The Covington Kids

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Imagine the coverage if the pro-life, MAGA-capped kids had shouted “faggots” and other insults at that black and Native American protestors, instead of what actually happened.

A better way:

9 Comments for “The Covington Kids”

  1. posted by Tom Scharbach on

    Whatever the media may have done or not done, for another perspective from a Native involved in the situation, take a look at Staring Down the Smug Face of American Violence.

  2. posted by Jorge on

    I’m pretty saturated with this story by now.

    And what I will say to this audience that as far as I’m concerned, it’s a non-story.

    • posted by Tom Scharbach on

      It should have been a non-story, but it hasn’t been and it isn’t.

      The entire matter was hyped well out of proportion from the beginning. CNN picked up a viral video that showed a few minutes of a complex, confusing situation, and then everyone jumped in with both feet, usually without benefit of any understanding of what actually happened or why. Then the conservative commentariat jumped in to defend MAGA. Pure reaction, pure emotion, as the post illustrates so well.

      Recent coverage (e.g. the Washington Post’s interviews with Nathan Phillips and Nick Sandmann, and several other detailed stories) has been more nuanced and more balanced, and a more accurate picture of the incident is developing, but that hasn’t had an impact on the folks battling with one another.

      The last I heard (via Fox News’ Laura Ingraham) is that President Trump is going to host the Covington MAGA’s at the White House. Inevitable, I suppose, since any negative mention of anything MAGA is viewed as an attack on Right-Thinking American Values, but still absurd.

      • posted by Jorge on

        It should have been a non-story, but it hasn’t been and it isn’t.

        >:(

        (Do you hear it, Mr. J? They’re playing your song. “Make America Great Again.” “Make America Great Again.” “Make America Great Again.” They want you to wake up from your slumber and SAVE this country.)

        No! You report, I decide!

        The last I heard (via Fox News’ Laura Ingraham) is that President Trump is going to host the Covington MAGA’s at the White House. Inevitable, I suppose, since any negative mention of anything MAGA is viewed as an attack on Right-Thinking American Values, but still absurd.

        Well, the White House isn’t confirming it, yet. Let’s assume it’s true, though.

        It’s far beneath him, but it’s politically necessary for a president who has annoyed his base with both the shutdown and his DACA compromise offer. This may win points among religious conservatives (Republican and otherwise), too. It allows him to clap back at Mrs. Pence’s trouble without anyone noticing, slapping a high five at a religious school that (I assume) says no* to gay teachers.

        But it’s forgivable. Presidents routinely invite athletes to the White House for some godforsaken reason.

        Now that I’ve overcome my cynicism about President Trump’s motivations, I think it would be a very good thing for him to do.

      • posted by JohnInCA on

        I wonder if he’ll serve them cold fast food.

        • posted by Tom Scharbach on

          If they show up on a Friday, probably fish sticks and mac and cheese in a show of cultural solidarity.

          Do you think that he’ll award them MAGA Medals? Or will they have to settle for a t-shirt?

    • posted by Tom Scharbach on

      It allows him to clap back at Mrs. Pence’s trouble without anyone noticing, slapping a high five at a religious school that (I assume) says no* to gay teachers.

      I don’t know about Covington Catholic’s policies with respect to homosexual students/faculty. I assume that they conform to diocesan rules, which in turn probably reflect Catholic teaching.

      I found this observation, from the gay valedictorian whom the Diocese of Covington banned from delivering his address at Holy Cross last year, interesting:

      “I was not surprised at all,” Bales plainly told NBC News when asked for his reaction to last week’s D.C. confrontation. “It was only a matter of time that something this school community did would blow up to this degree, and I think they need to be held accountable.”

      Bales claims Covington Catholic is “notorious for being a not-well-disciplined school,” and he described the Diocese of Covington as “archaic.”

      The apparent absence of any supervision from the five adult teacher/chaperones who accompanied the Covington kids has been noted repeatedly in the mainstream media. It seems to fit Bale’s description of the school as “notorious for being a not-well-disciplined school”.

      I had a “snow day” today, because the railroad museum where I normally volunteer on Tuesday was closed because of the weather. So I took the time to watch some of the video.

      Based on what I saw, the Reason article Stephen linked us to was mostly “gaslighting”.

      For example, Reason posited that the Covington boys “tentatively joined (Phillips’) chanting”. That’s bullshit. The videos I looked at were from several angles, and every angle showed very clearly that the boys were ridiculing Phillips and the other Natives by hopping around and satirizing the singing.

      So I encourage others to take a close look at what happened between the boys and the Natives. I think that it will open your eyes.

  3. posted by Kosh III on

    The only surprise is that the frakers didn’t include gays.

    “https://theintercept.com/2019/01/23/trump-administration-grants-south-carolina-foster-care-agencies-authority-to-discriminate-against-jewish-muslim-families/

  4. posted by MR Bill on

    Josh Marshall:”Josh Marshall:”Sandmann’s interview is of a piece with the statement he put out earlier in the week with the assistance (or probably actually written by) a GOP PR firm hired by his parents. Sandmann says he was simply trying to defuse the situation and wanted to listen to Phillips.

    As someone who was once a high school boy, I can say with some confidence that that is utter bullshit. If you set aside the political and racial dynamics of the encounter, the crowd dynamics are quite clear. Sandmann isn’t trying to defuse the situation. He’s acting like a tough guy and signaling his disdain for Phillips and quite clearly playing to his classmates. He’s feeding off their hoops and hollers and vice versa. The smirk is partly the property of all young men. But in Sandmann’s case it’s also about the confidence of privilege and power in the face of the outlandishness of Phillip’s self-presentation.

    As I noted in the other post, the tomahawk chops tell the story clearly. It’s an unruly crowd situation. It’s a politicized situation. It’s ugly. Beyond the reality of the encounter, you have the unmistakable imagery of jeering and smiling white kids in MAGA caps surrounding one dark complected man. These symbols are so potent it makes it hard for any of us not to bring all sorts of experiences, fears, angers, senses of grievance to the moment we see on video.” https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/nick-sandmann-and-the-poverty-of-social-media-storms

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