Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Plaxico: Public Enemy No. 1

Maybe I'm missing something: when did Plaxico Burress become the new O.J.?

Sure, Plax seems to have some self-destructive tendencies and he's certainly something of a high-functioning idiot. But I'm not quite sure what has inspired such bloodlust within New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg:

“Our children are getting killed with guns in the street. Our police are getting killed,” the furious mayor said in demanding Burress get no special treatment for his alleged crime and coverup. “I think it would be an outrage if we didn’t prosecute to the fullest extent of the law.”

But, as TBL notes, Bloomberg has been mostly mum about the role some of his friends on Wall Street.played in our nation's economic freefall:

But Mike, just curious - why no fire and brimstone for all your Wall Street buddies? ... Why aren’t you prosecuting those crooks to the fullest extent of the law?
Also, this seems a bit hypocritical for a guy who lobbied to change the law so he could be eligible for a third mayoral term. Bloomberg should know better than most that not all laws are absolutes (otherwise, there would be little need for lawyers and judges). Especially for the privileged among us.

Though I understand that N.Y. gun laws leave little room for the occasional goof, three and a half years seems mighty excessive for a mistake that harmed no one but Burress himself and any serious fan of the Giants. At the moment, however, the situation seems mighty funereal.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Agree with this 100%. I wrote a couple of posts about this on my blog. I definitely agree with the sentiment that he should have put out the same kind of speech targeting his buddies on Wall Street.

blackink said...

No doubt, Esq. We're definitely on the same page.

My concern is that people are trying to make some sort of example of Plax. Well, that's not how the law is supposed to operate.

And, further, we (by which I mean some talking heads) shouldn't be in the biz of calling for the punishment of people for things that might have happened. Plax, sure enough, shot himself. But I don't want to hear these calls for jail time because he could have accidentally fired off at someone else.