{"id":3149,"date":"2014-04-29T06:24:19","date_gmt":"2014-04-29T10:24:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=3149"},"modified":"2014-04-29T06:48:05","modified_gmt":"2014-04-29T10:48:05","slug":"stupid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=3149","title":{"rendered":"stupid"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"V.-Stiviano-Donald-Sterling\"<\/a>In an audio recording between a woman and allegedly NBA team owner Donald Sterling:<\/p>\n

“It bothers me a lot that you want to broadcast that you\u2019re associating with black people,” the voice attributed to Sterling says. “Do you have to?”<\/i><\/p>\n

“You can sleep with [black people],” he allegedly adds. “You can bring them in; you can do whatever you want. The little I ask you is not to promote it on that … and not to bring them to my games.”<\/i><\/p>\n

And for these words, the Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling is being investigated by the NBA — and is expected to be punished today.<\/p>\n

Now never mind that Sterling has long exhibited questionable character.\u00a0 Never mind that such is no secret in the NBA.\u00a0 Never mind, also, that the woman who made the recording is Sterling\u2019s mistress and is being sued by Sterling\u2019s wife.\u00a0 Never mind that he is 81 and she is 31.\u00a0 Never mind, too, that she has been accused of extortion and that both her character and motives are questionable.\u00a0 Sterling\u2019s comments — even if taken out of context — are disrespectful and highly offensive.<\/p>\n

While never supportive of such sobering disrespect, the Intramuralist is also intrigued by society\u2019s response.\u00a0 It\u2019s been swift, serious, and especially strong.<\/p>\n

Understandably, many have called for extended discipline.\u00a0 Some have called for Sterling\u2019s suspension; others have called for a boycott of Clipper games.\u00a0 The players association wants Sterling banned from playoff games this season in addition to the league\u2019s maximum punishment.\u00a0 Still more have called for Sterling to lose his team; many have said Sterling should not be allowed to own a professional franchise.\u00a0 His ownership should be taken away.<\/i><\/p>\n

Therein is where the intrigue arises.\u00a0 I have two, sincere questions:<\/p>\n

One, (sorry to be somewhat crass, but attempting to cut to the point…)<\/i> are people no longer allowed to say anything stupid?<\/em>\u00a0 Are they allowed to even believe<\/em> something foolish?<\/p>\n

And then two, who decides what \u201cstupid\u201d is?\u00a0 After all, as a culture, are we consistent in what foolishness we will allow?<\/p>\n

My honest question is whether we are overly sensitive to specific subjects — and if sometimes we dilute the credibility of both our emotion and point because we pick and choose what to tolerate.\u00a0 Make no mistake about it:\u00a0 Sterling\u2019s comments reek of foolishness; reportedly, he has long been known to be a man of questionable moral, discriminatory character; he’s owned an NBA team for over 30 years. \u00a0But for some reason, this issue is heightened now.\u00a0 And for some reason, it seems we ignore that reeking aroma when the insensitivity is blatant elsewhere.<\/p>\n

I think of Bill Maher, who has routinely slammed God, women, people of varied faiths, and even the city of Boston after last year\u2019s bombings.\u00a0 And yet Maher continues to host a regular talk show spewing daily disrespect.\u00a0 Should Maher be allowed<\/em> to host a show? \u00a0Should he be allowed<\/em> to spew foolish opinion? \u00a0Should we take that right away from him?<\/p>\n

While the Intramuralist will never knowingly support foolishness, I am equally concerned about a world where we feel we must punish the opinion holder by eliminating individual liberty — a world in which we feel the need and even capability<\/i> to police moral opinion… believing, it seems, that we have the discernment to assess all foolishness.\u00a0 A wiser approach, I believe — as I practice with Bill Maher — is to intentionally opt not to reward such persons with our time, money, or attention.\u00a0 I won\u2019t be paying attention to Bill Maher any time soon… nor to Donald Sterling.<\/p>\n

Respectfully…<\/p>\n

AR<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In an audio recording between a woman and allegedly NBA team owner Donald Sterling: “It bothers me a lot that you want to broadcast that you\u2019re associating with black people,” the voice attributed to Sterling says. “Do you have to?” “You can sleep with [black people],” he allegedly adds. “You can bring them in; you … <\/p>\n

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