I think my dad swatted me on the bottom once when I was about four. My mother might have hit me once or twice but all I can remember is her raising her hand being more than enough to get her point across.
I have quite a few black friends who refer to their parents “tearing their butts up”, and to doing the same thing to their kids. I never asked for details so I don’t know if they are using the phrase literally but I find it hard to imagine most of them doing anything like this.
Having said that, it would not surprise me if this sort of thing is relatively normal where Peterson grew up in Buttfuck, Texas.
On the morning radio today, a few people claiming to be black called in and had these points:
This kind of punishment is not far from the norm in southern black families.
Black kids require more discipline than white kids because when white kids misbehave in public, they get in trouble, when black kids misbehave in public, they get killed (echoes of Ferguson. I guess)
Are the details about the extent of the poor kid’s injuries not being publicized widely? I’m rather surprised at the number of people in the media (men in particular) who have no problem with how the child was disciplined.
If the photos are on TMZ, they’re fairly widely publicized. But if this is the case, I think maybe pundits are glossing over the particulars of this case in the interest of a general debate that will draw eyeballs and fill airtime. People will argue all day about whether spanking is good or bad. Nobody’s going to defend a very strong football player who wounded a small child.
Money wins! MONEY WINS! It’s over folks! Money wins!
Also, I’d like to propose a new “Truth in Naming” rule in all major professional sports. Immediately after passage, I think the new team name should be the Minnesota Child Abuse Enablers. The Ravens can be the Baltimore WifeBeaters.
Really? I mean, it tastes awful, but I don’t see it as being abusive. But then, nowadays, I wouldn’t bother with it, because you know those Harry Potter jelly beans that come in weird flavors? Well see, what I would do, is just collect all the soap flavored ones and use those instead. Less messy.
I can’t help but wonder what you want the Vikings to do. Cut him because he’s been accused of a crime? You don’t think maybe it’s fair to wait until the criminal justice process plays out?
I do not believe spanking is abuse. I also do not believe it to be effective punishment, but I think parent’s have the right to make that call.
Whipping a 4-year old fifteen times, drawing blood from his back, buttocks, legs, scrotum, and defensive wounds on his hands seems like a clear crossing of the line. The pictures we have seen were from several days after the incident and still looked pretty bad. I do not see how that can be considered anything other than abuse.
I have read that Peterson has somewhere between five and nine children out of wedlock with women throughout the country. We all know of the one child of his that died last year from abuse that Peterson rarely if ever saw. As far as I’m concerned his status of being a completely absent father in his numerous children’s lives probably does them far more long term harm than incidents like this.
Does anyone know what the kid allegedly did as a precursor to the beating?
I’ve known some parents who’ve gone a little overboard when their kids scared them by disappearing or almost getting hurt. Like once I was in a food court at a mall and a dad left his little boy (about 3 or 4) sitting alone while he went to pick up their food. The kid ran off to go look at a video game and when the dad came back he was gone. By the time he found him, he did started wailing on the boy, bare hands on his legs. People had to tell him to stop and when he did he picked the boy up and gave him a huge hug and starting tearing up himself. Not excusing it but just saying, it happens.
Ok, so if you’re gonna ask why would you leave a 3 or 4 year old sitting alone at a food court, good question.
Seems to me there’s plenty of precedent for removing someone from a position he/she formerly held before “the criminal justice process plays out” — e.g., suspending a cop without pay. He doesn’t get to keep on being a cop right up until the moment he’s convicted (or worse, until all of his appeals are exhausted).
Did Bernie Madoff get to continue operating his pyramid schemes up until the very moment he was finally pronounced guilty in a court of law?
So “cut,” maybe not…but certainly indefinite suspension seems appropriate until the case has been adjudicated. It’s not as if there’s some doubt about what happened. By Peterson’s own admission, he is responsible for his son’s injuries, and I’m having a hard time imagining any mitigating circumstances that will make those injuries suddenly seem justified or less egregious than they appear.
What is a shakedown? I think of a shakedown as extortion. Who is doing the extorting? The doctor who reported it? Law enforcement? The Vikings? The NFL? The child? The mother? The public? I don’t understand what you’re saying.
