Update: Mar 15 Video and Facebook Page removed apparently.
I went to review this page for updates and found the entire reference gone. It is removed from FBook, and the original post from Slate Political Gabfest is also gone without a note. This is very strange.
So I am going to leave this post up because I think it holds a few decent ideas.
The video that is no longer available showed two boys, one a larger, overweight kind of fellow the other a skinny, smart ass sort of a boy poking him in the chest and taunting him – I don’t recall with what words…something demeening and “normal”. But poking him and not letting up. This goes on for a little while, maybe 40-60 secs? and the other boy, Casey, reacts… picks up the kid who is abusing him (let me call him ‘little shit’, as an editorial aside) and slams him to the ground. Apparently as others reported breaking his ankle, or fracturing it or some damage. The little shit hobbled away so it was not overly damaged.
My comments in response to the video and others responses came out of Emily B. original question, which I address.
I am interested to know why and how this was taken down. I suppose it is around somewhere else on the I/net.
Saw this page referenced by Emily Bazalon of the Slate Political Gabfest (A wonderful person and sharp commentator btw…one of my favorite folks out here in internet land) She cited this page and then asked if what this kid Casey did was satisfying or disturbing.
I replied in the comment section with this. Thought to bring it forward to my main post, as I think the larger points are worth considering.
http://www.facebook.com/caseythepunisher
video here http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=157762297615657
As happens so often, what happens so often is misunderstood, or more likely not really paid attention to until somebody captures it on tape. a la Rodney King. This is not the first time this has happened. To this kid (per the comments on the page) nor to kids who are the butt end of little shits like this one who was taunting the kid. So the solution, if there is one, goes back to underlying causes: That is an extended discussion of course. More than this post can engage.
But is it remotely possible that this little shit of a kid who provoked this has a history of this level of abuse, but is found “innocent” all the time? Apparently it happened here. The big kid got suspended, the little shit got hurt. The article does not indicate that he got any other consequence.
You know who this reminds of? Mr GW Bush. He was one of these abusive, privileged little shits who always got away with his petty tortures. I remember reading a number of stories from people who had encountered him at Yale and other places describing personal experiences they had like this. Later you could see the same ‘little shit of a kid” in that noxious smugness and despicable little laugh of his.
Just remembered this example:
“…writer Tucker Carlson described Bush mimicking the woman’s final plea for her life. “‘Please,’ Bush whimpers, his lips pursed in mock desperation, ‘don’t kill me.’”"
And another:
It is this character evinced by this kid in seed form that shows up later in more consequential moments like Bush saying “…Bring it on…” or “Mission Accomplished” or who has no compunction against introducing torture formally into our “justice” system.
Does that justify the kid getting his ass whipped by this kid? Don’t know. And like Gill above, I am glad for the big kid that more serious happened. But the breakdown that led to this is somewhere else in the “system”.
To respond directly to Emily’s question
What do you guys think of this bullying video — disturbing or satisfyingly vengeful? — Emily
This is what I think. The choices she offered of disturbing or satisfying are only at the surface level of reaction. This syndrome is something to pay attention to. Though it is unlikely that we as a society will or even can. Especially at the level of the educational system which is under assault from so many angles, and stretched beyond its ability to cope with systemic issues like this.
Coda: While looking for the link I saw all the comments and posts from the FBook community. Nearly all of them were some sort of hurray and way to go, you got the bastard good… As if they were themselves back in HS standing around a circle watching a fight. Have to say it is for ignorance like this that I both loose respect for “my fellow americans” and really understand how it is that such a abuser and bully as G.Bush could be elevated to the presidency. He is their kind of people. And they are his.
And, to extend the point into the present: The same characteristics and qualities are seen in Palin, as well as others. But to explicate that point is a different post altogether.
