Bob Sansevere, who usually spends his time being a lousy sports writer, does commentary on KSTP news. You can read and see his latest commentary on crime in the Twin Cities here. What sort of insights does Sansevere bring us? What incisive commentary might Sansevere be able to provide?
It's simple: more needs to be done to stop crime!
What needs to be done? Sansevere doesn't say. How can we do it? Sansevere doesn't say. All he really tells us is that
"What you need - what we all need - is a commitment by politicians and community leaders to find ways and to make laws that reduce crime."
Hmm. Intriguing ideas. We need to find ways to reduce crime. We need "a commitment by politicians and community leaders" to to so. We need "laws."
What should these laws be? What are these ways?
Don't ask Bob Sansevere: he's just here to give us empty rants about crime.
Evidently, something is being done: Sansevere points out that crime has been reduced by 15 percent in Hennepin county and 12 percent in Minneapolis. Still, Sansevere has to go on a cliched rant because "there's still way too many crimes being committed" and "There are plenty more examples of crimes and criminal behavior just this month alone." When will something be done? Something must be done soon! Why won't our politicians and community leaders make the commitment? Why won't we make laws to reduce crime?
You could pretty much take this commentary, revise the details, and put it on any local news broadcast in any market in the last 30 years, and it would pretty much work. There's nothing insightful, instructive, or useful in this rant. CRIME IS BAD! WE HAVE TO STOP CRIME! Good, good. I hope, though, that the next time KSTP decides to put somebody on TV to do a commentary about crime, that person might have, you know, AN INTELLIGENT, CONCRETE PROPOSAL TO TRY DEAL WITH CRIME AS OPPOSED TO A HOLLOW SCREED ABOUT HOW CRIME IS BAD AND WE HAVE TO DO MORE TO REDUCE IT.
Bob Sansevere offers us nothing. Which, you know, makes him pretty much perfect for local broadcast news.
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Here's another curious thing about crime in the news: Whenever crime goes down, police and politicians take credit. Whenever crime goes up, police and politicians blame somebody else -- it's the crappy judges, it's the breakdown of the family, it's shitty schools, it's the bad economy, and so on. And the press? They just print the quotes.
ReplyDeleteYou know what else needs a commitment from the community and the politicians? Education. Our education system is flawed. It has problems, and our kids are suffering. Somebody must do something NOW. We need a commitment by the people to act and fix it.
ReplyDeleteDon't ask me how, when, or why. I just feel strongly about it. I have no knowledge of what is really happening in classrooms, or what "problems" there really are. I just know something must be done.
Blah.