This has got to stop

I hadn’t blogged on the subject because I wanted to let the facts sort themselves out before I commented.

Marshawn Lynch, the star RB at Cal who is turning pro this spring was accused of sexual assault by an ex-girlfriend.  My first reaction, after having seen the Duke case and others, was to assume that the girl was a money grabbing liar.  Others on other Cal blogs expressed similar sentiments.

But what is missed from that initial reaction was a disappointment in myself.  What if this girl really had been violated?  What if Marshawn, despite being Mr. Shy to the press, was a sexual deviant who deserved to be in prision?  How bad would my reaction have been then?

Well the news has broke today that the charges have been dropped due to lack of evidence and contradictions in the woman’s story.  Every indication was that my initial reaction was correct.

Can anyone else besides me see how horrible it is for our society that this keeps happening?  Was I the only one who’s parents told him the story “The Kid Who Cried Wolf”?  This is yet another instance that will lead people to be distrustful of women who make sexual assault cases against prominent men.  In the end it is the women who most need our support who will be negatively affected by this story.  I don’t know how we make it stop, but for the sake of sexually abused women everywhere, this has got to stop.

5 Responses to “This has got to stop”

  1. Seth Says:

    Ken no charges were ever filed, so there was no way to drop them. Also, shouldn’t we be worrying about the stadium instead of a money hungry liar? Sure she could be telling the truth, but honestly given the utter lack of physical evidence I doubt it. Lets get back to planning a response to the latest attack by the City of Berkeley and its special interests.

  2. andrew Says:

    ken, i completely agree. thanks for elucidating this thought.

  3. Seth Says:

    Ken, I am sorry for my terse comments. I had no right to talk to you like that. Having said that, while it is no excuse, the events of today have really irked me, to say the least. I hope something can be done to save this plan before it is destroyed.

    You make a very sound point about the exploitation of women. If it in fact turns out to be false, she has done a great disservice to everyone, men included. On the flipside, if Marshawn did what she claims, may he be arrested, I guess…

  4. Mark Says:

    Plan 1 – Seriously Cal Fans en masse should organize, grab some chain saws and head up to the venerated grove of oaks in the middle of the night and start cutting down the trees. Yes, you will be stopped at some point and probably arrested, but hey, once you’ve desecrated and damaged the oak grove beyond repair, there will be absolutely no reason to stop the project. The tree huggers will be spinning their wheels.

    To celebrate, run the remains of the trees thru a wood-chipper and donate the sacks of mulch to the universities landscape dept.

    Go FootbalL!!!

  5. Ken Crawford Says:

    To be clear, I in no way support breaking the law and hope that Mark is just venting frustration as opposed to actually proposing breaking the law.

    Also of note is that he’s responding to the thread below instead of the Marshawn story.