This page was last updated on May 19, 2011.
Liberty and justice for some; Lonzie Cox, Jr.; Beaver County Times; May 18, 2011. I am not related to Mr. Cox.
Most of Mr. Cox’s at least 66 letters since 2004 are tinged with race, and all take leftist positions. This letter is not an exception. The most recent previous Cox letter I critiqued was “Discriminatory law is still in effect.”
Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.
“About my second day of school, I learned the Pledge of Allegiance.
“Thereafter we set about learning the exceptions and definitions of ‘for all.’ Liberty and justice for some but not for others, I discovered.”
[RWC] Who are the “others?”
“Rashard Mendenhall just discovered another exception. It says that everyone but him can tweet on the Twitter pages without repercussion. I read his comments digging for some words that had sent the Times’ Mike Bires over the edge to where he even verbally attacked a Catholic priest.”
[RWC] According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the following were among Mr. Mendenhall’s Twitter comments.
• “‘We’ll never know what really happened. I just have a hard time believing a plane could take a skyscraper down demolition style.’
• “‘I believe in God. I believe we’re ALL his children. And I believe HE is the ONE and ONLY judge.’
• “‘Those who judge others, will also be judged themselves.’
• “‘For those of you who said you want to see Bin Laden burn in hell ... I ask how would God feel about your heart?’”
Unless you are familiar with Mr. Cox’s letter-writing body of work, you may think this letter is about free speech. It is not. If Mr. Mendenhall were white or known to be a non-leftist, Mr. Cox would not have written this letter. If it turns out Mr. Mendenhall is a non-leftist, expect a flip-flop as we saw when Mr. Cox wrote about the late-Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV).
“Everyone but him [Mr. Mendenhall] can tweet on the Twitter pages without repercussion?” Does Mr. Cox really expect us to believe Mr. Mendenhall is the only person who got themselves into hot water because of something they wrote on Twitter or wrote/said anywhere?
Here is the “verbal attack [on] a Catholic priest” to which Mr. Cox refers: “Tuesday afternoon, I [Mike Bires] was among a small group of people listening to a Catholic priest speak. The first words out of his mouth dealt with the joy many Americans feel now that Osama bin Laden is dead and buried at sea. Unlike the multitudes rejoicing the demise of an evil terrorist and mass murderer like bin Laden, this priest chose to quote a young boy who was interviewed on television. ‘Why did he have the die?’ the kid asked the TV reporter. The priest commended the boy and went on to say that is not our job to judge people, only God’s. Apparently, this priest and Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall think on the same wavelength.”
“Then Mark Madden wrote a column insisting that Mendenhall apologize to virtually everybody. Yes, this is the same Mark Madden who expressed his extreme joy and happiness upon hearing that the late great Sen. Teddy Kennedy had a terminal brain cancer. I never heard Madden apologize for that nastiness. He wasn’t fired. Madden received a slap on the wrist.
“Another exception to the rule of ‘liberty and Justice for all’ I guess.”
[RWC] Not surprisingly, Mr. Cox’s facts are a tad flawed. First, Mr. Madden apologized on-air about two hours after he made his Kennedy comment. Second, ESPN fired Mr. Madden for his comment about Mr. Kennedy.
“And on the ‘pancaking’ collapse of the World Trade Center Towers, I have heard debates between architects, structural engineers and metallurgists, and even they don’t agree on why modern skyscrapers fell so quickly and totally. So why can’t Mendenhall ask?”
[RWC] So in addition to everything else, Mr. Cox is a “truther?” By “so quickly,” Mr. Cox means about 102 minutes for the North Tower and about 56 minutes for the South Tower while being bathed and burned with jet fuel.
Finally, for someone who attacks anyone who dares express an opinion with which he disagrees, Mr. Cox has chutzpah for complaining about Mr. Mendenhall’s treatment.
© 2004-2011 Robert W. Cox, all rights reserved.