New York Times article lionizes Kyle Rittenhouse for his "bravery and service"

I don’t see how idolizing the police is in any way related to pursuing bravery and service. Specifically, when you show up to a protest that exists solely because police shot yet another Black person, idolizing police suggests violent racist intentions.

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Well, he did provide attention to a medic… by shooting him. Does that count?

One of those “good guys with a gun” you near so much about. Or don’t as circumstances dictate.

Precisely. Policing should be treated as a heavy burden to be handled with the utmost deference to justice. Instead, it’s fetishized and celebrated as some sort of vindictive extension of society’s intolerance.

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Really, explicitly saying his far-right ideology is the result of and not the cause for his killing people doesn’t strike you as “pro rittenhouse”?
Not to mention a title that he said he’s studying nursing, and only fact-checking that 5 paragraphs in without explicitly calling him a liar

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He was “intent on providing medical attention to strangers,” so he brought a gun to a protest and said on camera that he was there to protect a business that he admitted in court he knew couldn’t be lawfully protected with lethal force.

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I’d been leaning toward cancelling my NYT subscription for some time, but this was the last straw for me. I informed them that my subscription money would be going to support Judd Legum’s Popular Information blog instead.

Thank you for highlighting this.

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Crap. Now I have to cancel my NYT subscription. I really loved their crossword puzzle.

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They do have a separate crossword/games subscription. I have not found their crossword to be pro fascist.

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Yeah, I went to high school in the '80’s, and I remember the kids who idolized cops and joined up with the Junior Explorers. They were a bunch of creepy dipshits who had 100% buy in with the idea of Bloodsport being a true story.

So I guess thanks to the NYT for zeroing in on the exact type of asshole Rittenhouse is.

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Who ? Kyle or the paramedic who pointed the gun he lied about bringing at Kyle before he was shot?

This whole thing is a mess.

I’ll say this much. I know street medics from the activities here in Portland around Rose City Antifa that I have supported and donated money towards.

Anyone who is a street medic bringing firearms to the scene is NOT there to help, ever. And that includes Kyle, the actual medic he shot, or anyone else claiming to be a street medic while armed.

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Trump idolized them at times as well, but mainly when they were beating up people protesting him, not so much when they were helping prevent his insurrection.

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Somebody said that the definition of a hero is someone whose job includes killing people. Soldiers are “heroes”. Cops are “heroes”. Firefighters are not “heroes”, because they merely risk their own lives to save others.

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thanks for the extra bits.

there’s a sentence that deserves an “allegedly” if i ever read one.

also “people” is too little here. people who have been charged? self styled militia? the owner of the store? police? i think it matters a lot.

i’m biased but there’s a “this is reasonable” tone to what was written that feels off to me

( eta )
@anon50609448 has it more to the point i think. the framing of the article and the focus matters at least as much as the individual words.

the article is more nuanced than the headline suggests but really the times is doing itself and the public no favors here

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where does the writer get “lionizes…for his ‘bravery and service’”? did he read the article? it says the murderer “tried on identities infused with bravery and service, while exaggerating his accomplishments and eventually dropping out of high school.” it goes on to state facts about him while raising doubts about his claim to be a nursing student. i wish it didn’t state as fact what it calls his intent to help people but “lionizes”? from what i read he still sounds like a despicable killer with delusions of heroism.

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The article this post is about was talking about Kyle.

I don’t approve of Grosskreutz being armed, but he didn’t actively carry it and point it at anyone until there was an active shooter. He didn’t bring it to unlwawfully protect a business with lethal force like Kyle did.

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The rationalization that the editors and execs put forth is that this stuff is a necessary corrective to their screwed up coverage of the 2016 race and failing to understand Trump voters.

But these morons are still pumping out the patronizing, simplistic coverage of the rest of the country they always did. They still think everyone in Ohio is a mouthbreather who needs to be locked out of Amherst and Princeton.

There are deep, troubling problems with the journalistic models the Times uses, and instead of listening to critics, these bozos think a few cosmetic changes are all they need.

They need to dump the insider reporters who depend on the consultant class for all of their perspective on the world. They keep feeding reporters like Jeremy Peters completely bogus “nonpartisan” and Peters et al are too much of hacks to care. But the management thinks they’re untouchable stars.

They need to quit prewriting stories in Manhattan and jamming reporting into whatever narrative is cooked up in Times offices, but the Trip Gabriels at the Times loathe Michigan and Minnesota so much they’ll never spend more time on the ground they can squeeze between 10 am arrival and 3 pm departure flights.

And they should finally admit they loathe Democrats, and be open about all of the class and education signifiers that drive their snobbish reactionary revulsion. They should own up to the fact that they would rather be driven into bankruptcy by a defamation ruling that the right wing Supreme Court will someday let stand than ever admit someone like AOC has a point.

But of course, they will never admit it, even when some Murdoch spawn completes the buyout of the ruined shell that is left after someone like Devin Nunes drains them of a billion dollars for writing an easily defensible opinion that runs afoul of a corrupt GOP hack judge. They’d rather watch the paper die than ever say a Democrat was right.

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I understand that some kids are just off the rails but most kids who are messed up have messed up parents. I’d be interested to know how their household feels about gun culture in general and also about their teenager travelling to a dangerous place and being able to access a weapon. How did he even get the money to illegally buy a gun in the first place?

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Jerwin,

Agreed. When I saw the BB piece I read the NYT article, carefully. I also see what you are characterizing here. This doesn’t look like a news piece leaning in either direction, but very factual. I can understand why some might see it that way, but to me it’s pretty straight up.

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