I'll see your outrage and double it

During his NFL career (which he is currently re-starting), Tiki Barber took many a hard hit from huge defensive linemen and punishing linebackers, but I don't know if he ever had a foot shoved down his throat and into his stomach. Alas, he accomplished that on his own, albeit metaphorically:

Tiki Barber hasn't taken the football field yet in his comeback, but he's already taking hits for making an analogy to Holocaust victim Anne Frank.

The former New York Giants running back has been criticized in local media for making the analogy during an interview in this week's Sports Illustrated. At one point in the article, Barber describes going into hiding with his girlfriend after his well-publicized breakup with his then-pregnant wife. Barber and his girlfriend ended up in the attic of the home of the player's agent, Mark Lepselter.

"Lep's Jewish," Barber told Sports Illustrated. "And it was like a reverse Anne Frank thing."

Lepselter came to his client's defense Thursday.

"In a world where nothing surprises me, where things get completely blown out of proportion, this only adds to the list," Lepselter told ESPNNewYork.com. "[Tiki] was shedding light on going back to that time when he was literally trapped, so to speak, in my attic for a week. Nothing more, nothing less.

"Let me remind all those who want to make this more than it is: Tiki was a guest of [president] Shimon Peres in Israel five years ago."

Abraham H. Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, described Barber's comment as "outrageous and perverse."

Yes, it was outrageous. Absolutely. Flippant and glib, I think, but definitely the wrong historical event to draw upon for analogies. But it doesn't say anything good that while there is an understandable outcry about Barber's comments, there isn't any mention of anger or disgust about this: "going into hiding with his girlfriend after his well-publicized breakup with his then-pregnant wife." Comparing oneself to Anne Frank when you aren't in any danger is outrageous. But comparing yourself to Anne Frank when you are hiding with your girlfriend from your pregnant (with twins) wife? That certainly is perverse.

By the way, give the Orwellian Spin of the Day Award to the agent for saying, "literally trapped, so to speak." Uh, was he literally trapped? "Uh, yeah, so to speak." So he wasn't really trapped? "Um, no, not literally, but in a...um... non-literal kinda way...yeah...no...I gotta run." Good idea.

I just found this New York Post piece from April 2010:

Ex-Giants superstar Tiki Barber has dumped his 8-months-pregnant wife, Ginny, for sexy former NBC intern Traci Lynn Johnson, sources told The Post last night.

The football star-turned-"Today" show-correspondent left his wife of 11 years, Ginny, for the 23-year-old blonde, who also worked at 30 Rock, the sources said.

Ginny, who is expecting twins, found out about the relationship late last year, after the run-around running back moved out of their Upper East Side home. ...

The affair is particularly stunning in light of Barber's long-standing disdain for his philandering father.

"I don't give a [bleep] that the relationship didn't work," he said of his parents' split in a 2004 Post interview. "Not only did he abandon her, I felt like he abandoned us for a lot of our lives. I have a hard time forgiving that."

Barber's confidants were shocked. ...

 In his 2007 memoir, "Tiki: My Life in the Game and Beyond," Barber described the example he wanted to set for his kids.

"I want to be an honorable man, because that's what I want them both to be," he wrote, noting, "My family is everything to me."

I don't say this often: I'm a 100% with Foxman on this one. Ugh.

Comments

[Bender]

Yeah, it's really awful. Barber's a jerk.

But I for one would have never known about it had I not read it here. As bad as it is to say stupid and insensitive things, it is also wrong to forward and give greater publicity to the stupid and insensitive things that others say. By doing so, you merely perpetuate the wrong, thereby making it your own, especially when one then goes out of his way to go look up other bad things about that other person and then publicizes that as well.

Some awful things are better left ignored. This is one of them.

[Carl E. Olson]

By doing so, you merely perpetuate the wrong, thereby making it your own...

Huh? I have no idea what that means. Really.

[John Becknell]

Bender, you just perpetuated the wrong by mentioning it. Again. (crud, now I just mentioned it--thereby making Carl's and Bender's mentioning of it--my own.)

[Teo Matteo]

Carl, bringing this to our attention is worthy, in my opinion for this reason: The thinking of many in our culture will ignore the real immoral act and have outrage for the politically correct, overblown, minor misunderstanding. It really illuminates the modern mind.
In the same vien the misuse of the word literally has always been my pet peeve. Well, not literally a pet... but... um... whatever...

[Brian J. Schuettler]

I woke up one day and read that Obama got the Nobel Peace Prize for something or other...who of thunk!

I woke up one day and read that Stephen Hawking gave up his career in physics to become a liberal Cathoic theologian...shades of Hans Kung!

I woke up one day and read that Carl Olson agreed with Abraham Foxman about something...a truly OMG moment!

[Howard]

I think Bender is saying you have committed the sin of detraction: that Tiki Barber is not so important a figure (as might be, say, a candidate in an upcoming election) to make this information of importance to the public, and that this disgraceful action, though publicly reported, was not very widely reported.

[Carl E. Olson]

John: Funny!

Teo: Correct! Absolutely right.

Brian: Funny!

Howard: If that is what Bender is saying, it's ridiculous. Also, it is being very widely reported. It was a lead story for ESPN, the largest sports media outlet in the world, and it is all over the major news outlets.

[Randy]

There is a lack of outrage expressed. Jim Wallis over at HuffPost made that point. That the stories around Schwarzenegger and the IMG guy and even Trump need to be responded to with some kind of societal outrage particularly from prominent men.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-wallis/zero-tolerance-trump-schw_b_867749.html

[Charles E Flynn]

It appears that the sin of detraction requires that the sinner be the one making the revelation of another's hitherto secret fault:

http://www.trosch.org/for/scan/nce-detr.htm

Carl himself did not reveal anything.

[Subvet]

Meanwhile, back to the original story.

Carl Olson is dead on the money.

The guy is a jerk and not too many decades back would have been treated like a pariah for leaving a pregnant wife so he could play house with the mattressback of the moment. Now it's just a "ho-hum" incident made interesting only by an idiotic comment comparing himself to Anne Frank.

I think my cats have higher morals. At least they're cleaner.

[Sharon]

Detraction: Revealing something about another that is true but harmful to that person's reputation. It is forbidden to reveal another person's secret faults or defects, unless there is proportunate good involved. The fact that something is true, does not justify its disclosure. Detraction is a sin against justice...
Pocket Catholic Dictionary Fr John A Hardon SJ

I'm with Bender on this one.

[Carl E. Olson]

Sharon: You and Bender might have a case if (1) it wasn't wide and public knowledge that Barber was a adulterating creep, (2) if his "faults" were indeed secret, which they obviously are not, and (3) I was mentioning it simply to spread the news, rather to note the telling difference in outrage re: his known adultery and his stupid comments about Anne Frank.

[David Deavel]

Carl is absolutely right.