By now you’ve heard there have been convictions in the Steubenville case, and that a Grand Jury will investigate whether others should be charged with taking part in the assaults or, at least, failing to stop them.
My understanding is that most of the evidence presented at trial was in the form of texts and videos of the incident, and were it not for social media the assaults possibly would not have come to light at all. Further, it’s widely believed that local authorities were dragging their feet about charging anyone until the hacker group Anonymous got involved, drawing the attention of national media.
Naturally, there are some who are angry about this. For example: Although they don’t come straight out and say the two defendants should not have been convicted. Robert Stacey McCain and Lee Stranahan of Breitbart, for example, both are outraged at the “lynch mob” and “media malpractice” surrounding the case.
Media malpractice? Both bloggers accuse media of getting facts wrong, although what facts they got wrong are not explained. Media did report on accusations of foot-dragging because of small-town “jock” culture. Whether the fact the boys were stars of the football team is central to the foot-dragging I do not know. I do know that there is a nearly universal tendency to exonerate well-liked boys and blame the victim for what was done to her. People want to believe that rapists are sinister sorts with the word EVIL carved into their foreheads, not popular guys who everyone in town knows and who are perfectly “normal” fellows in most contexts. Faced with the reality of a victim, and evidence, however, there is a nearly universal tendency to want to believe the victim is at fault.
There’s been a lot of criticism aimed at CNN, and Candy Crowley in particular, for expressing sorrow that the convicted young men will have those convictions hanging over their heads for the rest of their lives. I agree with Steve M that CNN wanted to use its dramatic video of remorse theater, and Crowley was merely creating a context. But I also think sympathy with the convicted boys is based on the fact that neither appear to be the personification of evil that a rapist is supposed to be, at least in the public’s imagination.
Because most real-world rapes don’t fit people’s ideas of what rape is supposed to be, the number of arrests, much less convictions, remains shockingly small. What made the Steubenville case unusual was that so much evidence was uploaded to social media for all to see, which got Anonymous involved.
Breitbart’s Stranahan reports that many people in Steubenville were terrorized by people in Guy Fawkes masks. If that did happen it was unfortunate. There’s no question that Anonymous executed a public shaming of Steubenville and the accused rapists, and that’s a dangerous thing to do.
On the other hand, McCain and Stranahan both are in denial about the enabling culture that protects rapists. The convicted boys did what they did in the belief they would get away with it Text messages sent by one said that one of his coaches would “take care of” any blame for the incident. There were witnesses who could have stopped the assaults, but did not. And there’s been plenty of victim shaming. Which is, apparently, OK with some people. It’s just the perpetrator shaming that’s not allowed.
Of course, if the victim had been armed as Wayne LaPierre says she should be, and she had shot and killed the assailants — she’d be facing murder charges now. And the poor unfortunate boys would be dead. There are worse things than shaming.
People want to believe that rapists are sinister sorts with the word EVIL carved into their foreheads
But those Steubenville boys were cuuute! Cute boys don’t rape!
terrorized by people in Guy Fawkes masks
Now, see, that’s what simple people believe a rapist looks like: pasty, leering, with a pencil moustache.
the convicted young men will have those convictions hanging over their heads for the rest of their lives
Good. As you point out, they’re still alive.
I’m not sure whether it’s because it was a Blue-er State, or that we’re in in the supposed “New Post-racial America,” but in other places, and/or other times, if there were even charges, the “Blah” kid would have been charged as an adult, and the white kid, as a juvenile – even though NO teenage brain is fully formed – especially those of jocks who are considered “Stars.”
Having taught in a Maximum Security Prison, normally I feel terrible for anyone except the most hardened of sociopaths who ends up in a prison.
Having said that, these two didn’t exactly show a ton of remorse at what they’d done – and maybe that’s almost as much the fault of the community, as it is theirs – but some genuine remorse would have been appreciated.
Hopefully, they will learn some lessons, and be rehabilitated when they come out, at the age of 21, and will lead productive lives.
And if they’re not rehabilitated, I’m pretty sure Wingnut Welfare will be happy to help them out.
After all, they’re “victims” – and if there’s one thing we’ve learned with Modern Conservatism, it’s that they LOOOOOVES them some “victims,” since they all feel like “victims.”
And besides, the Conservatives need some young misogynistic sociopaths, to replace the old misogynistic sociopath’s, who are dying off.
Overall, a sad “state of affairs” – but, at least one with some sort of a satisfactory ending for Liberals, and women’s rights – at least, for now.
I’m pretty sure that once they pass all of the anti-abortion legislation they can, Republicans will start to focus on “Rape Laws.”
POP QUIZ—– 5 points for correct answer.
“People who can think for themselves value reporting that gets the facts right, without any What It Means sermonettes”.
A)… Sgt. Joe Friday
B)… Robert Stacey McCain
C…) none of the above.
http://news.msn.com/us/2-arrested-for-allegedly-threatening-steubenville-rape-victim
A big Wow! loose lips sinks ships?
These young kids with their obsession with their iphones recording everything and then posting on social media kind of falls into the stupid crooks category.
I have been considering your post all day.Especially the part where Candy and others are concerned with the fact that the records of these young men will be something they have to carry. And I say big F’ing deal. These were not a bunch of second grade kids touching each others pee pee..it was rape for Christs sake! These young men understood that. Consider your own childhood. How old were you when you , perhaps not fully understood, but knew if you committed a crime you would have to live with the consequences of being a criminal?
I wonder, where is the outrage when a young(perhaps black) youth if forced to sell drugs to survive when they get caught everyday? Where is the concern for how it will affect them for life?
These young man had choices.They chose to violently rape someone. They should have thought about how it might affect their record. They didn’t care. It was up to them to fret how it might impact their future, not candy crowley after the fact. They should carry it with them for the rest of their lives. Their victim sure will.
Which brings me to the most important thing that no one seems to care about. The victim. Remember her? Where the hell is candy crowley when it is time to be concerned about future impact for the VICTIM? I don’t give a shit about those young men. Frankly I think they should go to the big boy prison and learn about rape first hand. She ( the victim of this crime) is the one who deserves our concern for how this WILL be something she is forced to carry for the rest of her life. Perhaps she was saving herself ..she lost that right whether she was or wasn’t. Just because justice was served in court and they will pay their debt to SOCIETY that doesn’t take back the event. They will be free at 21..she got a life sentence and some are worried about the young men and their pansy ass criminal records? WTF? One need only look at the link Swami provided above my comment to know what a joy the victims life is going to be
And yes, it is time for public shaming and outcry. And not just here. Things change when people stand up. Say nothing about these events and we are no better than the kids who watched this take place and did nothing to help this girl, instead they filmed it and tweeted it. And let me tell you what; if one of those kids who stood by and did NOTHING were mine I would be wondering right about now what the hell kind of kid I was raising and I would be afraid. Boy society cannot thank you enough for you cutting them loose on us in a couple of years! Hell of a job brownie! If this is your kid the good news for us is you still have a couple years to fix their tiny black souls, but the bad news is you have really raised total pieces of crap for human beings and something like this should be a wake up call for every parent. Your only job as a parent is to prepare a child to enter the world at 18 and be productive members of society.If you raise a kid who would do nothing to stop a situation like this you have failed.
just me,
I just wrote about how badly the ADULTS acted in this case, at Gin & Taco’s, another great site.
And how, the ones I’m probably most pissed-off at, are the TV News channels, which allowed the UNDERAGED girls name to be broadcast!
It you’d care to read my comment, here’s a link for the site:
http://www.ginandtacos.com/2013/03/19/we-all-live-there/
gulag — I really like the gin and tacos post — and your comment also, of course.
At least there is some backlash:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/18/cnn-steubenville-rape-petition_n_2901462.html
Um, someone at Breitbart is upset about the unauthorized use of candid video?
Maybe some of the towns will start t get over their fear of the tea party. And start “protecting” the citizens again. Like in the 50’s and 60’s when we could wander the streets of america in peace. Yeah, fanciful dream wasn’t it. The cleavers and beaver, and wally and such. But if the police and prosecuters don’t do their job, the press needs to do their job. Report the news. Reading this morning, after fox released the name of the raped girl, that she was threatened by “ladies” of her age, nothing yet about if those ladies were headed for jail yet, they should be, just because of the bully laws in the US.
Another outrage. The court scene: One of the defendants, was sorry it the pictures, got out. Not sorry for the rape, no apogy to the victim, just sorry the story got out. And we want to trust this kid in the future, because remember after 19 this all is erased from his record.
Jim,
I think the “sexual offender” status sticks with them for life.
Thanks maha,
What’s beyond pathetic, is if it wasn’t for the efforts of the group “Anonymous,” and their constant pressure, I’m very sure that the “adults” in the town would have been happy to just white-wash this whole thing – and that’s if they didn’t ignore it completely, in the first place.
It took pressure from “Anonymous” to bring this into the national spotlight – and THAT’S what pisses-off the Conservatives.
http://hackingstuffs.com/2013/01/05/anonymous-hackers-leaks-video-of-steubenville-rape-case/
But I do want to reiterate that, beyond the the horrible crimes of the teenage boys, and the adults who wanted this whole episode to go away, what I find most offensive about this terrible case, was how it ended – with the major Cable News networks releasing the name of the UNDERAGED VICTIM!
And, of course, CNN taking the side of the rapists, and not the victim and her family, because, well, the boys were there, and crying on TV attracts viewers, and that’s what they’re losing every single day, so why not show the boys, who now had plenty to cry about?
And then CNN dares to wonder why they’re losing viewers? If I hadn’t stopped watching CNN years ago, their actions over the weekend would have made me boycott the channel, forever.
So, yes, they showed the boys crying – for ratings.
But the boys weren’t crying with any remorse for the girl and her family and friends – the only remorse the two boys had, was that they were caught, tried, and found guilty.
But leaking the girls name, is INEXCUSABLE, in this day and age.
And people need to get fired for doing that.
PERIOD!!!
I would add a few more factors here.
When evil wears a face of what we consider good and admirable, it shakes our worldview. It requires us to confront troubling issues.
When evil wears a face of what we consider good and admirable, we question what we consider good and admirable. It requires us to assess our values.
When evil wears a face of what we consider good and admirable, we have to look at ourselves, who we think of as good and admirable. It requires us to assess ourselves.
Let’s face it, these things are tough for people. This is rape culture’s Abu Gharib moment, and it’s slapping us straight in the face with the fact there is something terribly WRONG. People can’t handle it unless they’re mature enough, which isn’t something a Breitbart crony or The Other McCain have.
I have to qualify my comment by saying that I have not seen much news coverage of this at all, and only what I’ve read on FB regarding what Candy Crowley et. al. said about it.
But why is is wrong to comment on the kids who were found guilty and how it will ruin their lives? That’s all true. The whole story is sad. It’s sad that the the kids made that decision, it’s sad that the girl got raped. It’s sad that their futures will not be what they thought they would be before they made that horrible decision. It’s said that the girl has suffered the trauma of having to go through this whole ordeal.
But why is is wrong to comment on the kids who were found guilty and how it will ruin their lives?
Because those kids are not five years old. How difficult was it to know that what they were doing was horribly wrong? To anyone older than five, not difficult at all. My brother and sister-in-law were teaching their children, male and female, that unwanted touching is absolutely wrong when the kids were about two years old.
As another commenter pointed out previously, in court one of the perpetrators expressed regret for recording the incident… not for the incident itself. “I’m sorry I got caught,” not “I’m sorry I did this awful thing.” This kid was horrible on the night of the incident, and unfortunately he is horrible still.
So I believe it’s a waste of time to pity the perpetrators, and it’s a waste of everyone’s time for someone like Ms. Crowley to bleat on CNN about how the perpetrators should be pitied.
Not really OT….
Oh golly, I think I’m falling in love with Captain Picard all over again:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marianne-schnall/exclusive-interview-with-_11_b_2900041.html
Ramblings:
“Because those kids are not five years old. How difficult was it to know that what they were doing was horribly wrong? To anyone older than five, not difficult at all. My brother and sister-in-law were teaching their children, male and female, that unwanted touching is absolutely wrong when the kids were about two years old.”
But, as you say, these guys were not 5 years old. How many things that you told your kids [or did not even tell your kids] at age 5 were later found out by them to be not quite true. We teach young people a lot of important lessons in a simplified form so that their small brains can process (and they will obey, rather than know). One of the difficulties in life is learning what the world is really like, and it is usually quite unlike the simplified versions our parents, teachers, coaches, and spiritual advisers told us.
Obviously, the boys did not think what they did was wrong. Obviously, the audience did not think what they saw was wrong enough to get involved. Even the community (as a whole, in the person of the legal system) did not think what they did was wrong enough to do the right thing… That does not in any way make it less wrong, but people are not imbued with foreknowledge of right and wrong – those are learned/taught cultural constructs. The culture failed everyone involved.
According to the culture of the boys, perhaps the parents, the team, the school, and even the community (that part of it critical to the boys and the young lady), what they did was not that wrong. Sad, but that is what the facts indicate. All three teenagers (and probably more) will now justly pay for the sins of their village. Perhaps even some villagers will pay a price, and hopefully change the village in the process. And that change to the culture, starting with villages, is what scares the right.
The boys did something really stupid. The girl did something really stupid. Teenagers do things that are really stupid. Hell, I do things that are really stupid. My education allows me the judgment to not do things that are quite as stupid as what those teenagers did, and to not have done things as stupid as what those teenagers did.
The minds and selves of people are changing all the time, but the change is most dramatic and often devastating during the teen years through early 20s. Not only is new knowledge being learned and fit into the existing reality of a rapidly and unpredictably changing brain, but vastly new and totally unfamiliar chemicals are permeating the body.
This is indeed a perfect case where proper education would have served infinitely better than a gun. The boys needed (and future boys need) to be taught what is acceptable behavior. The girl needed (and future girls need) to be taught what is acceptable behavior. And even after that, kids will do stupid things, and will be asked to pay the consequences.
It is not bad to feel compassion for the boys. Their entire support system failed them. The error was to focus on them to the exclusion of the victim. The boys should be held up as a lesson: these boys will pay for this act for the rest of their lives. Of course, the same is true for the young lady. The boys will face some significant hardships throughout their lives. The young lady will pay far more. Both stories deserve to be told, in their entirety.
However, I fear more for the young lady’s future. People learn from their mistakes. Unfortunately, people also often learn the wrong lessons from their mistakes.
WAAAAY OT – Powerful, POWEFUL, anti-war letter written to Bush and Cheney by a dying vet:
http://www.truthdig.com/dig/item/the_last_letter_20130318/
Today is the 10th anniversary of “Bush’s Worst Folly,” when he and his band of arrogant, greedy incompetent imbeciles, got us involved in a needless war and occupation of a country that had as much to do with 9/11/01, as China did to 12/7/41.
This vet will bel be dead soon.
The miasmatic collection of morons who are responsible for his death, and the death of thousands of American troops, scores of thousands of American troops crippled, both physically and mentally, with who knows how many hundreds of thousands of Iraqi’s dead, and how many millions displaced, will continue to enjoy life.
In a just world, they’d be spending the rest of their days either at the Hague, or, better yet, caring for all of the wounded – but sadly, their only skill is in creating dead and wounded people, not caring for them.
So, The Hague, it should be – at hard labor – until the second they die.
And then, buried in unmarked graves – or preferrably, cremated – with their ashes mixed with molten glass, cooled, and then buried deep in the earth, so that their toxic remains won’t pollute anything near them.
But, as you say, these guys were not 5 years old. How many things that you told your kids [or did not even tell your kids] at age 5 were later found out by them to be not quite true.
I don’t see what you are getting at. It’s not true that invasive touching is wrong? That rape is wrong?
Obviously, the boys did not think what they did was wrong.
So what? How does that absolve or lessen the extreme wrongness of their actions?
I have to be honest, I can’t follow your point at all. Apparently, by its reasoning, young people can just ignore everything they are told, or blame every obvious thing they weren’t explicitly, do whatever-the-hell horrible thing they want, and cry boo-hoo-hoo, it wasn’t their fault… and we should let them.
The girl needed (and future girls need) to be taught what is acceptable behavior.
You might want to re-read this and all recent posts on the subject of rape, because with that statement you are blaming the victim, pure and simple.
Really, Dan, you could have saved a lot of time and pixels, and just said, “Boys will be boys.”
Dan,
I don’t get your point either.
Or, rather, the point I’m getting from your comment, is that the girl is as much to blame as her rapists.
Let me say that again – HER RAPISTS!
Look, even if she got drunk, and WASN’T given “roofies,” what you wrote seemed to indicate that she was as responsible for her rape, as some girl or woman who was raped because “she was dressed provacatively.”
I sincerely hope that you don’t mean that.
Joan, sorry for your misunderstanding. Not sure where you got the ideas for your comments, since they aren’t in my text.
Do you really think drinking to the point of semi-consciousness is “acceptable behavior?” I doubt it. Would that you gave me similar consideration.
If it makes you feel better, you can label the boys “EVIL,” the girl “INNOCENT,” and thus stop the conversation. I always though that was the behavior of the ones who reverse the labels.
Dan, I quoted directly from your text. If you meant something other than what you said, I invite you to explain what you really did mean.
Do you really think drinking to the point of semi-consciousness excuses rape? How often do you think males are raped when they drink to the point of semi-consciousness?
Do you really think those teenaged boys didn’t know what they were doing was wrong? Why do you even think that?
I can only respond to what you wrote. The fact that you consider it “my misunderstanding” (then demonstrate it’s unlikely I did misunderstand), is all of a piece with your first comment. Taken together, you provide an object lesson in just how pervasive and insidious the enabler culture is.
Dan,
Let’s just say for a moment that when you were a 16 year-old male, if you didn’t have any roofies snuck into your drink, and instead, you’d gotten drunk, and then gotten raped by a male rapist, my question to you is, would you, or your parents, really feel ‘you’d really think drinking to the point of semi-consciousness is “acceptable behavior?’, or been pissed at the guy(s) who’d raped you?
To quote you again – “I doubt it.”
FSM, man, put yourself in the girls place!
I know my extemporaneous writing is not perfect, but I bristle at people who misinterpret what I say based on the assumption that I do not know what I am talking about. Again, I ask that you read what I wrote, and try not to color it with your negative expectations. Quoting out of context will not be a useful tool.
The law, and society, recognizes that teenagers are not, and should not be treated as, fully-formed adults. The law still allows that behaviors that are anti-social and harmful to others be punished. Nowhere in my writing did I say or imply that I believed otherwise.
Nowhere in my text will you find any of (explicit or implied):
“…not true that invasive touching is wrong? That rape is [not] wrong?”
“…absolve or lessen the extreme wrongness of their actions.”
“…young people can just ignore everything they are told, or blame every obvious thing they weren’t explicitly [told not to do], do whatever-the-hell horrible thing they want, and cry boo-hoo-hoo, it wasn’t their fault… and we should let them.”
“…blaming the victim, pure and simple.”
“Boys will be boys.”
“…the girl is as much to blame as her rapists.”
“…she was as responsible for her rape, as some girl or woman who was raped because “she was dressed provacatively”.”
Every one of those statements is brought to the interpretation of the text by you two. I’m not sure why, although I can think of several possibilities.
Once you have reduced all the actors from people to labels, you have removed all need to make improvements. At that point, the best you can do is find villains to blame and punish, hoping that a message is sent… Haven’t we seen enough of that from Republicans to know that it is not an effective way of making needed changes? Again I say: this is the perfect situation to refute the NRA position that rapes can be better prevented with a gun rather than with education.
So, which one of us has not put him/herself in the young lady’s place?
The unnamed young lady will have to piece her life back together in an already hostile environment with who-knows-how-much help. At least it appears her parents are supportive. Merely being “…pissed at the guy(s) who’d raped” her will not likely be helpful. Availability of education will be critical.
Knowing the juvenile justice system, Ma’Lik and Trent will probably come out the other end as, at best, unimproved, and more likely as much worse people, again depending on how much help they get. Being pissed at the ‘girl who put them away’ will not likely be helpful. Availability of education will be critical.
Compare and contrast.
Dan, you are angry but it is not making you any more clear.
Every one of those statements is brought to the interpretation of the text by you two. I’m not sure why, although I can think of several possibilities.
As with your two previous comments, I don’t know what this means. And I no longer want to know.
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