"Some athletes are losers, like the Bengals and anyone ever hired by Art Model. Some are not."

Yep. We agree that some are losers and some are not, but making millions is a very special thing. Why not hire someone who runs 4.4 instead of 4.3 if the 4.4 guy is a good guy? How can anyone cheer for a cornerback who slams a stripper's face into a stage because she wasn't accorded his persmission to grab a few ones? Pacman is showered with millions of ones, but he isn't deserving to be on any stage and be anyone's hero, champion, or All-Star. Again, comparing a spat with one's wife with assaulting a stripper cheapens the assault. And seemingly due to that assault, directly or indirectly, a guy will never walk again (and perhaps never experience another ejaculation or even dressing himself without help) and others sport bullet holes.

I do think racism is ubiquitous. It's in all of us. Thus, racism is probably at play here, but a professionally powerful man who attacks a nearly naked young woman doesn't garner any grace due to race. He's a monster and I watch less football when the NFL permits such a monster to take the field. His professional football career should be terminated and not merely interrupted.

I also thought about what Charles Barkley said...and I'm a huge fan of Chuck. I don't think that this is about serving as a role model, but adhering to civil standards of behavior. If I work for Microsoft and I attack a stripper, I'll be stripped of my position. My behavior reflects on Microsoft and Microsoft would eject me because it has real corporate image considerations. Likewise, Pacman's behavior reflects on the NFL. Pacman behaves in ways that the NFL permits. I don't just blame Pacman. I blame the NFL too. I'm glad that he was suspended for a year, but Microsoft, if I were to attack a stripper, wouldn't suspend me for a year. I'd be gone forever and ever and ever. So, this is an issue of social/professional inequity for me and it's also an issue of the NFL abiding bad behavior...or in the case of Pacman, atrocious behavior. A man can't get much lower than attacking a woman: perhaps beating a child. As I discuss this with you, I think I'm at least as disgusted with the NFL as I am with Pacman.

Thanks, BTW, for disagreeing so civilly.

However, given the seductive, dangerous blend of youth, adulation, and millions, I think the NFL should have character clauses in all contracts. If you attack a woman or imperil folks, you take your pads, go home, and work in a cubicle, lay bricks, or sell MP3s like everyone else. It's repugnant to cheer for the Titans when they abide and field a bad man. So, I suggest institutional change...'cause Pacman and the next bad boy aren't going to change until the NFL raises the bar.

...a helluva thinker and a helluva writer. It's been an honor to disagree with you.

She's, in her way, equivalent to Tiny Tim and Michael Jackson. Her strangeness is her civil deviance, while Tiny Tim and Michael Jackson mine(d) other sorts of deviance. Coulter refuses to be decent. What's telling is that she's the darling of the Right, which alleges to be decent by dint of Christianity.

She and the Right remind me of the neighbor who has a perfectly homogenous yard and a disapproving gaze for, well, everyone without a cookie cutter yard, clothes, and thoughts. But that very same neighbor has soiled and stained Underoos (No one can see them so why bother?). Ann is those Underoos. It's just that the Right wears those Underoos on their head, parading Ann across the networks.

A. That everything Ann says is a joke.

B. That Ann tells it like it is.

Now, if I were Ann or a fan and amidst like-minded, slur-loving sorts, I'd simply have to say, "Faggot," while wearing a crucifix, and everyone would laugh.

I love your writing, your values, and your moxie.

"The Brownback campaign issued a statement which, in part, read: "Romney's openness to gay scout leaders conflicts with the Scout Oath, which requires Scouts to be 'morally straight.'"

Morally straight, eh? I expect Brownback's (Were all homobigots named by Dickens?) sense of morality was acquired by brushing against the Bible. However, an actual reading of the Bible uncovers scores of warnings against wealth. Satan didn't tempt the Christ with his fiery cock. And the Christ only told one story of Hell: that of a rich man being damned. And the Bible is quite clear about faith: if one believes, one then gives all one has to the poor and trusts in God to provide. One can conclude, therefore, that wealth ain't "morally straight." Rather, it's a crookedy, albeit plush with lots of bling and other shiny stuff, road to Hell.

"No one but Ron Paul can save America!"

Hmmm. This is a variant of pining for one's knight in shining armor to come someday and carry one away. And then there's the happily ever after, of course, as one only has to be saved once in fairy tales: dragons never strike the same princess twice.

"I know Ralph Nader and the Green party still like to imagine that they didn't hand Bush the White House in 2000 but they did."

Yep, and those who voted for Bush also played their part in the doubling of the national debt. Now, I expect Bush voters to step forward, as they allege they're members of the party of responsiblity, and double their taxes, since they voted for the man who doubled the national debt. Surely, they won't expect those of the party of personal responsibility won't expect those who voted for Gore to pay for the profligate spending, powered by profligate borrowing.