04-28-2017, 05:13 PM
(04-28-2017, 04:57 PM)The Real Deal Wrote: The difference is pacman is a 30 something year old man that has never and will never get it. He has been a repeat offender for years. He isn't ever changing, he is who he is. I can't stand him and would have loved if we moved on from him.
However, comparing pacman and Mixon, to me, is like comparing apples and oranges. I'm not making excuses for him. I'm aware Mixon made a HUGE mistake, no doubt. But it was one bad incident when he was 17 that he undoubtedly regrets and has since made right, at least as right as he can given the circumstances. If there was a track record then by all means pass on him. But that just simply is not the case with this kid. And save the parking ticket incident argument because I don't care about petty witch hunting.
What about the situation do you know he regrets? Does he regret it because he greatly injured another human being? Does he regret using homophobic language towards another human being? Does he regret the embarrassment caused to him, his family, the university? Or does he regret the fact that it hurt his draft stock, that it cost him money? Because yes, I am sure he has regrets, but not all regrets are equal.
When I was in college, I did an internship at the Ohio State House. There was a committee hearing that I sat in on to discuss a proposed bill for funding of shelters for abused women and children. One of the witnesses was a trained psychologist who ran a center somewhere around Cleveland. One of the state reps from Dayton brought up the "stress" that a man would feel if the woman were to leave with his children and he did not know where they were and what if the abuse really wasn't abuse, but somehow retaliation for things she had done to him. I will never forget her response. She said that when you are discussing things like the abuse of women and children, most people will be horrified by it. They will have a visceral reaction, wanting some sort of punishment for the abuser. Then there are those who try to find ways to justify the actions, to make it seem like they are not as bad as you might imagine. According to her professional opinion, those are the abusers in the room. The guys who maybe have slapped their wife a time or two. That has always stuck with me.
I'm not saying that anyone here is an abuser, or has ever hit a woman. I do find it repulsive though that there are so many who come to his defense. Especially when this is a person we don't even personally know. We don't know that he is a "good guy", except for this incident. For all we know he regularly beats his girlfriend, his mother. We know that he doesn't have a problem picking on women, picking on those who are smaller and less physically intimidating that he is. And there are those who quickly come to his defense simply because he can run a football.
I hear O.J. is up for parole soon. Perhaps they can find a spot on the coaching staff for him?
