The Exploitation of a 2 year old's murder

The New York Post is about the last resource I would ever use or recommend for actual news or fact-based reporting. But even I am shocked and disgusted at the opinion piece written by Phil Mushnick and published by the Post.  Maybe not SO shocked, after seeing his picture and seeing he's an old white guy.

Here's the link to his ridiculous opinion piece: http://nypost.com/2013/10/13/sons-death-doesnt-make-adrian-peterson-a-great-person/

And honestly, I don't know where to start. Ironically, the tragic murder of Adrian Peterson's son occurred during National Domestic Violence month. Mushnick alleges a bunch of things, only one of which has any semblance of truth: just because Peterson is a great football player doesn't mean he's a great player. That's true!! Millions of people in this world are great at a whole host of things, and are terrible people. There's millions of people who are adequate or even less-than-adequate at what they do, but are GREAT people. No one ever said being good at one's job and being a good person are a package deal.

Truth is that celebrities are judged based on their public persona. Whether it's an athlete or an actor or a singer or a politician, we assume people are how they are portrayed in the media.

The first half of Mushnick's rant is really quite stupid. Apparently, doing charity work is not special, he speeds even though his brother was killed due to a reckless driver, and he and some friends got into a bit of trouble when they didn't leave a club right at 2 AM. Petty and stupid.

But it's the rest of the opinion piece that is disturbing. Mushnick makes a negative reference to the fact that the mother of this baby was Peterson's "baby mama". I guess if she was referred to as an ex-girlfriend, it would make it all ok?

Mushnick also judges Peterson for playing football, just a couple days after the death of his son, saying he (Peterson) should be angry and take a day or two or a whole week off to grieve.

Hmmmm. I am, and will always be, a Packers fan. I will never EVER forget the Monday night game between the Packers and the Oakland Raiders the day after Brett Favre lost his father to a heart attack. Torrey Smith played just hours after his baby brother was killed in a motorcycle accident. Peterson chose to play after the death of his son.

Everyone is different, and how people grieve differs from person to person. Professional athletes have often talked about how playing their sport gives them some respite from their personal pain. It offers them a small window of time where they can focus on something else. We can't give this man 3 hours to maybe escape what is undoubtedly one of the absolute worst pains any person could ever experience? Does anyone DISAGREE that it's unnatural for a parent to bury their child?

Next, Mushnick takes the deplorable position that this is Peterson's fault, albeit indirectly. After all, he's got millions of dollars and surely could have made sure that his son was not allowed to be in a dangerous environment. He must not have cared that his ex had moved herself and their son in with a violent man. Apparently, Peterson had the opportunity (thanks to his $96 million contract) to provide a safe home for his son and chose not to.

Such harsh judgment from this Mushnick guy... when reports are that it was only 3 months ago that Peterson was even told about the existence of this boy. I don't know what happened in these past three months. I don't know if it's even true. Maybe he knew about this kid all along. Maybe he did fail his son. Maybe.... maybe not. Who am I to judge? And who is this Mushnick guy to judge?

Bottom line is the tone, the words of this piece are clearly racist. What "we" are to take away from this piece is that at the end of the day, Adrian Peterson is just another wealthy, professional black athlete with baby mamas and babies out there that he can't be bothered to support or protect. And how dare we, the rest of the world, extend our condolences.

I am ashamed of this "writer" and disgusted by this so-called newspaper. The bottom line, IMO, is that we have a 2 year old boy who was beaten to death. That's really all that matters, and I will not take back the compassion and sympathies extended not only to Adrian Peterson, but to everyone who knew and loved this little boy. I will not minimize whatever feelings Peterson may be feeling... they are his and his alone, and he has the right to them. And I will not judge Peterson, or his ex, or even Joseph Patterson.

I judge, and judge harshly, Phil Mushnick and the New York Post.

damaged goods

his soft touch
felt only once or twice
his arms draped over me
our legs intertwined
falling asleep
waking up
happiness
even if it was only for a moment
the touch that was so soft
the hand that held me
kept me protected
in just a moment changed
what once comforted me now hurt me
the lips that kissed me now turned away
the touch that comforted me now pushed me away
but only for a moment
he didn't want me but wouldn't free me
i loved him
i needed his love
he fucked me
he used me
he hurt me
i longed for his lips
he gave me his fist
he would not look at me
would not touch me\
would not hold me
would not protect me
but he would fuck me
i went from being his queen to being his bitch
i was stupid... he told me so
i was useless... he told me so
there was nothing about me worth of love
and when he was finished with me
when he had tired of his toy
i was left alone, ruined, beyond salvation
and i remain
damaged goods

KILL KILL KILL!!!

Today World Day Against the Death Penalty Day. In my younger years, I was a proponent for the Death Penalty under very specific, rigid circumstances: Murder with Special Circumstance (typically when the victim had been raped, tortured, etc.); the murder of a child; Pre-meditated murder; and/or multiple murders. In my opinion, people who committed these kinds of crimes were irredeemable. Justice, in my opinion, could only be gotten in the moment that the killer himself (or herself) stopped breathing.

As I’ve gotten older, I see more clearly. Don’t get me wrong. At my core, killers as described above, as a whole, are not first in line to receive my compassion. But I’ve also had to accept that our justice system isn’t always so just. Innocent people are convicted of heinous crimes… including the crimes I consider most egregious.  In the always-changing world of science and biological evidence, people who had what was a clear cut case against them are being exonerated of terrible crimes.  People who have spent years, sometimes decades, in prison on a wrongful conviction are set free.  But people who were convicted and given a death sentence, and had that sentence carried out… well, you can release a man or woman from prison, but you can’t unkill the dead.

Separate from the whole can’t-unkill-the-dead rationale is what I consider a more humanistic rationale behind my current stance against the death penalty.  Statistics speak for themselves (see http://www.statisticbrain.com/death-penalty-statistics/) , and prove that the death penalty is a racist penalty.  On its face, the death penalty appears to be more often applied to white criminals than black (56% white as compared to 35% black), however if you look at criminal statistics, the number of black men and women in prison is disproportionate.  Therefore, a higher percentage of a lower number is still going to be lower than a lower percentage of a much higher number.  But the glaring statistic is that only 15% of murder victims, whose killer receives the death penalty, are black, whereas 76% of the victims in a death penalty case are white.  This policy declares, with no uncertainty, that a white life is more valuable than a black life… which is bullshit. ALL LIFE HAS VALUE.

Then there are the 130 people who have been released from death row with evidence of innocence. Evidence. Of. Innocence. My God! How many had their evidence of innocence brought to light too late? Immediately, my mind goes to cases such as Troy Davis, and George Stinney Jr.  And regardless of race, death penalty convictions, when delved into, are mostly assessed in cases where the person convicted of the crime is poor and has inadequate representation. No… this sentence is not carried out fairly or judiciously.

And all of that aside… I go back to two of my original statements: in my opinion, these criminals were irredeemable and all life has value. Who am I to judge, who is and is not redeemable? People can change. We see proof of that every day.  Who’s to say that even a person who is capable of torture or murder cannot change? That he cannot repent and find God, or Allah, or whatever saving grace speaks to him or her? And if all life has value, doesn’t that include these people too?

The death penalty is the ultimate “eye for an eye” carriage of justice. But it’s not an eye we’re taking. It’s a life… a human life… someone’s child, or husband, or wife, or father, or mother, or sister, or brother. The answer cannot be more death. We must put the energy and money currently assigned to maintaining and expanding the death penalty, and redirect them to overhauling the prison system and investing in real rehabilitation efforts.  Hate and fear will only lead us further into darkness. We must be the light.