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Hate crime? “[P]olice on Thursday hunted for a white gunman who killed nine people at a prayer meeting in one of the nation’s oldest black churches in Charleston, as federal authorities opened a hate crimes probe.” That’s the news. Why? Here’s what this sick monster said: “I have to do it,” the gunman was quoted as saying. “You rape our women and you’re taking over our country. And you have to go.” What does this even mean? The FBI has identified the suspect in the deadly shooting at a historic black church in Charleston, South Carolina, as 21-year-old Dylann Roof from Columbia, according to reports. A Facebook search showed a picture of Roof with the Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and the South African apartheid flags pinned on his jacket. So there you have it. A hate crime. OK, fine.
Let’s just call it murder. I explain why.
18 U.S. Code § 249 – Hate crime acts
(a) In General.—(1) Offenses involving actual or perceived race, color, religion, or national origin.— Whoever, whether or not acting under color of law, willfully causes bodily injury to any person or, through the use of fire, a firearm, a dangerous weapon, or an explosive or incendiary device, attempts to cause bodily injury to any person, because of the actual or perceived race, color, religion, or national origin of any person— (A) shall be imprisoned not more than 10 years, fined in accordance with this title, or both; and (B) shall be imprisoned for any term of years or for life, fined in accordance with this title, or both, if — (i) death results from the offense; or (ii) the offense includes kidnapping or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse or an attempt to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill.
(2) Offenses involving actual or perceived religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.—(A) In general.— Whoever, whether or not acting under color of law, in any circumstance described in subparagraph (B) or paragraph (3), willfully causes bodily injury to any person or, through the use of fire, a firearm, a dangerous weapon, or an explosive or incendiary device, attempts to cause bodily injury to any person, because of the actual or perceived religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability of any person—(i) shall be imprisoned not more than 10 years, fined in accordance with this title, or both; and (ii) shall be imprisoned for any term of years or for life, fined in accordance with this title, or both, if—(I) death results from the offense; or (II) the offense includes kidnapping or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse or an attempt to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill.
Bring BriWi back. Bob Lefsetz wrote this great piece. I cite much of it in toto.
The future of news is the irreverent Vice. Maybe even Buzzfeed. Something instantly accessible that lives online. To think a nightly newscast at one appointed time has any future is to believe cable will remain unbundled and movies in theatres will make a comeback. Things change, and only in America do we maintain they haven’t.
Did NBC’s viewers reject Williams? That’d be like teens rejecting Taylor Swift, they love her and the alta kachers who tuned in at 6:30 loved Williams. By taking him off the air NBC did its audience a disservice, playing to an entrenched infrastructure that no one really cares about, the insider media business and Washington, D.C., two entities so out of touch the public has rejected them. And the public runs this world, to believe we live in a top-down society is to reject the entire twenty first century. At least techies know it’s all about adoption and stickiness. Williams made a mistake, so what.
Furthermore, the movie of his decline is better than anything he said on air. It’s a national soap opera, a story the media loves, because after all, that’s what they sell, stories, and the public doesn’t want to delve into the real issues, for fear of further disillusionment.
The vaunted Fox News? The ratings king?
Numbers are anemic but even more importantly the audience is aged. The influence of the station is nearly nil. It’s an echo chamber and Roger Ailes laughs every time the left wing takes the bait.
News is so up for grabs it’s ridiculous.
The papers still think it’s about filling a set amount of space.
And TV believes it’s all about camera appeal.
And the empty calories contribute to America’s obesity problem. We grow fatter and fatter on irrelevant info while those without names pull the strings behind the scenes.
Just like their brethren in Hollywood, Williams and his overpaid ilk love hanging with the heavies, they’ve got no backbone, they think they’re important, and if you believe they’re leaders, you’re watching the parking meters.
So now our long national nightmare is over. We can stop focusing on Brian Williams and get back to pressing issues, like the 2016 Presidential election!
A horse race the media stokes because it’s a long running film they can sell and sell.
Blockbusters exit the multiplex in weeks, but we’ve got to hear the bloviating of political non-winners for years.
Welcome to America, where the sideshow is the real show.
NBC is selling entertainment. They’ve eviscerated reporting down to the bone. Give them their star, let Williams play to the audience who loves him, the same way kids pay fealty to one dimensional pop stars.
The truth is change is happening.
But it’s too rarely on television.
Let Brian Williams have his pomp and circumstance.
And if it’s necessary to bring Andy Lack back to fix NBC News, we might as well bring Strauss Zelnick back to fix Sony Music.
Come on folks. This is much ado about nothing. Overpaid people playacting at importance while the proletariat shoots itself and votes against its interest.
Welcome to America.