Serena Williams is being fined $10,000 for yelling at a referee at a sporting event. The referee had just made a verifiably wrong call about a foot fault on a serve done by Ms. Williams in her final round of competition at the U.S. Open today. In addition, she was fined another $500 for racket abuse. She may, pending the result of the ongoing investigation, have to forfeit her entire winnings from the tournament and/or be banned from all further Grand Slam tournaments. These are the consequences for losing control of language in the heat of an adrenaline-fueled competition, in a field of endeavor--professional athletics--that routinely includes benches emptying for brawls, slug-outs on the ice, and coaches being jettisoned from the playing field. Tennis, of course, is a more refined sport than ice hockey, right?
Congressman Joe Wilson, R-SC, meanwhile, who dissed the President of the United States of America during a joint session of Congress last week, breaking the most basic rule of comportment of those august chambers of democratic debate, may be asked to apologize again, to amplify the muttered apology he delivered to the President's aide last week to the full floor of the House of Representatives. Mr. Wilson was empassioned and therefore not able to control his lips or his tongue. Thank god he didn't have a hockey stick. Thank god doubly he didn't have a gun.
There will be no fine. There will be no payment. There may not even be a public apology or sincere acknowledgement of wrongdoing. There have been no real consequences. This, after all, is the Arena of Advanced Argument. I am the referee; you are the referee. We approve or we censure with our votes and our commentaries.
Does anyone besides me find it ironic and somehow dismaying that a tennis player is held to higher standards of accountability than those who serve in our Congress?
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4 comments:
I'm surprised about the amount of outrage Serena has gotten. Is it because she's a women? Is it because she's black?
My favorite tennis star John McEnroe had much more aggressive outbursts without any terrible consequences.
It's hard not to notice that Joe Wilson is a white guy from the South. Maureen Dowd had an interesting article about that in the New York Times yesterday.
I have to think your hypothesis is right. She's not only black, she's big and strong. She's not only black, she's dark black. She's not only black, she's unafraid and vocal and angry. In Lorrie Moore's new novel, there's some material about how African American children need to be taught to use absolutely perfect grammar because any lack of perfect English is used against them, as "proof" of inferiority. So too with Serena's use of vulgar language. Meanwhile, Joe Wilson's fundraising has picked up sharply, as thankfully, has his opponent's.
Too bad the Serena bruhaha happened at the same time as the Kanye West/Taylor Swift debacle. Even though, of couse, they had nothing in common. But you can just hear bigots talking about those rude, angry, uppity....
I think Jimmy Carter hit the nail on the head yesterday. Yay Jimmy!
And Arsen's right: Dowd's columns, including today's, are right-on. Unfortunately right-on. I feel very worried about us with people like Joe Wilson and Sarah Palin being perceived as worthy leaders by so many Americans.
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