ALEX POURNELLE ON FACEBOOK:

I was lectured, from a position of great moral advantage, about how the KY Catholic boys “should have been taught to respect their elders”, not long after the first reports ran. I’ve since been blocked by at least two of those lecturers, plus the random three who decided I was a follower of NSDAP. (They used That Word, in point of fact.)

I mention the reactions to point out the köstliche aufrichtige Empörung, the delicious righteous indignation which flowed—flows—through the argument. I think that’s important. It’s as dangerous a neurotoxin as we have on the market today.

Those reactions shot through the entirety of the legacy media: the March for Life, despite its size, received far less print than one boy’s reaction to being drummed at. If it bleeds, it leads; if it smirks, we’re jerks.

That to one side: back to “elders”.

It’s clear now that there’s a lack of elders TO respect, a moral and leadership vacuum, both general and specific. It’s pretty widespread. Diocesan and school officials should not use the Red Queen juridical model.

Respect is a two-way street. “Elder” implies wisdom as much as age. In the aftermath, some of the Blue Check Mafia apologized for their two-minute hate; others memory-holed it. (Oh, Orwell.) Ditto for Facebook conversations and blog posts.

Others vagued past their original statements and are using Let’s Pretend Nothing Happened to run out the clock. Yet others used the “Wear a MAGA hat, you get what you deserve” Defense. (“Now do women in short skirts”, as one commenter said.)

Still others used a modified Fake But Accurate ploy: these KY kids are, they say in light of the more voluminous evidence, in sync with the racist zeitgeist of a guilty nation, book ‘Em. Implied in that last is a group-guilt assumption. Reverse that: does the “all X are guilty because a small minority of X did Y” pass the smell test on any other group? Today of all days?

I hope the hard lessons are clear: the 72-hour Rule always applies; ascribe not to malice what could be from another cause, until more facts are known; the Braying Mob destroys as easily as the Kind Herd lifts up. I’m trying to learn that myself.

I also hope the hard lessons don’t result in physical or career harm to any of these kids. It appears they are far tougher inside than their critics or those who should have been Elders in the video evidence. They, these KY kids, defended their friend who happened to be black against attacks; they yelled “not cool” when the more offensive N-Word (and more) was thrown around; they cheered school cheers when they could have easily responded (with some of that delicious righteous indignation which flowed so freely online) in kind, or escalated.

The alternatives to learning these lessons will be much more expensive.

Now go be worthy of respect.

Indeed. Also, it’s hilarious to hear the Left suddenly going on a “respect your elders” kick after over 50 years of the reverse.