South Carolina governor Nikki Haley has provided an ugly picture into the priority set that drives her governing mind. With a hurricane about to bring death and destruction along the east coast and thousands of South Carolinians fighting bravely for the military, Nikki Haley has decided that what the state really needs is an official day to celebrate the 21st birthday of a college running back and wish him well as he recovers from a knee injury.
Let's get one thing straight. South Carolina junior running back Marcus Lattimore is a good kid. He has always been known to have a good reputation and he's generally regarded among the best, hardest working football players in the country. Reports say that he does good things for the community. From all indications, he is a good role model.
His injury was sad. After working his way back from a torn ACL in 2011, Lattimore was having a good year. He was on track for a well-earned NFL career that would have provided his family with financial security. And his injury on Saturday was horrific. His leg bent a way it wasn't supposed to bend and cameras caught it going the wrong direction on the ground. It was painful and frankly it was sad to see him mother crying on the sidelines. Watching it live, I got emotional at the thought of such poor luck ripping financial security away from a guy who seems so deserving.
Still, Marcus Lattimore is a football player. He is a college athlete who played a game and got hurt. This is while 64 brave men and women from South Carolina were killed in Iraq. It's while many more are still blown to pieces by roadside bombs in Afghanistan. This is while Marine 2nd Lt. Andrew Kinard, a Naval Academy graduate from South Carolina, struggles to re-claim his life on two steel legs after stepping on a mine six weeks into his only deployment to Iraq. To put it into perspective - Lattimore's ligaments were torn; Kinard's ligaments were blown hundreds of feet away from his body.
Marine Veteran Andrew Kinard
Yet we choose, a few days before Veteran's Day, to officially proclaim October 29, 2012 as Marcus Lattimore Day in South Carolina. This is a disturbing look at the lack of perspective and the ugly priorities of governor Nikki Haley. It is also a reflection on our state and society at large, as we turn football players into heroes and soldiers into forgotten memories.
We got really sad on Saturday because a football player won't be able to play anymore. Each month, some family from South Carolina gets really sad because dad, or brother, or husband, or mother, or sister, or wife won't get to live anymore. If we are going to spend our time officially honoring someone, why don't we keep our eyes on the prize here? Why don't we honor those people who make a real sacrifice.
Marcus Lattimore is a good person and deserves support. But when we're willing to let the deaths of real heroes pass by each month without an official day proclamation, the governor has no business exalting him in this way.
UPDATE: I have been messaged with a request for more information about Andrew Kinard.
His story has been relatively well documented by many major news agencies. I went to college with his brother and followed the story closely as he was fighting for his life. In all, Kinard underwent 75 surgeries to repair his body. As has been well-written, he needed no surgery to preserve his mind and his will.
Kinard is currently completing a pair of post-graduate degrees at Harvard. He has also hand-pedaled two Boston Marathons. He has been an ambassador for wounded veterans, raising awareness through a host of different avenues.
You can read all about his inspiring story here.