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| Rob's Soapbox | ||
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Congratulations!
You have finally landed on the one page on this entire site (and on the entire internet for that matter) that is purely without bullshit... my soapbox page. There are a lot of times during our show that, whether it's because of time constraints and other obligations, I don't always get to address some issues that I feel don't get the attention they deserve. There are even more times when I just don't feel like waiting until the show the next day to get some things off my chest. Thus, I have started the "Rob's Soapbox" page. If you have clicked on this page looking for someone to coddle your fragile sense of self-esteem, or tell you what you want to hear or to reinforce your outdated world view, then exit this page right now and go somewhere else. If you are in search of the last forum for reason and common sense left in the world, then sit back, relax, and enjoy. I make only one promise with this soapbox page... if you read long enough and often enough, you will eventually be offended. So here's my latest soapbox. Listen up, 'cause you just might learn something... |
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March 20th, 2005
TIME FOR CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS ON HYPOCRITICAL PARENTS Last week, The United States Congress ventured into an area it had no business going; the dealings and policies of Major League Baseball. It was nothing more than an opportunity to make people feel like congress was getting involved with the over-hyped media epidemic of the day. Truth is, tens of thousands more kids are harmed by meth, cocaine, crank and the like than ever even dream of looking at steroids. Congress wanted attention and they got it. Despite my objections to the very legitimacy of the hearings, I'm glad they happened for one very small, un-reported reason. The baseball hearings provided us with yet another example of the on-going decay of our society as it relates to parental responsibility. It is my belief that while at a slower pace than I'd like, America is steadily growing tired of people blaming others for their lots in life. This includes parents in America who claim they have neither the control nor the time to watch over their kids, and therefore it "takes a village," to raise their children. In other words, when "role models" do bad things, the effect those things have on the children of America is the fault of the role model, not the parent of said child. One by one, we as a society are finally fighting back against this mindset and slowly beginning to tell parents that they, and they alone, must take complete responsibility for their children. Some cases are easier than others. We had a story last week about a 4 year old that grabbed a handgun out of his mother's purse and shot his 2-year-old brother. The baby will live, but it's hard to find anyone who will claim that the parent isn't 100% responsible for that incident, given the youth of the children involved. In last week's baseball congressional hearings a circumstance that is a little harder for most people to be so black and white about arose. I however, have no problem saying what needs to be said. During the baseball meetings, a father of a 17-year-old boy who took steroids while playing high school baseball said the following: "I believe the poor example being set by professional athletes is a major catalyst fueling the high usage of steroids among our kids," Hooton said. Hooton's son, Taylor Hooton, hung himself 20 months ago in what doctors said was an act that stemmed from depression after he stopped taking steroids. "Taylor's secret use of anabolic steroids played a significant role in causing the severe depression that resulted in his suicide," Hooton said. "If you haven't figured it out yet, let me break the news to you - you are role models, whether you like it or not, and parents across America should hold you accountable for behavior that inspires our kids to do things that put their health at risk," Hooton told baseball's stars. "Show our kids you are man enough to face authority, tell the truth and face the consequences," Hooton challenged. "Instead, you hide behind the skirts of your union and with the help of management and lawyers have made every effort to resist facing the public."
http://www.politicalgateway.com/news/read.html?id=3255 While it is obviously tragic that Mr. Hooton lost his son, I find his comments to be insultingly hypocritical. Mr. Hooton wants to hold baseball players accountable for their behaviors in the sense that they encouraged, through their actions, his son to take steroids, believing that it would get him ahead. Mr. Hooton wants to charge that baseball players, by acting this way, led to his son's depression and suicide. Mr. Hooton wants baseball players and owners to be held accountable for the tragic death of his son. What about Mr. Hooton's accountability? It is true, in my opinion, that public figures have a moral responsibility to monitor their behavior and accept the fact that people will be influenced by them. That, however, is as far as I go. I was taught as a child that it was fine to respect certain famous people for their accomplishments, but that I should make myself my only role model. By the way, the people that taught me that were my parents. The thing about role models is this: It's fine to find successful people and emulate the actions that got them to the place you want to be. That's true whether you are a child or an adult. However, if you, as an adult, seek out a mentor who seems to "have it all," and you come to find out that he obtained it all by lying, cheating and stabbing others in the back, you use your own moral compass to decide that ill gotten gains are not worth getting and you move on to another potential role model. In the case of a child seeking out a role model or mentor, that moral compass is 100% the responsibility of the parents. Which brings us back to Mr. Hooton. Isn't it time for a congressional committee on the hypocrisy of American parents? While Mr. Hooton wants to condemn baseball players for his son's death, I would like to call Mr. Hooton before my panel and ask him the following: 1) How, as this boys father, did you not know that your son was taking illegal steroids? How was it possible for a boy to "secretly" take steroids if you were doing your daily job of bonding with, and in some cases, monitoring your child's behavior? By the end of questions #1 I would be removed from the halls of congress and impeached on the crime of honesty. The fact of the matter is that while a 17-year-old boy is only a step away from becoming an adult, he has obtained all of his moral values and self esteem from his upbringing, which stems solely from his parents. Somewhere along the way, this boys parents failed to instill in this boy why he shouldn't cheat, why he should care about himself, why he should earn things the right way, why he should respect but not idolize strangers, and why he should always try to do the right thing. Additionally, these parents most likely had lost the ability to communicate with their son on any real level long before his tragic demise. Call my heartless. Call me insensitive, even call me simple. The fact of the matter is, I am right.
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