Spinning on the defense

Thanks to the Today show, I was reminded of the above-pictured Mr. James Jones. Instead of babbling excitedly about yesterday's Redskins win, I wanted to give his 15 minutes a few words.

I'm pretty sure everyone's heard or read the story about this guy, he walked onto his daughter's school bus and confronted the driver and the mean kids bullying her (she has cerebral palsy, I think). Went on a bit of a tirade and, I think, made a few threats but never assaulted anyone.

Because apparently EVERY story is ideological these days (recall, if you will, the congressmen apologizing to BP execs this Spring) Fox's so-called news programming, displayed him as some kind of folk hero taking on the faceless bureaucratic education system. I think CNN played it straight, I can't recall because I saw most of the coverage on the gym's TV and they had 2 tuned to Fox. Anyway, the gist of Fox's spin on the story was that he was a heroic parent who confronted the "system," and that he'd done nothing wrong.

James Jones took a couple days and did something Fox didn't expect. He found some TV cameras and publicly apologized to the driver and the kids who were on the bus. He admitted that he'd behaved improperly and should've handled the situation better.

As with the initial story, I saw this on Fox. The angry white gal anchor, her lip in a sneer, and Bill the walking Ken doll, asked why in the world he felt the need to apologize for anything. The self-righteous spin on the story was that his kid was being bullied and that he was in the right. Mr. Jones saw it differently.

Who wouldn't want to protect their own babies when they're being bullied or humiliated? Mr. Jones' actions are, to me, completely understandable and I sympathize. I've had my kids picked on and I've had to talk to teachers or other parents to try and get mean kids off my kids' backs. It's not fun, indeed it's very awkward. And every time I've had to do it I've felt like I was walking the line between meddling too much and not doing enough.

However, I'm in the fortunate position of not having a disabled child. I remember how disabled kids were treated when I was in school, so- again- I sympathize with Mr. Jones' plight and that of his daughter.

He was wrong to act in the way he did. Yelling at a bunch of kids, even mean kids, isn't an appropriate response. Yelling at a bus driver, again, not appropriate. Talking? Yes. Yelling? No. I realize that the school system is probably not perfectly responsive to this kind of behavior, but it's the best place to start. We can't be adults and act like cowboys. The real world aint "Rambo" or "Die Hard." Even when we'd like it to be.

He was wrong in his actions, and apparently upon reflection he admitted as much. Good for him. I particularly enjoy the fact that he made a point of making his apology very public (he didn't need to do so). There's a "narrative" being pushed by Fox News that "we the people" can act like ridiculous cowboys when dealing with any situation that arises. It's like the folks at Fox are dumbing Americans down to these caricatures of the Ugly American that some Europeans believe we are.

Nope. We are not all cowboys, or Rambo. We're grown-ups, too, and can behave that way. Yes, we all have our flaws. But the true test of one's mettle is NOT in "sticking to your guns" and childishly refusing to admit (to yourself and the world) that you behaved wrongly. When the rubber meets the road, the stronger man (if, as in this case, he was in the wrong) admits he was.

Alrighty, enough of that.

Ah, my first wife pulled through with pretty good color yesterday. I fully expected Vick and his dogpack to destroy the Redskin defense, boy was I surprised. An out-of-nowhere running game, a guy named Haynesworth actually playing football, and a great non-catch by Philly's Brian Avant. Thanks, Brian, you could've won the game but....didn't.

This is gonna be the way this season goes I think. One week UP, the next DOWN. Stephon Heyer couldn't block a 5-year old, and he'd false start anyway...or hold the kid. Sheesh. He's fine for a backup but I hope Trent Williams gets well soon. Where's Devin Thomas?! Who cares. Carlos Rogers....pick up Tony Kornheiser's white courtesy phone .. and TRY NOT TO DROP IT!!!

Whaddya hear on sports talk in DC? "A win's a win!" "I'll take it." Blah blah blah. We've got a flawed team here, Redskins fans, that is being coached well enough to compete week to week. It's more fun that Coach Z...so be happy nonetheless.

So strike up the band, "Hail to the Redskins", and next week we'll see if they've got yet another horseshoe up their butts.