CNN's Kate Bolduan had former Education Secretary Arne Duncan on her show to discuss...well, vapid ridiculousness.
The absurd and vile practice of giving airtime to the killer's dad so that he can praise his son as a good boy, and make excuses for his son murdering 10, wounding 13, and taunting them while he was in the middle of terrorizing them, is so unconscionable it should defy the ethics of any journalist with a heart.
But no. Here we are, with The Wall Street Journal, and CNN giving journalistic real estate and airtime to this man so that he can make excuses for his son who murdered other people's children with guns that belonged to him.
Is our imagination so limited? Are journalists so starved for creative ways to move the conversation forward? To focus on things that might bring healing or progress? Besides having Arne fckn Duncan on to discuss his self-proclaimed "brilliant" idea of every parent keeping their kids out of school until Congress enacts gun control legislation, for fck's sake??? (What an idiotic, privileged, implausible, attention-seeking -- what was I saying again? Oh, yeah.)
Well, I have some alternative suggestions for you, WSJ, CNN, and anyone else who has the cynical and soulless notion to have this lowlife on your show to make excuses for his baby boy. Here are some other guests to have on instead.
Jennifer Pozner. Media Critic. Founded Women in Media & News. Wrote Reality Bites Back. about misogyny in reality TV. Guess what SHE was doing on the day of the Santa Fe shooting?
Yeah, she might have given more to your readers and viewers than the murderous teen's dad...about how to spot toxic masculinity, and the connection between it and mass shootings - especially in schools. How to understand it, and how to combat it.
Or how about Tarana Burke, founder of the Me, Too movement? She would be able to discuss how victims of sexual harassment and assault can get help and healing.
Rashad Robinson is a great choice - Executive Director of Color of Change, one of our nation's leading voices on social justice on many issues, but especially issues of race. How about a discussion on reasons why actual white shooters are always apprehended alive, while innocent black "suspects" are somehow killed in their interactions with police? Or a discussion on bail reform? Or the racism of the NRA? I swear, this dude could educate you on ANYTHING.
ANY of the above would be leagues better than listening to the dad of a misogynist, nazi-loving murder telling us his son is a good boy, and that he had a good reason for doing what he did.
Transcript below:
BOLDUAN: He was a good boy. That's what the father of the accused Santa Fe High School shooter is saying now about his son. And the father told the Wall Street Journal his son did it because he was bullied. Here's the quote. "I think that's what was behind the shooting." On Friday, the 17-year-old allegedly opened fire on his classmates, killing ten people. As that community mourns and the nation asks why,a former Secretary of Education is pushing a radical idea, keep kids out of school until lawmakers take action. Here is Arne Duncan's tweet. "This is brilliant and tragically necessary. What if no children went to school until gun laws changed to keep them safe? My family is all in if we can do this at scale. Parents, will you join us?" Secretary Arne Duncan is joining me now. Thank you for coming in. The father of the Santa Fe school shooter told The Wall Street Journal he thinks his sun was bullied and that's what motivated the shooting. Do you think that could be it?
DUNCAN: Honestly, I have no idea. Sometimes the case, but I have no specific information on this particular tragedy.
BOLDUAN; A lot of -- this gets to -- this gets to where the conversation has been in last couple of days of what motivates shootings, right? The Texas Lieutenant Governor, he blames school shootings on what he calls the devaluing of life. He laid it out over the weekend saying the loss of religion in school, violent video games and even abortion is what is leading to all of this somehow. What do you say to that?
DUNCAN: I think all of that is very disingenuous and the United States does not have the monopoly on bullying, though I absolutely abhor bullying, the United States doesn't have a monopoly on video games or single parents or ritalin. What we have in tremendous abundance relative to other nations is the easy availability of guns. That is always, by definition, the common denominator here.
