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Few things boil my blood like watching the mentality and actions of a mob. I’m not just talking about the lynch mobs, the burn-at-the-stake mobs, the tar-and-feather mobs, but also the character assassination mobs that know little, but nevertheless go along with consensus in the systematic demolition of a person’s character. Throughout history, right up to the present, we have seen this phenomenon repeated endlessly, yet mobs never learn. Learning is for those who think and mobs don’t think. Mobs don’t question. Mobs do not sift through all evidence presented and deliberate in their own mind, independent of the injection of the thoughts and opinions of others.
Several days ago, I caught a glimpse of an Oprah show in which she demonstrated how wrong eyewitnesses can be and even descending into more inaccuracy when others suggest non-existent details of a suspect.
Such is the case with Marion Jones. Much of what I have seen posted on these boards about Marion Jones exhibits little thought and personal investigation. There is much concurrence with the collective mentality of a lynch mob itching to tear into the fleshy substance of Marion's character and reputation. Reason and hard facts be damned. Stated rules and regulations have been rendered moot. The excitement of the mob, the smell of blood intoxicates and blinds. Marion Jones has not been charged with anything - period. She is unquestionably one of the greatest female athletes that has ever walked the planet. Why is there so much glee in the air at the spectacle of Marion's demise? Something in the air smells so foul as to compromise the olfactory.
There is also something extremely unfair about the way certain governing bodies do business with respect to these athletes. All these investigations and suspicions are made public, such that even if cleared, the investigated athlete is indelibly tattooed. People will subsequently look askance at any future performances of such athlete with furrowed brow. How gross. How absolutely unfair and unjust.
Should it turn out that Marion tests positive for something, then so be it. However, in the absence of such positive results, all this innuendo and sinister remarks, so recklessly and viciously slung at this woman, are designed for one thing and one thing only - to annihilate this woman's good name and reputation.
So what she has been associated with questionable characters. So friggin what. Is this an indictable standard now? I answer emphatically “No. No. No..” A free people are free to hang out with whomever they damn well please and the simple act of association is nobody’s damn business. Okay?
I therefore stand in full and complete support of Marion Jones through this confrontation with a lynch mob especially in the absence of hard evidence of her guilt of any violations of established rule of the sport.
Several days ago, I caught a glimpse of an Oprah show in which she demonstrated how wrong eyewitnesses can be and even descending into more inaccuracy when others suggest non-existent details of a suspect.
Such is the case with Marion Jones. Much of what I have seen posted on these boards about Marion Jones exhibits little thought and personal investigation. There is much concurrence with the collective mentality of a lynch mob itching to tear into the fleshy substance of Marion's character and reputation. Reason and hard facts be damned. Stated rules and regulations have been rendered moot. The excitement of the mob, the smell of blood intoxicates and blinds. Marion Jones has not been charged with anything - period. She is unquestionably one of the greatest female athletes that has ever walked the planet. Why is there so much glee in the air at the spectacle of Marion's demise? Something in the air smells so foul as to compromise the olfactory.
There is also something extremely unfair about the way certain governing bodies do business with respect to these athletes. All these investigations and suspicions are made public, such that even if cleared, the investigated athlete is indelibly tattooed. People will subsequently look askance at any future performances of such athlete with furrowed brow. How gross. How absolutely unfair and unjust.
Should it turn out that Marion tests positive for something, then so be it. However, in the absence of such positive results, all this innuendo and sinister remarks, so recklessly and viciously slung at this woman, are designed for one thing and one thing only - to annihilate this woman's good name and reputation.
So what she has been associated with questionable characters. So friggin what. Is this an indictable standard now? I answer emphatically “No. No. No..” A free people are free to hang out with whomever they damn well please and the simple act of association is nobody’s damn business. Okay?
I therefore stand in full and complete support of Marion Jones through this confrontation with a lynch mob especially in the absence of hard evidence of her guilt of any violations of established rule of the sport.
....and God help us if she turns up guilty, because the "I have NEVER used drugs and have succeeded solely due to my God-given talent and hard work" line would then turn out to be a lie told a thousand times over to billions of people - much too creepily reminiscent of Florence getting on her knees and praying for all the world to see in Seoul.
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