Character and Rape in Ohio
http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/15524-character-and-rape-in-ohioThe girl was from another state, across the river, and didn't go to the local high school, so she was disposable - apparently - not just to the high school football players who raped her or watched or took pictures, but she was also disposable to the lackadaisical police officers who investigated, to football coaches who testified as character witnesses for the accused, to the school authorities who let the football coach handle the situation, to the woman prosecutor with a football player son, and to all too many residents of the town of 18,000 with the need for a winning football team more on its mind than justice, or decency.
This image of the victim was posted online by Steubenville football player Cody Saltsman.
(photo: Cody Saltsman/Instagram)Although two of the 50 or more people taking part in the hours-long event were arrested eight days after the girl's parents reported the rape, there is little evidence that the authorities in the town acted as responsibly and conscientiously as they should have at the time, or at any time since last August. Rather, they appear to have done as little as they thought they safely could, without obvious dereliction of duty, out of fear of (or agreement with) prevailing community standards of behavior and local power structures. Perhaps the trial will dispel that impression
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Did you ever notice that anything that pertains to football is protected. Think what has been happening around the country with budgets and they have to cut, cut and cut everything but football. Now you have this unbelievable tragedy, and the hell with morals and what is the right thing to do we must protect these poor boy's. There should be a house cleaning in Steubenville starting with the D.A. next the police chief and right down the line who ever came to the defense of these animals.
Have you noticed the peculiar reactions of many football fans to these three situations?
1) Pedophile coach rapes young boys -- OUTRAGE
2) Professional football player tortures and kills dogs -- OUTRAGE
3) Teenage girl or young woman is gang-raped by local football players -- "Who cares?" "We don't want to hear about it!" "But football builds character!" "She's lying!" "She brought it on herself!" "She's a slut!" "You're anti-sports!" "You're hurting the team's chances of winning!"
So, in the minds of many football fans (not to mention the sports media), young boys and even DOGS are more important than girls and young women. A rather interesting set of priorities, I must say!
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There's an interesting article at Good Men Project entitled "When Football Championships are Bought with Silence" by Christopher M. Anderson. According to the biographical blurb, "Christopher M. Anderson is the Executive Director of MaleSurvivor the leading not-for-profit organization committed to preventing, healing, and eliminating all forms of sexual victimization of boys and men through support, treatment, research, education, advocacy, and activism." Here's a link to the article . . .
http://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/social-justice-championship-trophies-bought-with-the-silence-of-victims/
. . . and here's a quoted excerpt . . .
The ethical distortion created by the incredible amounts of money generated by major college football was cited by the Freeh report as one of the reasons the Sandusky scandal occurred at Penn State. Hero worship of (and the financial boon created by) sports programs such as Division I football creates an environment where abuse and trauma are tolerated and excused. To be clear, neither football, nor sports itself, are responsible for alarmingly high rates of sexual and interpersonal violence in our society. However, it is undeniable that young men and women are abused by members of major university football programs at some universities. Oftentimes these survivors are shunned, re-victimized, and ignored by administrators and fellow students who are far more concerned about preserving the “integrity” of a sports program than they are about ensuring the victim of a crime gets the support they need. Exactly the same dynamic, sadly, as occurred at Penn State for decades, thus enabling Jerry Sandusky’s horrific crimes.
Disgusting, isn't it? Where's the compassion?
There are decent men in the world of football who are trying to change the culture.
They have a lot of work to do.
What do birds have to do with this?
falcons
eagles
(No offense. Just havin' a little fun! 
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