Comments on: CBS Chicago words of 4-year-old to make him look like an aspiring gang-banger

By: Tony Barbaro

Tony Barbaro — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 19:03:11 +0000

“If guns are outlawed, only 4 year olds will have guns….film at 11…”

By: Will King

Will King — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 18:42:52 +0000

You mean the media will occasionally edit things to sound scandalous?!

Hogwash, I say!!

By: C.J. Lais

C.J. Lais — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 18:28:37 +0000

Whew! You set my mind at ease because now I’m going to believe that every dumb quote out of a politician or public figure’s mouth has been scandalously edited. That kind of denial will let me sleep easier.

By: Rob Madeo

Rob Madeo — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 17:40:58 +0000

There is bias and subjectivity in most news stories — just some people do it with more subtlety than others.

By: Kevin Marshall

Kevin Marshall — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 17:36:34 +0000

Irony Police – He comments on the gun first because he’s asked if he’s going to stay away from guns by the reporter. “No,” he answers. “I’m going to have my own gun.” Then, in a follow-up, he says because he’s going to be police. The order – gun, then police – was dictated by the interviewer, who is in charge of the conversation, and not the child. This is the mind of a four-year-old being asked a series of questions in front of a camera. How he says things is not going to be meaningful and shouldn’t be read too much into, no matter how much more honest and forthright it may be. Maybe if he was a little older, but not at 4 years old.

By: devon

devon — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 17:34:49 +0000

Irony Police,
Fair-ish point on the surface. But please understand also that many low-income areas are littered with illegal firearms in relation to illegal trades people without legitimate employment sometimes pursue. So lots of young folks in these neighborhood live in a more pervasive gun culture than a kid whose parent hunts seasonally. That gun culture may also espouse different values related to guns than some hunting households. Put that all together with a 4-YEAR OLD(!!) just having witnessed gun violence where the only folks around for the press to talk to are children. All told, I think the idea of positively associating police as an antagonist to violence, unlawful behavior, and chaos is incredibly sane regardless of what violence it may assert as potential solution.

Bottom line, good for the kid. He’s got a clear idea of which side of the law he wants to be on. And he’s proactive about it and up-front about confronting violence and crime. Good for him.

By: Roz

Roz — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 17:20:18 +0000

This is just plain WRONG. Thanks for bringing this to everyone’s attention.

By: Irony Police

Irony Police — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 17:15:39 +0000

To borrow an idea from CBS Chicago, let me fix your statement.

“The idea that this violence is possibly laying the foundation for this child to pursue a dream in law enforcement or somehow fight back against the criminal element in his community, is twisted and distorted”.

Is it really that better a world where the kid equates guns with police? That he either wants to be a policeman to get the gun, or that this young mind places so much value on the gun aspect of the profession that his internal thought order is (1) gun, (2) be a policeman.

By: Sean

Sean — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 17:12:00 +0000

Coming from CBS2 Chicago this is not surprising in the least. In a town where the media is generally pretty awful, they are always the sleaziest of the bunch.