Scumbags of the Year Awards (First Half, 2022)

A Brief History

On July 11, 2016, we ran an article we called Scumbag of the Year Awards (First Half) 2016. Today, we take another look at this sordid subject with an eye on the first half of 2022. Sadly, three is no lack of subjects for this article, though for brevity reasons we limit our list to only a few particularly egregious offenders. Feel free to tell us those other scumbags you think belong on this list.

Digging Deeper

Vladimir Putin, Dictator of Russia and War Criminal

Vladimir Putin, narcissistic megalomaniac dictator of Russia, ordered the invasion of neighboring Ukraine on February 24, 2022, and the illegal war continues to rage, costing billions of dollars in damage and military expenses and the loss of thousands of lives. Ukraine is being destroyed and sanctions against Russia will surely ruin their economy for years to come, while international ramifications of the needless war are driving up gasoline and energy prices and all other prices along with them all over the world. The US and other Western nations are pumping billions of dollars worth of munitions and other aid to Ukraine, money that could be spent on humanitarian projects at home for the good of the respective countries. All these terrible consequences make Putin the absolute biggest, worst scumbag of 2022 so far.

Bobby Crimo, Rapper and Mass Murderer

There seems to be no limit to the number of mentally disturbed unhappy people that take out their frustration on other, innocent people that the sick person does not even know or have anything against. Crimom 21 years old, is yet another of these creeps that took it upon himself to ruin many lives by shooting and killing 7 people and wounding another 46, including an 8 year old boy who was paralyzed by the gunfire. Sadly, the State of Michigan does not have any capital punishment so the “best” we can hope for is that Crimo spends the rest of his entire life in prison. Compounding the needlessness of this tragedy, it has been reported that the father of the mass murderer actually signed a sort of endorsement for the young man to be allowed to purchase the murder weapon despite knowing full well of the dangerous tendencies of his son! Dad probably deserves his own entry on this list…

Salvador Ramos, Mass Murderer

Another candidate for the Hall of Shame is Salvador Ramos, an 18 year old disturbed person in Texas that shot and killed his own grandmother and then took his deadly act to a local elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, where he killed another 21 people, 19 of which were elementary school children. Ramos was eventually shot and killed by responding law enforcement officers, but only after a seemingly inexcusably long wait. No known motive for targeting the innocent children and school officials has been discovered at this time, making the killings even more baffling.

Danish Mass Shooter

While American media types would have you believe mass shootings or other forms of mass murder are uniquely American, the sad fact is that other countries, including industrialized, modern and Western countries, also experience such terrible events. In this case, a 22 year old Danish man has been apprehended and placed in psychiatric care after allegedly shooting and killing 3 people and wounding several others in the capital city of Denmark, Copenhagen.

South Africa Mass Shooters

Do you still think mass shootings only happen in the USA? Think again! In Soweto, South Africa, a tavern was the horrific scene of a mass shooting by more than one gunman with a result of 15 people dead and many others wounded, some grievously so.

Tetsuya Yamagamim Assassin

A 41 year old Japanese man from Nara, Japan, used a jury rigged homemade double barrel gun to shoot and kill the former prime minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe, as Abe was delivering a speech in Nara. Tetsuya Yamagami was tackled and taken into custody at the scene after he apparently shot the former statesman in the back (twice). The incredibly stupid “reason” for the shooting was the gunman’s belief that Abe was associated with the Unification Church (Moonies) and that the church was responsible for the bankruptcy of the shooter’s mother. (Abe had delivered as speech in Korea at an event hosted by the Unification Church, though he was not a member of the church nor a proponent of that organization.)

Jerry Harris, actor and convicted sex offender

Harris, 22 years old, is known for his starring role on the Netflix series, Cheer, was convicted of child pornography and traveling to have sex with a minor child, crimes that netted him a 12 year prison sentence. Harris had actually been charged with many more crimes but made a plea agreement to own up to only those 2 charges. Sex offenders, and especially child victim sex offenders are a special category of scumbag deserving of as much scorn as we can muster.

Cop Bashers, Cop Killers

The first half of 2022 saw at least 33 American police officers shot and killed by gunfire and another 145 shot and wounded. The scumbags doing the shooting (and other forms of assault and murder against law enforcement officers) are indeed bad people doing bad things, but the enablers in the media and in politics that continuously bash the cops and misrepresent police related shootings (where the cops do the shooting) have created an environment in the United States of contempt for police totally undeserving and not representative of the reality of policing in America. The “defund the police” crowd is an ill-informed, misguided collection of confused people either ignorant of the facts or willfully misrepresenting responsibility for personal actions by the criminals being shot by the cops. An example of the irresponsible rhetoric from politicians is Maxine Waters, a California representative to Congress, who consistently bashes the police and incites violence against those police. Such idiotic rhetoric not only endangers the police, but also the citizens foolish enough to fall for the false narrative. A maxim of the news media is “Dog bites man, not news. Man bites dog, NEWS!” The media has a vested interest in portraying police shootings of criminals as out of the ordinary or somehow uncalled for, because police shooting someone that deserves it is not news. Responsible politicians and media types need to put an end to such wrongful portrayals of police incidents, and recognize such incident so improper use of force by police as the exceptions that they are and not the norm.

The “Brain Trust” of the Cleveland Browns

The Browns were once the premier franchise of the NFL up until the mid-1960’s but have fallen on hard times since former owner Art Modell moved the club to Baltimore and a new iteration of the Browns was formed in 1999. In the 2 plus decades since, the team has been a circus of poor management, bad draft choices and personnel decisions, and the first half of 2022 has seemingly taken the proverbial cake. A franchise that did not follow due diligence in researching Johnny Manziel and took the troubled youth with their first round draft choice in 2014, has eclipsed that mistake by their blockbuster trade and contract afforded quarterback DeShaun Watson in 2022. Watson, facing a couple dozen lawsuits by female masseuses for sexual harassment claims, was forced to sit out the entire 2021 season. This dark cloud did not stop the geniuses on the Browns from trading away 3 (yes, 3!) first round draft choices and then some for this guy without even talking to ANY of the accusing women! Hard to believe. Not only did they give an exorbitant amount of collateral for Watson, who may or may not be allowed to play during the 2022 season, or even possibly any season beyond this one, they also gave Watson the largest guaranteed contract in NFL history! Yes, $230 million for 5 years, guaranteed, and the rest of the league has been outraged by the Browns destroying the player contract status quo for everyone else. Not only was this deal stupid from a football point of view, but Browns fans have been severely turned off by the team bringing an alleged sex offender to be the face of the franchise. In fact, fan sentiment is stronger in support of former Browns QB Baker Mayfield, since traded to Carolina, a player that was only moderately successful but played with the intensity and grit expected of a tough and dedicated NFL player. What were they thinking???

Question for students (and subscribers): Who would you add to this list? Please let us know in the comments section below this article.

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