Make no mistake, we here at The Lenslinger Institute take the study of schmucks very seriously. But not every crime against the camera qualifies for full alert status. Some are just so stupid, they’re better left unexamined. Such was the case with that unfortunate business in Myrtle Beach. You’ve seen the clip: a young reporter is in the middle of a live shot when an intruder stops her mid-drone. Grabbing the microphone from her hand, 20 year old Justin Moore takes center-screen and proceeds to best Kanye West…

 Upon review, TLI’s top schmuckologists found the interlude wanting. Though unwelcome if not vile, young Mr. Moore’s outburst lacked the gravitas of a certified assault. The chosen pejorative was troubling, too. As we felt any undue attention might encourage others to take up this heckler’s cause, we promptly tabled the matter and got back to watching Gunsmoke. But then the affected affiliate overreached and suddenly Moore seemed like the smartest guy in the parking lot

“I knew instantly something was about to go terribly wrong…” The emphasis is mine but the words come straight from the reporter’s mouth some twenty four hours after the – ahem – attack. Unsure how to advance the story, she not only plays the victim’s card, she slams it on the table and dances around the room. She then goes on to extoll the virtues of the victims’ advocate, who called her to let her know A) Moore as out on bond and B) her fifteen minutes of fame were nearly over.  It’s a tough call, certainly: You and your station are sitting on something viral and you’re not sure how to capitalize on it. In this case, a simple mug shot would have sufficed, but by going with a breathless, stiffly delivered dispatch on how one woman is recovering from a harrowing night in the spotlight not only does a disservice to real victims, it makes us TV geeks look intrinsically silly. Just what Justin Moore wanted to accomplish in the first place.

Schmucks!