Not reporting it and leaving your companion without any attempt to aid them - these are not accidents.

When they recovered Mary Jo's body her fingers were bloodied and raw. She had been trying to claw her way towards air. She died horribly and he did nothing to help her. This can not be denied.

The fawning over the Kennedy family makes me ill. Caroline Kennedy felt entitled to the NY Senate seat last year, despite never holding elective office. And she had supporters. My guess she wouldn't have if she wasn't a Kennedy. Absolutely shameful. You can't be for the people and for Aristocracy at the same time.

I say all this as a long time Democrat.

What makes you think it's your party? It's mine as much as anyones. BTW, there are alot of us who aren't in love with the Kennedys. We don't buy into the baby boomer mythology.

I note you didn't dispute any of my points.

Using your kids as material for your writing career is sleazy for sure. I'd be pissed as hell. It's doubly sleazy when you act like you are doing it out of public obligation. 'I didn't want to write this book. I *had* to, to help other people whose children might become addicted.' Give me a break.

I wonder how much of the book is devoted to analyzing how her narcissism might have contributed to her kids supposedly wayward behaviour.

Doesn't make it OK. He's a vile overgrown brat.

You imply that people are down on her cause she's a black woman and not because of her behaviour. Sorry. That's what George Bush called the soft bigotry of low expectations. I admire good sportsmanship from all players regardless of race or background. To be fair, I often don't see it.

In any case, 'forgiveness' isn't the issue. I'm sure she doesn't care what we think. She might care about what her sponsors think, and they probably don't want a foul mouthed sore loser selling their products.

For all the Serena apologists here - I hope when you annoy someone bigger and more influential where you work and then they break stuff and they scream at you that they want to shove some 'fucking' thing down your throat, that you will take it with 'Hey people get upset' attitude your claim to believe in.

I suspect that would be harder to do than you think.

Kate would be screaming her head off. It's only ok when certain groups of people do this stuff.

See ESPN:

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/tennis/usopen09/news/story?id=4472638&campaign=rss&source=ESPNHeadlines

Smart move on her part.

Wrong.

The concept may elude you, but bad behaviour is bad regardless of the background of the perpetrator.

Look within yourself and picture how you would feel if a white man did this to a black woman. Would you honestly feel the same?

I would. It's fucked up either way.

Remember - minds are like parachutes, they only work when they are open.

"A black person convicted of a crime is sentenced more harshly than a white person"

So no one can critisize a black person who behaves badly. That's what you think.

Thanks Trudy B. I learned a lot about you today. Sadly.

1. completely unacceptable

2. temper tantrum

That's all I've been saying.

That and I don't like it when white guys like McEnroe and Agassi have tantrums either.

Or that the fact that they have acted like shits implies I have to ignore Serena acting like an asshole too.

Other than that hey, it's cool and the gang.

Uhm Yeah. You are so right. Expecting her to apologize for acting like a jerk is totally out of line.

"but the larger cultural question at hand is whether and why Serena's bad behavior has engendered a harsher reaction than similar bad behavior by white and/or male people."

I didn't read anyone here saying she should be punished more than a white male in the same situation.

If that's what you think this discussion is primarily about we are talking about different things. I, very simply, believe treatment should be the same in both cases. If it was a white guy saying the same things to this line judge he would deserve the same opprobium.

I don't know - was she?

The question was asked some time ago in this thread:

Picture a larger white male in a position of authority telling a very small female in a low paid referee type gig that he would like to 'fucking shove this ball down your fucking throat.'

My guess is that he'd be in big trouble and lose his endorsements.

Serena has been fined and called a jerk in comment boards. Happens all the time. Not much of a penalty.

Bigotted labels Garrison.

Guess that's good for one side and not the other. Do you ever look in the mirror? Honestly? You point to finger of bigotry at others. Never at yourself. Open your mind once in a while. Go to your safe place, Lake Wobegon, and consider your own faults. They are plenty apparent to some of us.

Having hook up sex is fine, it's not a great way to find a long term partner though.

If you are looking for no strings attached sex, the whole point(!) is that you don't feel obligated to call or anything after the fact. Finding out that your sex buddy wants to get married is going to send you running *fast*.

If you're looking for a long term relationship you want someone smart and not flakey. In an LTR you have serious obligations and responsibilities and you're looking for someone serious enough to merit that level of commitment.