The People that Really Abused Janay Rice

I don't think Guinness World Records caught this one.  But back in August at least one million people became marriage and family therapists, criminologists, legal experts, NFL union consultants, and detectives...all that...in less than an hour.  Not to mention this was all done without the required education and experience needed to be a licensed-doctor-esquire.  It's truly fascinating that so many people got so much achieved in so little time; and if I were a college president I'd be a bit nervous.  I mean, what value can be put on a certification that could take 12 years to earn...when you can get that by simply reading a Twitter feed?  The scholarly world was doomed....until a former federal judge (a person with real credentials) told everyone to relax.

Remember when we avid sports fans couldn't hear a score without some domestic violence expert talking about Ray Rice?  Or when Cris Carter would work up some tears when it was time to talk about how he got spanked as a child?  Or when ESPN found every woman they could who took a self defense class at their local community center to comment on the "Ray Rice Issue?"  It all seems so far away.  But it was brought back up Friday though; and no sports media outlet took significant notice.  And because ESPN didn't notify the world of Janay Rice's interview with the Today Show, not many overnight LMFTs gave their opinions either.  Where did all the experts go?  What happened to the coverage that was shedding light on such a serious issue?  Why is the sports world refusing to let the casual football fan, the one that was so devastated by this violent incident, know that an Arbitrator told the NFL to give Ray Rice his job back?  Maybe it's because the classic pattern of abusers is to hide...and all the experts were really abusers.

On the second day of the scandal, Janay Rice put out a very real message on Instagram.   With phrases like "no one knows the pain that the media and the unwanted opinions from the public has caused my family" and "this is our life" we all got a direct message to leave the Rices' alone.  But we just couldn't.  Actually, we wouldn't.  The media wouldn't let you and you didn't want to.  You addressed a person that you said was abused by calling her delusional, lost, a broken woman, and even stupid.  Unfortunately, your overnight education forgot to tell you that sometimes an abuse victim interprets unwanted attention as abuse...and you continued to pound on the head of who you called a victim.

Yeah, you can blame it on the flooding of news that makes it impossible for you to not type 250 word essays in a Facebook post.  Or you can cite Twitter as the cause of you tagging Janay Rice on your "don't be delusional" tweet.  But the truth is you are a cyber-bully, an aggressor, a proponent of abuse.  The Rices' were just faces on screens for you; and not real people with real needs.  You reduced the tragic incident that occurs in thousands of marriages around the nation to an episode of Love and Hip-Hop...which by the way include real people, also.  You were vile, you were heartless, you were violent.  And now, a judge has given you an opportunity to apologize....and you won't.

You who read these works should know I'm not the guy who believes that a federal judge is the end all be all.  But what a female federal judge making this ruling in this case says is that maybe we don't know all there is to know about domestic violence, what the NFL is really all about, and most importantly, we don't know about Ray or Janay Rice....as a married couple or as individuals.  And I think now would be a time...being that you've stopped throwing your computer fists...to use that same energy you did to call Mrs. Rice whatever came to your mind...and apologize for abusing her.  If not, should we start talking about taking your job away from you?  Or is that only reserved for incidents that are caught on camera?

Peace