Another personal insult. I thought we Republicans were better than this.
Look, I do not defend Artest. Instead, I point out the league's poor assessment of Ben Wallace.
Wallace shoved artest (against league rules). He continued to pursue Artest after repeatedly being told to stop (against league rules). He threw a towel at Artes (against league rules)which incited the fans.
Ben Wallace started all of this. The league should have hammered him with at least 25 games. This would have sent a message that the league was not going to tolerate unjustified retaliatory behavior that can lead to a melee.