So says The Poor Man Institute. And he makes quite the compelling case. He also takes on the Hicksville, GA district attorney for his little press conference.DA Fred Bright:
Everybody, I think, could be criticized for their actions that night. I hate to use this pun but I’m not trying to be a Monday morning quarterback. But there was too much drinking going on. If he were my son, the best way I can answer that is, ‘Ben, grow up. Come on, you’re supposed to stand for something. I mean, you’re the leader. You should be a role model. You don’t need to put yourself in this position anymore.’
Which position is that, Fred? The one where you've spread a drunk coed's legs apart in the bathroom of a bar? But wait - PMI has the appropriate mixture of outrage and snark:
Now we know his drinking habits offend the DA of Hicksville, GA, and that he is a shameless toilet tramp. These are certainly not the sorts of qualities a young gentleman should seek to cultivate, but none of them are really remotely comparable to rape or assault, nor do they require swift and sure retribution. (None of them are really comparable to lying about felonies, either*.) If someone goes around raping people, that person should be put in jail. Rapists don’t need to “grow up”, “be better leaders”, or “not put themselves in these positions”, they need to go to prison and stop raping people, and rape isn’t a situation where you can criticize everyone for their actions that night. If, on the other hand, someone just goes around getting hammered in nasty Georgia skank bars and touching drunk girls with his trick-ass pee-pee in the piss-stained bathroom, A) do not ever, ever, ever talk to me about this and say it is “sports” “news”, and B) don’t offer it up like it’s the next best thing to proving a rape.
I'd be feeling relatively hopeless about any possible consequences on the horizon for Big Ben and his objectification of women, except he plays for the Pittsburgh Steelers. I grew up in Steeler country, and have been a fan for more than forty years. One thing is certain - the Rooney family would rather eat half of a $102 million contract than to be embarrassed by this moron for the next five years.
Look for the Steelers to give Ben some time away to contemplate what a scoundrel he's been, and expect double-secret probation for the rest of his contract. One false move, a single slip-up, and Steeler Nation will cut Roethlisberger off at the knees.
If you have any doubts, call Santonio Holmes.
