Why Does America Expect Roger Goodell To Fix Domestic Violence? ...and why does he keep trying?

If getting Roger Goodell to step down is like domestic violence reparations, then he should step down today.  If his removal doesn't further the cause of domestic violence awareness or comfort any hurting victims, then he doesn't need to step down, he needs to fess up about seeing the full video and stop continually searching for the moral high ground once he's made a mistake.  Goodell should be naturally inclined towards earning, and maintaining, the immense respect that viewers have for the NFL by acting with integrity from the beginning and not as a reaction to potential revenue loss. On this issue, Goodell's reactions are late and his integrity, maybe even his honesty, are questionable.

But who are WE to talk?

What exactly did we imagine a knock out punch would look like? I am getting so very mad at America because WE decided that WE needed another lifeless body to compel us to care about a problem that occurs everyday.  Fortunately, Janay Palmer (Rice) got up off of the ground and did not die (this time), even if she chose to protect her abuser and her financial means of feeding her family as her response. This is predictable behavior in cases of  domestic violence, but we already know these things.  America is well versed in violence and its residual impact. Whether it is domestic violence, police violence or our pending violent pursuit of violent terrorists who behead American journalist', violence becomes us.  Some Americans have decided that the best solution to violence is more guns and more violence. I wonder how this story would read if Janay Palmer or Ray Rice had violent weapons on them?

Violence becomes us, and today's violent mirror is domestic violence, which is long overdue to be seriously addressed in a comprehensive way (mental healthcare). WE should not expect, or even allow the NFL to take the lead on such a serious social issue.  What we are indirectly asking Goodell to do is be a judge and jury for an entire league of professional athletes and potentially all of the people they do business with.  Goodell will have to monitor abuse from each of his employee's, male or female, and that of their spouses who might commit acts of violence against someone inside of the NFL family bubble.  Corporate affiliates with a public face might be asked to follow suit in order to maintain contractual relationships with the NFL.  On the surface that might seem like a good thing, but the topic today is domestic violence.  Tomorrow it will be child abuse and the next day it will be drug trafficking.  Goodell will not be able to keep a separate policy for every social ill that haunts society, nor should he try.

Because the full video made this a news story again, it begs the same question I began with.

WHAT DID WE EXPECT TO SEE?

Janay Palmer took some of the blame,  but did we expect to see Palmer swing at Rice before receiving a left hook, or did we believe that an open hand slap could cause her to hit her head against the hand rail, as Ray Rice and others seem to describe it? Some of her behavior appears defensive and some of it appears aggressive, but who expected her to roll into a ball while getting punched from that position?  Even if he ended up grabbing her like Jay-Z did his sister-in-law, would we commend him like we did Jay-Z and forget that Jay-Z probably needs conflict resolution skills after angering his sister-in-law into a fist fight?

Solange Knowles has domestic violence issues too by the way.  Many families do, but making Roger Goodell, the NFL, and the Ray Rice family be the leaders of a worldwide problem is simply wrong and insensitive to all of the Rice family, especially Janay, and to the issue of domestic violence in general.

Pope Francis warned us about this issue

Upon being elected pontiff of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis declared domestic violence to be the greatest worldwide problem that the church must address.  At the time he declared this statement, most news outlets scratched their heads and barely made a footnote of the statement.  Few took the Pope's words to heart, and no one used his spiritual guidance as a reason for a national referendum on domestic violence.
USA TODAY  - WORDPRESS     (news reports on Pope Francis to the council of Bishops)

The Rice family needed what they are finally getting, family therapy.  The NFL will have another act of domestic violence captured on tape in the near future, and that NFL family needs support today, not days after a tape is captured and revealed. If there is anything clear from the Rice family video of shame, this was not their first fight.  Despite Goodell's bold attempts to fix his errors with the Rice family, future domestic violence cases with NO video evidence will require the same legal channels that the NFL has typically honored in the past.  Enacting punishment on innocent employees is not a great public relations approach for any corporation, especially one that regularly draws the attention of millions of viewers.  Having indisputable video evidence is not grounds for ignoring the legal process. Although the legal process seems complicit in turning a blind eye to the Rice family video, his sentencing was actually consistent with first time offenders.

To my eyes, Palmer gets hit and then hits the hand rail before falling to the ground.  Did she get knocked out from the punch or the hand rail?  Who cares?  Domestic violence is bad news no matter how its going down because it NEVER ends well.  There are thousands of women in prison from killing men while defending themselves against domestic violence. Most are glad it was him and not them this time, but their families are the ultimate casualty.

The most severe results of domestic violence are grossly tilted against women, but the path to America's healing begins with shunning all acts of violence within the family unit.  If Goodell would like to bring some good to this bad scenario, he could encourage most (and demand other) NFL employee's to get family therapy.  The new face of domestic violence, the Rice family, are actually only the victims of an untimely video that will make the healing process a little harder.  Ray Rice needed  help for himself and his family, and the source of his curse (the video) will offer the path of his healing as his family is getting the help that other NFL families, currently suffering in silence, need as well.

When it comes to expecting the NFL to find the proper punishment to fit future domestic violence crimes, I say STOP IT!!  Kicking Rice out of the league probably punishes his victim even more than the perpetrator in this case. Forcing Rice to get help and sending part of his income to his current victim and the rest to organizations that will support future victims is probably a better approach.  The next video Goodell (or the future commissioner) will receive might be of child abuse captured on home security cameras, and then Goodell will have to gauge Americas feelings about child abuse versus domestic violence. PED's (performance enhancing drugs) might be easier to regulate, but certain crimes demand a case by case approach because that is how justice works. Goodell keeps chasing after a cookie cutter approach to player issues in order to exonerate the NFL from lost revenue, and we keep asking him to do it. If there is a crime to his behavior, its that Goodell seems hardly concerned about the well being of his employees and their families, but well focused on NFL shareholders and revenue streams.

Okay America!  I have gotten that off of my chest.  I'm still a little upset, but I am hopeful that WE have learned to STOP letting video evidence create our national call to action.  Of course, if this daily embarrassment that we keep doing to Janay Rice and her family doesn't lead to substantive actions (more family therapy in America) instead of these knee jerk reactions, then I might just get angry again.

You've been warned America,

Note to self:  Talk to my family therapist about this anger problem of mine.