Discussion for article #227666
“Gillibrand said there’s an institutional problem in the NFL, as well as in the military and on college campuses, with how they treat women.”
1,001 times this. Men are given a free pass for reckless violence. The air force is a bloody fundamentalist cult and we know what they think of their women-folk.
May social media eat these people alive.
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Quite frankly, I was dismayed that Goodell led with his chin regarding “when he knew about the video”. The suspect transparency was evident from the beginning.
A far more constructive tactic would have been to fess up as much as possible and as soon as possible, accept all of the responsibility and leave the pursuers nowhere to go.
Then he could turn more of his attention to policy, rather than cover-up.
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Senator Gillibrand is absolutely right and setting the right framework for accountability.This is a simple common sense standard. If the NFL had the video and Godell lied, he should go. The owners who let convicted domestic abusers to play on during the regular season should be required to sell their stake.
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Considering that the “independent investigation” is staffed with friends and purt-near family, while I agree with the Senator, we know the fix is already in.
As always, this is about business, not the idyllic Supermanesque gibberish about truth, justice, and the American Way.
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Changing the topic. I wonder if anyone has told Sen. Gillibrand how hot she is.
Some like their girls more plump.
Sure. But he didn’t. It is painfully apparent that Goodell’s interest in the matter begins and ends with the PR damage the wife-beating does to the league. That means in effect that his interests are mostly aligned with Rice at least at the beginning.
This alignment of interest with the wife-beater is the functional equivalent of enabling. That’s why he interviewed Rice together with his victim who was knocked out cold by Rice. Common sense would tell anyone not to do that. If not common sense, then any single former cop in the NFL’s formidable security apparatus could have told him had he asked. If he did not understand that his “interview” was meant to encourage victim to keep her mouth shut then he was the only one in the room.
As you say, Emliano, it could have been handled more constructively, but this was not a situation where the commissioner erred on the up-and-up in meting out such small punishment. As the league’s interest has nothing to do with justice and everything to do with PR, when the elevator video came out (of which he was or should have been fully informed from the beginning), he did what he thought was the most expedient PR move—extend his earlier suspension.
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I very much agree with you.
Hit the NFL where it hurts. Congress should end the NFL’s tax-exempt status.
I keep hearing weasel words in this. There are reports the NFL received copies of the video from an anonymous police source. The NFL seems to be carefully saying they did not receive a requested copy through legitimate vetted police channels. Now the issue is being quote-unquote investigated by a hired gun under the watchful eyes of trusted friends and supporters. There will be no justice here.
In some societies with more emphasis on personal honor, Goodell would be expected to do something a bit more drastic than just resigning.
It is likely that when this first happened, he hoped that it could be safely ignored since for him to make a big deal about it might have repercussions and make important people unhappy. He figured it was easier to pretend it didn’t happen than to take action. When the biologically processed edible material hit the ventilating device, it was too late and he had to scramble.
Taking the path of least resistance is what makes rivers and men crooked.