Opinari.net
Opinari - Latin term for Opinion. Opinari.net is just what it seems: a cornucopia of rants, raves and poignant soliloquy. |
Tuesday, July 16, 2002
Opinari is back and rarin' to go after a month long hiatus! Seems that an incapacitated vehicle, coupled with some financial difficulties, can severely hamper your time to opine....
Today's Opinion...
Allen Iverson gave himself up this morning to authorities on charges that he threatened a cousin, and forced entry into the cousin's home while brandishing a handgun. The very fact that this imbecile can get to this point in his life, and still have the same character flaws is enough of a reason for me to state, matter-of-factly, that something should be done. Should be. But it probably won't be.
America, by and large, is a cauldron of hero-worshipping wannabes. Iverson is, by all accounts, a thug who can "shoot the rock". That makes him, in effect, an "accidental hero". In our culture, heroes are given ample opportunity to justify such troubled behavior. To me, that's as much an indictment of us as a whole as it is those who are Iverson apologists.
The bulleted list of charges against him is more than the bullets in the handgun Iverson allegedly carried that night. This is not AI's first encounter with the wrong side of the law. As a teenager, Iverson was arrested in a Hampton, Va., bowling alley brawl in 1993 and spent four months in prison before then-Gov. Douglas Wilder granted clemency. The conviction was overturned on appeal in 1995. In 1997, Iverson pleaded no contest to a gun charge after police near Richmond, Va., stopped a car in which he was a passenger and found a gun belonging to Iverson and two marijuana cigarettes. Marijuana-possession charges were subsequently dropped.
Do we see a pattern here? If we don't, perhaps we are also looking at this man with the gracious blinders that most Americans also use when viewing their athletes. Charles Barkley, one time NBA forward, and well known for his unsavory attitude on the court, once decried "I am not a role model." He is right. He should not have been. But Barkley's indiscretions paled in comparison to the dossier that Iverson has constructed for himself.
If AI is found guilty, he should be sentenced, fined, and duly punished. Any member of society other than the powerful, rich, or famous would get jail time, and then some. Iverson, if guilty, should be no exception. Once and for all, a message needs to be transmitted to the culture that is so permissive of such behavior. Labels: Archives_2002
.: posted by
Dave
9:43 AM
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