Discussion: College Pumpkin Festival Careens into Violence and Arrests

Okay, thanks for the information, Sorry for any disinformation. However, my initial statement that I never pictured Animal House as being set in New Hampshire was true. Now that I know the truth, I will always think of New Hampshire as Animal House country.

Another fun thing about New Hampshire: while overall it’s not an outrageously right-wing place like Oklahoma, the combination of a strong conservative/libertarian/nativist streak, the largest state legislature in the country, and a small population means that it always manages to elect some of the craziest state legislators in the country. A constant source of amusement for those in neighboring states.

Plus, one of the major sources of state revenue is selling booze, which is all through state-run liquor stores. So the state is profiting off these students while it’s arresting them. Bit of a conflict of interest…

#Thuglife

It’s probably splitting hairs, but the Keene Pumpkin Festival is not hosted by the college. It encompasses all of Main Street in Keene and is run by the town. Keene State is very close to Main Street and of course, many students attend the pumpkin festival. The headline should probably read: College Town Pumpkin Festival Careens…

Why do these degenerate thugs and violent criminals want to tear up their own neighborhood? It’s their violent culture, they hang around town not working because they are all dependent on government programs. Their parents are milking the system with tax breaks and home subsidies. No wonder they haven’t taught their children how to act right in public. Why aren’t we talking about white-on-white violence? And how about man-on-woman violence? Nine out of ten murdered white women were killed by white men. Why don’t they get jobs and start working for living like the rest of us?

Ha. Darn my hastily worded wordings.
Though I’ll still stand by my entire comment because it’s all intentional hooey anyway.

It’s sad that if the majority of the people involved were black, words like ‘thug’ and ‘animal’ would be thrown around to excess, their criminal behavior would be cited to indict the whole, and sarcastic calls for Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson to condemn the actions would be made.

But alas, the majority of the people involved were well off whites. Therefore, there will be a ‘kids will be kids’ attitude towards the whole thing: Their actions will be seen as having fun, not being criminal. There will be few calls for zero tolerance, long sentences and little mercy. The citizens in Keene who weren’t involved won’t be vilified, their town won’t be vilified, and whites as a whole will not have to bear the burden of the actions of their criminal brethren, who they don’t know or associate with. All continue to retain their individual identity, and to be seen as individuals, and not by the actions of someone who shares their race. There will be no condemnation of white leadership and snarky calls for Rush Limbaugh, Bill O’Reilly, or Sarah Palin – or whatever white leader – to condemn the actions of the criminals and to do something to put ‘those people’ under control.

Being drunk doesn’t make their actions less criminal.

The difference between this and Ferguson is that Ferguson was political, and this was a party. Underdeveloped morons are underdeveloped morons first, and being white is a distant detail. Being white in NH is sort of just a statistical assumption. Wouldn’t it be more accurate and inclusive, anyhow, to point to the male culture of violence? Rather than the white one? For that matter, white people from other places (some of my best friends are those so I know) regard Granite Staters as markedly more foreign than any of their local ethnic varieties.

Interesting thought; I was just thinking, based on the comments here, that it was making the annual pumpkin parade at the woman’s college I attended, where the raciest thing that happened every year was the college president doing his Cab Calloway impression and singing “Minnie the Moocher” at the end of the parade, seem almost embarrassingly quaint.

I suppose it would be nice to not have race come into the issue. But have you ever noticed that there are generally two times of crime? There is Crime and then there is Black Crime. And for the latter, being black or being in the so-called inner city is always the primary focus. No other racial or ethnic group gets the honor of having their group constantly put before the word “crime” – as though crime by others doesn’t exist.

But I think it was brought up because if you were to read the comments section on an article about Ferguson, you’ll see numerous comments to the effect of “When was the last time you’ve seen white people riot?”, as though rioting and criminal behavior is a uniquely black phenomena. And when it does happen that white people riot, it’s usually given a euphemism such as “disturbance”. Then it is quickly dismissed, brushed aside and forgotten.

The main difference is the alcohol level. In Keene these people were all just really intoxicated but in MO it was an actual protest. They really aren’t related at all.

You’re right, but I was mostly disappointed in Marshall’s little blurb in the feed. I expect “readers” to draw shaky comparisons and color every issue as delights/titillates them. But I think it is largely a failing of language. What I saw in Boston some years ago (overturned cars, check; conflagration–check; an actual fatality, female no less) was a similarly young, drunk, and moneyed band of morons, largely white, for what it’s worth. That, and this one here, are riots; Ferguson is also called a riot, for some reason.

Can we not distinguish, at least in journalism or law enforcement, the difference between drunken primates flinging excrement and angry people expressing dissent?

I know that a “protest” can develop into a riot, but a riot without a protest must be something else.