# Rodney King, wife beater. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 15, 2003, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rodney-king-wife-beater/207483 "2003-10-15T00:42:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rodney-king-wife-beater/207483/41 "2003-10-15T14:11:14Z")
Well, one may regard his posts as assholish–I don’t, but we can disagree–but to extrapolate from his posts that his character must be so bad that one “feels sorry for his family, friends, coworkers or anyone who has to be in intimate contact with him on a regular basis” is, IMO, a far, far more assholish comment than anything **Airman** has written. You might condemn his posts, but attacking his character is crossing the line. ---
**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rodney-king-wife-beater/207483/42 "2003-10-15T14:30:27Z")
gobear, Airman Doors has been an ass for the past couple of weeks. In fact, he posted something the other day (I can’t remember what) and I agreed with him completely. It took all I could not to type ‘I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I agree with Airman Doors completely’ as a reply. I can’t recall if he’s always been an ass so I’ve cut him a little slack. Not that he asked for the slack, but slack I’ve cut, nonetheless. ---
**Author:** ![Beagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Beagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beagle)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rodney-king-wife-beater/207483/43 "2003-10-15T14:41:31Z")
> [@](#): > > But his crime pales in comparison to the good, old-fashioned ass whupping he got from the police. I disagree. King’s repeated high speed trips while on PCP make him a serious danger to society. It is truly a miracle he has not killed anyone yet. I thought the cops used excessive force on King also. Too bad the first jury didn’t. That could have saved some problems down the road. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rodney-king-wife-beater/207483/44 "2003-10-15T14:48:44Z")
> [@](#): > > gobear, Airman Doors has been an ass for the past couple of weeks. Well, I’m not defending his posts, and for all I know he may have posted items that might annoy me, for we definitely do not see eye to eye on some issues. BUT, that’s not the point. People may disagree with his posts as vehemently as they please, but to say that the content of his posts make him unpleasant to know in real life, as **Gawd** wrote, is way over the line IMO. **Airman** is a great guy (and an awesome cheesesteak chef), and no amount of posts will change that. Besides, if **MsRobyn** , an avowed Democrat and an extremely good person, loves him and lives with him, then **Airman** mustn’t be all that bad. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rodney-king-wife-beater/207483/45 "2003-10-15T14:54:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by gobear \* > \*\*Well, one may regard his posts as assholish–I don’t, but we can disagree–but to extrapolate from his posts that his character must be so bad that one “feels sorry for his family, friends, coworkers or anyone who has to be in intimate contact with him on a regular basis” is, IMO, a far, far more assholish comment than anything **Airman** has written. > > You might condemn his posts, but attacking his character is crossing the line. \*\* Of course, you forget that most people on this message board have not met him, and plenty of people have not met anyone else on the Boards in real life. Given that this is the case, people make their evaluations based on what they read, and you’re pretty fucking thin-skinned if you can’t take some personal comments that constitute direct responses to what you write. You’re even more thin-skinned if you feel the need to jump and defend another board member simply because you happen to have met him a few times. People extrapolate about one another’s character based on their posts on this board all the time. “Crossing the line”? Grow up. As for **Airman** ’s OP, it seemed to me that it’s indicative of both his character and his intelligence. First, the intelligence aspect. **Airman** ’s connecting of this most recent Rodney King incident with the videotaped beating of before demonstrates a problem with establishing logical connections. The OP assumes that, just because King has been found to have done something illegal now, this must mean that the beating of him in the past is somehow retrospectively justified. While we might all agree that King is an asshole (i certainly do), this is a separate issue from that of police brutality. Furthermore, it appears that he’s too stupid to recognize the legal and moral differences between using reasonable force to detain someone who is a criminal suspect and an asshole, and beating the crap out of that person once they are detained. **Airman** is also apparently ignorant enough to believe that causing police to chase and subdue you gives them license to take revenge by submitting you to a group bashing and kicking. And it’s here that we shade into issues of character, because the OP makes it very clear that he believes that police brutality is perfectly acceptable, as long as the victim is someone who he doesn’t happen to like very much, and who has doone something to piss the police off. But, **gobear** , if that’s the sort of “character” that you find so admirable, then who am i to argue? ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rodney-king-wife-beater/207483/46 "2003-10-15T15:12:17Z")
> [@](#): > > You’re even more thin-skinned if you feel the need to jump and defend another board member simply because you happen to have met him a few times. People extrapolate about one another’s character based on their posts on this board all the time. “Crossing the line”? Grow up. And may I retort, “Blow me.” This board is about eradicating ignorance. **Gawd** ’s post reflected a lack of knowledge that I cleared up. Don’t like it? Tough. I don’t need your permission to post. > [@](#): > > And it’s here that we shade into issues of character, because the OP makes it very clear that he believes that police brutality is perfectly acceptable, as long as the victim is someone who he doesn’t happen to like very much, and who has doone something to piss the police off. But, gobear, if that’s the sort of “character” that you find so admirable, then who am i to argue? And as I said, his post seemed to me to be a facetious wish for a wife-beater to receive condign punishment and not an actual advocation of judicial torture by the cops. And yes, beating wife-beaters seems like a suitable punishment to me. I take a dim view of men who hit women. ---
**Author:** ![DogMom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9c0ed/32.png) [@DogMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DogMom)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rodney-king-wife-beater/207483/47 "2003-10-15T15:15:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zenster \* > \*\*Sadly, this fuckwit will always be able to get his hands on a car. What astonishes me is that his driver’s license has not been revoked permanently. He will eventually kill someone else with his lawlessness and in this particular case it will be entirely the system’s fault. \*\* Not disagreeing with you, **Zenster** , but I gotta say that this rather makes me laugh. He’s already been in more trouble than you can shake a cop at, including buying and using PCP, beating up on his girlfriend, and DUI, as well as speeding. What _difference_ would it really make to him if they do revoke his license permanently? Heck, i read in the papers around here _all the time_ about such-and-so was arrested for driving while license suspended, (whether temporary or permanent suspension.) They get…oh…maybe a month in the slammer for it. I do agree that they _need_ to revoke his license, but I really don’t see what ultimate difference it would make. I mean, it’s not like the guy’s suddenly going to say, “Whoa, they took away my license. I better straighten up.” nope, it’ll be just one more thing added to the long, long list of illegalities he’s committed. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rodney-king-wife-beater/207483/48 "2003-10-15T15:17:11Z")
> [@](#): > > You’re even more thin-skinned if you feel the need to jump and defend another board member simply because you happen to have met him a few times. People extrapolate about one another’s character based on their posts on this board all the time. “Crossing the line”? Grow up. And may I retort, “Blow me.” This board is about eradicating ignorance. **Gawd** ’s post reflected a lack of knowledge that I cleared up. Don’t like it? Tough. I don’t need your permission to post. Moreover, I am astonished that a poster as intelligent as you cannot (or will not) tell the difference between attacking the post and and attacking the person. I know you know the difference, so I can only conclude that you approve of mud-slinging as a debate tactic. Character questions abound indeed. > [@](#): > > And it’s here that we shade into issues of character, because the OP makes it very clear that he believes that police brutality is perfectly acceptable, as long as the victim is someone who he doesn’t happen to like very much, and who has doone something to piss the police off. But, gobear, if that’s the sort of “character” that you find so admirable, then who am i to argue? And as I said, his post seemed to me to be a facetious wish for a wife-beater to receive condign punishment and not an actual advocation of judicial torture by the cops. And yes, beating wife-beaters seems like a suitable punishment to me. I take a dim view of men who hit women. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Raven\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@The\_Raven\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Raven_1)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rodney-king-wife-beater/207483/49 "2003-10-15T15:21:42Z")
Howyadoin, Jesus… Who needs ten-fingers to get on top of the pigpile?!? How come the Offenderati are over here, instead of spending their time singing a hearty chorus of “Look For The Union Label” over in the “I Crossed A Picket Line” thread? Oh, easy target, I see… Please, carry on… Look, there’s a lovely spot available just above AD’s left shoulder! -Rav ---
**Author:** ![The\_Raven\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@The\_Raven\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Raven_1)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rodney-king-wife-beater/207483/50 "2003-10-15T15:28:32Z")
Howyadoin, Jesus… Who needs ten-fingers to get on top of the pigpile?!? How come the Offenderati are over here, instead of spending their time singing a hearty chorus of “Look For The Union Label” over in the “I Crossed A Picket Line” thread? Oh, easy target, I see… Geez, I’m glad I never in my life said that a reprehensible scumbag deserved a beating, aren’t you all? I’m sure Fred Phelps and his ilk will appreciate the fresh new aroma of tolerance and civility that is wafting through the Pit… So, sorry to interrupt. Please, carry on… Look, there’s a lovely spot available just above AD’s larynx! If you press hard enough, you get the chokehold bonus! -Rav ---
**Author:** ![Isabelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b5a626/32.png) [@Isabelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isabelle)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rodney-king-wife-beater/207483/51 "2003-10-15T15:40:06Z")
Two wrongs don’t make a right (but three left turns do)…the beating was wrong, however King is a total idiot as well… ---
**Author:** ![Isabelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b5a626/32.png) [@Isabelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isabelle)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rodney-king-wife-beater/207483/52 "2003-10-15T15:40:14Z")
Two wrongs don’t make a right (but three left turns do)…the beating was wrong, however King is a total idiot as well… :wally ---
**Author:** ![GaWd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f08c70/32.png) [@GaWd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaWd)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rodney-king-wife-beater/207483/53 "2003-10-15T15:41:55Z")
Gobear- Where is this “lack of knowledge” that you speak of?\* Just because I don’t know him IRL doesn’t mean I can’t think of him as a prick of the highest order, does it? Am I barred from my opinion? Am I not allowed to extrapolate an opinion of his character online(the only persona I know of), and insert him in my life and think of how I would feel if I was forced to spend any sort of time with him? How’s that for self-righteous bullshit… Sorry I insulted your “buddy” and expert cheesesteak chef. :rolleyes: Sam \*- In an online community, all we know of members is this online persona. He’s been coming off like the OP for many weeks and that’s what prompted my comments. I really don’t care about your opinion, or that MsRobyn(the Democrat) is married to the guy, or that he’s such a “great guy” in person. I’m not in Ohio or wherever he is, I’m here. Online. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rodney-king-wife-beater/207483/54 "2003-10-15T16:02:18Z")
**Airman** have you lost some meds lately? You’ve seemed pretty strange these past few weeks. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rodney-king-wife-beater/207483/55 "2003-10-15T16:03:55Z")
> [@](#): > > Where is this “lack of knowledge” that you speak of?\* Just because I don’t know him IRL doesn’t mean I can’t think of him as a prick of the highest order, does it? Am I barred from my opinion? Am I not allowed to extrapolate an opinion of his character online(the only persona I know of), and insert him in my life and think of how I would feel if I was forced to spend any sort of time with him? You may disparage his online persona all you please, and you may even insert him in your life and think of how you would feel if you were forced to spend any sort of time with him. But when you opine on how people who do know him IRL are supposd to feel, then I have to speak up. > [@](#): > > I really don’t care about your opinion, or that MsRobyn(the Democrat) is married to the guy, or that he’s such a “great guy” in person. I’m not in Ohio or wherever he is, I’m here. Online. Then confine your comments to his persona online, not IRL where you are unqualified to speak. ---
**Author:** ![GaWd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f08c70/32.png) [@GaWd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaWd)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rodney-king-wife-beater/207483/56 "2003-10-15T16:16:40Z")
Yet again Gobear, I’m qualified to speak of my opinion. Anytime, anyplace, anywhere. I never said that you should feel any way whatsoever. You have a right to put him on a pedestal and worship him if you so choose. I’m sorry your feelings are so hurt, but your friend has a mouth that constantly spews forth reprehensible thoughts and ideas. It is yet again, my right to comment wherever I like. His online persona leads me to stand by my original post. Sam ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rodney-king-wife-beater/207483/57 "2003-10-15T16:31:50Z")
> [@](#): > > You have a right to put him on a pedestal and worship him if you so choose. Say what? Apparently you missed the part where I mentioned that I have disagreements with him, too. One can disagree with someone and still like him and stick up for him. Goodness knows I detest religion, yet I defend Christian dopers against idiots like **Badchad**. Bet you think I put Christian dopers on a pedestal, too. > [@](#): > > I’m sorry your feelings are so hurt, You’re nothing to me, so you don’t have that power. [/quote] But your friend has a mouth that constantly spews forth reprehensible thoughts and ideas. It is yet again, my right to comment wherever I like. [/quote] And, my semiliterate friend, you missed the bit where I supportedthat exact point. My disagrement with you is this: you said that you feel sorry for anybody who knows him IRL because you think he’s a jerk to everyone he knows, and I’m saying that is not so. You don’t know him IRL, hence you cannot speak on his life or how he is viewed IRL because, as I said, you do not know what you are talking about. Rip into his online persona all you like, he can handle it. But when you go beyond his online persona, as you did, then there must be clarification. ---
**Author:** ![Beagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Beagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beagle)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rodney-king-wife-beater/207483/58 "2003-10-15T16:33:19Z")
Let me be the first to say: linkety linkerino to all these instances of Airman being an ass. I spend way too much time surfing these boards and I’m not sure what is being discussed. By the way, it’s not like he suggested beating the poor. What Rodney does to himself must hurt as much or more than an ass-whipping, IMO. Still doesn’t make gratuitous beatings right, but the sentiment is understandable. King chooses to do a drug that _always_ leads to these horrendously violent outbursts of superhuman strength. Glad I’m not a cop. I’d be tempted to just shoot him, several times, when he runs at me. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rodney-king-wife-beater/207483/59 "2003-10-15T16:41:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Beagle \* > \*\*chooses to do a drug that _always_ leads to these horrendously violent outbursts of superhuman strength. > \*\* Sure was a violent outburst that time he was laying on the ground getting the shit kicked out of him. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rodney-king-wife-beater/207483/60 "2003-10-15T16:48:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by gobear \* > **And may I retort, “Blow me.” This board is about eradicating ignorance. Gawd’s post reflected a lack of knowledge that I cleared up. Don’t like it? Tough. I don’t need your permission to post. > Moreover, I am astonished that a poster as intelligent as you cannot (or will not) tell the difference between attacking the post and and attacking the person. I know you know the difference, so I can only conclude that you approve of mud-slinging as a debate tactic. Character questions abound indeed.** And you seem to have problems seeing that aspects of a person’s character can be reflected in the contents of their posts. This is not a simple case of an ad hominem attack that treats the content of the argument as irrelevant and focuses on the person instead; rather, it is an assessment of someone’s character based on the content of their argument. Furthermore, **GaWd** made it quite clear, by asking “Airman, do you even read the shit you spew onto the boards sometimes?” that his assessment of **Airman** ’s character is based not simply on the contents of the OP in this thread, but on previous encounters with **Airman** on these message boards. If you’ll bother to check the Board’s history, you’ll see that **GaWd** and **Airman** have been on the opposite sides of debates in the past. Constant exposure to a person’s opinions and attitudes leads us to form opinions about their character. Plenty of people made rather personal character assessments of Dopers like **december** and **Reeder** based not specifically on their politics, but on their perceived dishonesty or disingenuousness. I see that you have recently amended your position on character assessments to simply asking that people “comments to his persona online, not IRL.” Well, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, i think Dopers are well within their rights to asume that real-life and online personas are congruent. Also, if you can’t stand a bit of hyperbole like that offered by **GaWd** in this case, then maybe you should stick to GD. > [@](#): > > \*\*And as I said, his post seemed to me to be a facetious wish for a wife-beater to receive condign punishment and not an actual advocation of judicial torture by the cops. \*\* Firstly, unless torture by police is approved by law in some state that i’m not aware of, this practice would be, by definintion, extra-judicial, not judicial. I know you’ve told us more than once how _you_ interpreted the OP. But, despite your apparent belief to the contrary, this does not mean that your interpretation is the only possible one. If the OP had said something like “Wife-beaters are cowards and scum, and deserve to get beaten to show them what it’s like,” then i might agree with your interpetation of the OP’s intention. But **Airman** ’s post said: > [@](#): > > God, how I wish he would have resisted like the **last time**. He deserved to get his ass kicked the **last time** , and he deserves to get it kicked **this time**. Only **this time** , make sure there’s no one around with a videocamera. Or if someone is taping it, make sure they get it from the beginning **this time**. As you can see, he repeatedly draws a direct link between the beating that King took before, and the beating that **Airman** believes King deserves now. And who adminstered the beating last time? The cops. You might interpret the OP as a nebulous and generalized call for eye-for-an-eye justice against wife-beaters, but the explicit link that **Airman** draws between King’s beating at the hands of the cops, and the beating that he “deserves” this time led many people, including me, to interpret the OP as either tacit support of or open advocacy for police brutality. Furthermore, the first sentence quoted above, in which **Airman** wishes that King had resisted arrest, makes it quite clear to me that he wanted the cops to beat King, but was simply concerned that they did not have an excuse for doing so. You might not agree with my interpretation, and i agree that it’s not the only possible one. However, for those who do agree with my interpretation, i think that such an interpretation is reasonable grounds for making judgments about someone’s character. > [@](#): > > **And yes, beating wife-beaters seems like a suitable punishment to me. I take a dim view of men who hit women.** Your support for corporal punishment is your business; i’m just glad that civilized countries have moved beyond it. Also, whether or not one agrees that a man who beats his wife deserves a beating himself, this is a separate issue from whether or not police should engage in brutality agaiinst suspects. Something that **Airman** fails to realize is that there is no logical connection between whether or not King is an asshole, on the one hand, and whether or not police brutality against him is acceptable, on the other. And your final sentence seems rather gratuitous. I was sort of taking it for granted that everyone in this thread takes “a dim view of men who hit women.” The only inference i can draw from this sentence is that those who oppose violence against King must therefore be in favour of his beating of his wife. If this is what you’re trying to say, it ranks alongside the “If you oppose the war in Iraq, you must support terrorism” argument. If it’s not what you were trying to say, why bother putting it there in the first place? I think most people tend to assume you’re against wife-beating unless you porvide evidence to the contrary. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rodney-king-wife-beater/207483.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rodney-king-wife-beater/207483.md?page=4)