In The Ray Rice Situation, Everyone Must Go
Chris Greenberg reports
Keith Olbermann: NFL Commissioner 'Is An Enabler Of Men Who Beat Women' (VIDEO)
Keith Olbermann returns to top form when he excoriates NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell for not acting with greater responsibility with regard to NFL player Ray Rice knocking his girlfriend out in an elevator and dragging her down a hotel hallway.
The ESPN talk show host eviscerated Goodell during an impassioned rebuke of the many parties responsible for mishandling the punishment of Ray Rice following his domestic violence arrest in February. Olbermann called on Goodell to resign from his post or be removed by team owners in segment that aired on Monday. The call for Goodell's resignation or ouster came just hours after the Baltimore Ravens released the veteran running back and the NFL announced that he had been suspended indefinitely. Both moves came only after TMZ released a video showing Rice striking then-fiancee Janay Palmer in an elevator during a February incident at a casino in Atlantic City, N.J.
"Mr. Goodell's ineptitude has not merely rendered this football season meaningless and irrelevant by contrast, it has not only reduced supporting or watching NFL football to a distasteful even a disrespectful act, but most importantly it has comforted the violent and afflicted the victim," Olbermann said. "His push to increase NFL punishment of domestic abusers to roughly one-third that of repeat pot smokers, his decision today to suspend Rice indefinitely after the Ravens had fired him are elements of classic tragedy wherein the right thing is finally done only after it is too late to matter. Roger Goodell's existence, who he is, what he has turned the NFL Commissioner's office into is now symbolized by Ray Rice's brutal left hand striking Janay Palmer, and striking her again. Mr. Goodell is an enabler of men who beat women. His position within the National Football League is no longer tenable."
Initially the NFL suspended Rice for two games in July, after a video outside the elevator showed Rice dragging his unconscious girlfriend down the hall, which caused a furor and Olbermann called for Goodell to resign on August 1. Now that the video of Rice striking his girlfriend inside the elevator and knocking her out with one punch, outrage is escalating over the NFL's lack of sufficiently serious action when the evidence became known.
A spokesman for the NFL said it had not seen the video inside the elevator as if it were too difficult to image what it looks like when a several hundred pound NFL football players knocks out a much small woman with one punch, from Rice's girlfriend's unconscious state as Rice dragged her down the hallway.
Commissioner Goodell is now taking the 'we've all learned a valuable lesson strategy in an effort to quell calls for his resignation.
"My disciplinary decision led the public to question our sincerity, our commitment, and whether we understood the toll that domestic violence inflicts on so many families," Goodell wrote, according to USA Today. "I take responsibility both for the decision and for ensuring that our actions in the future properly reflect our values. I didn't get it right. Simply put, we have to do better. And we will."
Keith Olbermann's rejection of this squirrelly approach is a refreshing "blast from the past." How I miss Keith Olbermann's nightly indignation over Republican outrages. It's good to see Keith still "has it in him." As much as I try top support a perspective appreciating his work in sports broadcasting, I can't help but think his considerable talents are not being fully utilized in political reporting when we heed all the progressive "firepower" we can muster.
I agree with Olbermann that the NFL needs to send a stronger statement that old attitudes about violence against women, and all people are no longer acceptable. Suspending Rice for two games - one third the amount apparently typically given for marijuana possession was "enabling" abusers to continue unacceptable levels of violence in society. For a game that is already stretching the boundaries of "tolerable" violence in a society struggling with vastly too much violence this sends the wrong message. Commissioner Goodell should resign or be fired and NFL players put on notice that committing criminal acts of violence in "real life" will end their careers in the NFL.
Being a professional athlete should not place one above the law. That's a privilege reserved for bankers, corporate CEOs, and some of the more adroit politicians. (Snark alert!)
7:44 AM PT: Could I please ask one of my friends to put the Keith Olbermann video in a comment, until I can get home to my PC? I'm in a fast food wifi with my Ipad and can't seem to do it from here. What a must see. Keith demands the resignation of about nine people in his full outrage mode which should bring back nostalgic feelings for all progressives. We need to get Keith back on the political beat. Forgive me if I say what a tragedy to "waste" talent like thisn one sports broadcasting. (And no I will not resign for saying this.)
8:57 AM PT:
Thanks to JwinIL14 for putting this up for us. Ray Rice Knocked Out Fiancee: Ray Rice cut by Baltimore Ravens after Ray Rice Video Inside Elevator
9:18 AM PT: To complicate matter, Janay Rice, the fiancee he struck who is no his wife, has come to his defense blaming all of us who are critical of him of hurting both of them.
Ray Rice's wife Janay defends him, rips media in statement
A day after a video surfaced of her now-husband Ray Rice punching her earlier this year, Janay Rice defended him and ripped the media in a statement posted to her Instagram account.
The Baltimore Ravens cut Rice and the NFL suspended him indefinitely after the graphic video emerged of the incident in an elevator in a casino in Atlantic City, N.J. Both the Ravens and the NFL said they had never seen the new video.
To take something away from the man I love that he has worked his ass of for all his life just to gain ratings is horrific. - Janay Rice on Instagram
"I woke up this morning feeling like I had a horrible nightmare, feeling like I'm mourning the death of my closest friend," Janay Rice wrote. "But to have to accept the fact that it's reality is a nightmare in itself. No one knows the pain that [the] media & unwanted options from the public has caused my family. To make us relive a moment in our lives that we regret every day is a horrible thing. To take something away from the man I love that he has worked his ass of for all his life just to gain ratings is horrific. THIS IS OUR LIFE! What don't you all get. If your intentions were to hurt us, embarrass us, make us feel alone, take all happiness away, you've succeeded on so many levels. Just know we will continue to grow & show the world what real love is! Ravensnation we love you!"
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Several women commentators on CNN say that it is not uncommon for women to defend their abusers, but this should not dissuade the rest of us from being critical.
What do you think?