Posted on 01/27/2020 3:15:13 AM PST by SkyPilot
Washington Post journalist has been suspended by the newspaper after she tweeted a link on Sunday to a years-old story about the Kobe Bryant rape case just hours after the basketball legend and his daughter were killed in a helicopter crash.
Felicia Sonmez, who covers national politics for the Post, took to Twitter shortly after the world learned of Bryant’s death along with eight others aboard his private helicopter which crashed outside of Los Angeles.
She posted a link to an April 2016 story from the news site The Daily Beast which carried the headline: ‘Kobe Bryant’s Disturbing Rape Case: The DNA Evidence, the Accuser’s Story, and the Half-Confession.’
The tweet generated hundreds of shares and thousands of likes as well as many comments.
Sonmez says she has received death threats after posting the tweets.
In follow-up tweets, Sonmez wrote: ‘Well, THAT was eye-opening.
Bryant was arrested and charged with sexual assault and false imprisonment after a 19-year-old woman alleged he raped her in a local hotel room
‘To the 10,000 people (literally) who have commented and emailed me with abuse and death threats, please take a moment and read the story - which was written 3+ years ago, and not by me.
‘Any public figure is worth remembering in their totality even if that public figure is beloved and that totality unsettling.’
Sonmez continued: ‘That folks are responding with rage and threats toward me (someone who didn’t even write the piece but found it well-reported) speaks volumes about the pressure people come under to stay silent in these cases.’
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
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Do you remember back in 1991 when a helicopter ran into the small plane of Senator John Heinz? That was a very strange and awful day over in eastern Pennsylvania. I used to play tennis with John here in Pittsburgh.
I don’t know why she was suspended, definitely tacky, but the press do far far worse than this on a daily basis.
The case was dropped because the accuser refused to testify, and later filed a civil suit that was settled.
So, the validity of the charges are questionable. But given the threats rhis reporter has gotten even mentioning it, I am sure the then 19 year old was getting far far worse.
Anyway, unless the article was factually incorrect, as tacky as it was to do, it just shows the truth is not what drives the press and hasn’t been for a long time, if it ever was.
Gee how many of these journalists had the courage to keep calling this man a rapist every time a story was posted about him...while he was alive
Crickets
It is not idol worship. It is a reminder of when sports was a part of our society for many of us, before it was taken away by the SJW. It reminds some of us, not all, of the feelings we got when magic happened on live TV. It was a respite from the daily routine. I don’t pretend to speak for others but in my life and my family’s life sports was a part of it. I remember exactly where I was during the Lakers/Celtics matchups. I remember exactly where I was when Kirk Gibson hit that homer with bad knees. I remember sitting down to watch the 89 World Series and it is indelibly printed in my mind for other-than-sports reasons. I remember Baumgartner and the magical Giants World Series runs. I remember Derrick Fisher hitting an impossible shot with .4 seconds left in the game. I remember Kurt Warner and his impossible rise from grocery store stock clerk to a Hall of Fame Quarterback. So many things in my life are remembered with sporting events. Perhaps it is a character flaw inside me but I chose to think of it otherwise.
No, I don’t judge my life by the sporting moments, I judge my life by the way my kids are growing up. Nothing much else really matters as much.
I remember watching a 17 year old kid come into the NBA, watching with my infant son. Over the next 20 years he and I watched the Lakers and Kobe. Until the death of my son, he was a Kobe fan. Through thick and thin Kobe was a part of my life to a small extent and his death yesterday brought me back to my own personal loss.
No one among us is sin free and, thankfully, we didn’t have to discover our sins in front of millions of people. How he went through that time and what he did afterwards was, in my own personal opinion, admirable. I read the stories of how a Catholic preacher helped turn his life around. I read about the things he was doing with his family and his life and admired someone who had gone through a lot. I am not the one to grant forgiveness. That is between him and God.
I am thankful that the things I’ve done in my life were not splayed out in public for if they were you all would not accept me on this forum. I am a sinner and I have worked pretty hard to atone. Judge me not by the sins of my past, judge me for who I have become and my wonderful kids who have to live in this messed up world. They are my hope.
I will miss Kobe Bryant. My heart aches for what his family is going through. I pray for the others on the helicopter that were taken. I choose to grieve, not out of idol worship, but from the experiences that he was a part of in a small but significant way. Let those of us who remember when sports was an escape, who marveled at the occasional exceptionalism that became part of our memories to grieve.
We can get back to rock throwing in a few days.
>>dead because he couldn’t get to a basketball practice without taking a helicopter.
Wonder what his position on global warming was? My guess is he was anti-trump, pro-liberal but saw nothing at all hypocritical about commuting on errands in his private helicopter - just like the midget Bloomberg. Do what I say, not what I do.
A radio host here got canned the day Ted Kennedy died for positing on the air “Where is all of the grieving for Mary Jo?”
This is SOP for the lamestream media.
She tweeted a fact. And by the way, NOT GUILTY!
Good point. They are the darkness.
Good for you.
I am sure that counts a lot in the grand scheme of things.
Let that hate flow. Feed the dark side....
You are going to get an ulcer.
And if my argument is juvenile, it is exactly the same speech you will get every Sunday. So, now you think Christianity and the forgiveness of sins is up for you to decide?
Good luck with that.
There are serious issues with that story that happened in CO. Thats not to say the accuser was going to have a problematic case, but it was consistent.
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YOU ARE RIGHT! The percent of people who are too lazy to thoroughly read about a story is large.
Undisputed detail after detail in that story illustrate the horrible character (and language) of Kobe Bryant back when he was younger. He was far from a decent person (then).
From what had happened in his life since, he became a much better person. That is good.
But, the truth of his low character back in his earlier playing days is all there to see. Sick, aggressive behavior toward women was very prevalent in those days among high paid athletes.
*****
As an aside ........... maybe it's a good thing now that hi-tech phones and cameras are nearly everywhere ...... they may serve to limit the bad behavior toward the unsuspecting. (just a thought)
Sorry. I wasn’t ranting. Try reading my post again.
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........ well said.
Although K.B. is said to have become quite an upstanding guy in his later years, all this media attention and worship is BARFWORTHY.
As I mentioned up thread ............ BURGESS OWENS is my idea of an athlete to emulate and appreciate.
She thought Kobe’s death was an opportunity to make it a “me too” moment. She thought “me too” would trump “black and famous”. She chose...poorly.
And just to be clear, since you seem challenged in reading comprehension:
If he committed kidnapping and rape as alleged, his wife’s forgiveness is immaterial. But he wasn’t convicted of that in the court of law and we don’t know enough to conclude as much otherwise, so in our country and by our values he is innocent of the charge.
wanna bet? I would not make up something like that...
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LOL .... when did it become common for journalists to be courageous?
Too soon?
CC
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good
As soon as my wife heard Kobe Bryant’s name, she mentioned his past rape charges.
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