Noted Paterno truthers ESPN's Dana O'Neil and USA Today's Joe Posnanski have already been castigated here for their stubborn, wrong-headed insistence that Mike Rice's conduct in practices was more offensive than Joe Paterno's cover up of decades of child abuse and molestation. One would think that would be the absolute paradigm of hypocrisy, never to be matched, but for better or worse that hope seems to have been mistaken.
Leaders who make decisions purely based upon media accounts are irresponsible and they are grandstanding, and we don’t need more of that. - Chris Christie, referring to disgraced Newark archbishop John Myers.
They were wrong not to come to the conclusion that Coach Rice needed to be fired immediately. - Chris Christie.
Let's get this straight Governor, just so we're all clear. Cursing, disgusting remarks, and borderline physical abuse when practices got too heated demanded immediate action, and the ousting of Rice's supervisor, who allegedly was not responsible for retaining Rice. There was absolutely no room for nuance or gathering all the requisite facts in the rush for judgment. Meanwhile, Newark Archbishop John Myers covers up the actions of a pedophile priest who abused children, endangering thousands more, and Christie suddenly wants caution.
Let's move on to ESPN, who was all too happy to castigate Tim Pernetti over Mike Rice's use of gay slurs, despite Pernetti's previous pro-LGBT support. When NBA player Jason Collins came out as gay several days ago, it was a great moment for the thousands of closeted teens in this country, who have a scandalously high suicide rate. They now have a role model. Aside from that aspect, one of the main arguments in favor of gay rights has been precisely the point that a person's sexuality shouldn't really be anyone else's business.
Not so to ESPN's Chris Broussard, who delivered a homophobic rant in response to Collins that point any of Mike Rice's comments to shame. The only thing that ESPN loves more than not giving credit to other news outlets on a story is to not castigate their employees publicly, so they remain predictably silent on Broussard, as does the entire media at large in response to Mike Francesa's public support of a caller's homophobic rant.
Yes, some readers here may well agree with Broussard and Francesa, but even then the issue of the double standard and inconsistency is galling. Either this sort of behavior is a cardinal sin, or it is not. There is zero evidence that Mike Rice actually does hate homosexuals (or people from Guinea or Lithuania), but we have these two now on the record with their sentiments, to few (ESPN may eventually still cave) and no consequences, respectively. Who,again, is the real homophobe here? Who is causing the most net harm to the well being of homosexuals? The answer is clear, and sponsors should start boycotting ESPN and WFAN until they start feeling the pressure to start practicing what they preach.