Welcome to America, Duck Motherfucker

The big news this week is the Australian baseball player that was killed by three teenaged boys that were bored and decided that throwing their lives away would be a good way to get the ole heart rate up.  I have some real problems with the way this story is getting covered in the news.  But, before I get to that, I was pretty shocked that they actually succeeded.  People that fucking dumb don’t usually accomplish a goal, no matter how nefarious.  I mean, seriously, one of them posted online that it was time to take some “life’s”.  Not only does he not know the plural of “life”, what the fuck was the apostrophe for?

Anyway, this isn’t a blog about dumb ass teenagers, this is about the media.  So, let’s dive in.

First off, since when is it okay to show the pictures and names of minors on the internet and on TV?  I know the justice system likes to arbitrarily decide when they will or will not charge someone as a minor but here in the real world, children are children and we need to keep sight of that.  One of those guys in the mug shots is listed at 64 inches.  He’s 5’ 4”.  You’re gonna tell me that’s an adult?!  Fucked up child?  Yes.  Someone that will never ever benefit society and has no chance at rehabilitation?  Not so much, but he might be after doing 30 years in jail for not having the heart to tell Doughboy to let him out the lowrider (see Boyz N the Hood).

In an effort to make these kids look menacing, they are all dressed in their orange jumpsuits for their booking and while I’m sure conservatives will use this as reasoning to believe that Black kids are monsters, if you take a good look at them, they are clearly terrified, as well they should be.  They are about to be cash cows for some prison owner in Oklahoma for the next 60 years. 

side note:  What happened to the idea that it takes a village to raise a child?  I wonder if anyone is going to take on the idea that a fucked up child is not just a parental failure but a societal one as well…

Anyhoo, secondly, the portrayal of the victim as the noble white man is disgusting.  In his pictures, he is nobly gazing off into the distance with the morning sun glimmering in his eyes.  This dude looks more like the next contestant on “The Bachelor” than Crocodile Dundee.  Somehow, even though the only thing that we know about him is that he is an Aussie, he has been deemed a saint in the Church of American Media.  When I think about it, every random White dude is a saint in the Church of American Media.  I mean, George Zimmerman killed an unarmed teenager and he got strangers to donate $300,000 to his legal defense because of the way he was portrayed. 

By no means am I trying to talk bad about Christopher Lane.  It is a tragedy that this young man lost his life.  My heart goes out to his family but a senseless death is tragic every time.  Just ask the city of Chicago.  If you think I’m lying about how much they have glorified this guy, there is a fund that is going to his family and how much have they raised in less than a week?  $100,000.  This is for a guy that no one knows jack about.

Now, some Australian officials are calling for a boycott of the United States due to our love of guns.  One went so far as to point out, per capita, you are 18 times more likely to be shot and killed in the U.S.  I don’t doubt that but whoever this guy is, he is forgetting to connect the dots, just like everyone in the ‘news’ today.  The dot’s all point to one fact.  There is but one overarching principle in America:  Get to the money.

We don’t take on guns because it makes a few people a ton of money.  We don’t take on immigration because a few people don’t want to pay a living wage to the guys and gals picking the grapes.  We can’t legalize weed because a few pharmaceutical (and liquor) companies would be out of billions.  We don’t improve education because educated people realize the inherent unfairness in working for subsistence while his/her boss makes millions, whilst sitting on a yacht.  Educated people demand more and the true owners of this country ain’t payin up.

Chris Lane came to this country and I assume that it was because of the American Dream of getting to the money.  I could be wrong, he just might have liked backwoods Oklahoma.  However, when he came here should have been briefed on how we systematically make sure that there are plenty of stupid people and plenty of guns being passed out and the end result is that we are willing to sacrifice quite a few “life’s” to get to the money.  The media won’t tell you that, they will just let the money keep flowing and have you listed in a long line of people that should have ducked.