A hero in yesterday’s shooting: ”At the end of the aisle, I ran into a woman. She yelled, ‘My kids!’ and I saw she had two young kids with her,” Jarell Brooks, 19, told ABC News. “I made sure they got in the aisle and pushed behind her to make sure she got out of there.” In his effort to protect this family, Brooks was shot in the leg. He’s out of the hospital now, and is being hailed as a hero for his actions. Meanwhile, the woman he saved, Patricia Legarreta, was hit as well, and taken to the hospital — where her boyfriend proposed. She said yes. (ht @sorta_like_art)
“On Sunday, in discussing the uses of the word “hero” to describe those members of the armed forces who have given their lives, I don’t think I lived up to the standards of rigor, respect and empathy for those affected by the issues we discuss that I’ve set for myself. I am deeply sorry for that.
As many have rightly pointed out, it’s very easy for me, a TV host, to opine about the people who fight our wars, having never dodged a bullet or guarded a post or walked a mile in their boots. Of course, that is true of the overwhelming majority of our nation’s citizens as a whole. One of the points made during Sunday’s show was just how removed most Americans are from the wars we fight, how small a percentage of our population is asked to shoulder the entire burden and how easy it becomes to never read the names of those who are wounded and fight and die, to not ask questions about the direction of our strategy in Afghanistan, and to assuage our own collective guilt about this disconnect with a pro-forma ritual that we observe briefly before returning to our barbecues.
But in seeking to discuss the civilian-military divide and the social distance between those who fight and those who don’t, I ended up reinforcing it, conforming to a stereotype of a removed pundit whose views are not anchored in the very real and very wrenching experience of this long decade of war. And for that I am truly sorry.”
An update to our earlier post on the matter.
Over the weekend, a memorial day remembrance of a completely different kind arose. MSNBC’s Chris Hayes, above, made a comment on the nature of fallen soliders and the way that many call them “heroes,” and drew a firestorm of reaction from the usual suspects — particularly due to the timing of what he said. Miss the controversy because you were too busy grilling something to go online? Here’s the round-up:
Twitter account of the morning: Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger can land a plane in the Hudson, but can he run the FAA? That’s what this Twitter account asks aloud. The guy he’d be replacing, Randy Babbitt, left the job after a drunk-driving incident.
When i found out that Jamey Rodemeyer killed himself — I felt deeply troubled. But when I found out that Jamey Rodemeyer had made an it gets better video only months before taking his own life — I felt indescribable despair. I also made an it gets better video last year—in the wake of the senseless and tragic gay teen suicides that were sweeping the nation at the time. But in light of Jamey’s death — it became clear to me in an instant that living a gay life without publicly acknowledging it — is simply not enough to make any significant contribution to the immense work that lies ahead on the road to complete equality.“Star Trek” and “Heroes” star Zachary Quinto, explaining why he chose to come out. To put it simply, 14-year-old Jamey Rodemeyer’s death really hit him hard. “Jamey Rodemeyer’s life changed mine,” he writes. “And while his death only makes me wish that i had done this sooner — I am eternally grateful to him for being the catalyst for change within me.” Coming out on its own is a brave move; but Quinto’s emotionally complex reasons for doing so only give the decision higher impact.
A couple hints: He took over an iconic role in a remake a couple years back. He’s also known for playing a villain.
EDIT: OK, OK, It’s Zachary Quinto. Read his reasons why. They’re pretty powerful.
@50cent you know what would truly make the world a better place? if people with as much influence and privilege as you spread hope not hate.
Zachary Quinto
ZacharyQuinto
Copyright 2009-2013 Ernie Smith • Ask us stuff! • E-mail us • Follow us on Twitter • Follow us on Facebook
