gingersLast November, a “South Park” joke got out of hand when a 5000-strong Facebook group supporting “Kick a Ginger Day” ultimately led to two Canadian teenagers assaulting a redheaded sophomore after gym class.  What a couple of jackass teenagers, right?  Nope.  The judge granted the boys absolute discharges and blamed the TV show for the attack.

Judge Lynn Cook-Stanhope said on Friday she was satisfied the teenagers had taken responsibility for their actions, and she saved her scathing remarks for the animated television show South Park, which she called a “vulgar, socially irreverent program that contributes nothing to society.”

Except that one thing — oh, what’s it called?  Satire.

On Friday, Cook-Stanhope said that since the assault, one of the teenagers has done community service, while the other made a donation to a youth club. Both have written letters of apology to the victim, who [the judge] said is still dealing with the aftermath of the assault.

Mind you, this “South Park” episode is from 2005.  So nothing happened for three years, then Facebook makes it a cause and teenagers with crappy parents take it seriously.  But it’s still television’s fault for introducing the idea in a satirical cartoon.  Man, is television the best scapegoat ever or what?  I hate you, TV!  It’s YOUR fault my parents are divorced!  They got the idea from “Once and Again”!