Twenty Minutes of "Action"

Twenty Minutes of “Action”

“Teach your children well.” Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

The sordid story of the year has been permeating the media with its ugliness, imbuing the air with a stench that is so overwhelming, as to defy comparison. Begin with a crime of violence by an entitled young man named Brock Turner, distort that act by reclassifying it as “action,” blend in a background of entitlement and, finally, with a flourish, top it all off by finding the right judge, one Aaron Perksy.

Uncivilized behavior deserves
severe consequences.

This “judge,” with a similar background as the perpetrator, a former team sports kind of guy at the same prestigious university, handed down a six-month sentence in the county jail, instead of the possible fourteen years he could have mandated. His reason? “A prison sentence would have a severe impact on him [Brock Turner]. I think he will not be a danger to others.”

Every single element of this situation reeks. The loser who is at the center of it all, encountered an unconscious coed and violated her in the most heinous fashion imaginable. While he was engaged in this activity, two pedestrians happened along, and intervened, notifying law enforcement personnel, and retaining the attacker until help arrived.

The wheels of Justice seemed well-oiled, and the miscreant was convicted of three felonies, including penetration with a foreign object. All well and good, right? This should have been a slam-dunk; instead the judge bounced the ball off the rim, and right back into the victim’s face.

Six months? In County Jail? The same as my oldest son was sentenced to, for growing cannabis? Inevitably, Brock Turner, like my son, will probably serve only three months, at best, for good behavior. So I guess that means, that if Brock does not rape any unconscious coeds while in prison, he will get out in about 57 days.

Reprehensible.

The case went from the ridiculous to the sublime, after the verdict was handed down, when it was revealed that the father of the offender had the unmitigated gall to provide the most inane-not to mention impossibly offensive-defense, imaginable.

In a letter to the judge, the father spewed out a stream of irrelevant reasons as to why his son had already been “punished” enough for the “twenty minutes of action” that brought on this whole maelstrom of negativity.

In a nutshell, this one paragraph sums up dapper Dan’s reasoning,

…“These verdicts have broken and shattered him [Brock] and our family in so many ways. His life will never be the one that he dreamed about and worked so hard to achieve. It’s a steep price to pay for 20 minutes of action out of his 20 plus years of life. The fact that he now has to register as a sexual offender for the rest of his life forever alters where he can live, visit, work, and how he will be able to interact with people and organizations.”

My response to Dan comes in the form of a few clarifying questions:

When Brock dreamed about that life he worked so hard to achieve, Dan, did he give any consideration to the fact that others might also have worked hard to achieve dreams in life? Did he think about the life he invaded and violated, and how her dreams might be impacted by a violent assault?

In using the term “action” instead of rape, Dan, I wonder if you ever bothered to teach Brock that rape is a crime of unfathomable horror? It is not about action; it is about dominance and power. Rape is about displaying the most despicable side that humans can display.

Do you realize, Dan, that women must go about their lives on a daily basis, worrying about men raping them? Unfortunately, rapists do not come with easily identifiable credentials. They are not always “sitting on a park bench/eyeing little girls with bad intent/snot dripping down his nose/Greasy fingers smearing shabby clothes…” as in Jethro Tull’s Aqualung.

No, Dan, do you realize that-as research indicates-more frequently than ever, rapists are to be found on college campuses, dressed appropriately, and ready for “action?” Some are even the captain of the swim team.

Do you see your comment, Dan, about the twenty minutes of “action,” as begging the question, “How many other unconscious coeds has Brock violated while at Stanford?” I mean,if not for the intervention of two good people, this would never have reached the light of day.

Do you know, Dan, that three hours after the “action,” when the victim finally surfaced, recovering from three times the legal limit of alcohol, she had no memory of the event? Does this mean that because she has no memory of the event, Dan, that it never really happened? Like the tree that falls in the woods?

I don’t think so, Dan. Many people do not think so, either. We think Perksy overstepped his boundaries, in granting leniency to a fellow swim team captain, and a whole lot of folks agree. Residents of Santa Clara County can sign a petition; all others, regardless of where they live, can file a letter of complaint. Here is the link for that: https://www.change.org/p/update-brock-turner-rape-judge-running-unopposed-file-a-complaint-to-have-him-removed

Why is it unreasonable, Dan, that young Brock be required to register as a sex offender? He is a sex offender. People deserve protection from him. This is the only system we have in place. Deal with it.

Additionally, Dan, we think you are living in a marshmallow world, where men go around raping women, and then not having to face consequences. That is bogus logic. It is twisted and perverted. That you would mention it aloud, at all, is testimony to your own unpardonable sense of entitlement.

You are a despicable example of a parent. Your son is the inevitable result. How dare you cry to civilized populace, that Brock’s life will never be the same.

BROCK’S LIFE SHOULD NEVER BE THE SAME BECAUSE THE VICTIM’S LIFE WILL NEVER BE THE SAME.

It’s quite simple actually, and has nothing to do with the bible. It has to do with living in a civilized world. The world in which you dwell, Dan, is not a civilized world. Therefore, Brock deserves to go away for a long time.

You deserve the same fate but will escape it. There are no laws on the books that incarcerate a parent for failing to teach them well.

If you were any more intelligent than a maggot, you would know this, but you don’t. My advice to you would be to keep your mouth shut. You know that old saying?

Better to keep your trap shut, and have people think you are a moron, than to open it and prove them correct.