So many words spent trying to describe the bunch of tools who rioted in Vancouver Wednesday night. Dan Simon at March1Studios uses 11 pictures and a few words to cut through the verbiage and say it all: Way to go, Ass Hats.
As noted on these pages a few weeks ago, I was once in the middle of a riot. In 1981 Alice Cooper fans rioted when Cooper failed to show up for his show at the Canadian National Exhibition Grandstand. The cancellation was announced two hours after the scheduled show start.
Since writing about the riot it has stuck in my mind a little and some memories have popped up.
I was, for the record, 18, more than a little prone to dumbness and quite stoned. All the excuse I needed to act abhorrently. Surely I would have looted the joint if there was only a Starbucks at the CNE to loot. Except, that’s not what happened. While some tools were being, well tools, we ducked the mess. At one point a person fell while the police horses where slow walking us toward the gate, and we stopped and helped her up before continuing.
Because we were 18 and stoned was no reason to act stupid, and we didn’t.
So last night as I watched all those young men, most looking well past the age I was in 1981, I thought ‘no excuses’. They acted like self involved, uncivilized animals because that’s exactly what they are. There was a time when they shot looters and, watching on CTV last night, I couldn’t help feel it was high time that bit of policy was brought back into common use.
Speaking of CTV last night, their coverage of the Vancouver riot was outstanding. With a reporter and cameraman on the street, walking among the throng, they captured both the event, including shots of people committing criminal acts, and the mood. At times they had to move because things were getting tense exactly where they were.
I’ve long been a complainer about how bad the traditional media has become. Last night CTV proved how good they can be, how important to the reporting of the story it is to have somebody in the thick of things. It was truly compelling and excellent journalism.
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