Their Mommas Must Be Proud

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Two 10-year-olds in Daytona Beach, Fla., are accused of attacking a homeless man who was hospitalized after a piece of concrete was smashed into his face, according to police. MORE

If you can judge a society by how it treats its most vulnerable members, we're not doing so well in this country. These three stories and the one above are remarkable in how little outrage they seem to have provoked among otherwise decent people.

Of course we do not know exactly what happened in Daytona Beach. The two 10-year-olds were apparently in the company of an older teenager who may have led them into the incident. Yet it is hard to avoid the conclusion that something must be terribly wrong in the homes of children who would do such a thing. Even at ten, a normal person knows not to smash other people in the head with concrete blocks.

Maybe it was violent video games. Maybe it was fighting between parents. Maybe it was too much MTV. I don't know. What I do know is that this sort of thing will happen more and more in a society that has convinced itself some lives aren't worth living. Eventually it will touch us all. Your turn is coming soon.