Covington Catholic videos show life is complicated. But we still saw what we saw.
The Covington Catholic High School boys have been vilified, forgiven, embraced and re-vilified as snippets, clips and movie-feature length videos emerge. Maybe the next video will show them delivering meals to the homeless.
Or maybe we will learn that those were different MAGA-hatted kids, and not the ones from Park Hills, Kentucky, whose tomahawk chops and perceived smirks nose-to-nose with a Native American elder drew condemnation, death threats and then, as the narrative turned, many warm (metaphorical) hugs from conservatives.
Yes, life is complicated, and no one snapshot or video clip can ever tell the whole story.
We still saw what we saw, though. Contrary to the statement put out by the PR firm engaged by student Nick Sandmann's family, their behavior did not look like any form of silent prayer that I’m familiar with.
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What we saw wasn’t good. Neither — Do I even have to say this? — was it a reason to dox these young men, or write them off as irredeemable and unforgivable. Their immaturity shouldn't inspire more of the same.
But when I heard their Republican state representative, Covington grad Adam Koenig, suggesting Tuesday morning on NPR that the young people involved don’t have any lessons to learn here, well, that’s a problem, too.
My GOP parents taught us to take responsibility
Asked by the interviewer, David Greene, whether they should have done anything differently, Koenig said, “You have individuals who are hurling insults and epithets at you. And that's an uncomfortable situation to be in, especially when you're in a city that you've probably never been in and you're eight, nine hours away from home. ... And they were just trying to make it into a positive situation or get rid of the nervous energy associated with being in that situation.”
Is this a teaching moment, then, Greene pressed?
“What America needs to know,” Koenig said, “is that people don’t need to be rushing to judgment.”
That's it?
This isn’t just one guy’s take, either; conservative America is not just defending their honor but extolling their virtue. Covington backer Nick Boschert said of Sandmann that he “would be proud if he were my son.”
My Trump-supporting parents were the kind of Republicans who taught us personal responsibility — as in, guilty until proven innocent, and if you were there, then it's on you. Is that not a thing any more, in Donald Trump’s GOP?
Lesson is not to have good PR on speed dial
Just as those trying to “ruin” these kids are wrong, so are those trying to rob them of the opportunity to learn from their mistakes.
Not at all surprisingly, this includes the object of their admiration, the president, whose "Make America Great Again" hats some of the Covington boys were wearing. Trump has defended them on Twitter, saying the lesson here is “how evil” the news media can be. According to Fox News host Laura Ingraham, he has invited them to the White House, too. Is a parade out of the question?
The lessons for these boys should not be that it’s OK to hate the media, or that you should always have the best possible PR firm on speed dial, or that bad behavior will net you big rewards. The lesson ought to be that there are people in this world who will yell at you. And when they do, Jesus did not advise that you rip your shirt off or treat them badly, but that you turn the other cheek. Walk away, in other words.
But the pendulum has swung so far away from taking responsibility that now even a Gillette ad encouraging men to be their best selves is seen as radical and is a cause for great aggrievement. Much as conservatives purport to hate the culture of victimhood, they’re sure eager to get in on it.
Melinda Henneberger is an editorial columnist for The Kansas City (Missouri) Star and a member of the USA TODAY Board of Contributors. Follow her on Twitter: @MelindaKCMO
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Covington Catholic videos show life is complicated. But we still saw what we saw.
