One of my favorite bloggers, Matt Walsh, offers a unique perspective on the story of Rice and his violent attack on his then fiancé, now wife, Janay Palmer.

Matt points out that the video of the assault has engendered strong reaction:

"Then on Monday something changed, and now Rice has been fired from the team, indefinitely suspended by the league, and admonished by every famous athlete, media member, celebrity, and politician in the hemisphere. As usual, a giant game of “I’m More Outraged Than You!” has broken out all around us, with Keith Olbermann taking the prize by calling for the ‘expulsion’ or resignation of the NFL commissioner, the senior vice president of the NFL, the chief counsel of the NFL, the GM of the Ravens, the president of the Ravens, the judge who presided over the case, the prosecutor, and the assistant prosecutor. Next, presumably, we’d go after the prosecutor’s secretary, the secretary’s housecleaner, and the housecleaner’s pet gerbil."

He then asks a pertinent question. Why? Why this degree of outrage?

Matt gives a number of answers to his seemingly ridiculous question, one of them being, of course we react more vehemently when it's a man hitting a woman, rather than another man; or even if the situation is reversed, a woman striking a man. But then again, why?

"Why? Well, finally, I’ll propose an answer to the riddle: when we heap extra scorn on the abusers of women, we acknowledge that men and women are separate, distinct, and unique creatures. And we know that to acknowledge our separateness and distinctiveness is to contemplate the possibility that men and women have different roles in society, different duties, different responsibilities, and different purposes.

And, though few will say it anymore, we know that among a man’s duties is that ever-important charge to protect and honor women. Men are meant to use their strength to defend women against harm. When a man betrays this responsibility, we act as though he’s turned the world upside down, because he has. The man is not just a generic ‘aggressor’; he is a traitor. He has deserted his post. He was given his strength for a reason. It is supposed to be a shield for the women and children in his life, but he has used it as a weapon against them.

To use what is uniquely masculine in a humble, serving, and protective way — that is the essence of chivalry. We become this expressly furious and impassioned about a man’s abuse of a woman because he has so shirked and abandoned his manly, chivalrous duty. That is what drives our response to this kind of thing, no matter how progressive we otherwise pretend to be.

Dig to the bottom of everything — ignore most of the modern liberal “gender theory” rhetoric — and you will still find the remnants of chivalry. And if not the remnants of chivalry itself, then the remnants of a desire for it. Despite all of our academic arguments to the contrary, still most of us know, at a deep and visceral level, that men and women are different and this difference means something."

He then concludes:

"If he does, then there’s something wrong. But he probably won’t, because no amount of liberal feminist brainwashing can ever really erase our instinctual and innate understanding that men are not women and women are not men. And whatever else that means, it certainly at least means that it is the man’s job to be the protector.

So in the end it seems that chivalry is not quite dead, no matter how hard we try to kill it.

And thank God for that."

http://themattwalshblog.com/2014/09/09/w...ng-his-fiancee/ [italics in original]

Worth a complete read.

Nicely reasoned.

"49ers suspend radio announcer Ted Robinson for Ray Rice comments"

He gets the same punishment originally meted out to Ray "KO" Rice for decking his fiancé.

"The San Francisco 49ers have suspended team radio broadcaster Ted Robinson two games for remarks he made about Ray Rice and domestic violence this week."

What did he say that was so offensive to the 49er's administration?

"While talking about Rice during a segment on KNBR-AM on Monday, Robinson had this to say about Rice's wife Janay, "How does she marry him after that? How does she go in front of Goodell? That's pathetic to me," Robinson said."

Oh, the horror!! Only a 2 week suspension? The 49ers are surely merciful. Especially after this Robinson guy does the right thing and abases himself before the football gods.

""I want to unconditionally apologize for my comments the other day," Robinson said in a statement. "As a professional communicator, I am responsible for my words. My choice of words was careless and does not reflect my true feelings about domestic violence. I understand that the cycle of abuse keeps people in unhealthy relationships. No blame or responsibility for domestic violence should ever be placed on a victim.""

And I'll bet he won't say "Redskins" should the 49ers play Washington either.

It's just a coincidence, I'm sure, that one of the 49er thugs, er, players has his own little domestic situation.

"In this June 18, 2014, file photo, San Francisco 49ers defensive tackle Ray McDonald (91) kneels on the practice field during NFL football minicamp in Santa Clara, Calif. The NFL is allowing two more NFL players to continue playing while facing domestic violence issues. Similar to the Ray Rice case, the league says it investigating and waiting for the legal process to run its course before taking action. Carolina Pro Bowl defensive end Greg Hardy already has been convicted on two counts of domestic violence, but has filed an appeal. Ray McDonald of the 49ers also remains active while he is being investigated for abuse allegations."

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-foot...y-rice-comments

My brother says NFL stands for "National Felons League".