Baltimore, Pt 2 (The Part Nobody Wants to Talk About)

Like a lot of people, I watched the coverage of the riots in Baltimore (thankfully things have calmed down some).  The coverage was practically wall-to-wall, with an assortment of experts opining on the police, civil rights, spinal cord injuries, the poor, prosecutorial overreach, jobs, the lack of jobs, racism and American imperialism for starters.  I'm pretty sure the producers of these shows are quite busy trying to come up with new angles for this story and tracking down people to provide their expertise--which is more opinion than anything else. That's the nature of the 24-hour news business. It's how they attract and keep viewers, after all, who wants to miss the "latest development" or "breaking news"?

Despite all the coverage, I've only seen a handful of people that actually add anything new to the story. For the most part, the coverage has been a regurgitation of frenzied rioters, protesters (who are alternately angry or jubilant) carrying various signs emblazoned with messages such as "black lives matter," "stop killing black people," and  "Justice for Freddie Gray."  Rounding things out are the

Baltimore Teen Smack Down Showed A Lot More, Pt. 1

Watching the video of the mom swooping down on her masked teenage son in the midst of rioting in Baltimore, I thought, "That's my girl!"  I instantly knew what she was feeling. I knew that she was determined to save her son.  At that moment, she didn't care what she looked like or who was watching as she yelled, cursed, pushed and slapped him repeatedly, all in an effort to force him to go home.

She rushed towards him like an angry teenage girl who was about to fight her worst enemy in high school--arms flailing, hair swinging and full of determination to end this mess right now.  I wondered