No one in their right mind, would condone abuse of women or children (or even men, for that matter), but we have been jolted in our thinking recently by the actions of a few high profile football players being accused of domestic violence and abuse.
Most would concede that professional (and college) football is a violent sport and sometimes the participants carry that violence off the playing field, and when brought to light, causes much anger on the part of the media and general public, especially the militant women organizations. Statistics have just been released that domestic violence incidents by NFL athletes were less than incidents in the general public. But, being celebrities and sports figures, the situations generally get magnified in the ensuing media frenzy. Most all the professional media moralizers are jumping on the “politically correct” soapbox of indignant outrage to prove to each other how much they are against physically abusing women and children. It seems like one “do-gooder” is trying to outdo the other “do-gooder” in showing empathy and compassion.
The named NFL players have been vilified, as a general rule, because of their actions against their spouses and girlfriends, in the case of Ray Rice, of the Baltimore Ravens, in hitting his girlfriend (now wife), and in the case of Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings, of disciplining his child too harshly with a switch, which some feel was child abuse. They both have been found guilty in the court of public opinion.
It is common knowledge that approximately 85% of the cases of domestic violence is done by males, but is the phrase “There's never an excuse to hit a woman” always valid? What if a woman is about to hit you in the face with a baseball bat? Or your wife is chasing you with a butcher knife? Or a woman body builder wants to break you in half? Can you then hit her in order to defend yourself? So the phrase, “You never hit a woman” has some caveats and exceptions. But, in most cases, since man is generally built stronger than a woman, the man should use restraint and avoid a physical confrontation with a woman, most of the time.
Ray Rice and Adrian Foster etc., may very well have crossed the line, but they do deserve a hearing and due process to give their side of the story. If they made a mistake in judgment or in anger, they should be punished, but don't ruin their lives by banning them from their livelihood, because you also hurt their families, including the victims of the so-called abuse.
The high profile NFL is taking it on the chin now, and the feeding frenzy by the media and public will probably soon dissipate. These type of incidents will now be addressed by the NFL and hopefully be corrected so we don't have to read about anymore of these incidents in the future, but you're dealing with human beings and bad things sometimes happen to human beings. So let the NFL cleanup its act, and stop the P.C. moralizing. As the old saying goes, “he who is without sin cast the first stone”.
Conservative commentary by Chuck Lehmann
2 comments:
You'd think that all NFL players were spousal abusers or child abusers from listening to the hysterical media and the militant women's organizations, who have jumped on the abuse bandwagon in full force. Yes, punish these guys in proportion to their dirty deeds, but don't lock them up and throw away the key, so to speak. These guys seem contrite and at some future time deserve to be able to play again. Even star athletes deserve a second chance, if they screw up again then they deserve to possibly being banned. Yes, I believe this was overkill on the part of the media.
It's getting totally ridiculous. To some extent the intrusion of the state into child rearing is out of line. The parents who truly abuse their kids are allowed to keep them until the kill them. There is a difference between abuse and discipline.
As reprehensible as spouse abuse is, hitting a woman etc. such a person should be handled by the justice system. His employer is not a drill sergeant or overseer, and should not be tarred with the same brush. No one's job should be in jeopardy unless the justice system determines that he should be punished by it. Transferring blame or punishment to a coach or organization is insane. How many people are so innocent in every aspect of their life that they can pick up that first stone? I certainly wouldn't want my bosses to intrude and investigate my personal life just because it is an invasion of privacy.
When it comes to juries or expressing any judgment of others, so many people shun their responsibility and in this case they go overboard. I don't get it. If they were more judgmental toward unwed mothers (whose children we have to pay for) kids and people who behave irresponsibly so we are saddled with their upkeep, incarceration, healthcare or rehabilitation, maybe they wouldn't be so selectively ruthless in their judgement in this limited forum.
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