Comparing Joe Wilson, Serena Williams & Kanye West is Simplistic & Damaging

TV commentators, print pundits and web op-ed writers keep lumping together the Joe Wilson, Kanye West and Serena Williams 'bad behavior' incidents. At first I was surprised, now I'm irritated. These public outbursts all happened close to one another chronologically, but it's the only thing connecting them.

Lumping together a politician (Wilson) who screamed out angrily and immaturely, or rhetorically political for campaign financing, along with a musician (West) who stroked his own ego and wanted the spotlight is one thing, though there's still no logical comparison. It's like saying all who speak out of turn are similar in intent and in ultimate impact. To then compare it to an athlete who was losing an important game, and violently verbally abused a hard working tennis official, to the point of what many say deserves criminal investigation is mind numbingly simplistic or intellectually deceptive.

Joe Wilson apologized and President Obama accepted. Kanye West apologized to Taylor Swift and also on Jay Leno's premiere show. Both recipients of two loudmouth's less than polite verbal gaffes were in a position to graciously accept apologies. There still is absolutely no connection other than the two publicly speaking out of turn. One made a political statement directed at his party's ideological opponent, while Kanye is a performer being showy, egotistical and clumsily sticking up for fellow musician Beyonce. Serena Williams not only verbally attacked someone who's judgment held sway over a profitable tennis match, but in a larger sense she attacked one who affects her career. By intimidating, threatening (physically by shaking a racket) Williams hoped for a chilling effect on the judge so she wouldn't have to worry about more "bad calls." This is not rude, bad behavior, nor sassy - it is out and out behavior we have laws to protect against. If Williams was in an office and had done it to her superior, if she was a Wal-Mart employee and had done it to a co-worker or customer, she would have been promptly escorted away by police.

Our society has ways of interacting we find less than exemplary. Rude behavior or inappropriate language are things we all live with in some form. Apologies offered by the offender help smooth things over and people strive to once again play nice with each other. Life is way too short to hold a grudge because of clumsily launched verbal barbs. However, our civilized society forbids violent attacks. Violence in the form of verbal threats and intimidation by brandishing objects like a tennis racket can't be tolerated.

Maybe the hip 'mash-up' is to blame. We take music and videos and mash them up into a new entity. For the media, pundits and most frightening of all figures of authority or legal power to simply 'mash-up' these incidents is a dangerously simplistic practice and does us no service. Serena Williams must understand what she did could impact her professional career. Kanye, as President Obama said, may be a 'jackass', Joe Wilson may have acted rudely, but Miss Williams may be looking at true change in her tennis career.

That's not rude, nor impolite behavior, it may be cataclysmic.

http://www.politico.com/click/stories/0909/did_obama_call_kanye_a_jackass.html

http://www.greenvilleonline.com/article/20090910/NEWS01/90910011

http://www.opednews.com/populum/diarypage.php?did=14299