An Extraordinary Interview

 Posted by  Crime, Football, The Media  2 Responses »
Nov 162011
 

I have a growing belief that the best television journalism being done today is coming out of the sports world. ESPN frequently has more intelligent and thoughtful discussions about race, gender, and the actual impact of the so-called “culture wars” in a week than any of the big three cable news shows will have in an entire year. And I have long believed that Bob Costas, who has worked for NBC Sports virtually his entire career, is the best journalist on television today.

If you doubt that last part, watch this Today Show segment, which covers a phone interview that Costas did the previous evening with accused Penn State pedophile Jerry Sandusky. (The interview has some disturbing content, so be warned.) The headline is about how horrid a job Sandusky did at defending himself. But from my perspective, it was one of the best interviews that I’ve ever seen, especially considering the touchy content, the fact that Costas was given very little warning that he would be talking to Sandusky directly (he was interviewing Sandusky’s lawyer, when the lawyer suggested that they talk to Sandusky directly), and the shocking things that Sandusky was saying.
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A Truly Tragic Missed Call

 Posted by  Crime, Football  2 Responses »
Nov 082011
 

I’ve become quite interested in the controversy swirling around sexual abuse allegations at Penn State recently. To understand what’s happening, it’s important to first have a little background on who the important actors are.

Let’s start with Joe Paterno. Paterno, 84, has been head coach of Penn State University since 1966 and has more wins than any other major college coach in the history of college football. He is a legend and an icon, in college football generally and especially at Penn St. Two factors are important to remember about Paterno: 1) He has a reputation for being one of the best teachers and most ethical people involved in college football. Under Paterno, Penn State has been basically the only national championship caliber football program in the country to have never had major recruiting violations. 2) Paterno has a very long history of hiring former players as coaches, and bringing them up through the coaching ranks.

Second, is Jerry Sandusky, the man at the center of the controversy. Continue reading »

Culpability

 Posted by  Crime, Disasters and Tragedies, Racism, Terrorism  No Responses »
Aug 312010
 

Make sure to read this excellent article by Stanley Fish, Law Professor and New York Times opinion contributor. This gist of his observation is this:

“If the bad act is committed by a member of a group you wish to demonize, attribute it to a community or a religion and not to the individual. But if the bad act is committed by someone whose profile, interests and agendas are uncomfortably close to your own, detach the malefactor from everything that is going on or is in the air (he came from nowhere) and characterize him as a one-off, non-generalizable, sui generis phenomenon.”

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Shooting Themselves In The Foot

 Posted by  Crime, Legal Philosophy  1 Response »
Jun 292010
 

“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
— United States Constitution, Second Amendment

My first thought upon reading this amendment is that it immediately undercuts anyone who tries to argue for the inherent wisdom of the Founding Fathers. If they were so wise, surely they could have written a more grammatical and less obtuse sentence. Which is made even worse by the fact that we have to live with the Supreme Court’s changing interpretations of that obfuscation, the latest of which was handed down yesterday in McDonald v. Chicago.
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On Bullying

 Posted by  Crime, Disasters and Tragedies, Education  6 Responses »
Apr 012010
 

Bullying has been in the news a lot lately, unfortunately due to a teen’s suicide in a small Massachusetts town and the ensuing prosecution of some of the kids who were involved for statutory rape and civil rights violations.

That particular case is a tragedy all the way around. The behavior of the kids involved was reprehensible, and I do not doubt that it contributed to the suicide of the victim. (Although there is a difference between “contributed to” and “caused” which is often missed…) But I don’t think that charging them in criminal court as adults is the right response.
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