Double Standard

Regarding "Why didn’t Peterson put son in time-out, as Vikings have with him?" (Thursday Star), columnist Ken Hoffman joins the growing cast of Talking Heads who feel compelled to moralize about Adrian Peterson's use of a switch to spank his son.  Nobody would disagree that Peterson went too far; what is less clear is whether he is the cruel person and bad parent that Hoffman makes him out to be, or somebody who simply made a mistake they regret.  Hoffman leaves no room for doubt. 

 

His moral certitude aside, I'm curious as to why Ken Hoffman has never expressed similar public outrage about allegations of domestic abuse by members of his own profession, or anybody employed by the Houston Chronicle?  There's only three reasons: 1) It has never happened in his entire career; 2) The matter was kept private by the employer; or 3) Hoffman did know but chose not to write about it. 

 

Regardless, the dichotomy between how NFL players are treated and how the rest of us are treated is astonishing: They have no rights to privacy; Evidence is leaked  piecemeal to a ravenous media; False accusations are immediately treated as true; The defendant is judged before the trial, and punishment is meted out before the case is heard.

 

Why are so many public commentators - Hoffman included - comfortable with this double standard? 

 

Pete Smith

Houston, TX