pm

    @Comrade Jake:

    Kinda tough to do here. I will leave it at that.

  12. 12.

    scav

    March 18, 2013 at 7:32 pm

    @Litlebritdifrnt: @geg6: Has he / they clarified his / their position on broom handles given that fingers are no big deal but the magic peepee is, so long as accompanied with the correct levels of certain forms of violence?

  13. 13.

    geg6

    March 18, 2013 at 7:36 pm

    Well, according to T & H, unless you’ve been beaten and gang raped, it’s no biggie.

  14. 14.

    arguingwithsignposts

    March 18, 2013 at 7:39 pm

    @Ben Franklin: Fuck off. You’ve been around enough to know that this shit comes in cycles when all the FPers post about the same thing. Tomorrow it will be something else. Don’t like it, get your own fucking blog or e-mail Cole. He LOVES that.

  15. 15.

    arguingwithsignposts

    March 18, 2013 at 7:41 pm

    @geg6: Quite possibly the most meta inside-baseball LOL I’ve had in quite a while. Probably not worthy of an Internet, but certainly, a DNS server or two.

  16. 16.

    Todd

    March 18, 2013 at 7:41 pm

    I’m finding myself wondering if shielding the names of victims is smart.

    Does it dehumanize them in the eyes of the public? Are we finally beyond societal shame directed toward the victims of sexual crimes?

    It occurs to me that the willingness of the victims of Catholicism to step forward and identify themselves in civil filings was what blew the lid off that scandal.

  17. 17.

    kay

    March 18, 2013 at 7:41 pm

    @Litlebritdifrnt:

    I think that’s weird. It’s penetration in the statute. That’s the crucial dividing line they seek, that has…eluded them. I mean obviously that’s the crime. I don’t really get the distinction with the means.

    It’s a broomstick! That’s not rape!”

    There’s something essential they’re not getting here. Rape isn’t “having sex, but with force!”

    Didn’t we just tell them something like this 6 months ago, with the whole
    “forcible” “statutory” “real” controversy they invented?

    I don’t know that we can keep catching up the slow learners with each new set of facts. They’re not making any progress.

  18. 18.

    YellowJournalism

    March 18, 2013 at 7:46 pm

    @Todd: Seeing as they’re already making arrests for death threats on the victim after the trial, I would say withholding her name is necessary. Besides, she is still currently a child.

  19. 19.

    ruemara

    March 18, 2013 at 7:47 pm

    @Litlebritdifrnt: Every so often, we make Vogons look good.

  20. 20.

    Ben Franklin

    March 18, 2013 at 7:48 pm

    @arguingwithsignposts:

    Just go gobble your own knob and ignore my counter-intuitive opinion. I’m sure ‘pie’ is within range of your daily caloric intake.

  21. 21.

    rikyrah

    March 18, 2013 at 7:48 pm

    Elon,

    you discussed the financial settlements from the officer’s doing wrong in the past in the Kimani Gray case.

    in Chicago…

    one out of every THREE dollars budgeted for the Chicago Police Department…

    is spent in settling lawsuits about police misconduct.

    one out of every THREE dollars budgeted.

    think about that.

  22. 22.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    March 18, 2013 at 7:49 pm

    @scav: I wondered that, I mean a pen*s is rape but fingers are not? As you mentioned is a broom handle rape, but a vibrator is not? How about a vaginal probe without the woman’s consent? Personally being of the girly persuasion you insert something into my hooha without my consent and I am gonna yell rape at the top of my lungs, I don’t care whether it is capable of impregnating me or not.

  23. 23.

    geg6

    March 18, 2013 at 7:53 pm

    @Ben Franklin:

    Yes, let’s. It’s not like rape culture isn’t a well known phenomenon and that everyone on earth is totally on board with eradicating it. No need to discuss this common topic of conversation.

  24. 24.

    Eric U.

    March 18, 2013 at 7:57 pm

    we could ask the young Indian woman that was raped on the bus what she thinks about vaginal penetration with inanimate objects being rape if she hadn’t died from it.

  25. 25.

    Comrade Jake

    March 18, 2013 at 7:57 pm

    @Litlebritdifrnt: a boss/ coworker I presume? No need to literally thank him, but it is useful when people like him reveal themselves.

  26. 26.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    March 18, 2013 at 7:58 pm

    @Eric U.:

    THIS

  27. 27.

    arguingwithsignposts

    March 18, 2013 at 8:05 pm

    @Ben Franklin: You could just scroll on by instead of polluting a thread about a subject you obviously don’t care about because you’re a fucking firebagger troll, so no, no pie for me today. You can just keep looking like the dumbshit twit you are.

  28. 28.

    Villago Delenda Est

    March 18, 2013 at 8:29 pm

    It seems that the GOP’s entire approach to “minority outreach” is to scream, at the top of their lungs, “get back to totin’ that bale!”

  29. 29.

    TS

    March 18, 2013 at 8:29 pm

    “Over the weekend, the two teens accused of raping an intoxicated 15-year-old girl”

    So the media has told us 55 times the girl was drunk – how about reporting

    Over the weekend, the two teens accused of raping an intoxicated 15-year-old girl

    No-one but no-one was there for the girl. Intoxicated is a mitigating word – blaming the victim.

  30. 30.

    srv

    March 18, 2013 at 8:29 pm

    @kay: Am a bit surprised at all the folks who are gobsmacked about the response to this trial. Steubenville is as Americana as apple pie. That’s the problem.

    I might be wrong, but rape on TV and movies are depicted as violent physical acts 100% of the time. That may be part of the problem for low-information folks. We can be sure that if 27% of the population is ok with gov’t wandrape, we shouldn’t really have high expectations for their kids.

    Maybe this trial opens up a few eyes, but I kinda doubt it, particularly with these light jail terms.

  31. 31.

    Ted & Hellen

    March 18, 2013 at 8:30 pm

    @geg6:

    Well, according to T & H, unless you’ve been beaten and gang raped, it’s no biggie.

    Dishonest piece of shit, as per usual. Seriously, you have no compunction about completely misrepresenting the statements of other commenters. It’s kind of amazing.

    For you tender flowers, please install Cleek’s Pie Filter and leave me alone. Thanks.

  32. 32.

    Villago Delenda Est

    March 18, 2013 at 8:30 pm

    @rikyrah:

    one out of every THREE dollars budgeted for the Chicago Police Department…
    is spent in settling lawsuits about police misconduct.

    You know, some MBA type might be able to identify some cost control measures here.

  33. 33.

    Ted & Hellen

    March 18, 2013 at 8:31 pm

    @arguingwithsignposts:

    e-mail Cole. He LOVES that.

    I don’t get why people say this.

    I exchange emails with Cole all the time.

    Maybe it’s just certain douche bags such as yourself he doesn’t care to hear from?

  34. 34.

    Baud

    March 18, 2013 at 8:35 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    Tort reform!

  35. 35.

    Ted & Hellen

    March 18, 2013 at 8:35 pm

    @TS:

    But weren’t the assailants also drinking? And hasn’t that been reported?

    The fact that the girl was falling down/pass out drunk is a huge part of the prosecution’s case. Why would you want the media to not report the facts of the case?

    Weird.

  36. 36.

    kay

    March 18, 2013 at 8:45 pm

    @srv:

    It’s an old argument. Level of violence in rape used to be neccesary to prove rape, because there was an idea that the victim had to prove they had been completely disabled or it was presumed consensual.

    It actually went further. The victim had to prove resistance, bruises, broken bones, fight to the death.

    It switched to “consent” probably.. 20 years ago rather than “level of violence”

    So, two things. Penetration, non-consensual. I think it makes more sense because it unties rape from sex, and rape should be untied from sex, emotiinally and logically. Sex is something different.

    The woman on the bus in India didn’t have “sex” or “intercourse”. She was raped when she was penetrated.

    We have plenty of additional laws to cover “beating” or “tying up” or “attempted murder”. We don’t need to make “real rape” contingent on other acts of violence.

  37. 37.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 18, 2013 at 8:47 pm

    @Ted & Hellen: Any idea why the girl’s intoxication was a huge part of the prosecution’s case? And, as a result, why someone might see emphasizing it in the reporting as a form of slut shaming? Or are you just flinging poo as usual?*

    *That last question was rhetorical.

  38. 38.

    Mnemosyne

    March 18, 2013 at 8:50 pm

    @Ted & Hellen:

    Dishonest piece of shit, as per usual. Seriously, you have no compunction about completely misrepresenting the statements of other commenters. It’s kind of amazing.

    ORLY?

    I’m old fashioned. I still believe in gradations of criminal acts. I believe it is less traumatic to be finger fucked than to be violently subjected to forced intercourse and beaten. I believe it forced intercourse is less horrendous than gang genital rape and murder.

    Our legal system is based on making these distinctions, but that’s just me.

    Making such distinctions is now out of style because everything falls under the broad term RAPE, at least in public discourse.

    I’d be willing to bet a huge percentage of the public thinks these guys had genital intercourse to completion with the victim. Primarily because the media sucks at doing its job.

    But, please, tell us all how I cruelly and evilly took your words out of context by copying and pasting exactly what you wrote less than an hour ago.

  39. 39.

    Ted & Hellen

    March 18, 2013 at 8:53 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Any idea why the girl’s intoxication was a huge part of the prosecution’s case?

    Ummm…maybe because it was essential to their theory that she was out cold and unable to consent…?

    Gee, I don’t know, why do you think?

  40. 40.

    Ted & Hellen

    March 18, 2013 at 8:55 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    Spleen, get help. It’s long been established that you are nuts.

    Use Cleek’s Pie Filter.

    Thanks.

  41. 41.

    Villago Delenda Est

    March 18, 2013 at 8:56 pm

    @Baud:

    Of course. Two simple words. Like “Invisible Hand”. Or “Free Market.”

  42. 42.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 18, 2013 at 8:57 pm

    @Ted & Hellen: Very good. Now, do you care to take a stab at my second question?

  43. 43.

    srv

    March 18, 2013 at 9:00 pm

    @kay: The law has caught up, but has the populace?

    Is consent and the legal definition of rape covered in modern-day sex ed?

    I have bar conversations with people in a very “liberal” city all the time, and I’ve had males & females argue with me that an intoxicated woman can consent. Or that it can’t be rape if both parties are drunk.

    They don’t seem to understand the concept or the law.

  44. 44.

    Ted & Hellen

    March 18, 2013 at 9:00 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Sure.

    Apparently, people like you feel that the fact that the girl was drunk somehow implicates her as a “slut.” I certainly don’t.

    News reports should contain news. Which theoretically is composed of facts. The fact is she was drunk, as was pretty much everyone that night.

    But you seem to wish to use news reports as part of your agenda. Perhaps you could have all news outlets submit their stories to you first for editing.

  45. 45.

    Mnemosyne

    March 18, 2013 at 9:00 pm

    @Ted & Hellen:

    Spleen, get help. It’s long been established that you are nuts.

    Yes, Timmy. Obviously that link I provided for everyone to see is just a mass hallucination and you never said any such thing.

    Use Cleek’s Pie Filter.

    Oh, don’t worry, I’ll never filter you out. I always want to see your latest defenses of Jerry Sandusky and other rapists so you can mansplain to me that penetration isn’t really rape no matter what the law says.

    Again, I really pity your daughters if anything awful should ever happen to them. Would you cut them off entirely, or speak to them again after a year or so if they properly apologized to you for being whores who let themselves be attacked?

  46. 46.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 18, 2013 at 9:06 pm

    @Ted & Hellen: Like I thought. Flinging poo.

  47. 47.

    kay

    March 18, 2013 at 9:08 pm

    @srv:

    I am biased, I believe in the ideas behind the juvenile system, but I understand the juvenile system in Ohio, so let me ask you something.

    There are two locked facilities for juvenile sex offender treatment in Ohio. I’m very familiar with one. They do great work. Judges use their observation and analysis to determine sex offender reporting, it’s discretionary with juveniles, depending on the age at time of offense and some other things.

    So if these two did 10 in the adult system, were released at 27 with no treament, or if they do, we’ll say 3 in juvenile ( judges can keep them to 21 if they don’t get with the treatment program) which would you rather have?

    A 20 year old who got treatment or a 27 year old who got none?

    Because you’re getting these two. They’re coming out sometime.

  48. 48.

    Ted & Hellen

    March 18, 2013 at 9:09 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    Your projection is just really, really vile. And self-revealing.

    You’re a mess.

  49. 49.

    Ted & Hellen

    March 18, 2013 at 9:11 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Got nuthin, as per usual, I see.

  50. 50.

    Geoduck

    March 18, 2013 at 9:12 pm

    And now, evidently, all three major news networks have managed to broadcast an unbleeped clip from the trial revealing the girl’s name.

  51. 51.

    Ted & Hellen

    March 18, 2013 at 9:13 pm

    Obviously that link I provided for everyone to see is just a mass hallucination and you never said any such thing.

    I stand by it a hundred per cent. Why don’t you do one of your insane paraphrasing jobs so I can try to grasp what you THINK that quote says.

  52. 52.

    Ted & Hellen

    March 18, 2013 at 9:15 pm

    @Geoduck:

    Jesus. So fucking what? She has no shame to bear. She is not marked by this crime. Concealing the victim’s identity only feeds the idea that she has something to be ashamed of.

    Everyone in that surrounding area already knows who she is…again, the projection.

    Furthermore, the perps are juvies, yet you have no problem with their names being revealed before their conviction.

  53. 53.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    March 18, 2013 at 9:16 pm

    @Todd: The victim’s name is well known in the area where she was raped. She and her family have gotten loads of public support. For their injury, since they had the nerve to ruin those boys loves with this trial. She’s not been shielded at all. Anyone who had doubts about a US rape culture has only to read social media comments – including from adults using actual names – about the victim to know that culture is frighteningly prevalent. It is almost as horrifying as the crime itself.

  54. 54.

    lojasmo

    March 18, 2013 at 9:16 pm

    @Ted & Hellen:

    For you tender flowers, please install Cleek’s Pie Filter and leave me alone. Thanks.

    Drink bleach, douchebag.

  55. 55.

    Ted & Hellen

    March 18, 2013 at 9:17 pm

    @lojasmo:

    Thanks, Jiz.

  56. 56.

    Xecky Gilchrist

    March 18, 2013 at 9:20 pm

    @Mnemosyne: Use Cleek’s Pie Filter.

    I salute you for not doing so, Mnemosyne, but me, I’m hooked.

  57. 57.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    March 18, 2013 at 9:23 pm

    @srv:

    They don’t seem to understand the concept or the law.

    That’s why many of us are a bit shrill on the topic of rape culture. That concept would be obvious and easy to understand in the absence of slut shaming and social normalization of nonconsensual sex acts.

  58. 58.

    Yutsano

    March 18, 2013 at 9:28 pm

    @Xecky Gilchrist: Your pie filter seems…monochromatic. By design?

  59. 59.

    srv

    March 18, 2013 at 9:34 pm

    @kay: I only know that recidivism is high for some types of sex offenders, I don’t know what category these kids would fit into. Probably a safer bet (ed: for treatment) than most maybe.

    This brings up my internal catagorization of the kids – throwing the book at them is meant to make an example of them. Sometimes it just has to be done. I don’t really believe they’re 10X the monsters of many of their peers. Particularly if our curricula don’t cover consent and rape laws. Because as I said, I don’t think most adults get it either.

  60. 60.

    YellowJournalism

    March 18, 2013 at 9:35 pm

    @Ted & Hellen: The choice to reveal their names was by choice, from what I understand, and its mentioned in many articles on this case. I think you are hinting at a good point that maybe that shouldn’t have happened because their safety is in danger, too. They and the town, despite what the boys did and what the town did/didn’t do, do not deserve to be wiped from the planet. I’ve seen a lot of Twitter posts the last few days that are downright disgusting in that regard.

    The girl is 16. She’s getting death threats from people who know her and from people who probably don’t. Putting her name out there may put her in more danger physically and psychologically from a lot more people. I don’t think this decision was taken lightly or to cover her “shame.” Let her make the decision to come forward when she’s an adult and the danger is lessened, and maybe she’ll decide to serve as a voice for others who didn’t know they could come forward.

    It’s not surprising to me that in their efforts to condemn each other for posting her name that the other networks made the same mistake. It would have been funny in another context.

  61. 61.

    Publius39

    March 18, 2013 at 9:38 pm

    @YellowJournalism: The reason why their names were revealed was because they were charged as adults. If they had been charged as juveniles, then their names would have been concealed.

  62. 62.

    Publius39

    March 18, 2013 at 9:41 pm

    @Ted & Hellen: Why don’t you just skip to the part where you throw your temper tantrum and tell everyone to ignore you by enacting the pie filter? That’s where most of your comments seem to head anyways.

  63. 63.

    Ruckus

    March 18, 2013 at 9:43 pm

    @Mnemosyne:
    I will have a rational discussion with just about anyone but I just don’t feel like wasting my time with idiots. Once someone has proven they are always going to be contrary for no reason or just a plain moron I put Cleek to work on them. No reason I should risk my sanity and blood pressure, I already take medication for one of these.

  64. 64.

    Mnemosyne

    March 18, 2013 at 9:43 pm

    @Ted & Hellen:

    Your projection is just really, really vile. And self-revealing.

    What am I projecting onto you, exactly? Be specific.

    I stand by it a hundred per cent. Why don’t you do one of your insane paraphrasing jobs so I can try to grasp what you THINK that quote says.

    Oh, there’s no need to paraphrase. Your words stand for themselves.

  65. 65.

    I am not a kook

    March 18, 2013 at 9:44 pm

    Wow this place amazes me. I’ve never seem a resident troll beg other commenters to please use a filter anywhere else on the internetz.

    Kitchen, heat, hmm?

  66. 66.

    srv

    March 18, 2013 at 9:44 pm

    @a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): I think unfortunately one is easier to fix than the other.

    Fear of prosecution is easier than changing mores.

  67. 67.

    kay

    March 18, 2013 at 9:45 pm

    @srv:

    The recidivism stuff is all over the place. It goes from 14% to 88% so we don’t know. They were all excited about 5 years ago because it looked like juveniles were more receptive than adults.

    I think they are, more receptive, but I have to believe they are, because that’s what the whole juvenile system is based on, rehabilitation.

    We went back to retributive sanctions for a while, boot camps, etc. but that was a huge failure.

  68. 68.

    Mnemosyne

    March 18, 2013 at 9:45 pm

    @Ruckus:

    Eh, my blood pressure is on the low side of normal, so it’s probably good to get it higher every once in a while. ;-)

  69. 69.

    Xecky Gilchrist

    March 18, 2013 at 9:46 pm

    @Yutsano: Yes, by design. I like the rotating messages, but for some reason the repeated “I like pie!” exclamations crack me up.

    It makes it easy to see when someone’s really gone off on a foaming blood-flecked-spittle rant and yelling “and another thing!”

  70. 70.

    scav

    March 18, 2013 at 9:47 pm

    @I am not a kook: yeah, It is rather amusing that it’s in every thread, in polyphony and a near-fugal form: T&H’s Leeeeeeaaaaavvvveeeee mmmmmmmeeeeeeeee AAAAAALLLLLLOOOOONNNNNNEEEEE!

  71. 71.

    A Humble Lurker

    March 18, 2013 at 9:47 pm

    @Ted & Hellen:

    Jesus. So fucking what? She has no shame to bear. She is not marked by this crime. Concealing the victim’s identity only feeds the idea that she has something to be ashamed of.

    No, it’s to keep any of the multiple people who have been making death threats against her from being able to follow up on those threats.

  72. 72.

    Yutsano

    March 18, 2013 at 9:48 pm

    @Mnemosyne: Sternly worded e-mails are being written to JC as we type. Oh yes. Maybe a few words in all caps!!

  73. 73.

    YellowJournalism

    March 18, 2013 at 9:50 pm

    @Publius39: Okay then I misunderstood.

  74. 74.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 18, 2013 at 9:50 pm

    @A Humble Lurker: Stop making sense. It will only confuse T&H.

  75. 75.

    Villago Delenda Est

    March 18, 2013 at 9:54 pm

    @Yutsano:

    All caps, cruise control for cool!

  76. 76.

    Donut

    March 18, 2013 at 9:54 pm

    @Ben Franklin:

    Christ, you’re a fucking dick.

  77. 77.

    Donut

    March 18, 2013 at 9:56 pm

    @Ben Franklin:

    Christ, you’re a fucking dick.

    @Ted & Hellen:

    You’re a delicate flower. You can only feel strong in a strictly controlled environment, and as a commenter you are a bully

    You deserve to have this quote follow you around forever, tool.

  78. 78.

    Ted & Hellen

    March 18, 2013 at 10:00 pm

    @Donut:

    You deserve to have this quote follow you around forever, tool.

    OK. But it would help if you would explain why you think that quote is something I should want to disown.

    Thanks.

  79. 79.

    Keith G

    March 18, 2013 at 10:01 pm

    Wow. Almost one third of the comments are about the case. The rest are like this:

    You could just scroll on by instead of polluting a thread about a subject you obviously don’t care about because you’re a fucking firebagger troll, so no, no pie for me today. You can just keep looking like the dumbshit twit you are.

    Cool. Way to go.

  80. 80.

    kay

    March 18, 2013 at 10:02 pm

    @srv:

    I get so impatient with the outrage of the townspeople. It’s just this wholly predictible wall of defense. Nothing gets past that.

    I don’t expect them to all disprove that they’re horrible, they’re not all horrible, but would it kill them to question the high school athlete worship?

    That’s not even healthy for the athletes, and it’s warped some of the adults.

    Maybe focus on, I don’t know, dance or chorus for a year or two in the hs. Just take a breather.

  81. 81.

    Ted & Hellen

    March 18, 2013 at 10:03 pm

    @Publius39:

    Could you explain why you think that’s a “tantrum.”

    I mean it in earnest. I urge all those who are delicate and hew toward the vapors in discussion to pie me. I encourage it.

    Does that sound like a tantrum? If so I apologize in the most dulcet of tones.

  82. 82.

    A Humble Lurker

    March 18, 2013 at 10:07 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:
    Dude, you can’t blame me for T&H’s confusion. That’d be like me blaming you for the sky being blue.

    @Ted & Hellen:

    I mean it in earnest. I urge all those who are delicate and hew toward the vapors in discussion to pie me.

    I didn’t know you could pie yourself.

  83. 83.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 18, 2013 at 10:10 pm

    @A Humble Lurker:

    That’d be like me blaming you for the sky being blue.

    To be fair, that is my fault. Sorry.

  84. 84.

    schrodinger's cat

    March 18, 2013 at 10:11 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: So how was your date with the exchange student?

  85. 85.

    srv

    March 18, 2013 at 10:11 pm

    @kay: Sports is an escape, in so many levels.

    If it didn’t exist, something else would have to replace it.

  86. 86.

    Mnemosyne

    March 18, 2013 at 10:12 pm

    @Yutsano:

    We’re starting to get to the boring part of the night when Timmy just starts parroting things back that people said to him earlier, aren’t we?

  87. 87.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 18, 2013 at 10:12 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat: Very pleasant.

  88. 88.

    Xecky Gilchrist

    March 18, 2013 at 10:13 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: To be fair, that is my fault. Sorry.

    No apology necessary. It’s pretty!

  89. 89.

    Fred Wertam, Jr.

    March 18, 2013 at 10:22 pm

    De-lurking to beg.

    John, I’ve been reading the blog a long time so I know you don’t like to use the banhammer, but Ted & Helen is engaging in purely disruptive trolling at this point. It greatly diminishes the quality of the comments section. I think it’s unfair to your readers and commenters to allow this to continue.

    Good luck with the mustard.

  90. 90.

    Gin & Tonic

    March 18, 2013 at 10:25 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: That’s it?! That’s all you’re going to say? People are dying out here wanting to know more.

  91. 91.

    A Humble Lurker

    March 18, 2013 at 10:27 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:
    Are you the one who does the sunsets/sunrises too or did they outsource that to India already? ‘Cause those are just gorgeous. Could use a little more pink, though.

  92. 92.

    schrodinger's cat

    March 18, 2013 at 10:29 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: Seconded.
    @Omnes Omnibus: We need all the juicy details.

  93. 93.

    Keith G

    March 18, 2013 at 10:29 pm

    @kay:

    …but would it kill them to question the high school athlete worship?

    There is the possibility that a football’s mass appeal will start eroding in meaningful ways with increased health concerns, changing demographics, and further changes in the economics and social psychology of post industrial America.

  94. 94.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 18, 2013 at 10:30 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: Extremely pleasant?

    @A Humble Lurker: I just do blue. Union rules.

  95. 95.

    Gin & Tonic

    March 18, 2013 at 10:34 pm

    I’m going to risk derailing the thread at this late point with what I hope is a substantive comment.

    I heard some comment on some teevee show as I was walking past it this evening, that she (the victim) “should have been aware of her surroundings.” I have a hard time arguing with that. I am a father of two now-grown daughters who have, thankfully, never been the victims of sexual assault. But I don’t think I’m engaging in “blame the victim” when I say that their mother and I were careful to warn them about what could happen in a variety of circumstances, even those that start out seeming benign. Not “don’t go here” or “don’t wear that kind of skirt”, but be aware and be careful. Just as I’ve read that some black parents tell their sons “make sure you keep your hands visible.” It’s only prudent. Not all men are scum, but some are, and it unfortunately behooves the girl/woman to be more on her guard than is “right.” That’s the world we live in.

    Maybe this girl’s parents had exactly the same sort of discussion with their daughter. Maybe she thought she was in one milieu and it turned into another too quickly for her, I don’t know. But the sad fact is that girls cannot let their guard down, even for a second.

  96. 96.

    Ruckus

    March 18, 2013 at 10:41 pm

    @Mnemosyne:
    Mines on the low side now. But it seems to take drugs to get it there. Can’t tell if it was the stress of being unemployed or getting older or a combination. But now I have a job and drugs so it’s all good.

  97. 97.

    dance around in your bones

    March 18, 2013 at 10:42 pm

    I wish Ted & Helen would pie him & herself.

    They so tiresome.

  98. 98.

    The prophet Nostradumbass

    March 18, 2013 at 10:42 pm

    Looks like Timmeh has gotten into the cough syrup or, possibly, been huffing sterno again.

  99. 99.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 18, 2013 at 10:44 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: I think there is a big difference between advising someone to be careful and blaming the victim. It’s the difference between blaming and not blaming.

  100. 100.

    Donut

    March 18, 2013 at 10:44 pm

    @Ted & Hellen:

    Because in my opinion all you do with your time on B-J is careen from thread to thread bullying people.

    But I guess I could be wrong about that. You really could be the martyr you like to make yourself out to be.

    Should we call You Jesus from now on, Big Guy?

  101. 101.

    Donut

    March 18, 2013 at 10:45 pm

    @Ted & Hellen:

    Thanks.

  102. 102.

    Ruckus

    March 18, 2013 at 10:46 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:
    Well you done good. The blue is nice. Not enough of it here today but still.

  103. 103.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 18, 2013 at 10:50 pm

    @dance around in your bones: Can one self-pie?

  104. 104.

    Ted & Hellen

    March 18, 2013 at 10:52 pm

    @Fred Wertam, Jr.:

    HAHAHAHAHAHAHA…

  105. 105.

    Ted & Hellen

    March 18, 2013 at 10:53 pm

    @Keith G:

    HAHAHAHAHAHAHA….

  106. 106.

    Gin & Tonic

    March 18, 2013 at 10:53 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: The line between saying “be careful” and then if, heaven forbid, something bad happens, saying “oh god, I wish you’d been more careful” is not as bright as I think you think it is.

  107. 107.

    dance around in your bones

    March 18, 2013 at 10:55 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Gosh, I’ve never tried! Perhaps it’s possible? I’m not sure why I would pie myself, though.

    But I’ve had T&H pied for a fuckton of time now. Especially after he stalked Cole for so long and finally got a piece of art sold and thought he was all that.

    He’s just a weirdo. Contributes nothing.

  108. 108.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 18, 2013 at 10:56 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: I know what you mean… I think. It can come down to how it is said. And when.

  109. 109.

    Mamdalay

    March 18, 2013 at 10:59 pm

    From Steubenville’s Herald-Star today:

    Steubenville Police today arrested two juvenile girls from the city for making menacing threats on social media against Jane Doe, the victim in the Steubenville rape case.

    Police Chief Bill McCafferty and juevenile division detectives were investigating social media comments they believed were menacing,

    The two girls were arrested late in the afternoon. Police are pursing information about a juvenile male. They did not release the names because they are juveniles.

    “We take these threats very seriously,” McCafferty said, adding the investigation continues.

    Juvenile or not, you must be really dumb to threaten someone electronically.

  110. 110.

    Yutsano

    March 18, 2013 at 11:08 pm

    @Mnemosyne: Or just incomprehensible ramblings. And boasting about how JC pays him to blog here and how they exchange e-mails all the time. Not enough evidence yet, but I have a theory about Special Timmeh.

    @dance around in your bones: I’ve never pied anyone because no one has ever offended me enough for it to be necessary. Not even BoB when he was hitting on me. Eww.

  111. 111.

    MomSense

    March 18, 2013 at 11:08 pm

    @rikyrah:

    Exactly!

  112. 112.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 18, 2013 at 11:10 pm

    @Yutsano:

    Not enough evidence yet, but I have a theory about Special Timmeh.

    Purple drank?

  113. 113.

    Yutsano

    March 18, 2013 at 11:13 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: You have to admit, if that were true it would explain a lot.

  114. 114.

    Keith G

    March 18, 2013 at 11:15 pm

    @Donut: Or….forget the nym and just don’t engage.

    Sometimes one comes in to check out a thread and it is like sitting at a lunch counter between Hamas and Likud.

  115. 115.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 18, 2013 at 11:15 pm

    @Yutsano: Indeed.

  116. 116.

    dance around in your bones

    March 18, 2013 at 11:16 pm

    @Yutsano:

    Well, at a certain point (for me) it just becomes more annoying to read the drivel than to scroll past it. There are many I just scroll past, but T&H just pisses me off, and that’s after too much time reading him/her.

    I think it started during the pathetic craving after Cole thing. Then the smug OMG I sold a piece of art to Cole, and now we exchange emails! So sad.

    Besides, as I have said before, I contributed quite a few pie comments to cleek’s pie filter, so I get this little frisson every time I see one of mine. Prolly shallow, I know…..but still.

  117. 117.

    askew

    March 18, 2013 at 11:18 pm

    I’ve finally broken down and used the pie filter as I can’t take that lunatic and his ravings any longer. However, it only works on the original comment and not when people quote his rantings. Is it too much to ask that you don’t actually quote trolls in your responses?

  118. 118.

    Mandalay

    March 18, 2013 at 11:18 pm

    From Steubenville’s Herald-Star today:

    Steubenville Police today arrested two juvenile girls from the city for making menacing threats on social media against Jane Doe, the victim in the Steubenville rape case.

    Police Chief Bill McCafferty and juevenile division detectives were investigating social media comments they believed were menacing,

    The two girls were arrested late in the afternoon. Police are pursing information about a juvenile male. They did not release the names because they are juveniles.

    “We take these threats very seriously,” McCafferty said, adding the investigation continues.

    Juvenile or not, you must be really dumb to ever threaten anyone electronically, and doubly so given the electronic aspect of this specific case.

  119. 119.

    Mnemosyne

    March 18, 2013 at 11:18 pm

    @Yutsano:

    I’ve had Corner Stone pied for well over a year. I honestly started to worry about the level of rage he was directing at me and didn’t want his young son finding him slumped dead over the keyboard one morning.

    Other that that, nada. Not even mclaren.

    (Edited for clarity.)

  120. 120.

    Yutsano

    March 18, 2013 at 11:21 pm

    @dance around in your bones: Meh. He thinks he hurts me. That’s the funniest part.

  121. 121.

    dance around in your bones

    March 18, 2013 at 11:27 pm

    I think he/her thinks he/her has a much greater effect than he/her actually does.

    That’s one thing the pie filter is good for – it keeps you from engaging with the most obnoxious trolls.

    Which I think T&H would think is a compliment, sad soul.

    ETA: I’ve never pied mclaren either, just got used to scrolling past the walls of text. Occasionally she(?) makes a good point, so I just hang in there.

  122. 122.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    March 18, 2013 at 11:27 pm

    @Publius39: Actually they were charged (and convicted) as juveniles. I hate to be pedantic, but it’s an occupational hazard, particularly in matters criminal.

  123. 123.

    Gian

    March 18, 2013 at 11:31 pm

    heck late to the T&H troll fest, but this is the kind of why you might want to keep the victim’s identity secret…

    WTOV9 reported that two juveniles were arrested for allegedly making threats against the victim in the Steubenville rape case.

    Two juvenile girls have been arrested for allegedly threatening the victim in the Steubenville, Ohio, teen rape case.

    Steubenville’s WTOV9 reported that the two juveniles made the alleged threats on social media websites. According to WTOV9, they face aggravated menacing charges.

    Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said the girls arrested Monday posted threatening Facebook and Twitter comments Sunday, the day the players were convicted in Steubenville. DeWine says the girls are being held in juvenile detention on allegations of aggravated menacing after an investigation by state and local authorities. They have not yet been charged.

    According to CNN, the girls are both Steubenville residents. Jefferson County Sheriff Fred Abdalla told CNN that one of the girls threatened to beat the victim, and another threatened to kill her.

    DeWine says he hopes the arrests end harassment of the alleged victim.

    Speaking to the station, Steubenville police Chief Bill McCafferty said the girls were arrested about 4 p.m. Monday.

    A judge sentenced the players to at least a year in juvenile prison. A grand jury will look into whether others broke the law by not speaking up after the attack last summer.

    http://news.msn.com/us/2-arrested-for-allegedly-threatening-steubenville-rape-victim

    and there was an earlier comment about having conversations about intoxication and consent. you can play “where do you draw the line” all you want on levels of intoxication, but in this particular case only a complete tool would think that unconscious an vomiting is able to consent. Damn, it’s not like there’s going to be a bunch of rape prosecutions because you split a bottle of wine with dinner and that made her think you looked a little cuter.

  124. 124.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 18, 2013 at 11:31 pm

    @dance around in your bones: I don’t pie. I try not to engage with trolls, but sometimes I get bored or tempted.

  125. 125.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    March 18, 2013 at 11:35 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: And today/tonight would be one of those times, I’m guessing. I *almost* said “what the fuck is the matter with you?” in an earlier thread, but thought it a bit harsh upon further reflection. Any post interview news?

  126. 126.

    dance around in your bones

    March 18, 2013 at 11:36 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    The thing about the pie filter is that it makes you laugh instead of getting pissed off. I like that part of it :)

  127. 127.

    Yutsano

    March 18, 2013 at 11:37 pm

    @dance around in your bones: mclaren is so amazingly schizophrenic you never know what she will type. It’s deliciously funny. Especially when she goes off the wall and starts putting up links that don’t say what she thinks they say. It amuses me greatly.

    @Omnes Omnibus: One sometimes must poke the stick in the tiger cage to feel alive.

  128. 128.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 18, 2013 at 11:38 pm

    @a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): Yeah, I feel so vaguely ashamed.

    As far as the interview goes, I’ve had the second interview. I think it went well. In the waiting phase now.

  129. 129.

    Keith G

    March 18, 2013 at 11:44 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: At the risk of seeming too school-marmy, it just sees to me that announcing that one is piing another is just the cyber equivalent of the grade school play ground, “Nah, Nah, I got you last!” Or the ill tempered adolescent who turns his back as he announces, “I am not listening to another word you say.”

    Your standard is a good and mature one.

  130. 130.

    ranchandsyrup

    March 18, 2013 at 11:46 pm

    @askew: If you use chrome, this filter blocks the replies to the selected troll. http://sproingie.blogspot.com/2012/01/balloon-juice-troll-filter.html

  131. 131.

    dance around in your bones

    March 18, 2013 at 11:46 pm

    @Yutsano:

    mclaren is definitely one of a kind. Once in a while a gem comes out, but I think that’s when she’s on her meds. Otherwise, forget it Jake, it’s mclarentown.

    (I hate to say this, but she reminds me of matoko loco at times – the occasional jewel of a coined term and the rest of the time ‘I iz so superior to all you cudlips’).

  132. 132.

    askew

    March 18, 2013 at 11:49 pm

    @ranchandsyrup:

    Unfortunately, I am using Firefox but thanks for the suggestion.

  133. 133.

    ranchandsyrup

    March 18, 2013 at 11:52 pm

    @askew: supposed to work for ff as well. I haven’t tried it on Firefox though.

  134. 134.

    Ted & Hellen

    March 18, 2013 at 11:59 pm

    You guys are hilarious and pathetic. lol

  135. 135.

    askew

    March 19, 2013 at 12:02 am

    @ranchandsyrup:

    Hmmm, I’ll have to check that out. Thanks.

  136. 136.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    March 19, 2013 at 12:03 am

    @Yutsano: YOu know (I hope) that I adore you, but please, please, please don’t say things like

    mclaren is so amazingly schizophrenic you never know what she will type

    It perpetuates the culture of minimizing and/or mocking brain disorders also referred to as mental illnesses. mclaren may or may not have some neurobiological issues, but they would not be “deliciously funny.” The rant on this topic is an occupational hazard.

    @dance around in your bones: And I adore you even more, but the “when she’s on her meds” comments are in the same inappropriate range as Yutsie’s. I just ask people to think about this kind of language, as it’s kind of disease shaming. Pointing it out is what NAMI does, relentlessly. Oh, and please, please, please write a memoir. There are no (US) statue problems with pharmaceutical behaviors.

  137. 137.

    scav

    March 19, 2013 at 12:13 am

    Somewhere between watching a train wreck and the notorious visits of London to Bedlam. They’d sometimes rattle the cages too. Bit uncomfortable when the real desperation peeks though, but then his history of posts whips past. Sad little git. Doesn’t even manage the charm necessary for tragic.

  138. 138.

    Yutsano

    March 19, 2013 at 12:16 am

    @a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): I meant schizophrenic in the metaphorical sense, but unpredictable is a better term. Mea Culpa there.

  139. 139.

    dance around in your bones

    March 19, 2013 at 12:16 am

    @a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q):

    I’m so sorry that I offended you. I just think there are times that mclaren seems more lucid than at other times – so I extrapolate. I could be entirely wrong and probably am.

    P.S. It’s more than pharmaceutical behaviors.

    eta: I have a kid who had an aneurysm whilst in high school; several guys I knew who were bi-polar, and more than one clinically depressed friend. I should know better.

  140. 140.

    Mnemosyne

    March 19, 2013 at 12:18 am

    @a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q):

    I pretty much stopped engaging with mclaren when someone made a really good case that she probably was unmedicated and bipolar based on the pattern of her posting. It made me feel like I was taking advantage of someone’s mental illness for my amusement, so I went cold turkey for the most part.

  141. 141.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    March 19, 2013 at 12:41 am

    @Yutsano: @dance around in your bones: Thanks to you both for understanding. Be well.

  142. 142.

    pseudonymous in nc

    March 19, 2013 at 1:23 am

    @kay:

    I have to believe they are, because that’s what the whole juvenile system is based on, rehabilitation.

    Based on pretty good information, the people in the criminal rehab business see juvenile detention as the one place where they can make a lasting difference. The adult system is more about harm reduction.

    But it depends a lot on how the state chooses to organise juvenile detention.

    @kay:

    would it kill them to question the high school athlete worship?

    It would hurt them: the unwinding of myths and cultures of privilege and impunity always hurts people, and not necessarily the ones that deserve it most. That doesn’t mean it shouldn’t happen.

  143. 143.

    burnspbesq

    March 19, 2013 at 1:55 am

    @Ted & Hellen:

    For you tender flowers, please install Cleek’s Pie Filter and leave me alone

    Blaming the victims again, I see.

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