tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-140248672024-03-13T08:05:36.246-04:00From The Digital SidelinesA journalist's take on the news of the day. Whether it's about sports or society, I've got something to say about the day's headlines.Mike Sarzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13156918807716220210noreply@blogger.comBlogger33125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14024867.post-66755546358954889942020-09-01T12:46:00.002-04:002020-09-01T12:46:20.751-04:00I don't watch movies. Why I'm still sad about Chadwick Boseman <p><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue", Verdana, Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">It's been almost four days since we lost Chadwick Boseman. Social media have been replete with tributes to the actor who brought Jackie Robinson, James Brown, and Thurgood Marshall, among others to life in brilliant performances.</span></p><p style="font-family: "helvetica neue", Verdana, Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding: 8px 2px 8px 6px;">I rarely watch movies, but I saw him in <i>42</i>, when he depicted Robinson and <i>Get On Up</i>, where he portrayed Brown. In both cases, he was, as Major League Baseball described him in their own tribute "transcendent" in both. Even as a non-expert, I could see how great he was.</p><p style="font-family: "helvetica neue", Verdana, Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding: 8px 2px 8px 6px;">His best-known performance was of T'Challa, The Black Panther, and his leading role in the film gave so many people a superhero who looked like them, who embodied strength, brilliance, values, and was someone to aspire to.</p><p style="font-family: "helvetica neue", Verdana, Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding: 8px 2px 8px 6px;">I may not be a young Black kid, an actor who shared scenes with him, or even an avid moviegoer, but I'm still reeling in grief I'm still trying to process. More than merely being an actor, Boseman was someone who by many accounts was humble at the height of fame, generous with his time, and supportive of fellow actors and others looking to make their mark on the world.</p><p style="font-family: "helvetica neue", Verdana, Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding: 8px 2px 8px 6px;">The fact that he shot so many scenes as he battled cancer and continued to remain a powerful, positive force for so many in the wake of a disease that robbed him of weight, and, eventually, his life contributed greatly. The fact that no one outside his family knew how badly he was being weakened was a testament to his strength of spirit and his courage. As a cancer survivor myself, knowing only a small fraction of what he must have gone through and the real uncertainty of life or death makes it even more difficult to take.</p><p style="font-family: "helvetica neue", Verdana, Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding: 8px 2px 8px 6px;">The fact that this devastating loss happened during a year replete with tragedy and crisis only served to underscore how crushing this loss was to all the people who were impressed by his talents and his humanity.</p><p style="font-family: "helvetica neue", Verdana, Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding: 8px 2px 8px 6px;">In her reminder to people that mourning a celebrity doesn't mean a lack of consciousness after Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant died in January, Bernice King, daughter of civil rights leader Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. tweeted that we are all on a short journey in this world, "reconciling life and death," before finishing her tweet with words we all should follow: "Love well."</p><p style="font-family: "helvetica neue", Verdana, Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding: 8px 2px 8px 6px;">Chadwick Aaron Boseman may no longer be able to shine his light on a movie screen, but he'll live on in our memories of his incredible performances and in the example he left of courage, of humility, of humanity.</p><p style="font-family: "helvetica neue", Verdana, Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding: 8px 2px 8px 6px;">Wakanda forever.</p>Mike Sarzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13156918807716220210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14024867.post-51731931315507757392019-08-12T19:35:00.000-04:002019-08-12T19:35:58.413-04:00How Toxic Masculinity Attacks Everyone – Including Men<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;">There’s been a lot of attention focused in social media on toxic
masculinity. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<o:p></o:p>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;">Besides the commentary from the usual suspects, typically people
who display toxic levels of masculinity or people who seek to combat it, where
do we draw the line between simply being masculine and expressing masculinity
in a toxic way?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<o:p></o:p>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;">Before anyone makes the mistake of thinking that a criticism of
toxic masculinity is an attack on men or on masculinity in general, it’s useful
to define toxic masculinity and to delineate clearly between its extreme and
what simple masculinity is. According to a definition from The Good Men
Project, toxic masculinity is a narrow and repressive description of manhood,
designating manhood as defined by violence, sex, status and aggression. It’s
the cultural ideal of manliness, where strength is everything while emotions are
a weakness; where sex and brutality are yardsticks by which men are measured,
while supposedly “feminine” traits—which can range from emotional vulnerability
to simply not being hypersexual—are the means by which your status as “man” can
be taken away.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<o:p></o:p>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;">Teaching Tolerance Magazine, the source which attributed the
definition in a piece on toxic masculinity quickly asserted that using that
definition or attacking toxic masculinity was not an attack on men or on
masculinity. In fact, the article “ʻWhat We Mean When We Say, Toxic
Masculinity’,” written by Colleen Clemens, an associate professor of
non-Western literatures and director of women's and gender studies at Kutztown
University in Pennsylvania, emphasized the point that the conversation about toxic
masculinity was started by men. It referenced a TED talk by Jackson Katz on the
subject, which it credited with helping to start the conversation about toxic
masculinity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<o:p></o:p>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;">What makes a brand of masculinity toxic and another brand not? The
definition provided by The Good Men Project is a great start. A recent tweet by
Scarborough Centre (Ontario) politician Fawzi Bidawi made the ridiculous
assertion that “Modern day feminism is an attack on men.” In order to
unpack the inherent toxic masculinity of Bidawi’s statement, let’s start by
defining feminism. Google’s definition calls feminism “the advocacy of
women’s rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<o:p></o:p>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;">Long story short: Feminism is an ideology that women have – or
should have – equality under the law. Women should be able to make their own
decisions about their lives, from whether or not to have children to which
career they should pursue, or whether they should pursue a career at all.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<o:p></o:p>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;">In response to Bidawi, I wrote, “[t]oxic masculinity is an attack
on everyone, including men.” In an effort to expand on a simple nine-word
rejoinder, the fact that so many people have discussed violence in the form of
mass shooters or even mass stabbings through the lens of mental health, while a
few people have pointed out that the overwhelming majority of mass shootings
have been by white men alone should cause us to examine carefully why, for
instance, a black woman hasn’t committed a mass shooting at least as of writing
this.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<o:p></o:p>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;">Is there a link between shootings and toxic masculinity? I don’t
have the resources on hand to study such a link, and with the Centers for
Disease Control <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dickey_Amendment">barred</a> from
researching gun violence since 1996, we may never know with complete certainty
until or unless the Dickey Amendment were repealed. However, a major element of
toxic masculinity has already been broached here. Talk of “being a man” and
squelching feelings because men aren’t supposed to express them plays a
dangerous role in the socialization of men.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<o:p></o:p>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;">Ridiculing a man for crying, for instance, sets a precedent that a
man isn’t allowed the same emotional outlets women are permitted as a matter of
course. However, another troubling element of that lack of emotional support
includes dismissing women as “too emotional,” although we saw then-Supreme
Court nominee Brett Cavanaugh melt down when confronted about potentially
sexually assaulting Christine Blasey-Ford during his confirmation hearings in
the Senate.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<o:p></o:p>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;">Suicide, particularly among LGBTQIA+ youth has garnered a lot of
attention in recent years, and with the National Center for
Health Statistics reporting an <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_in_the_United_States" target="_blank">overall 5 percent increase</a> in the United States in
suicides from 2014 to 2016, it’s clear that suicide is a massive problem in
general. The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention also noted that men are
roughly 3.5 times more likely to commit suicide than women and white males accounted
for 7 out of 10 suicides in 2016. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;">Relating the above statistics to toxic masculinity may be a
stretch to some people who are skeptical about the mere existence
of “toxic” masculinity, but if the stigmas against seeking emotional
support didn’t exist and men were taught to seek emotional support when they
needed it, we’d all be in a much better place.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;">Men being socialized to avoid seeking emotional support, in
particular from other men, may not play the linchpin role in all of society’s
ills, but it’s long past time for us all to start creating a more compassionate
world for all of us.</span></div>
</div>
Mike Sarzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13156918807716220210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14024867.post-10923566230975124702019-07-03T09:59:00.000-04:002019-08-12T18:09:26.453-04:00Make America Compassionate AgainConsistent news reports of children being kept in cages in <a href="https://theoutline.com/post/7645/there-are-concentration-camps-in-america?zd=1&zi=bi5j3ggw" target="_blank">squalid conditions</a> without toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, and warm blankets in cold nights led to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) calling them <span style="background-color: white; color: #2b2c30; font-family: "Graphik Web", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">“</span>concentration camps.<span style="background-color: white; color: #2b2c30; font-family: "Graphik Web", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">”</span><div>
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This set off a massive controversy from outraged Republicans including fellow Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), who <a href="https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/450219-liz-cheney-hits-back-at-ocasio-cortez-over-concentration-camp" target="_blank">blasted</a> Ocasio-Cortez's comments, saying, <span style="background-color: white; color: #2b2c30; font-family: "Graphik Web", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">“That’s a comment that is clearly ludicrous [and] clearly something that must be responded to,” Cheney said Tuesday. “I think she ought to apologize for it, and I think that we ought to be in a position where rather than launching attacks like that — which are clearly political on their face [and] clearly misinformed — we all ought to be working to try to help the crisis at the border.”</span></div>
Mike Sarzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13156918807716220210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14024867.post-75717298481386327242019-06-10T16:10:00.001-04:002019-06-10T16:11:17.188-04:00Social Media's Role in Anxiety and Depression<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Anxiety and depression
are certainly not new for people who have been suffering from them. Even though
it</span><span style="background: white; color: #090e3c; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">’</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">s a relatively recent phenomenon, social media
also isn</span><span style="background: white; color: #090e3c; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">’</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">t completely brand new.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">One question that comes
to mind is whether or not social media <u>causes</u> anxiety or
depression. Research studies thus far <a href="https://childmind.org/article/is-social-media-use-causing-depression/" target="_blank">haven<span style="background: white; color: #090e3c; text-decoration: none;">’</span>t shown</a> a causal relationship
between going on social media and the symptoms of anxiety and depression, but
Caroline Miller, the editorial director of the Child Mind Institute wrote that
studies have shown that social media use is related in some way to anxiety and
depression.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The Royal Society for
Public Health <a href="https://www.rsph.org.uk/asset/AAFB7DC1-35CE-4097-B26321C1667B5333.2D2662B7-A714-4ACB-A94A63BA544A8267/" target="_blank">studied</a> 14- to 24-year-olds in the United
Kingdom. <a href="https://childmind.org/article/how-using-social-media-affects-teenagers/" target="_blank">According to</a> Child Mind Institute senior editor Rachel
Ehmke, the survey found that the commonly used social media platforms
Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat led to increasing feelings of
depression, anxiety, poor body image, and loneliness. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Ehmke</span><span style="background: white; color: #090e3c; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">’</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">s article touched on some of the problems. One
thing she pointed out is the absence of verbal and visual cues in social media
when compared to in person communication. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #090e3c; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">“It’s
easier to keep your guard up when you’re texting, so less is at stake,” Ehmke
wrote. “You aren’t hearing or seeing the effect that your words are having on
the other person.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #090e3c; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">That
isn’t all. The anonymity of the screen or the electronic device means that, “</span><span style="background: white; color: #090e3c; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">it has gotten easier to be cruel,” Ehmke wrote. “Kids text
all sorts of things that you would never in a million years contemplate saying
to anyone’s face,” said Dr. Donna Wick, a clinical and developmental
psychologist quoted by Ehmke. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #090e3c; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The effects also touch on another difficulty
that has also affected so-called adults. Wick pointed out that girls are
especially reluctant to disagree with each other in “real life” interactions,
but her example could easily expand to adults regardless of gender identity or
expression.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #090e3c; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">“You hope to teach them that they can disagree
without jeopardizing the relationship,” Wick said, “but what social media is
teaching them to do is disagree in ways that are more extreme and </span><em style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">do</em><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"> jeopardize the relationship. It’s exactly what you
don’t want to have happen</span>.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #090e3c; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Beyond clinical considerations or psychological
implications of social media and its effects on its practitioners, there are effects
that people who are active on social media see: People who report feelings of
anxiety and depression related to interactions on social media and either swear
off entirely or take breaks from it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #090e3c; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">But what about people who don’t report anxiety
or depression either as the result of social media or being aggravated by
social media? Pragya Agarwal, a contributor on Forbes.com <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/pragyaagarwaleurope/2018/07/30/5-ways-to-overcome-online-social-media-fatigue-for-mental-well-being/#3e232aad1cfa">wrote
about ways to overcome social media fatigue</a> geared toward people who
already have it, but the methods can also be used by people who don’t report
the same levels of anxiety caused by social media. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #090e3c; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">She suggested taking a break from social media,
concentrating on one or two specific platforms that appeal to you, adopting a
less is more approach to social media posts by limiting what you share to
quality as opposed to posting to meet certain metrics, being creative in ways
that don’t involve a computer, a phone, or a tablet, and simply being
authentic. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #090e3c; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Social media can present a challenge for
anyone, young, old, or in between. It has its good points in being able to help
forge relationships that otherwise never would have happened otherwise, but it
also has its downsides. Learning to navigate social media in a healthful way is
a challenge, but it’s a rewarding one.</span></div>
Mike Sarzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13156918807716220210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14024867.post-8910753015787681702018-03-26T11:18:00.000-04:002018-03-26T11:18:49.866-04:00Unpacking the March for Our Lives from a different perspective<br />
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="https://www.glamour.com/story/march-for-our-lives-dc-crowd-size" target="_blank">Estimates</a> of the number of people who jammed their way
into space in front of the Capitol building in Washington, D.C. for Saturday's
March for Our Lives range from as little to just over 200,000 people to over 1
million. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;">Organizers expected about half
a million people, and anything over that figure would easily make the day a
smashing success. Detractors might use the lowball estimate to argue that the
rally was a failure. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;">The debate about numbers misses
the point. From the perspective of someone who was there in the crowd, it sure
looked like a lot of people. A lot of people both young and old, a lot of
students, a lot of parents, a lot of teachers, a lot of people whose lives have
been affected by gun violence.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;">I'm neither young, nor old. I
have no children, and my life has not been directly affected by gun violence as
of the time I write this. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;">Yet, I was there. Even with a
bad leg that's still recovering from a fall, I was there. Even though I didn't
lose anyone I know or love to a mass shooting, I was there. Even though I'm
single and I have no children, I was there.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;">I was there because I grieved
when Adam Lanza killed 20 children and six staff members at Sandy Hook
Elementary School in December 2012. I literally had to log off my phone with
tears in my eyes and walk off the floor because I imagined being a parent and
learning that my child didn't make it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;">I was there because one of the
very first Facebook profile photos I used shows a Maryland Terrapin and the
Virginia Tech logo over the saying, "Today, we are all Hokies." <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;">I was there because I'm tired
of the fiction the National Rifle Association continues to peddle. The fiction
that gun violence is something we can do nothing about and the right to own a
gun outweighs anyone's life. As a reminder, the right of "a well-regulated
militia" to responsibly own guns is part of the Second Amendment. The
rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness were American ideals
before the Constitution was even written. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;">I was there, most importantly,
because I was inspired. Inspired by the strength and conviction shown by the
Parkland survivors. Inspired by their <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/24/politics/march-for-our-lives-students-checking-privilege-trnd/index.html" target="_blank">using their privilege</a> to give voice to people all too
often kept silent: Black victims of gun violence. Inspired by the persistence
of Cameron Kasky in pressuring Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida) to answer a yes or
no question about taking NRA money, and encouraged by their determination to
continue to speak even though some try to ignore them or to dismiss them
because some of them aren't old enough to vote. Inspired by seeing other folks
my age or older who were also inspired by these survivors.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;">I was inspired even more in the
days leading up to the march when Parkland survivor David Hogg <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/florida-school-shooting-david-hogg-white-privilege-gun-control-laws-black-community-a8265201.html" target="_blank">challenged</a> people with "white privilege" to
use it to address gun violence in the black and other communities.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;">"We recognize that
Parkland received more attention because of its affluence," Parkland
survivor Jaclyn Corin said, according to CNN's article about the march.
"But we share this stage today and forever with those communities who have
always stared down the barrel of a gun."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;"> Now that millions of
Americans, some barely entering voting age in time for November's midterm
elections have been inspired, what's next? As someone who hasn't had to face
being dismissed because I'm a kid since the George H.W. Bush administration, I
challenge the people in power to listen to these activists. I challenge the NRA
to recognize that unfettered access to assault weapons does not equal
responsible gun ownership and to support our calls for common-sense gun control
legislation. I challenge those on the far right who claim the government's
going to come after their guns to realize that President Obama never tried to.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;">Most importantly, I challenge
all of us to inform ourselves of the facts about these and all other vital
issues of the day and get out and vote in November.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;">That's how change happens.
That's how America finally got out of Vietnam. That's how we'll finally get common-sense
gun control. </span></div>
Mike Sarzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13156918807716220210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14024867.post-46154192577283809622016-10-18T15:31:00.005-04:002016-10-18T15:31:52.650-04:00Why I'm endorsing Clinton for President<div class="MsoNormal">
As a longtime journalist, I don’t often endorse political
candidates. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s a practice I avoid because I have a problem with it
that I’ve outlined before. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When I was managing editor of <i>The Prince George’s Sentinel</i>, it was against our policy to endorse
political candidates. Bernard Kapiloff, the newspaper’s longtime publisher,
believed our readers were intelligent enough to make their own decisions based
on the facts.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I didn’t always agree with him on many issues, but I
wholeheartedly agreed with him on that one.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The practice of an organization whose job is to report the news,
to present facts, and to inform the public of endorsing a candidate for political
office compromises its expected objectivity. In normal times, I would be
reluctant to even endorse candidates as an individual.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
These are not normal times. Not with the megalomaniac Donald
Trump as the Republican Party’s candidate for President. Not with a whole
legion of bigots who’ve come out of the woodwork, emboldened by Trump’s racist,
misogynistic, anti-Muslim, homophobic, and anti-disabled attacks on anyone he
doesn’t like. Not with Twitter rants at 3 a.m. because someone had the audacity
to say something that upset him.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I personally endorse Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary
Rodham Clinton for President for a great many reasons.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A Trump Presidency would be a singular threat to the world
at large, as Trump has made noises about ignoring American allies and embracing
enemies. It would be a threat because Trump all too often doesn’t know what he’s
talking about and shows a strong disinclination to learn. It would be a threat
because Trump has suggested he would play fast and casual with nuclear weapons,
threatening to test the notion that the world could face a nuclear winter.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As for Clinton, she isn’t perfect. Her penchant for secrecy
is well documented, and has often resulted in a perception she has something to
hide. She badly mishandled the issue of using a private email server until it
became a full-blown controversy. She has subsequently owned up to her mistakes
in that regard, but could have stopped the bleeding much earlier. She comes
across as cold and calculating on the campaign trail, although stories about
her from people who know her personally paint her as being much warmer than she
is perceived to be.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
However, Clinton’s faults do not include blame for Benghazi.
A Republican-led Congress slashed funding for security for the American
compound there, so the multiple investigations into the attacks proved little
more than outward manifestations of Republican hatred of President Obama and
Clinton. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
By many accounts, Clinton was a wildly effective stateswoman
as Secretary of State. As a Senator, she showed a tenacity for dealing with constituent
concerns, including <a href="http://www.irishexaminer.com/examviral/real-life/heres-how-hillary-clinton-took-time-out-from-being-senator-to-help-a-cancer-patient-413349.html" target="_blank">a personal account</a> from one grateful constituent whom
Clinton spoke to personally. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A couple of papers, notably The Miami Herald on Friday, <a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/editorials/article108145747.html#storylink=cpy" target="_blank">shot down the notion</a> that Clinton is the lesser of two evils in their endorsement,
saying, “the narrative that Hillary Clinton is the lesser of two evils is
patently wrong.” The Corpus-Christi Caller-Times went further, saying, “She is not, as has been
sold, a mere lesser of two evils. Her experience and intellect would make her a
standout in any group of candidates. Like President Obama said and didn’t need
to be fact-checked, she’s more qualified than him or her husband.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Clinton may not be the most qualified person ever to seek
the office of President, but her real qualifications make her among the most
qualified. None of the other people seeking the White House come close. She has
real experience in politics. She has real accomplishments. She deserves to
become the 45th President.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Mike Sarzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13156918807716220210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14024867.post-84202753705150437602016-09-20T09:34:00.000-04:002018-03-28T13:25:44.080-04:00On the right of protest<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="8l46c" data-offset-key="3d734-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #4b4f56; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="3d734-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;">
<span data-offset-key="3d734-0-0">What I'm about to write now will alienate some people. </span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="8l46c" data-offset-key="fo1mk-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #4b4f56; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="fo1mk-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;">
I don't care.</div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="8l46c" data-offset-key="a0msg-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #4b4f56; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="a0msg-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;">
I <u>can't</u> care. Not when Terence Crutcher is dead at the hands of Tulsa police. An unarmed man with his hands in the air is gone. </div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="8l46c" data-offset-key="bh6so-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #4b4f56; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="bh6so-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;">
Last night, for the first time in over 43 years on this planet, when I had an opportunity to stand for the national anthem and salute, I chose not to.</div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="8l46c" data-offset-key="23eb8-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #4b4f56; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="23eb8-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;">
I was at a bar watching the Monday Night Football game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Chicago Bears. Most people at bars don't reflexively stand up and salute the flag. Until last night, I did, even drawing ridicule as a teenager for that display of patriotic fervor.</div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="8l46c" data-offset-key="bctkq-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #4b4f56; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="bctkq-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;">
My thoughts during the anthem turned to the losses of black lives when white lives are often preserved. </div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="8l46c" data-offset-key="3gsh7-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #4b4f56; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="3gsh7-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;">
Meanwhile, people still vilify Colin Kaepernick. He makes too much money to protest. He's an athlete. He should worry more about keeping his job than about social issues.</div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="8l46c" data-offset-key="6u5of-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #4b4f56; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6u5of-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;">
Bull. </div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="8l46c" data-offset-key="e9di2-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #4b4f56; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="e9di2-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;">
Megan Rapinoe was in the area earlier this month as her Seattle Reign got set to take on the Washington Spirit in a National Women's Soccer League match. She intended to kneel during the national anthem, joining a protest Kaepernick started during a preseason NFL game. </div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="8l46c" data-offset-key="7rs8k-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #4b4f56; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="7rs8k-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;">
However, Spirit owner Bill Lynch had other ideas. He had the stadium play the anthem while the teams were still in the locker room, preventing Rapinoe from protesting.</div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="8l46c" data-offset-key="25l0u-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #4b4f56; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="25l0u-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;">
Players from various teams ranging from college to high school and earlier have taken to kneeling, some under threat of suspension from school or from the team. John Tortorella, the head coach of the United States's World Cup of Hockey team said if any players sat on the bench during the anthem, they would remain seated for the entire game.</div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="8l46c" data-offset-key="1p62l-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #4b4f56; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="1p62l-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;">
An employer may have the right to impose consequences for speech. That's why people like Lindsey Stone can be fired for flipping the bird and pantomiming screaming next to a sign that asks for silent respect for the fallen, which happened in 2012 near Arlington National Cemetery. However, school systems would run afoul of the Constitution for suspending players who choose to protest.</div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="8l46c" data-offset-key="b06gk-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #4b4f56; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="b06gk-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;">
The Supreme Court ruled in 1943 in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette that schools cannot force students to stand and salute the flag during the Pledge of Allegiance. As representatives of the state, school systems cannot compel patriotism. </div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="8l46c" data-offset-key="42ufa-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #4b4f56; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="42ufa-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;">
What changed last night? Nothing. And that's the problem. </div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="8l46c" data-offset-key="3vas8-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #4b4f56; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="3vas8-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;">
The system problems Kaepernick's protests seek to address haven't gone away. They haven't even been addressed through anything more than talk. Far too many black children are being shot dead. Far too many black adults are being harassed where white adults are given the benefit of the doubt. For every Cory Batey who is sentenced to 15 years in prison for rape, there's a Brock Turner who serves just three months. The difference? Batey is black. Turner is white. And an Olympian-potential swimmer at that.</div>
</div>
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<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="9tr1h-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;">
What changed last night? Everything. And that's the point.</div>
</div>
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<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="bppta-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;">
For 43 years, I fought even the prospect of changing the national anthem. If it weren't for the events that led to the anthem's being written, we wouldn't have a country, I'd argue. The fact that Baltimore repelled the British during the War of 1812 was a matter of pride in my home state. </div>
</div>
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What changed? Debate over whether the national anthem is racist gives me pause to consider what was not even up for discussion just weeks ago. Ultimately, I still don't think the anthem should be changed, though more out of a sense of needing to learn the lessons of history than a sense of blind fervor.</div>
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Rather than directing anger toward people like Kaepernick and Rapinoe for not standing at attention when overzealous nationalists would like to force them to, we should direct our outrage against a system that led them to the point where simply kneeling became the latest shot heard around the world.</div>
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Mike Sarzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13156918807716220210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14024867.post-7108662783980051912016-03-09T16:00:00.003-05:002016-03-09T16:22:56.356-05:00Coming out is still a personal, difficult journey<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Llax2tKohoc/VuCOrf11v8I/AAAAAAAAAOQ/ykg5fpJHras/s1600/enhanced-mid-11913-1457486394-5.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="278" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Llax2tKohoc/VuCOrf11v8I/AAAAAAAAAOQ/ykg5fpJHras/s320/enhanced-mid-11913-1457486394-5.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Filmmaker Lilly Wachowski came out yesterday as transgender after facing pressure to do so. Photo from Windy City Media.</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Recent events in different arenas have underscored the difficulty
people have with coming out.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Namely, filmmaker Lilly Wachowski, one half of the Wachowski
siblings, <a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/arianelange/second-wachowski-sibling-comes-out-as-trans?bffb&utm_term=.ucA7BARZd#.nk4ZVr6QW" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">came out</span></a> yesterday as
transgender after a tabloid reporter pressured her. Of course, her sister Lana
Wachowski had come out as transgender in 2012.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">The same day, Chicago Tribune sportswriter Chris Hine <a href="http://www.outsports.com/2016/3/8/11183136/gay-blackhawks-chicago-tribune-chris-hine" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">came out</span></a> as gay <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/columnists/ct-nfl-gay-hine-0309-spt-20160308-column.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">in a column</span></a> during
which he ripped the NFL for its lack of progress on addressing gay issues.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Hine’s column underscored the difficulties faced by lesbian, gay,
bisexual, transgender and other people facing questions about their sexual
identities. He used the obnoxious line of questioning directed toward former
Ohio State cornerback Eli Apple by Atlanta Falcons assistant coach Marquand
Manuel, who asked if he was gay. Hine wrote that Apple, who denied being gay,
said the Falcons assistant insinuated that there were a lot of gay men in
Atlanta.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Falcons head coach Dan Quinn <a href="http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2621926-dan-quinn-releases-statement-after-falcons-coach-asks-eli-apple-if-he-likes-men" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">quickly addressed</span></a> Manuel’s
question, saying he was “disappointed.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">“</span><span style="background: white; color: #373737; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I have spoken to the coach that interviewed Eli
Apple and explained to him how inappropriate and unprofessional this was,”
Quinn said. “I have reiterated this to the entire coaching staff and I want to
apologize to Eli for this even coming up.”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #373737; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Even though Manuel also apologized to Apple,
Quinn, the Falcons and the fans and said he learned from the incident, the fact
that the question even came up deserves more than strongly-worded press
releases and pledges to attend sensitivity training. Hine’s column highlighted
his own difficult coming out process, writing that he wrestled with the
question for many years before he finally was able to accept that he was gay
when he was 20. He’s 29 now.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #373737; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">In her <a href="http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/lgbt/Second-Wachowski-filmmaker-sibling-comes-out-as-trans-/54509.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">coming out story</span></a> to
Windy City Media, a Chicago-area LGBT media group, Lilly Wachowski took a
humorous approach despite the pressure.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #373737; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">“SEX CHANGE SHOCKER — WACHOWSKI BROTHERS NOW
SISTERS!!!” began the story as Lilly Wachowski strove to regain control from
the <i>Daily Mail</i> reporter who pressured her into coming out.
Lilly Wachowski, previously known as Andy Wachowski, called for a change in how
people discuss gender issues.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #373737; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">“We need to elevate the dialogue beyond the
simplicity of binary. Binary is a false idol.”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">From my own experience, coming out as LGBTQI – with the “Q”
standing for “queer” – which I hate because of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queer" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">its history as a pejorative</span></a> term or
“questioning” and the I standing for “intersex,” even in 2016 with same sex
marriage legal nationwide, is still considered a courageous act by some. It
certainly wasn’t easy for me, as I wasn’t able to come out to anyone until I
was well past my 24th birthday.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Even then, I felt lucky. My birth father is also gay; I refer to
his partner as my “other dad.” By and large, many of my friends have accepted
me, with two good friends even asking “which one?” at times when I just
referred to “my father” or “my dad.” I certainly didn’t – and don’t – feel very
courageous. I still have moments when I’m nervous about coming out to someone
or confronting someone who’s too loose with an offensive word.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Yes, I’m well aware that <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/172689-courage-is-not-the-absence-of-fear-but-rather-the" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">courage isn’t the absence of fear</span></a>,
as President Franklin D. Roosevelt once said. Still, confronting someone for
casually using the word “faggot,” or dismissively calling something “gay,” even
in a joking manner isn’t always either easy or safe.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Even with those thoughts in mind, these stories – even though they
occupy in different “worlds” in American entertainment culture – are a reminder
of how far we still have to go before we no longer describe coming out as being
an act of courage.</span></div>
Mike Sarzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13156918807716220210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14024867.post-1661188883673917302016-03-01T22:22:00.000-05:002016-03-01T22:22:37.097-05:00'Bathroom bill' shot down in South Dakota, at least for now<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1tPkgK9a0UA/VtZReYOOQyI/AAAAAAAAAN4/jYURmSKva5M/s1600/Photo_of_Gov._Dennis_Daugaard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1tPkgK9a0UA/VtZReYOOQyI/AAAAAAAAAN4/jYURmSKva5M/s320/Photo_of_Gov._Dennis_Daugaard.jpg" width="202" /></a></div>
<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Gov. Dennis Daugaard (R-S.D.) vetoed legislation on Tuesday that would have restricted transgender students' use of bathrooms that correspond to their birth genders.</span></b><br />
<br />
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">South
Dakota Gov. <a href="http://news.sd.gov/newsitem.aspx?id=19926" target="_blank">Dennis
Daugaardʼs veto</a> on Tuesday of legislation that would have
restricted access to restrooms and locker rooms in elementary and
high schools in the state does not necessarily shut the door on an
ugly piece of legislation. </span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1;">
<br />
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">However,
the fact that the Republican governor has sent the bill back to the
state House of Representatives and its initial sponsor, Rep. Fred
Deutsch (R-Dist. 4) has asked his House colleagues not to override
Daugaardʼs veto of House Bill 1008, saying an override would detract
from the accomplishments of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Dakota_Legislature" target="_blank">overwhelmingly
Republican state legislature</a>, which has so-called
super-majorities in both houses, seemingly points to changes in
attitudes toward the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender
communities nationwide.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">The
bill, </span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">“</span></span><span style="color: #2a2a2a;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">does
not address any pressing issue concerning the school districts of
South Dakota,” Daugaard wrote in a letter sent to House Speaker
Dean Wink. “Local school districts can, and have, made necessary
restroom and locker room accommodations that serve the best interests
of all students, regardless of biological sex or gender identity.</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">ˮ</span></span></div>
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</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">The
veto comes despite earlier reports that Daugaard initially supported
the bill, and did not happen without incendiary boiler-plate comments
from bill supporters.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">“</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #222222;">I</span><span style="color: black;">ʼ</span><span style="color: #222222;">m
sorry if you</span><span style="color: black;">ʼ</span><span style="color: #222222;">re
so twisted you don</span><span style="color: black;">ʼ</span><span style="color: #222222;">t
know who you are,” state Sen. David Omdahl (R-Dist. 11) said when
asked about the bill last month, according to foxnews.com. “I</span><span style="color: black;">ʼ</span><span style="color: #222222;">m
telling you right now, it</span><span style="color: black;">ʼ</span><span style="color: #222222;">s
about protecting the kids, and I don</span><span style="color: black;">ʼ</span><span style="color: #222222;">t
even understand where our society is these days.”</span></span></span></div>
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</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #222222;">Omdahl</span><span style="color: black;">ʼ</span><span style="color: #222222;">s
comment was not only vitriolic and patently offensive, it was
ignorant. Ignorant in its offensiveness and <a href="http://mediamatters.org/research/2014/03/20/15-experts-debunk-right-wing-transgender-bathro/198533">ignorant
of the facts</a>, as experts debunked the fear-mongering arguments
and scare tactics used by people like Omdahl. </span></span></span>
</div>
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</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #222222;">For
his part, Daugaard said he wanted to study the legislation and met
with three transgender people to hear their stories. Previously,
Daugaard said he had never knowingly met anyone who was transgender.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1;">
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</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #222222;">The
bill garnered nationwide attention, as CNN reported that South Dakota
could have become the first state to restrict bathroom access by
gender of birth. Hudson Taylor, founder and executive director of
Athlete Ally, an organization founded to promote support of LGBT
causes by straight athletes, <a href="http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=14877725">spoke
out</a> against the legislation on ESPN's Outside the lines. </span></span></span>
</div>
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</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #222222;">With
South Dakota</span><span style="color: black;">ʼs
senate consisting of 27 Republicans and eight Democrats and the house
of representatives consisting of 58 Republicans and 12 Democrats, a
strict party-line vote would easily override Daugaardʼs veto despite
Deutschʼs request. A two-thirds majority of elected senators and
representatives voting to override Daugaardʼs veto.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1;">
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</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">That
alone is a painful reminder that the threat of bills such as this
still exists, particularly in places that are hostile grounds for
anyone who identifies as LGBT.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #222222;">It</span><span style="color: black;">ʼ</span><span style="color: #222222;">s
certainly good news that Daugaard vetoed the legislation, even if it
may have been done more out of fear of potential litigation than out
of a heroic need to protect an especially vulnerable minority of
South Dakotans. However, if the legislature voted strictly along
party lines to override Daugaard</span><span style="color: black;">ʼs
veto, it would serve as little more than hollow symbolism.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Regardless
of the outcome in Pierre, the task for all LGBT people and their
allies remains painfully obvious. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #222222;">In
the immediate wake of a bill that came perilously close to becoming
law, now is not the time for advocates within the LGBT community to
broach the prospect of removing the “T” for transgender people,
as I</span><span style="color: black;">ʼ</span><span style="color: #222222;">ve
seen some discussion sites ponder on Facebook. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #222222;">Every
fight for equality by any oppressed minority has needed help from
people in a position to provide it, such as whites marching in Selma,
Ala., men fighting for equal rights for women or straight people
fighting for marriage equality. “Dropping the </span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">‘</span></span><span style="color: #222222;">T</span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">’
would be irresponsible at such an early stage in the battle for
transgender equality. </span></span></span></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1;">
<br />
</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #222222;">Until
the ugly attitudes such as Omdahl</span><span style="color: black;">ʼs
and people like him espouse become a footnote in history, the fight
for full equality is anything but finished. Attitudes such as his
prove that the real fight is just beginning.</span></span></span></div>
Mike Sarzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13156918807716220210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14024867.post-29240591354310677752015-07-07T11:52:00.002-04:002015-07-07T11:57:18.676-04:00Cosby allegations take another damning turn<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FpWaQtez7hY/VZv2np4NoVI/AAAAAAAAANA/jl3a8aYlPAg/s1600/bill_cosby_wikipedia_public_domain.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="139" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FpWaQtez7hY/VZv2np4NoVI/AAAAAAAAANA/jl3a8aYlPAg/s320/bill_cosby_wikipedia_public_domain.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Actor and comedian Bill Cosby has been accused of sexual
assault by at least 30 women. The statute of limitations has passed in
many of the cases, but the release of sworn testimony where Cosby admitted to obtaining quaaludes in an effort to drug women for sex lends credence to the accusers' stories, one accuser said.</b></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.vulture.com/2014/09/timeline-of-the-abuse-charges-against-cosby.html" target="_blank">Sexual abuse allegations</a> against comedian and actor Bill Cosby, which gathered steam in November, gained even more ground Monday as testimony Cosby gave in 2005 where he admitted to obtaining quaaludes to women he was looking to have sex with was unsealed.<br />
<br />
The testimony came to light after the Associated Press went to court to require the release of Cosby's testimony. Over the objection of Cosby’s attorneys, U.S. District Judge Eduardo Robreno <a href="http://washington.cbslocal.com/2015/07/07/cosby-accuser-now-people-will-know-were-not-liars-anymore/" target="_blank">released the records</a>.<br />
<br />
“The stark contrast between Bill Cosby, the public moralist and
Bill Cosby, the subject of serious allegations concerning improper (and
perhaps criminal) conduct, is a matter as to which the AP — and by
extension the public — has a significant interest,” Robreno wrote, according to the AP.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
The AP reported Tuesday that Cosby, 77, has dealt with accusations of sexual assault over a four-decade span and has never been formally charged with a crime. In addition, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statute_of_limitations" target="_blank">statute of limitations</a> for most of the alleged sexual assaults has passed, meaning that the courts would no longer have any jurisdiction to try Cosby on charges related to the alleged sexual assaults. <br />
<br />
The records released pertained to a lawsuit filed by former Temple University employee Andrea Constand, who agreed to be identified in print by the AP, but chose not to comment. According to a timeline of the accusations that was published on Vulture.com in March, 30 different women accused Cosby of sexual assault.<br />
<br />
Constand allegedly met Cosby for the first time in November 2002, when Vulture.com’s timeline begins, and a meeting in Cosby’s Cheltenham, Penn. home in January 2004 led to the first report of sexual assault found in the timeline. Cosby was accused of giving Constand “herbal” pills to ease her anxiety, then he “touched her breasts and
vaginal area, rubbed his penis against her hand, and digitally
penetrated” her, according to her civil lawsuit.<br />
<br />
Some in Hollywood have condemned Cosby, while others, including TV wife Phylicia Rashad and Keshia Knight Pulliam, who played Rudy Huxtable on <i>The Cosby Show</i>, defended the actor.<br />
<br />
“Forget these women,” Rashad told reporter Roger Friedman. “What you’re
seeing is the destruction of a legacy. And I think it’s orchestrated. I
don’t know why or who’s doing it, but it’s [about] the legacy.”<br />
<br />
Maybe if one person accused Cosby of sexual assault and the truth were to come to light, it might be easily dismissed as a money grab or a play for attention. But 30 different accusations, with some women even agreeing to lend their real names to the accusations, something even the bold Victim No. 4 <a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/news/ncaaf--jerry-sandusky-molestation-trial-victim-1-credible-joe-amendola-.html" target="_blank">didn’t do during Day 1</a> of the trial of former Penn State defensive coordinator and convicted child abuser Jerry Sandusky back in 2012, leaves much more room for belief of each of these individual stories.<br />
<br />
To put it bluntly, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duck_test" target="_blank">the duck test</a> is in order. To be clear that Cosby hasn’t been found guilty of a crime as of yet, but it’s hard to dismiss 30 accusations of sexual assault as mere coincidence, or as 30 women seeking a large payday or attention.<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, an accuser hailed the release of Cosby’s sworn testimony.<br />
<br />
“I’ve been called a liar,” said Joan Tarshis, one of Cosby’s accusers. “I mean, he called me and the other women a
liar. In the press. And now people will know we’re not liars anymore,”
Tarshis said.Mike Sarzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13156918807716220210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14024867.post-35004241051038581862015-06-26T12:41:00.000-04:002015-06-26T12:46:40.115-04:00Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bbOA1tCfDGo/VY2BpQhzF9I/AAAAAAAAAMc/QVTCBM8psVo/s1600/Anthony_Kennedy_official_SCOTUS_portrait_crop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bbOA1tCfDGo/VY2BpQhzF9I/AAAAAAAAAMc/QVTCBM8psVo/s320/Anthony_Kennedy_official_SCOTUS_portrait_crop.jpg" width="256" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, often the swing vote between the liberal and conservative blocs on the Court, wrote the majority decision in Obergfell v. Hodges that made marriage equality the law of the land in the United States.</span></h3>
Months of waiting and discussion of the United States Supreme Court's ruling in <i><span style="color: #111111;">Obergefell v. Hodges</span></i><span style="color: #111111;">, a case where the Court was debating whether or not same-sex couples were entitled to marry each other across the country, and also whether or not states where marriage equality was not on the books were required to recognize same-sex unions performed in states where the practice was legal.</span><br />
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In today<span style="color: #111111;">’</span>s 5-4 ruling, a divided Supreme Court<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/gay-marriage-and-other-major-rulings-at-the-supreme-court/2015/06/25/ef75a120-1b6d-11e5-bd7f-4611a60dd8e5_story.html?postshare=3861435328034655">answered yes</a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>to both questions. The decision, written by swing justice Anthony Kennedy prohibits states from banning same-sex marriages and requires them to recognize marriages performed legally in other states.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="color: #111111;">“Under the Constitution, same-sex couples seek in marriage the same legal treatment as opposite-sex couples, and it would disparage their choices and diminish their personhood to deny them this right,” Kennedy wrote in the majority decision. </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="color: #111111;">Kennedy was joined by the so-called liberal bloc of four justices (Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen G. Breyer, Sonia Sotomajor and Elena Kagan), while the four members of the so-called conservative wing of the court (Chief Justice John Roberts, Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito) each wrote separate dissents.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="color: #111111;">“Many people will rejoice at this decision, and I begrudge none their celebration,” Roberts wrote. “But for those who believe in a government of laws, not of men, the majority’s approach is deeply disheartening.”</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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More bothersome than this attempt at a scholarly approach to dissent was Roberts’s assertion that same-sex marriage isn’t part of the Constitution, as he included in what otherwise read as an attempt at an olive branch to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“If you are among the many Americans – of whatever sexual orientation – who favor expanding same-sex marriage, by all means celebrate today’s decision,” <a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/06/26/417720924/roberts-celebrate-todays-decision-but-do-not-celebrate-the-constitution">he wrote</a>. “Celebrate the achievement of a desired goal. Celebrate the opportunity for a new expression of commitment to a partner. Celebrate the availability of new benefits. But do not celebrate the Constitution. It had nothing to do with it.” </div>
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A simple reading of the Fourteenth Amendment demonstrates how wrong Roberts is with that assertion. That amendment is often referred to as “the second Bill of Rights” because it extends many of the protections of the people against Washington to protect people against overreach by state governments.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States,” Section 1 reads in part. “Nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="color: #111111;">In making the argument on behalf of President Barack Obama's administration back in April, Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli Jr. powerfully argued that preventing same-sex couples from being able to marry the people they love is discrimination.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="color: #111111;">“In a world in which gay and lesbian couples live openly as our neighbors, they raise their children side by side with the rest of us, they contribute fully as members of the community,” he said, “it is simply untenable – untenable – to suggest that they can be denied the right of equal participation in an institution of marriage, or that they can be required to wait until the majority decides that it is ready to treat gay and lesbian people as equals,” he said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Kennedy said it best in the closing paragraph of his majority decision.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">“No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family,” he wrote. “In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were. As some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate, marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death. It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage. Their plea is that they do respect it, respect it so deeply that they seek to find its fulfillment for themselves. Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization’s oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">The struggle for full equality isn’t over yet. A simple look at the ongoing struggles against racism and misogyny proves it. But we’re finally one step closer to living up to our nation’s ideals as outlined in the Declaration of Independence.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">For millions of Americans, their ability to pursue happiness with the life partner of their choice just became a little easier.</span></div>
Mike Sarzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13156918807716220210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14024867.post-53739227107246425302015-04-27T22:42:00.000-04:002015-04-27T22:42:47.121-04:00Riots are Just the Loudest Symptom of What Ails America<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GYKX9U6ZVW8/VT7ycvB8mfI/AAAAAAAAALo/SZYv2L3lG6U/s1600/freddiegray.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GYKX9U6ZVW8/VT7ycvB8mfI/AAAAAAAAALo/SZYv2L3lG6U/s1600/freddiegray.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Freddie Gray</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Ever since Michael Brown was shot dead in Ferguson, Mo. Aug. 9, leading to riots that turned a town that most people outside Missouri had never heard of into a household word, the nation's focus has turned to racial tensions that have simmered in the year since the civil rights struggles of the 1950s and 1960s.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Make no mistake: Brown's death and the
deaths of others who shared his skin color by white police officers
are nothing new. Years of discussion about police brutality and
racial profiling have occasionally flared up violently, such as the
Los Angeles riots almost exactly 23 years ago after a jury acquitted
four police officers even though video showed them pummeling King.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The latest example of tension between
rioters and police came after <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/19/us/baltimore-freddie-gray-death/">Freddie Gray's death</a> April 19. Gray was arrested April 12 and, his family's attorney contends that police injured his spinal cord in the incident. <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/24/us/baltimore-freddie-gray-death/">Police admitted</a> on Friday they didn't get Gray timely medical attention upon his arrest.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Anger over the incident, plus accusations of rampant race-related brutality by Baltimore police boiled over during the past couple of days. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24.0000019073486px;">Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan </span><a href="http://governor.maryland.gov/2015/04/27/governor-larry-hogan-signs-executive-order-declaring-state-of-emergency-activating-national-guard/" style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24.0000019073486px;">declared</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24.0000019073486px;"> a state of emergency and activated the state's National Guard Monday.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The Baltimore Orioles <a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/orioles-postpone-monday-s-game-due-to-ongoing-riots-in-baltimore-223740089.html">postponed</a> their scheduled game against the Chicago White Sox Monday because of riots near Oriole Park at Camden Yards. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said the decision to postpone Monday's game was made after consulting with local officials, according to Yahoo! Sports.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">"We feel like we made the decision that would provide us the greatest possible security in terms of protecting the fans, the players, the umpires, everybody involved in the game," Manfred said. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">More to the point, Orioles executive vice president John Angelos, the son of owner Peter Angelos, wrote a series of tweets in which he sought to put things in perspective.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">"The innocent working families of all backgrounds whose lives and dreams have been cut short by excessive violence, surveillance and other abuses of the bill of rights by government pay the true price, and ultimate," John Angelos wrote, "and one that far exceeds the importance of any kid's game played tonight, or ever, at Camden Yards."</span></div>
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Unfortunately, the rest of reactions around the country, and even within the state of Maryland haven't been nearly as unified. Facebook posts that decried liberals, condemnations of rioters and strong statements directed at those who support or oppose police have demonstrated yet again the great divides that plague a country that seems to be ironically called the "United" States.<br />
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Look, I get the fact that many African-Americans feel disenfranchised in reaction to abuse at the hands of white cops. I recognize that too many African-Americans deal with both open and subtle racism on an everyday basis. However, that doesn't excuse violent protesting. It doesn't justify <a href="http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/blog/bs-md-ci-freddie-gray-gang-threat-20150427-story.html">three gangs joining forces</a> to attack cops, as Baltimore police argue is happening.</div>
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These events also don't justify police brutality or racial profiling. Baltimore City Police Commissioner Anthony Batts has <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8boDKb7r7jo">refused to resign</a> in response to questions surrounding alleged abuse, although Batts also <a href="http://www.wbaltv.com/news/baltimore-police-commissioner-wants-power-to-fire-officers/28992012">said</a> he wanted the authority to fire officers who perform poorly or otherwise warrant termination.</div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">"It could have been my son at the bus stop that night that event of excessive force was used. It is unacceptable and will not be tolerated in this organization," Batts said in October of last year in response to <a href="http://www.wbaltv.com/news/baltimore-police-officer-caught-on-video-beating-suspect/28072938">a video</a> of a police officer beating 32-year-old </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">Kollin Truss in September. </span><br />
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Police need to be held accountable, yes, but simply giving police the authority to fire officers is just the tip of the spear. The riots, the violence and the backlash against police are just the heaviest symptom of the wedge being driven through people in this country. Facebook statements condemning "liberals" and racist criticism of rioters are an example of our lost ability to disagree with others without resulting in enmity.<br />
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Mike Sarzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13156918807716220210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14024867.post-30606463078904737242015-04-10T13:52:00.000-04:002015-04-10T13:52:15.266-04:00Frustrating disrespect for Jenner during a difficult journey<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fptu8ZiBpps/VSgMx9MC-vI/AAAAAAAAALQ/1HSmsjTi6KI/s1600/ed1559122b7571b14946fb038164a2d6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fptu8ZiBpps/VSgMx9MC-vI/AAAAAAAAALQ/1HSmsjTi6KI/s1600/ed1559122b7571b14946fb038164a2d6.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Former Olympic gold medalist Bruce Jenner will sit down with ABC's Diane Sawyer to discuss his impending transition to present as a female on April 24.</b></span><br />
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Some people are familiar with former Olympian Bruce Jenner's athletic accomplishments. Jenner won the gold medal in the decathlon at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, turning him into a sports hero with endorsements that kept his face in front of the American public well into the 1980s.<br />
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More recently, however, Jenner became more famous as the patriarch of the Kardashians, as the former Kris Kardashian married Jenner.<br />
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If that wasn't bad enough, Jenner has borne the brunt of jokes and snide comments about his appearance as he has been seen in public with long hair, sometimes in a ponytail. Eventually, <a href="http://www.people.com/article/bruce-jenner-transitioning-woman">word got out</a> that Jenner is undergoing a process to "transition" into a woman.<br />
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Both before the seeming confirmation reported by <i>People</i> magazine in January and in the days and weeks that followed, people poking fun at Jenner has unfortunately continued. Even questions from well-meaning people have hinted at disrespect toward the journey. On such question I've seen out there illustrates the point: "what's wrong with being a man?" in response to Jenner's transition.<br />
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For someone who isn't familiar with the journey, it's hard to imagine the emotions and the feelings involved that would lead toward the transition. I don't pretend to have all the answers. I don't even profess to have any. That said, from my limited experience, some, if not all, people who choose to take on the journey face something called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_identity_disorder">gender dysphoria</a>, also known as gender identity disorder.<br />
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Long story short: People with gender identity disorder believe they were born with the wrong gender. To use Jenner's example, TMZ <a href="http://www.tmz.com/2015/04/08/bruce-jenner-diane-sawyer-interview-woman-sex-change-farewell/">is reporting</a> that <a href="http://deadline.com/2015/04/bruce-jenner-interview-promo-diane-sawyer-video-1201407800/">when he sits down</a> with ABC's Diane Sawyer on April 24, he is expected to present himself as a woman for the first time. He is expected to tell Sawyer that he considered himself a female since age 5, but was not able to present himself as one.<br />
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The interview in itself may not be disrespectful, but <a href="http://deadline.com/2015/04/bruce-jenner-interview-promo-diane-sawyer-video-1201407800/">ABC's trailer</a> for the interview certainly is. It sensationally avoids showing Jenner's face, choosing to use a silhouette of Jenner along with the back of Jenner's head in shots in a blatant attempt to create interest in the interview.<br />
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I understand the need to drive an audience to watch a program and that ABC needs to promote the interview. I also understand that Jenner's appearance alone may cause interest in the story. However, the shadows and the back of Jenner's head bring a carnival freak level of attention to Jenner that someone going through the emotional anguish of that transition under the glare of public attention should never face.<br />
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ABC's decision to tease Jenner's interview the way it has is yet another example of far too much disrespect directed at people who deserve understanding, no matter how little we have of exactly what they're going through.Mike Sarzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13156918807716220210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14024867.post-5090653695560568102015-04-06T09:59:00.001-04:002015-07-07T12:47:31.784-04:00Anatomy of a failure: What Rolling Stone got wrong<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DAdqRORJkxQ/VSKSEwFkSII/AAAAAAAAAK4/EVhJPpd0tnc/s1600/2000px-Rolling_Stone_logo.svg.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="67" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DAdqRORJkxQ/VSKSEwFkSII/AAAAAAAAAK4/EVhJPpd0tnc/s1600/2000px-Rolling_Stone_logo.svg.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>Rolling
Stone<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>magazine's publication of "A Rape On Campus"
last November, which purportedly chronicled a brutal rape at the Phi Kappa Psi
fraternity house on the University of Virginia campus, resulted in the entire
Greek life system<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/u-va-president-suspends-fraternities-until-jan-9-in-wake-of-rape-allegations/2014/11/22/023d3688-7272-11e4-8808-afaa1e3a33ef_story.html">being
suspended</a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>by university
president Teresa Sullivan.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The suspension was intended to allow the school to do some
soul searching. It was intended to allow the university to examine its policies
and for students to ponder their own responsibility to prevent sexual assault.<o:p></o:p></div>
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As we now know, there was one major problem with the
narrative. Sabrina Erdely, the author of the 9,000-word story, spoke with
"Jackie," the alleged victim and the sole source quoted in the
account. The Columbia Journalism School<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/features/a-rape-on-campus-what-went-wrong-20150405">reviewed
the piece</a> and recounted several failures of basic journalism. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>Rolling Stone</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>has
subsequently retracted the story and has apologized to all the real victims
involved. Erdely<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://money.cnn.com/2015/04/05/media/sabrina-rubin-erdely-rolling-stone-virginia/index.html?iid=EL">has
also apologized</a>, but she cited the admitted difficulties of handling a
story about a crime that so deeply violates its victims.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Erdely interviewed "Jackie" a total of eight
times, and the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Rolling Stone</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>online account indicated that
"Jackie" "proved to be a challenging source," and refused
to provide the name of a lifeguard who worked at the pool on campus whom she
claimed organized the rape. At that point,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Rolling
Stone</i>'s editors agreed to continue with the story "without knowing the
lifeguard's name or verifying his existence."<o:p></o:p></div>
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Erdely, editors and a fact-checker all believed
"Jackie," and the fact-checker even provided details as to why she
believed Jackie.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="background: white;">"She wasn't just answering, 'Yes,
yes, yes,' she was correcting me," the checker said. "She was
describing the scene for me in a very vivid way. … I did not have doubt."<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Rolling Stone</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>asked not to reveal the name of the
fact-checker because she didn't have decision-making authority, according to
the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Rolling Stone</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>account of the story.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="background: white;">After the story published, Erdely asked
"Jackie" for the name of the lifeguard and assured her it would not
be published. Armed with the name, she attempted to verify his membership in
the fraternity and his employment at the pool. She was unable to do either.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="background: white;">Columbia deservedly didn't hold back in
its harsh assessment of<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Rolling
Stone</i>'s systemic failures.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="background: white;">"The failure encompassed reporting,
editing, editorial supervision and fact-checking," Columbia's account
read. "The magazine set aside or rationalized as unnecessary essential
practices of reporting that, if pursued, would likely have led the magazine's
editors to reconsider publishing Jackie's narrative so prominently, if at
all."</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background: white;">Besides<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Rolling
Stone</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>now facing the worst possible
embarrassment as the result of its lack of responsibility being laid
bare before the entire country, there are, of course, myriad ripple
effects. Erdely's credibility as a journalist has clearly been shot to hell.
The university's reputation has been sullied, as it turns out, under false
pretenses. </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background: white;">I'm admittedly not the most sympathetic
person toward the Greek life system, but it turned out Sullivan's suspension of
all Greek life activities was a punishment for a crime that we have little to
no real evidence to believe actually happened. Much like<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_lacrosse_case">the Duke lacrosse case</a> in
2006, in which three players were falsely accused of raping a woman at a party,
the fraternity brothers in Phi Kappa Psi now will have to deal with the
ramifications of being accused of sexual assault unjustly.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background: white;">One of the few things Erdely did right in
the wake of this failure was to express concern about the effects that her and<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Rolling Stone</i>'s mistakes will
have on the discussion about sexual assault and rape. Make no mistake: Rape
still is a serious problem and communities the world over need to do a much
better job of addressing the root causes. A false account, especially one so
graphic, can do untold damage to the good work that started, even under bad
pretenses.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background: white;">Ultimately, it will be a long time before
Erdely and<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Rolling Stone</i> regain
lost credibility. Worse yet, it will be a very long time before all the wounds
caused by shoddy reporting, editorial oversight and fact-checking are healed.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
Mike Sarzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13156918807716220210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14024867.post-90196065403598658432015-03-13T08:54:00.002-04:002015-07-07T12:44:35.810-04:00Tone deafness speaks louder than words in racist language<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aTIssoop1bk/VQLb0LzkwDI/AAAAAAAAAKY/Iyp06e9xlqI/s1600/silk-800x430.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="172" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aTIssoop1bk/VQLb0LzkwDI/AAAAAAAAAKY/Iyp06e9xlqI/s1600/silk-800x430.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div>
<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Oklahoma state Sen. Joseph Silk (R) said of members of the LGBT community "they don't deserve to be served in every store."</span></b> </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The fallout from the drunken, racist chanting that got Sigma
Alpha Epsilon’s Oklahoma chapter banished from campus Tuesday and <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/university-oklahoma-expels-two-students-tied-racist-chant-video-n320831">its two ringleaders expelled</a>
is not the only race-related issue that’s causing consternation.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Univision host Rodner Figueroa <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/12/rodner-figuero-fired_n_6854678.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000048">was fired Thursday</a> over comments about first lady Michelle Obama. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Mind you, you know that Michelle Obama looks like she's
part of the cast of <i>Planet of the Apes</i>,
the film,” Figueroa said.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Taken in isolation, Figueroa’s comment is shameful. Coming
so soon after SAE’s expulsion and video showing the fraternity’s house mother Beauton
Gilbow <a href="http://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2015/03/10/ath-valencia-sae-house-mom-racial-slur-university-of-oklahoma.cnn">gleefully singing the n-word</a> shows how hideously tone deaf Figueroa’s comments really are. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Granted, I’ve noticed that some people are defending Gilbow,
including African-Americans, <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/12/us/university-oklahoma-house-mom-trinidad-james/index.html">especially Trinidad James</a> , the rapper whose song “All Gold Everything” is blaring in the background in
the now-infamous video.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“It’s a rock and a hard place,” said James, whose real name
is Nicholas Williams, in an interview with CNN. “I can’t be as upset at that
lady. I’m upset at the fraternity because what they’re saying is a chant that’s
just completely disrespectful to the black race. As far as that lady goes –
man, that’s an old lady, man. Let that lady be.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The rapper told CNN he doesn’t want people getting up in
arms about others using the n-word when it’s frequently used in hip-hop music,
likening it to parents telling their children not to curse after hearing their
parents curse.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’m not willing to give her a pass. Not because she’s old
and not because she’s using a word she’s hearing in a hip-hop track. If I’m
singing a song that has the word in it, I skip it or use another word, whether
it’s on YouTube or it’s at karaoke. Or I don’t even pick the song to begin
with. Some people equate being old with being able to say whatever they want.
Being old doesn’t take away your responsibility to know better or to do better.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One of my Facebook friends, who is black and who is the
sister of one of my very closest friends expressed disappointment that the two
ringleaders were expelled yesterday, saying that simply kicking out the
students does nothing to educate them on just how hurtful the words they used
are and does nothing to attack the attitudes that led to the use of those words
to begin with.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She also noted the role alcohol played in the chants, saying,
“alcohol brings out the truth.” That’s why I can’t subscribe to the notions
that one or two bad apples ruined the fraternity or the notion that only the
ringleaders and the people participating in the chants should have to face the
consequences for their actions. In addition to those reasons, I remind readers
of <a href="http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/e/edmundburk377528.html#68k1C93kBedciqXw.99">an Edmund Burke quote</a> for why I believe the entire fraternity should have
faced the music: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good
men to do nothing.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In addition, the disgraced SAE chapter <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/sigma-alpha-epsilon-hires-high-profile-lawyer-stephen-jones-n322746">hired prominent attorney Stephen Jones</a>, who defended Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh and plans to sue the university over its expulsion from the campus. Perhaps
they could argue that Oklahoma University president David Boren overstepped his
bounds by expelling the fraternity without anything even resembling due
process, but the fact that they’re looking to lawyer up demonstrates a
disturbing hubris.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Lost in the furor about the obviously contemptible racist
chants and words in the past few days are the attitudes that still lurk beneath
the surface. Attitudes that get exposed when alcohol freely flows or are laid
bare in hip-hop songs that are sung along to far too enthusiastically are
problematic, but so, too are the attitudes of people who try to dismiss
#blacklivesmatter, either with <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/julia-craven/please-stop-telling-me-th_b_6223072.html">a seemingly noble #alllivesmatter hashtag</a> or by claiming that we live in a post-racial society. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The latter assertion is laughable. Minority groups are still fighting for basic rights in this country. Look no
further than Oklahoma, which is now unofficially the most embarrassing state in
the country after people such as <a href="http://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/davidbadash/_they_don_t_have_a_right_to_be_served_in_every_store_says_gop_lawmaker_about_gay_people">state Sen. Joseph Silk, a Republican, said</a> of members
of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, “They don’t have a
right to be served in every single store.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The state is looking to pass legislation that would allow
business owners to refuse LGBT customers because of “sincerely held religious
beliefs.” On top of that, the Oklahoma House of Representatives <a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/progressivesecularhumanist/2015/03/oklahoma-house-passes-bill-restricting-marriage-to-people-of-faith/">passed legislation</a> that would restrict marriage to people of faith, completely flying in the face
of the First Amendment prohibitions against an establishment of religion
because it also targets people who don’t believe in any particular religion.
Not only that, but it also violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s equal protection
clause, as does the legislation which would allow people to refuse to serve
others because of religious beliefs.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Clearly, there’s a long way to go before our country can
even lay claim to being the land of the free and a place where justice is
really for all. It<o:p></o:p>’s a journey that’s made much more arduous by attitudes of people who harbor racist views, either openly or hidden where it takes alcohol or anonymity to expose them. </div>
</div>
Mike Sarzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13156918807716220210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14024867.post-13964599804625958892015-03-09T17:32:00.003-04:002015-03-10T05:57:52.092-04:00Racist video shines harsh glare on racial divide<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2hyAWYOy8P8/VP42R2rwsjI/AAAAAAAAAJ8/3zva5XhWNko/s1600/DavidBorenByPhilKonstantin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2hyAWYOy8P8/VP42R2rwsjI/AAAAAAAAAJ8/3zva5XhWNko/s1600/DavidBorenByPhilKonstantin.jpg" height="320" width="288" /></a></div>
<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo of University of Oklahoma President David Boren by Phil Konstantin released in the public domain.</span></b><br />
<br />
If we didn’t need <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/07/barack-obama-selma-anniversary_n_6823060.html">Saturday’s 50th anniversary</a> of “Bloody Sunday,” an observance of the anniversary of the day in 1965 when thousands marched on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in an effort to secure voting rights for African-Americans that Alabama was denying to them as a reminder of how far the symbolic march for equality still lies ahead, <a href="http://wtop.com/consumer-tech/2015/03/ou-fraternity-to-close-after-racist-video-posted-online/">racist chants</a> aboard an Oklahoma fraternity’s bus provided yet another example.<br />
<br />
Oklahoma University president David Boren very quickly condemned the racist chants, which not only boastfully announced that no [n-word] would be allowed to pledged the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, but also that many African-Americans would be lynched. He also announced that the university would sever ties with the fraternity and that its members would be forced to vacate their house by midnight Tuesday.<br />
<br />
“To those who have misused their free speech in such a reprehensible way, I have a message for you. You are disgraceful," Boren tweeted after the protest. "You have violated all that we stand for. You should not have the privilege of calling yourself 'Sooners.'" The Associated Press also reported that Boren said the university was looking into a range of punishment including expulsion.<br />
<br />
“This is not who we are,” Boren said at a midday news conference. “I’d be glad if they left. I might even pay the bus fare for them.” <br />
<br />
On top of that, Ben Carson, a would be presidential candidate and tea party darling who, as a neurosurgeon, should know better, claimed that homosexuality is a choice because – get this – of prison sex, a fact which <i>Saturday Night Live</i> <a href="http://www.towleroad.com/2015/03/snlcarson.html">rightly lampooned</a>.<br />
<br />
Some may be tempted to laud Boren for acting so swiftly and decisively to separate the university from the actions of a few ignorant fools. Some might argue that because Oklahoma is in the middle of the deep south, Boren had to act quickly, for much the same reason that University of Mississippi chancellor Daniel W. Jones <a href="http://www.allvoices.com/article/15699796">had to act swiftly</a> when students including Ole Miss football players heckled a performance of The Laramie Project with anti-gay and other slurs in 2013. <br />
<br />
“A lot of students come here with less exposure to social issues than they might at other schools,” Jones said at the time. “Because of our unique history of injustice, we have a larger responsibility and opportunity to deal with intolerance in any form.”<br />
<br />
Boren has more to contend with than just history, be it the shameful actions depicted in the movie<br />
<i>Selma</i> or the ever-present stain of bigotry in Mississippi. Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin has made her opposition to gay equality <a href="http://www.gayly.com/oklahomas-anti-gay-governor-announces-re-election">a central aspect of her administration</a> as the state has doggedly fought to serve as a roadblock against same-sex marriage, among other issues. He has to contend with a fraternity that has gone far beyond a sick joke or what could be dismissed as trolling if words used in the video captured on the bus were confined to the Internet.<br />
<br />
On top of the mere words chanted by members of Sigma Alpha Epsilon and the threats inherent in the chants, the timing – so soon after the anniversary of Bloody Sunday and after President Barack Obama’s fiery speech Saturday at the site of the massacre – could not have been worse. If anyone continues to argue that America is a post-racial society, merely reading these accounts should prove otherwise.<br />
<br />
The Associated Press report on Boren’s response to the fraternity also noted that the brothers were “not totally forthcoming” in response to the reports of the incident, which suggests both tacit approval for the virulently racist stance and the flaws of a culture that expects people to take the fall for others rather than admit to wrongdoing. <br />
<br />
Like so many examples in years past and recently, the fraternity’s actions are a reminder that the cover-up is sometimes worse than the crime. More to the point: In this case, the cover-up only serves to exacerbate the crime.<br />
<br />
Not only is America far from being post-racial, but the anniversary and these recent examples of bigotry that remain show how far we haven’t come in the symbolic march toward liberty and justice for all Americans.<br />
<br />
Boren had to act quickly all right. But his immediate response should be a call to action for all who care about equality.<br />
<br />
The university will be “an example to the entire country of how to deal with this issue. There must be zero tolerance for racism everywhere in our nation,” <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/03/09/oklahoma-fraternity-racist-video/24634005/">he said</a>.<br />
<br />
Boren may have spoken about his university, but his words serve as a challenge for a nation. We all must accept his challenge if we are to truly live our ideals as a nation conceived in liberty and equality for all.Mike Sarzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13156918807716220210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14024867.post-21557261771108394642015-01-23T21:52:00.000-05:002015-03-09T23:55:53.055-04:00Sports Illustrated with a lot less illustrationIt's no secret that print journalism has faced immense challenges in the past 20 years or so.<br />
<br />
The popularity of the Internet has grown immensely during that time. Newspapers have provided articles and photos free of charge to anyone with a computer and a web browser. Cell phones evolved from having a reputation for being the exclusive property of doctors and drug dealers to being as ubiquitous as a wallet or a purse, if not more so. The phones themselves evolved from being enormous and clunky, usable for just a few minutes of emergency communication to being portable combinations of telephone, computer and other electronic devices.<br />
<br />
Newspapers realized all too late that providing all, or an overwhelming majority, of their content for free from the early days of the Internet's popularity was a bad decision. On March 5, 2007, the website <a href="http://newspaperdeathwatch.com/">NewspaperDeathWatch.com</a> was founded, "chronicling the decline of newspapers and the rebirth of journalism," according to its banner. Along the left side of the front page is a list of newspapers that shuttered their doors.<br />
<br />
Magazines certainly aren't immune to the pressures that have turned some newspapers into shadows of their former selves. A particularly unfortunate example of this happened Thursday when <i>Sports Illustrated</i> <a href="https://nppa.org/news/sports-illustrated-lays-all-staff-photographers">laid off</a> its last six staff photographers.<br />
<br />
"There was a decision made through the company to restructure various departments, including at <i>Sports Illustrated</i>," said the magazine's director of photography Brad Smith. "Unfortunately economic circumstances are such that it has cut the six staff photographers."<br />
<br />
The photographers could still shoot photos for the magazine in a freelance capacity and the layoffs will take effect in March, meaning the six laid off photogs will still work Super Bowl XLIX in Glendale, Ariz. However, Smith's words arguing that the magazine remains committed to high quality photography ring especially hollow.<br />
<br />
"Our commitment to photography is as strong as ever, and we will continue to create the best original content possible," he said.<br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Riiiight</i>.<br />
<br />
A small community newspaper, be it a weekly newspaper or a monthly rag may not be able to afford a staff photographer on salary and may rely on photographers who shoot as a hobby or may have retired from full time work and don't need money earned from taking photos for a newspaper to put food on the table. Even larger newspapers have seen reporters be required to take pictures while writing stories.<br />
<br />
I know first hand that entrusting photos to someone who isn't a photographer by trade is a crap shoot at best. When I was managing editor of <i>The Prince George's Sentinel</i>, I was extremely lucky to have a staff photographer who put extensive thought into shot composition and getting the right mood for a photo going with a story. I was also lucky to have freelance writers along the way who took good photos. I even managed to take some photos that impressed our very talented staff photographer. <br />
<br />
However, I also saw publications where the quality of photos taken by reporters or others who worked for the newspaper suffered enormously.<br />
<br />
One of my friends showed me <a href="https://twitter.com/inthefade/status/558681106195939328">a tweet</a> he encountered that said the following: "<i>Sports Illustrated</i> laid off all its photographers so the swimsuit issue will just be selfies."<br />
<br />
The news of <i>Sports Illustrated</i>'s layoffs of its staff photographers hits especially hard because I still have vivid memories of coming home from school as a high school student on Thursdays and grabbing <i>Sports Illustrated</i> as soon as I walked in the door. Before I even touched my homework, and sometimes even <i>instead of</i> doing my homework for the night, I read <i>Sports Illustrated</i>. Back then, I was a budding writer and an avid sports fan. I used to read <i>Sports Illustrated</i> and I used to be captivated by the quality of the writing. I even remember dreaming that one day, my words would grace the pages of <i>Sports Illustrated</i>.<br />
<br />
Years later, I made that childhood dream come true in a sense. In 2010, I was a sometime writer for Yahoo! Voices, and they contacted me about writing a piece in which I profiled the sporting venues and teams in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. When I got the e-mail on May 26, 2010 that it was published on <i>Sports Illustrated</i>'s online site, I was insanely happy. Even my parents -- who hate sports and don't follow sports -- realized what a big deal it was to be published by <i>Sports Illustrated</i>.<br />
<br />
That's why seeing the magazine's decline in quality from being appointment reading every Thursday to being just another publication ditching an example of what it did best in the effort to save the almighty dollar is especially heartbreaking. I certainly feel for the six men who now will no longer earn a salary for their photos. Certainly, having to find another job in an economy that still carries reminders of the Great Recession is tough. But their loss is more than just one publication looking to save money. It's a symbol of the plight of far too many people who struggled to make ends meet in living their passion who end up having to find other ways to keep a roof over their heads.<br />
<br />
If that doesn't demonstrate how far a publication that once was the gold standard for journalism has fallen, I don't know what does.<br />
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Mike Sarzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13156918807716220210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14024867.post-44058412639423645902015-01-21T22:00:00.002-05:002015-03-09T23:53:40.299-04:00After watching Selma, the march is just beginning<i>Selma</i>, a movie depicting some of the events leading to the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, is not considered a history of the civil rights movement. Nor is it a biopic of the life and times of Martin Luther King, Jr.<br />
<br />
The movie strives for none of that. And yet, a movie that so narrowly focuses on the events of the various marches on Selma, Ala. was about much more than that.<br />
<br />
The recent tensions related to the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown last August in Ferguson, Mo. plus other race-related tragedies placed race relations squarely in the forefront of American discourse. Certainly, the events depicted in <i>Selma</i> portrayed a shameful period of American history.<br />
<br />
Robert Jones, Jr., writer from Brooklyn, N.Y. wrote <a href="http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/an-open-letter-to-my-sister-ava-duvernay-20150121">a treatise</a> aimed at <i>Selma</i> director Ana DuVernay. His open letter to DuVernay begins with imagery of black children and adults facing modern day atrocities that brought to mind the outrages that our forefathers in the fight for equality faced in simply winning the right to vote.<br />
<br />
That battle for the right to vote was central to <i>Selma</i>, and brings the voter turnout of the past election into negative relief, as so many people died for the right to do something the law said they should be able to all along.<br />
<br />
As depicted in the movie, Alabama Gov. George Wallace pointed out in a conversation with President Lyndon B. Johnson that blacks had the legal right to vote. However, poll taxes they could not afford and other demands made it all but impossible for any more than a minute number of blacks to vote.<br />
<br />
Considering all that, is there really an excuse for voter turnout in the 2014 election to be <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/11/10/voter-turnout-in-2014-was-the-lowest-since-wwii/">at its lowest point</a> since World War II?<br />
<br />
I digress. The point behind <i>Selma</i> may not have been to be a <i>history</i> of the civil rights movement as a whole. It may not have been to depict Martin Luther King, Jr.'s life. It may not even have been specifically to demonstrate how much has changed in 50 years ... and how little has changed in that span.<br />
<br />
So what was the point of <i>Selma</i>? All of the above, and much more. Performances by David Oyelowo, who portrayed King, Tom Wilkinson as Johnson and Nigel Thatch, who portrayed Malcolm X and bore an uncanny resemblance to the civil rights activist, and others in the cast showed many of the difficulties behind the scenes in planning marches, in interpersonal relationships and in the big picture fight for equality, including the differences between the various branches of the movement that threatened to tear it apart.<br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Selma</i> may not have been the perfect movie -- there are disputes about the accuracy of the movie's depiction of the King-Johnson relationship and an actor in the movie said he wished it depicted "just how demented" Wallace was -- but as a power reminder of how far we've come in the fight for equal rights, and how far we haven't come, <i>Selma</i> certainly was worth sitting over two hours to watch.<br />
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Mike Sarzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13156918807716220210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14024867.post-70514016359756764622015-01-10T09:01:00.001-05:002015-01-10T09:01:57.680-05:00Zimmerman arrested again, bringing more justice problems to light<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hpcrmJghCXU/VLEwi0p1vrI/AAAAAAAAAJc/X6cl84apJek/s1600/george_zimmerman_mugshot_4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hpcrmJghCXU/VLEwi0p1vrI/AAAAAAAAAJc/X6cl84apJek/s320/george_zimmerman_mugshot_4.jpg" /></a></div>
<b>George Zimmerman, 31, was arrested Friday night on aggravated assault and domestic violence charges. Photo is in the public domain.</b><p>
<p>
George Zimmerman, the man <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_Trayvon_Martin">found not guilty</a> of second-degree murder and manslaughter charges in the wake of the shooting death of unarmed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in 2012, <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2015/01/10/us/george-zimmerman-arrested/index.html">was arrested</a> Friday on suspicion of aggravated assault and domestic violence with a weapon.<p>
Zimmerman, 31, was arrested at about 10 p.m. in Lake Mary, Fla. and was booked on those charges at the John E. Polk Correctional Facility.<p>
This episode is merely the latest in Zimmerman's checkered history with the law ever since his trial and the events leading up to it gained national attention. He was <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2013/07/31/us/texas-zimmerman-traffic-violation/">pulled over</a> in Texas on July 31, 2013, just two weeks after his acquittal in the Martin case. A few months later, he was suspected of getting into an altercation with his then-girlfriend in November 2013. He was arrested on domestic violence battery, aggravated assault, and criminal mischief charges, which he denied. He posted $9,000 bail and his then-girlfriend opted not to press charges.<p>
On top of those charges, a man said in September that Zimmerman threatened to kill him during <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/videos/us/2014/09/12/hln-george-zimmerman-road-rage-incident.hln">a road rage incident</a>.<p>
Clearly, Zimmerman's track record is a spotty one. Even if he weren't guilty of any of the charges against him, the fact that he's been in police crosshairs so frequently ever since he first shot Martin casts an even longer shadow of doubt over the verdict. Let's be clear. Zimmerman has been charged with crimes, but has not been convicted. With that said, each incident that causes his name to appear in national headlines casts the verdict in even worse relief.<p>
This particular incident in and of itself may or may not be directly related to recent tragedies that have increased racial tensions to their highest level in 22 years, but justice and race relations do not operate in a vacuum. Not only that, but questions about the neighborhood watch coordinator who continually runs afoul of the law don't paint a rosy picture for Lake Mary.<p>
Recent events have made it clear that a major overhaul is needed in the justice system and in how those who are sworn to protect our communities operate. However, laws alone won't bring the change that's needed. Citizen panels who advise the police but don't have teeth in being able to keep them in line won't get the job done.<p>
Both those who oppose police brutality and those who say they support the police make valid points, but when New York City police officers turn their backs on New York Mayor Bill de Blasio in obvious mutiny and an Indiana officer <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/17/us/breathe-tshirt-controversy/">prints T-shirts</a> with the sloan "Breathe Easy, Don't Break The Law" in an obvious slam on those who wore T-shirts with the slogan "I can't breathe," it only aggravates the us vs. them atmosphere that exists between police and citizens.<p>
It's going to take the community and police working together to ensure that people don't live in fear of police and the police can do their jobs without fear that a 12-year-old will wield a pellet gun, as Tamir Rice did on Dec. 5 when he was <a href="http://nypost.com/2014/11/27/cops-release-video-of-officer-fatally-shooting-12-year-old/">shot dead</a>. It's also going to take a much more careful evaluation of other things such as racial profiling.<p>
The justice system was put in place with safeguards that are meant to protect the innocent. When those safeguards result in juries getting it wrong, the problems make the system look worse than it is, regardless of whether Zimmerman is not guilty of these latest charges.Mike Sarzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13156918807716220210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14024867.post-77119411190870705462015-01-09T12:27:00.000-05:002015-03-09T20:07:02.295-04:00When a joke is no laughing matterJokes in newsrooms are often freeflowing and are frequently profane. They’re often riotously funny for the people involved in what is a stressful job.<br />
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That is, they’re funny until the jokes get into print.<br />
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That’s a lesson <i>The News-Enterprise</i> in Hardin County, Kentucky found out the hard way.<br />
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During the publication of Thursday’s edition, two copy editors decided to make a joke out of a quote from Sheriff John Ward about why people go into law enforcement.<br />
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In a paraphrased statement, the newspaper reported that Ward said they do so “because they have a desire to shoot minorities.”<br />
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As editor Ben Sheroan wrote in <a href="http://www.thenewsenterprise.com/content/apology-error-should-not-have-happened">an editorial</a> recounting the critical blunder, “Sheriff Ward is not responsible for the statement. He said nothing of the sort.”<br />
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The result of the major error is that two copy editors now find themselves out of a job, a reporter finds herself with major egg on her face through no fault of her own and, as Sheroan wrote, the newspaper blew years of trust up in a cloud of smoke.<br />
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Sheroan wrote that many angry callers demanded to know if anyone proofreads the newspaper before it goes into print.<br />
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Unfortunately, as he wrote, “that’s where the error took place.<br />
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“A function and process designed to rid the news pages of error instead added a terrible one that altered the reporter’s original sentence,” he wrote. <br />
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To his credit, he also didn’t try to offer a justification for what happened.<br />
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“No reasonable excuse can exist.”<br />
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Adding in a joke that makes it into print and embarrasses a newspaper is bad enough. Years ago, a copy editor put in a placeholder caption for a person he or she was trying to identify and wrote, “some [expletive].” Unfortunately for everyone involved, that expletive referring to the performer of an act of sexual intercourse made it into print.<br />
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Another <a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew/post/-Idiot-paper-notes-unusual-spelling-of-Phillies?urn=mlb,203523">embarrassing mistake</a> happened when <i>The Bucks Local News</i>, a newspaper based in Pennsylvania, printed an insult of Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Domonic Brown referring to the unusual spelling of his first name.<br />
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“*NFP: DOMONIC IS SPELLED RIGHT, HE'S JUST AN IDIOT*”<br />
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“NFP” stands for Not for Publication. It was apparently intended for copy editors to not try to spell Domonic in a more traditional manner. Instead, it resulted in a major embarrassment, which resulted in writer Matthew Friedman writing, “the only idiot in this case is me.”<br />
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Perhaps in Friedman’s case it was. But these cases point to a critical flaw when it comes to journalism, in particular print media. Story after story of newspapers cutting jobs and some newspapers closing their doors have been rampant over the years. So, too, were directives from newspaper management to “do more with less.”<br />
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There’s a huge flaw in that directive. Too often, staffs have been cut to the bone, and in some cases, into the bone, leaving overworked reporters and editors, some of whom end up taking on added responsibilities that they aren’t trained in or aren’t good at.<br />
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Some newspapers require their reporters to take photos instead of having a photographer. Some reporters can take photos well. Some can’t. Either way, a reporter having to take photos will see the quality of his or her work suffer in the process.<br />
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If a newspaper or a chain of papers takes away a copy editor from a large copy desk, it may have a minimal impact. But if it’s several copy editors who go, it makes it much harder for the people who are left to catch mistakes or write captions or headlines facing mounting deadline pressure.<br />
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None of that excuses the horrible mistake on Thursday that resulted in an embarrassing error that looks even worse considering the state of race relations in this country. It shows an appalling lack of sense on the part of the copy editors involved to even make the joke, let alone to allow the joke to make it into print.<br />
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The impact to the newspaper itself is a clear loss of credibility, major embarrassment for the reporter involved for that mistake to appear in a story with her byline on it, and a community that is now up in arms. In an age of heightened racial tensions, the impact could have been much, much worse.<br />
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Mike Sarzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13156918807716220210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14024867.post-39071597712830344902015-01-07T17:54:00.000-05:002015-03-09T20:05:01.333-04:00Councilman's "apology" was hardly one at allFrederick County (Md.) Councilman Kirby Delauter <a href="http://www.fredericknewspost.com/public/delauter-statement-to-the-news-post-threatening-lawyer-was-wrong/article_48b2a336-96b8-11e4-8c3f-63665634f9a3.html">backtracked on Wednesday</a> from his <a href="http://digital-sidelines.blogspot.com/2015/01/on-kirby-delauter-and-his-so-called.html">threat</a> to sue <a href="http://digital-sidelines.blogspot.com/2015/01/on-kirby-delauter-and-his-so-called.html">The Frederick News-Post</a> for using his name without his permission.<br />
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Sounds good, right? Someone admitting when he’s wrong, which seems all too rare in this day and age, and doing so soon after committing the epic gaffe that turned him from locally known at best into a First Amendment villain sounds admirable.<br />
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Not so fast.<br />
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Delauter’s screed in response to the outcry he caused by threatening to sue reporter Bethany Rodgers was no apology. Hell, it wasn’t even a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-apology_apology">non-apology apology</a>, which I’ve <a href="http://www.allvoices.com/article/16494172">written about</a> in the past.<br />
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“Of course, as I am an elected official, <i>The Frederick News-Post</i> has the right to use my name in any article related to the running of the county -- that comes with the job,” Delauter said in a statement.<br />
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“So yes, my statement to the Frederick News-Post regarding the use of my name was wrong and inappropriate. I’m not afraid to admit when I’m wrong.”<br />
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Not afraid to admit when he’s wrong, perhaps. But nowhere in the statement do I see the words “I’m sorry.” There’s an acknowledgement of letting his temper get the best of him, and an admission that it sometimes escalates rather than calms tense situations.<br />
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But there isn’t the most important, most basic element of an apology. The words “I’m sorry.” Hell, even “I apologize” would have been more welcome than their absence. Saying you made a mistake but then not pledging to take concrete steps to ensure that mistake doesn’t happen again is only doing part of the job.<br />
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Perhaps acknowledging the First Amendment was a good step in the right direction for Delauter, but with this statement not truly being apology, just merely a backtrack, it reads as more like a snarky response to the sudden dragging of his name through a much larger swath of mud than Frederick County, Maryland. Instead, Delauter’s statement was reminiscent of former congressional staffer Elizabeth Lauten’s <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20141201221844-19890137-aide-s-resignation-is-no-happy-ending?trk=object-title">non-apology</a> in the wake of her criticism of first daughters Sasha and Malia Obama.<br />
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If there is one good thing to come from this episode, it’s the prospect that media -- both traditional and otherwise -- still can hold elected officials and those who work for them accountable. That’s something that journalists around the world need to continue doing to prevent the next Kirby Delauter from picking a fight with the media and the people he represents. <br />
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Mike Sarzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13156918807716220210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14024867.post-43512860217608386162015-01-07T12:54:00.002-05:002015-07-07T12:46:53.421-04:00An act of terror strikes France<a href="http://news.yahoo.com/paris-shooting-je-suis-charlie-hebdo-attack-live-coverage-151842914.html">Two armed gunmen stormed</a> the Paris office building of a satirical newspaper and killed 12 people in a brutal attack early Wednesday morning.<br />
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The gunmen allegedly <a href="http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2015/01/prophet_has_been_avenged_in_attack_on_paris_magazine_that_kills_12.html">shouted "we have avenged the prophet!"</a> during their assault on the <i>Charlie Hebdo</i> headquarters, as they symbolically took aim at a newspaper that has been <a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/9f90f482-9672-11e4-a40b-00144feabdc0,Authorised=false.html?_i_location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Fcms%2Fs%2F0%2F9f90f482-9672-11e4-a40b-00144feabdc0.html%3Fsiteedition%3Duk&siteedition=uk&_i_referer=">accused</a> of "mocking, baiting and needling French Muslims" by a <i>Financial Times</i> columnist. <br />
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Obviously, they did more than kill 12 people, including the top editor and lead cartoonist. This cowardly act is an affront against the principle of freedom of expression. Even though the attack seemingly happened a world away, it is an attack against all journalists, especially ones who turn a critical eye toward religious figures.<br />
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Unfortunately, this sort of attack is far too common. Not just the act of shooting people dead itself, but the act of seeking retribution for insults against the Prophet Muhammad, be they real or perceived.<br />
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<a href="http://digital-sidelines.blogspot.com/2006/02/denmark-real-deal.html">One of the few pieces I wrote</a> in years past on this blog that remains in place is a piece I wrote when an Islamic group took offense to cartoons published by a Danish newspaper back in 2006. As much as I try to be respectful of other people and other cultures, I can't wrap my brain around being so thin-skinned as to take offense to any insults to any religious figure. That sort of hypersensitivity is far worse than any sense of "political correctness running amok." It's far more dangerous than any so-called "pussyfication" of society. <br />
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Lives are at stake. People have lost their lives due to jihad over insults. Even if <i>Charlie Hebdo</i> <b>were</b> "baiting" French Muslims, it's a satirical newspaper, possibly akin to the French version of <i>The Onion</i>.<br />
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Rather than take offense to any real or perceived insults to any religious faith, a far more productive response to cartoons or criticism of the faith would be defending the faith by making counter arguments in support of the faith. Might doesn't always make right.<br />
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My heart breaks for the families and friends of the victims, the 12 people who lost their lives and the five others who were critically injured. We must all take this as a call to action to ensure that people of conscience can feel free to express themselves without fear of retribution.<br />
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Mike Sarzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13156918807716220210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14024867.post-37230451583347566052015-01-06T19:49:00.002-05:002015-01-06T19:49:36.526-05:00On Kirby Delauter and his so-called rightsUntil the past couple of days, I'd never heard of Kirby Delauter.<p>
He's a local politician in my home state of Maryland. Specifically, he's a member of the Frederick County Council.<p>
So what did he do to become so famous (or infamous, as the case may be)?<p>
He <a href="http://m.fredericknewspost.com/news/politics_and_government/kirby-delauter-kirby-delauter-kirby-delauter/article_da85d6f4-fa3c-524f-bbf6-8e5ddc0d1c0a.html?mode=jqm">threatened to sue</a> <i>The Frederick News-Post</i> for using his name <b>without permission</b>.<p>
"Use my name again unauthorized and you'll be paying for an attorney," Delauter <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/county-councilman-threatens-sue-newspaper-over-using-name-205357776.html">wrote</a> in a Facebook post directed at a <i>News-Post</i> reporter
As if any news outlet needs permission to use the name of public figures when they do public figure things.<p>
I won't bore you all with a detailed deconstruction of just how idiotic this makes Delauter look. The <i>News-Post</i> does a nice job of that in an editorial with a brilliant piece of trolling thrown in for good measure.<p>
I encourage you all to read the editorial itself, which I included in the link above. If you'd rather not, each first letter of the editorial spells out Delauter's name.<p>
I won't be a copycat and do that here, but I was tempted. Boy was I tempted.<p>
Besides the First Amendment discussion the <i>News-Post</i> and other outlets were so quick to trumpet as giving media the right to use his name, there's another element that makes Delauter's threat laughable. Namely, in the context of Frederick County, Maryland, he's a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_figure">public figure</a>. If someone were to write something or say something disparaging about Delauter in Montana, he might have a case because he's not a public figure there.<p>
But this isn't about Montana or Dubuque, Iowa or Portland, Maine. This is about Maryland. This is about Frederick County, where he is a public figure, or at least a limited purpose public figure. As such, Delauter would have to prove there was actual malice on the part of the newspaper in printing his name.<p>
Granted, the editorial might be used as evidence of such malice because of its expert trolling job. But I doubt it. It likely would be considered an act of public commentary. It would be considered part of a newspaper doing its job by being a public watchdog over those who are supposed to represent us or to pass laws to protect us.<p>
Regardless of public figure or First Amendment issues involved, the act of threatening a newspaper with a lawsuit because they used his name simply fails the smell test. It's an attempt to intimidate the news media from doing its watchdog duty.<p>
I hope Delauter has plenty of money if he wants to go ahead with suing the <i>News-Post</i> or anyone else who has suddenly decided to use his name. Now that he's made a fool of himself, he may now be a national public figure, which would make his case even more spurious than it already was.<p>
Nice going, Kirby Delauter.
Mike Sarzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13156918807716220210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14024867.post-6880023342287949402015-01-04T21:20:00.001-05:002015-07-07T12:46:07.412-04:00R.I.P. Stuart ScottThere are some losses that just take more out of you than others.<br />
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<a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/stuart-scott-longtime-espn-anchor-dies-at-49-1420390694?mod=wsj_hpp_middlenexttowhatsnewsfifth">Stuart Scott's death</a> after a courageous battle with cancer at age 49 is one of those losses.<br />
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Some of my friends essentially grew up watching Scott rattle off catch phrases such as "booyah!" and "as cool as the other side of the pillow. I was already in my early 20s when he made his debut on ESPN, so I didn't get the same chance as my younger friends did.<br />
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I may not have always connected with some of his catch phrases, but I did connect with his inspirational battle with cancer. As a cancer survivor myself, I rooted for him to beat the disease.<br />
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When most of us think of beating a disease, we think of eradicating its existence from our bodies. We think of living decades beyond a diagnosis. We think of succumbing only to the ravages of old age.<br />
Scott reminded us all that merely beating a diagnosis or sending diseased cells away from your body alone doesn't mean you beat cancer. Last July, when he gave <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/early-lead/wp/2015/01/04/watch-stuart-scotts-inspirational-espys-speech/">a speech</a> at the ESPY Awards, he explained what it truly means to beat cancer and other diseases like it.<br />
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"When you die, it does not mean that you lose to cancer," he said in words that take on a whole new meaning now. "You beat cancer by how you live, why you live, and in the manner in which you live."<br />
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In 2006, I was in my first year as the managing editor of <i>The Prince George's Sentinel</i>, a weekly newspaper in Maryland. In November of that year, I was diagnosed with testicular cancer. In the days leading up to the surgery and then the doctor's appointment where I found out what type of cancer it was, the fear and the uncertainty held a vise-like grip over me. Realizing that I could be battling for my life was a scary thought for someone who was still in his early 30's.<br />
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I was fortunate. The cancer I had was a seminoma. Long story short: It was the best possible outcome other than not having cancer at all. I found out on Dec. 1 that year that all the markers after my surgery came back normal, meaning the cancer did not metastasize. I went through single-dose chemotherapy, and just a day or so later, had a conversation with a friend who told me I'd never seemed more alive that I was at that moment.<br />
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Normally, I'm a very private person and wouldn't think to share my demons with others. I went public with my cancer battle. I wanted people to learn my story and possibly save their lives by going to the doctor. I don't consider myself in the same category of Scott or Lance Armstrong, who also survived testicular cancer. But I am grateful that I'm still among the living.<br />
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As painful as it is to write a tribute to someone who has left this world far too soon, I do so with Fleetwood Mac's "Beautiful Child" playing in my head. It's a tiny sliver of comfort in an hour of loss.<br />
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Goodbye, Stuart. You truly were "as cool as the other side of the pillow." And now, you will always be that way.<br />
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Mike Sarzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13156918807716220210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14024867.post-47830974776882367752014-12-26T12:40:00.001-05:002015-01-10T08:23:40.347-05:00Wizards showing last year was no magic trickAmid the rush of people returning unwanted Christmas gifts or perhaps enjoying a relaxing day off from mingling with relatives or fighting shopping mall hordes, my thoughts turned to the National Basketball Association after its slate of Christmas Day games.<P>
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Specifically, I pondered some of the meaning behind the Washington Wizards <a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/washington-wizards-new-york-knicks-2014122518/">defeating</a> the New York Knicks 102-91 at Madison Square Garden in New York Thursday. Sure, the Knicks are in such disarray they wouldn’t even qualify as a hot mess with a 5-26 record and a <a href="http://www.allvoices.com/article/17248284">rookie head coach</a> in Derek Fisher who is one year removed from being a reserve point guard. Sure, the Knicks are trying to adopt the triangle offense espoused by team president and legendary former Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson, and that offense is complex.<p>
But a win is a win, and this win marked the 20th of the season for the Wizards, snapping a two-game losing streak. For a Washington team that <a href="http://www.allvoices.com/article/16900862">all too often</a> in its history has struggled to win 20 games out of the NBA’s 82-game schedule, winning 20 games out of the first 28 games on the schedule is a notable accomplishment. Winning on the road in one of the league’s most storied venues, even against a decrepit Knicks squad that fell to 5-26 as a result of Washington’s victory in front of a national television audience is significant.<p>
The team has won games it would have lost in years past. A come-from-behind victory over Milwaukee when the team started flat after beating Cleveland the night before was a prime example of a game the Wizards would have lost in years past that they’ve learned to win. Another example was a lethargic outing against Orlando on Dec. 10 that saw shooting guard Bradley Beal struggle mightily all game until he hit a buzzer-beating game-winning shot that secured a 91-89 victory as Wizards play-by-play announcer Steve Buckhantz shouted, “Dagger!”<p>
The best part of this for long suffering Wizards fans who didn’t jump onto the bandwagon of a suddenly successful team has been watching a team that isn’t just struggling to sneak into the playoffs as a low seed to get an expected beat down from the elite teams in the conference. This team has the look of an outstanding team in its own right. It’s a team that former Washington Post columnist Michael Wilbon argued <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dc-sports-bog/wp/2014/12/17/michael-wilbon-is-angry-that-d-c-sports-fans-and-media-arent-paying-enough-attention-to-the-wizards/">doesn’t get enough attention</a> from a D.C.-area fan base that’s obsessed with the Washington NFL team.<p>
In a signature victory-type outing Dec. 12 against a powerful Los Angeles Clippers squad featuring Blake Griffin and Chris Paul, the Wizards seized control of the game and never let the Clippers get closer than eight points in the second half, defeating Los Angeles 104-96. It was a game that wasn’t as close as the score suggested, and point guard John Wall completely outplayed Paul. <p>
Just as important as Wall has been with his assists and with his court vision has been the <a href="http://www.rantsports.com/nba/2014/12/21/paul-pierces-leadership-a-huge-factor-in-washington-wizards-success/">veteran leadership</a> of forward Paul Pierce, who has helped the team take “<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wizards-insider/wp/2014/11/24/wizards-continue-taking-maturity-steps-after-comeback-win-over-bucks/">maturity steps</a>” on the way to becoming a team to respect. One media outlet in the Washington, D.C. area reported that Pierce got on his teammates about bad habits after the team won a game. <p>
Wilbon also touched on the chemistry the team has developed on the court and off and has complimented the team’s personalities in addition to the quality of their play. This definitely does not have the look of a Wizards team that nearly five years ago saw former superstar guard Gilbert Arenas and fellow guard Javaris Crittenton have <a href="http://deadspin.com/5901514/remember-when-gilbert-arenas-and-javaris-crittenton-threatened-to-shoot-each-other-javale-mcgee-started-it">an altercation</a> that led to Arenas leave four guns in Crittenton’s locker with a sign saying “pick one.”<p>
Not only that, but Randy Wittman has successfully removed the label of coaching retread over the past two-plus seasons. His failures as a coach – with admittedly inferior teams in Cleveland and Minnesota – were <a href="http://www.allvoices.com/article/16900862">well documented</a> before the Wizards dispatched the Bulls four games to one last season. Sure, his overall record of 211-337, with a winning percentage of .385 is awful. However, after Wall returned from an injury in 2012-13 with his team mired in a 4-28 start, the Wizards started their rebound with a 25-25 record the rest of that season. Last year, they finished 44-38 in the regular season. That’s a combined 89-71 mark and a .556 winning percentage since that disastrous beginning.<p>
It’s still not a record that would draw comparisons to Jackson, Pat Riley or any other coach who may have Hall of Fame aspirations. But for a team that has been so bad for so long, and celebrated mediocrity by printing T-shirts that celebrated merely qualifying for the playoffs 10 years ago, it’s been amazing to watch a team that people are now saying can contend for a conference title.Mike Sarzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13156918807716220210noreply@blogger.com0