When Crime Pays
Photo by Pete Shaheen
...Kyle Kehler is a high school drop-out who has been arrested on previous occasions for burglary and for his connection to house fire that was later ruled arson. In turn, his mom did what any hip 21st century mother would do: She bought him a new car.
...That turned out to be a big mistake, though, because Kehler (allegedly) killed his two passengers in an automobile crash using his mom’s gift. Blood tests showed that the 18-year-old’s blood-alcohol level was 0.12 percent, while a urine test tested positive for an unspecified opiate. For some reason I doubt that it was from a poppy-seed bagel.
...This kid’s actions are heinous alone; his mother’s aren’t much better.
...Why on Earth would she purchase a new car for a kid who not only is a high school drop-out, but has also been arrested for burglary and arson? Has America reached a point where we’re more than happy to reward our children for committing crime? Apparently so.
...Stories such as this only confirm my suspicion that a huge segment of our society likes crime and criminals, but it’s nothing new. Consider how popular Jesse James (the outlaw—not the motorcycle builder) was in the 1880s; consider how many people are on the waiting list to be buried as close to John Dillinger’s grave as possible; consider how many women wanted to get their hands on the murderous brothers Menendez and Scott Peterson.
...Why is this? I’m not certain, but I’d be willing to bet that it’s a combination of the “bad boy” image and level of popularity that comes with it. After all, you’re more likely to get your name in the news if you kill a few dozen people than if you discover a new planet or cure a wasting disease.
Source: The Morning Call
1 Comments:
DL, would that be the “cool mom” who was arrested a second time in as many months when she allowed a 14-year-old to drive her car and ultimately wreck it? Both her and the mom in this story are similar to the mother of a student from the high school where I work. She held a party for all of her ninth grade daughter’s friends, offering an all-you-can-drink night for $5 at the door. She bought the keg and all the hard liquor and ended up being quite popular with the ninth-graders. Apparently popularity amongst high school freshmen is more important than popularity amongst fellow adults.
Amy, no; stupidity results in rewards. Incarceration is reserved for major stuff like mail fraud and being a barber without a license.
Your procreation question leads to something that Ms. B and I have discussed a few times, which is the possibility that fewer intelligent couples are having offspring, while more couples of…um…questionable intellect are reproducing like rabbits. Hence, a developing situation that is a bit worrisome.
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