Tuesday, August 29, 2023

Quick Hits: Volume CCCXXIII

- A refresher of Jim Geraghty's definition of "narrative journalism."


"Preconceived storylines that fit a particular agenda or political or ideological view - almost always progressive."


If the media were really concerned about "gun violence," they would put on blast what happens routinely on a weekend in Chicago. But that doesn't make for a useful leftist narrative. Ah, but a racist white dude who guns down multiple black people in Florida??? Leftist media (pardon the redundancy) likely soiled themselves trying to get in front of a camera to report on that. 


Now, am I here to suggest they shouldn't have covered the tragedy in Jacksonville last weekend? No. But it's what they don't report on that's the tell. Erick Erickson explains. 


Steve Blizzard. Ronald Jeffers. Scott and Shirley Leavitt. All were killed by a random man suffering from mental issues in Hampton, GA,

You probably have not heard about them.

As the nation turns its attention to the three victims tragically killed in Jacksonville, FL, just consider those four names.

Unlike the situation in Jacksonville, FL, those four individuals were white, and the shooter was black. It did not make the national press.

It reminds me of the dozens shot and six killed at a birthday party in Alabama. The shooters were black, and the victims were black. No AR-15 was used. The same weekend, a white girl was shot and killed turned around in a man’s driveway in New York. The press and President, though, focused on a black boy shot by a senior citizen in Missouri. The boy, thankfully, survived.

It was all about the narrative. The dead were either black victims killed by black shooters without AR-15’s, or a white victim killed by a white shooter. They could not be used to amplify racial divisions and tensions. But the boy who survived the senior citizen trying to kill him through a door could fit the narrative and, unlike the people in East Palestine, OH, after the train derailment, the boy and his family got lots of presidential attention. I’m glad for the family and happy the boy survived, but let’s not pretend there was no narrative setting attempt in that.

Now, we turn to Jacksonville. A mentally deranged white guy with a manifesto killed three black victims at a Dollar General. The shooter had swastikas on his gun. We still don’t have the manifesto of the transgender shooter in Nashville, but we have this one.


A legitimate and functional press would work overtime to obtain a copy of the Nashville Covenant school shooter's manifesto. Sadly in today's media culture, such newsworthy information could potentially undermine that body's agenda. Can't have that, can we? 



- I've said multiple times that the 2023 Minnesota legislative session was little more than DFLers throwing things against the proverbial wall to see what stuck. They likely knew that some of the legislation signed into law would be subject to lawsuits (and that has come to pass), but pressed forward with an air of "They can't sue us for everything." But worse than that is how warnings of unintended consequences were ignored in regards to other new laws. 


Educators and law enforcement in Minnesota are scrambling to interpret a new state law regarding school resource officers’ duties.

In Redwood Falls, teachers and staff are getting ready to start the school year next week.

Down the street at the police department, Monday morning started with Chief Jason Cotner trying to figure out what to do with the open school resource officer job.

“The timing on this is not great. The community wants the position, the school district certainly wants the position,” Cotner said. “It’s not like a regular patrolman job. Not everybody can do it. This is very specialized, very unique personality.”

Back on Friday, Cotner said the department’s SRO asked to step down citing concerns surrounding a new state law, asking instead to go back to being out on patrol.

Redwood Falls Police said the way they interpret the new Minnesota law is that a school resource officer can’t restrain a student unless there is imminent bodily harm and that such contact is not allowed in other situations.

“Now we’d have a police officer in this department with a different use of force rules than the other officers, so what does that look like in policy? I don’t know,” Cotner said.

We reported last week that the Anoka County Sheriff’s Office is pulling school resource officers from Andover schools.

The Anoka County Attorney’s Office explained concerns about the new law for SROs that “restricts their abilities to exercise independent, professional discretion in the use of force in difficult situations” and disallows prone restraints and certain physical holds.

Meanwhile, the Moorhead Police Department chose as well to pull their school resource officers out of buildings, citing in part insurance concerns on liability for school resource officers under the changes to the law.


It's amazing how it's usually progs who shriek "ZOMG, OUR KIDS SHOULDN'T HAVE TO ATTEND SCHOOL FULL OF FEAR!!!!!!!!!," and yet will undermine methods used to actually keep kids safe. 



- Speaking of dysfunction in schools.......





It's downright frightening that an educator doesn't understand the history of the gadsden flag. It absolutely does not have "origins in slavery." So where did she get that idea? According to Spike Cohen, school officials had read an interview with a graphic designer who made that claim. That's it!! Talk about confirmation bias.  


Since this incident occurred in a Colorado school, the state's governor was prompted to weigh in. 





Gov. Polis is right in that this is indeed a "great teaching moment for a history lesson." Maybe start with the actual teachers. 


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