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Horrible writer dons world's largest hairshirt, blames entire metro area for Aaron Hernandez
By adamg on Thu, 04/16/2015 - 11:05am
The sheer awfulness of Noah Feldman's nostrum culpa really needs to be seen to be believed: He links the Hernandez and Tsarnaev cases and concludes that we're to blame, for Hernandez at least, because Bostonians like sports too much.
It would be easy to say that we Bostonians aren't implicated in Hernandez's crimes, because we were ignorant of them. But that seems much too easy.
Indeed. He even asks what would have happened if it had been Hernandez instead of David Ortiz who gave that memorable speech before that game right after the bombings.
Drew Magary writes a line-by-line takedown of the screed.
Feldman is a Harvard Law professor and Boston native.
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Comments
wtf
I can't believe Feldman got through that whole abhorrent article without throwing the Remys under the bus for good measure. And I think there was a Boston baseball axe murder back in 1880 or something.
On the other hand, Drew Margary's line-by-line response rocks.
http://www.gq.com/blogs/the-feed/2015/04/aaron-hernandez-hot-tak
http://www.gq.com/blogs/the-feed/2015/04/aaron-hernandez-hot-takes.html
Feldman's apparent problem
His problem is that he makes professional athletes his heroes. Instead of realizing that this is a bad idea, he gets all worked up about not being able to tell when one of these fake heroes is actually a villain. Then he blames all of us for not being able to tell when his fake heroes are actually villains. He has a personal problem. Instead of working on his own problem, he's blaming everyone else.
My advice to him: Learn what makes for actual heroism. Excelling as a highly-paid athlete has nothing whatsoever to do with heroism.
Not only does Feldman makes athletes his heroes...
He projects that to an entire city.
Wow.
That's all.
It would be easy to say that
Hold on, Scratchie, I've got you covered on this one:
Shut up, you fucking moron.
I'm surprised he didn't also blame us for...
... the failure of Curt Schilling's 38 Studios.
Hey now
That was Rhode Island's fault, not ours.
Who (or what) the hell....
... is Noah Feldman -- and why would anyone pay the slightest bit of attention to such blatant flamebait?
Some Bloomberg writer, I guess
At least he doesn't write for Boston-hating Gawker (yet).
What did Gawker say about Boston?
I missed this.
They've been on an anti
They've been on an anti-Boston jag for years. Presumably primarily as trolling. Too many examples to list but I'm sure you can turn them up on Google or using Gawker's search engine.
It's really just one guy.
Hamilton Nolan is his name. Gawker as a publication has only one opinion, and that is that clicks = money. Nolan's bitter screeds are guaranteed to deliver Boston traffic.
Yeah, whenever I read
Yeah, whenever I read Hamilton's stuff about Boston, I just remember dude is from Florida. That's all I really need to know there, y'all get me?
He oftentimes writes some good stuff; I don't know what it is about Boston that gets his goat. (Maybe he got a knockback from a girl—or boy, I don't know—from Boston?)
A self-hating Bostonian?
They're probably driving a dumptruck full of cash up to his house right now.
Answer
Believe it or not....
A profesor at Harvard Law School:
http://www.bloombergview.com/contributors/noah-feldman
As a Harvard College graduate, I humbly apologize .... ;-(
Christ
What an asshole.
Looked at several other of his Bloomberg articles
Not impressed. I have no idea of the value of his academic writing, but his "pop" offerings on legal topios seem pretty flimsy.
Looked at several other of
Then you're a braver man than I.
I felt a sense of second-hand culpability
;-(
Who would have guessed: a
Who would have guessed: a Harvard man who overestimates his understanding of basic concepts of a basic situation (and for that matter, basic human decency and what the rest of us non-automata would call "common sense")?
He grew up in the Boston area, too
I expected him to be your typical professor who grew up in one state, went to college in another, got their PhD in a third, and then hopped across the country until they got a good job offer from Harvard. Turns out he's FROM Boston.
I'm sure name law schools in other parts of the country would happily have him.
I've Noticed This Story Syndicated On Other Newspaper Sites ...
... spreading like that "Mayor Tells Bostonians Not To Jump Out Of Windows" story.
Horrible Writer and Hairshirt in the headline
I figured it had to be another story about the Curly Haired Boyfriend. But Shaugnessy has been outshanked this time!
Bringing up Ortiz's PED issue
In an article about Aaron Hernandez was a nice Shankian touch, though.
Shank's specialty...
Turning lemons into... turds.
"Alleged" PED Issues
.
I think
he should blame Connecticut.
Dear Noah
We are so sorry that the reality of Hernandez' thuggery and the outcome of his trial has permanently ended your sordid dreams of being his husband and all those wedding plans you engaged in in your head (ala the Claymates).
Please take your "someone else to blame" attitude and properly apply it to your law practice. I mean, who would have ever considered that a professional athlete in a brutal sport might, you know, be brutal in real life?
PS: Whitey Bulger had some extensive ties to professional hockey and particular players, too. Live with it.
What a douchebag
really? What a douche bag. I couldn't even finish the article, I'm so disgusted.
I think everyone should write him and the editor listed below his email. Let's fill up their mailboxes with reasons why "you don't fuck with Boston" and "you messed with the wrong town"
Douche nozzle deserves it.
That would make them really happy!
Everyone (including UHubers commenting here) that viewed that article while allowing cookies and outside scripts to run on their browser - made Bloomberg a little more $ from ad revenue.
Sending them email just gives them more evidence that this strategy of collecting eyeballs (aka IP addresses for targeted marketing) is a successful one.
I disagree
It may send off a note that the article was uncalled for and many people in Boston Metro are pretty pissed about the article and he ruffled some feathers.
Ads? really? What is this 1996? Doesn't everyone use an Ad Blocker or incognito mode now that blocks all of this? (sorry Adam!)
You're not missing anything
I don't know how Bloomberg is making money of that page, since there aren't any ads on it (which I know because I don't use AdBlocker).
Could they be getting paid ...
for some of the 13 tracking cookies the page loads on your computer? (Unless you're running Ghostery or something like it.)
Don't go on the internet without protection
"Everyone (including UHubers commenting here) that viewed that article while allowing cookies and outside scripts to run on their browser - made Bloomberg a little more $ from ad revenue."
https://noscript.net/
a condom?
CONDOMS, ROSE! CONDOMS! CONDOMS! COMDOMS!!
Calm down lady, did you just get out of prison?
considering...
...that Bloomberg is a publication for Rich White Men who basically consider the opinions of anyone else to be undeserving of their time or notice, I doubt it would make much of an impact.
Feldman might cry a little bit if people emailed him directly, though. He looks tender-hearted and/or -headed.
You never know
You never know if it works or not unless you try.
I think if they got over 10k in emails all stating the same thing they might. Don't forget rich white people follow sports and live in boston also.
regardless, they are about to get spammed from here to Nigeria. :) I hope they like gay porn...
We have the best...
crimes and trials 'cuz we catch our psychopaths.
Professor Feldman's CV
http://hls.harvard.edu/faculty/directory/10257/Feldman/
Inexplicably silly blather by an apparently eminent legal scholar.
His Wikipedia page
Has what I assume are some new edits (under his photo).
I wonder....
... how long that addition will last?
Ha ha
It's funny 'cause it's juvenile.
oh goodie
I know what I am doing tonight.. :) Editing his wikipedia page..
Screen Cap
Someone, please! I missed it.
no need
The compare feature on wikipedia is a lovely feature.
And in the past hour or so the page has been updated a couple of times and then reverted back to what was original posted.
Gee do ya think he's reverting the changes?
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Noah_Feldman&diff=656789521&ol...
TIL
a new thing about Wiki-land. Thanks!
And it's perfect.
lol he's a Harvard professor
Feldman must have no arm sockets, because his article is the biggest (and dumbest) reach of all time. I would love to ask him - borrowing from a Real Housewife from somewhere-or-other - "Does your ass ever get jealous of the shit that comes out of your mouth?"
Not just a professor
But the holder of a prestigious named professorship in the law school -- named after Felix Frankfurter, who became increasingly cranky and right winger-ish as he got older. He apparently loathed most of his post-WW2 colleagues, including Warren, Douglas, Black and Brennan.
He should stick to his day job
The guy is an eminent scholar of Islamic thought and law - given his Orthodox Jewish upbringing, that says a lot of positive things about his willingness to explore not just other cultures, but one that he was likely raised to see as an enemy.
That said, he should probably leave the bad sports hyperbole to the shankmeister.
yup
I saw this on his page.. and was like.. wtf
Just read the Feldman article
and I'll never get that wasted time back. This piece was filled with lazy generalizations similar to a Herald column but in a self hating way.
You can tell a man from Harvard but you can't tell him much.
n/t
Harvard vs. MIT
Harvard: Where you learn less and less about more and more until you know nothing about everything.
MIT: Where you learn more and more about less and less until you know everything about nothing.
I'm so sorry
I mean, there were so many opportunities for me to stop this from happening, like that time we were in the club and that Cape Verdean guy accidentally spilled a drink on Aaron. I should have told him to brush it off, since the guy apologized.
Or when he confided in me that he though Odin might be talking to the cops about that incident and wanted advice on what to do, I should have been stronger when I said "for the love of God, don't kill him."
Or perhaps when Aaron's dad died back when he was 16, Patriot's Nation, on the assumption that he would end up playing at Foxboro should have been looking out for the company he was keeping. I suppose when he was at Florida, we should have been checking in with him regularly. And speaking of Florida, I should have probably have convinced Alex Bradley to press charges against Aaron after Aaron shot him.
I'm sorry guys. I fucked up. Will you forgive me?
Speaking of Florida
You're kinda onto something.. maybe this jerky journalist (and i use that term lightly) should blame Florida for Hernandez.
I read an article.. I think on NECN.. where they interviewed his family and many Bristol CT neighbors. They are all in the consensus that Aaron wasn't the same when he came back from Florida.
I'll find the article of people are interested, but it may be a while.. about to go into a meeting.
But it doesn't fit the narrative
Of blaming local sports fans for the misdeeds of the players.
I wrote it out last night, and it amazed me. He was on trial for a homicide. During the publicity with that, a witness of a double homicide recognized him as the trigger man in that case. And of course there was the shooting of a friend where charges were never filed, as a civil suit would have been more lucrative, as long as Hernandez didn't do something worse like actually killing another friend.
okay
you're right, it doesn't. But if he's looking for someone to blame. Blame Florida!
but point taken.
To be fair
Hasn't Florida been blamed for a lot of things. Sure, the blame was deserved, but still, they must be more sensitive than Patriot Nation is, what with the 2000 voting thing, the Elian Gonzalez thing, the Trayvon Martin thing. I think Casey Anthony was from there, too.
I guess what I'm saying is that it is easier to blame the state and flagship university where Hernandez went off the rails than to confront the people who live in the place where childish misdemeanors graduate to multiple homicides.
This is my favorite:
"The crimes therefore aren't precisely analogous."
After explaining that we're talking about a professional athlete who murdered at least one associate and possibly three associates and two brothers who plotted a terrorist attack which killed and gravely injured many people at the marathon, the writer concludes that the crimes aren't "precisely" analagous.
Apparently two crimes only need to involve Boston, crime and a sport in order to be analagous, but not precisely analagous.
Why blame anybody but Hernandez?
I apologize for preaching to the choir, but here in my corner of the world it's been one hell of a week for people not taking personal responsibility (with spectacularly bad consequences). I wish I had reason to understand enabling behavior less than I do. It's real and it has power, yes, but it doesn't have control -- and, not having control, it can't force anyone to do anything. I feel for people who make bad choices, I really do. It's just that I also understand that they did make a choice.
In a way all of us who like Harvard Square
are really responsible for elevating Harvard and Noah Feldman to a level if adulation that makes Mr Feldman's douchiness really our fault. His shame is out shame.
Larry Bird
larry bird was my childhood hero and I'm not one bit worried that he is going to murder someone.
Feldman probably has a pink hat.
Larry Bird's Son on the other hand ...
Let's just say that he's both stupid and thuggish. As an understatement.
Son of Bird
Stay away from him, then. Already tried to murder his girfriend with a truck.
Pink Hat
Because that makes him a woman and woman is icky and bad.
Nice
Pink hat
I always thought this was code for "newbie fan" or "fair weather fan" or "bandwagon fan", not "female fan".
For the record, I'm glad as a
For the record, I'm glad as a person of color who works in the legal system—after having seen the interviews with the jury—to see that Aaron Hernandez truly did get a jury of his peers; all the folks judging him were 'dark' (I mean that as tongue-in-cheek as possible) white folks just like him. That made my heart all a-flutter.