A few thoughts on Plaxico Burress

p burress 081201 03 IA A few thoughts on Plaxico BurressPlaxico Burress, star wide-receiver for the world champion New York Giants, turned himself in to authorities today after accidentally shooting himself in the leg Friday night at a Manhattan nightclub. (I don’t believe this story for one second.) Burress’ lawyer argued that “he had 35 million reasons to come back to court.” Therefore, no bail needed to be set. (Wouldn’t he have those $35 million reasons NOT to go to a club with a gun?)

It is a privilege to play in the NFL. Plaxico Burress, Adam “Pac Man” Jones and many others need to try to grasp that playing in the NFL is not a right. The enormous stupidity shown by some of these athletes is almost understandable. Yes, I said it was almost understandable. These athletes get (and get away with) everything in our society. In junior high school and high school, teachers go easy on them. Other students do their homework for them. They are treated a little bit like royalty. All they have to do is make some impressive baskets or throw a football well. When they get to college, the treatment continues. They get paid to turn on sprinklers. Alumni will try to figure out a way to slip them some cash or a car or even a house — ask Reggie Bush. Yep, I’m playa hatin’!!

Then they get to the NFL, where the spotlight of celebrity is now upon them. Local newspapers cannot or will not cover up their shenanigans. As a matter of fact, the local newspapers try to expose their exploits. Now everything is different.  Unfortunately, these athletes who’ve gotten away with everything have a hard time adjusting.

Let me ask three basic questions, Mr. Burress. First, why do you need to go to a club where you think you have to have a gun with you? Secondly, you make a lot of money . Why not hire bodyguards to protect you? Let them get in trouble for carrying concealed weapons. Finally, two days before the big football game against your arch rivals, the Washington Redskins, why are you out at the club anyway? (Could this be why your production has fallen off this year?)

I don’t think that I’m going out on a limb by saying that Plaxico Burress is no genius. Nowhere else in the world could he make $35 million in three to five years. He can’t make that kind of money working at Wal-Mart or at Sanford’s junkyard or on Wall Street (especially these days). Plaxico Burress and athletes like him should fall on their knees and thank God that they can run and catch a football and get paid so very handsomely for it.

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  • ecthompson
    TE -

    Deserves? Really. I don't think that deserves to go free but your point is well taken.

    OJ taught everyone about lawyers. Whoever has the best lawyers - win!
  • ecthompson
    TE -

    Deserves? Really. I don't think that deserves to go free but your point is well taken.

    OJ taught everyone about lawyers. Whoever has the best lawyers - win!
  • He deserves to go free because he is a resident of the state of Florida and has a gun permit there. New York violated his constitutional rights by not allowing him to receive a gun permit (as he is an out-of-state resident), but also not recognizing his Florida license as almost ll other states do. As far as his playing career goes, he should be fined and suspended, but that's about it. Regardless, he DOES NOT deserve to go to jail, and any person that is charged with a crime that doesn't "lawyer up" is also an idiot. I have written a lot more about it here, if you would like the read.
  • Talmadge East
    He deserves to go free because he is a resident of the state of Florida and has a gun permit there. New York violated his constitutional rights by not allowing him to receive a gun permit (as he is an out-of-state resident), but also not recognizing his Florida license as almost ll other states do. As far as his playing career goes, he should be fined and suspended, but that's about it. Regardless, he DOES NOT deserve to go to jail, and any person that is charged with a crime that doesn't "lawyer up" is also an idiot. I have written a lot more about it here, if you would like the read.
  • Plaxico will be doing some time.

    Thanks for your comments!
  • ecthompson
    Plaxico will be doing some time.

    Thanks for your comments!
  • Read the actual text
    Whether or not he was licensed, the FEDERAL guarantee of the right to bear arms should be enough to keep plax out of jail. The federal law should supersede any local law, including New York’s foolish Sullivan Law


    Actually, thats a common misconception. The Second Amendment only LIMITS what the FEDERAL government can do- ie, the FEDERAL government cannot infringe on the rights of the People (note capitalization) to bear arms. This interpretation has been upheld since the initial United States v. Cruikshank ruling, up until we gained the lunatic idiot known as the "Honorable" Justice Scalia. Yet even his written court majority in D.C v. Heller only applied to the ownership of licensed guns within the home.

    I suspect we'll have all kinds of NRA nuts coming out of the woodwork again to misinterpret this sentence written by the most classic anti-Federalists of all time- our founding fathers- to infer that the Federal government has MORE power to limit what States can do, not less....

    Let the tobacco-chewing, gun-toting philosopher-fest begin!
  • Read the actual text
    Whether or not he was licensed, the FEDERAL guarantee of the right to bear arms should be enough to keep plax out of jail. The federal law should supersede any local law, including New York’s foolish Sullivan Law


    Actually, thats a common misconception. The Second Amendment only LIMITS what the FEDERAL government can do- ie, the FEDERAL government cannot infringe on the rights of the People (note capitalization) to bear arms. This interpretation has been upheld since the initial United States v. Cruikshank ruling, up until we gained the lunatic idiot known as the "Honorable" Justice Scalia. Yet even his written court majority in D.C v. Heller only applied to the ownership of licensed guns within the home.

    I suspect we'll have all kinds of NRA nuts coming out of the woodwork again to misinterpret this sentence written by the most classic anti-Federalists of all time- our founding fathers- to infer that the Federal government has MORE power to limit what States can do, not less....

    Let the tobacco-chewing, gun-toting philosopher-fest begin!
  • JeffLeon
    Playa hatin'? Nah. Forrest Gump said, "Stupid is as stupid does."

    Millionaire athlete Plaxico Burress packs gun (in NYC with notorious Sullivan Law, no less), and shoots himself in the thigh?

    That's stupid.

    Till this, pretty much all Burress had to do for life was Not Screw Up Precisely The Way He Just Did. That wasn't such a bad place for anyone to be.

    Now what?

    Now Burress' best strategy may be to find God. Don't laugh. Finding God sure worked for George W. Bush, also a famous, non-genius, millionaire screw-up.
  • JeffLeon
    Playa hatin'? Nah. Forrest Gump said, "Stupid is as stupid does."

    Millionaire athlete Plaxico Burress packs gun (in NYC with notorious Sullivan Law, no less), and shoots himself in the thigh?

    That's stupid.

    Till this, pretty much all Burress had to do for life was Not Screw Up Precisely The Way He Just Did. That wasn't such a bad place for anyone to be.

    Now what?

    Now Burress' best strategy may be to find God. Don't laugh. Finding God sure worked for George W. Bush, also a famous, non-genius, millionaire screw-up.
  • manuel occhipinti
    Whether or not he was licensed, the FEDERAL guarantee of the right to bear arms should be enough to keep plax out of jail. The federal law should supersede any local law, including New York's foolish Sullivan Law
  • manuel occhipinti
    Whether or not he was licensed, the FEDERAL guarantee of the right to bear arms should be enough to keep plax out of jail. The federal law should supersede any local law, including New York's foolish Sullivan Law
  • cinco
    He made his choice when he signed his $35 million contract. Even if the law of NY was not broken, he broke 'NFL laws" that he is familiar with. I certainly don't think he deserves to further show he's 'special' by getting anything less than the average person would get.

    To completely ignore the potential ramifications and say 'fuck you to the world' is wrong.

    He made a poor decision, and now he'll be poorer for it.
  • cinco
    He made his choice when he signed his $35 million contract. Even if the law of NY was not broken, he broke 'NFL laws" that he is familiar with. I certainly don't think he deserves to further show he's 'special' by getting anything less than the average person would get.

    To completely ignore the potential ramifications and say 'fuck you to the world' is wrong.

    He made a poor decision, and now he'll be poorer for it.
  • Mike Glaser
    Let's see... Plaxico Burress is carrying a gun illegally (what in New York City isn't illegal?). He accidentally shoots himself in the leg. Many New Yorkers now apparently believe that sending him to prison for 3 1/2 years, where he risks being beaten and raped by other inmates, is somehow "justice." After all, they're tired of seeing rich athletes get off easy, and hey, if it was they themselves who had committed the crime, they'd get the book thrown at them. So if a criminal "justice" system that is out of control is unfair to everyone, it's O.K., right? And of course, your emperor Michael Bloomberg, who has purchased the right to reign over New Yorkers, states that it would be an "outrage" if Burress were not to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. What is actually an outrage is that this self-appointed ruler of New York City is still in office. If the people of New York had not lost their spines a long time ago, there is no way that this tyrant would still be trying to micromanage the lives of everyone in the City. After all, none of you are capable of controlling your own behavior - you need the likes of Michael Bloomberg to dictate what you eat and drink, where you can go and when, and whether or not you have the right to defend yourself. Yes, Plaxico Burress committed a crime, according to the letter of the law. Keep in mind that, in the near future, more and more of us are technically going to be labeled criminals, as more and more behavior is criminalized in the name of "safety" by the likes of Michael Bloomberg. The truth of the matter is, if anyone really wants to think about it, that we should remove the word "justice" from the term "criminal justice system." The System more often than not gets in the way of real justice. Our prisons are an abomination, joked about and winked at, and those authorities who send people there at the drop of a hat are as guilty of prison-rape as are the rapists themselves. Incidentally, just the other day, a Pittsburgh Councilwoman by the name of Tonya Payne was quoted as stating, "Who really cares about it (a gun law proscribed by Pennsylvania's Constitution) being unconstitutional?" She went on to state that she knew that City Council was engaging in activism, but that their end justified the means. Perhaps Plaxico Burress was not attempting to break the law, but rather engaging in activism against a City and a Mayor who despise the thought of anyone who might choose not to be at the mercy of the depraved and totally dependent upon government for protection. Your liberty, all of your liberty, is disappearing, and you continue to be distracted from what is happening by class envy, self-righteousness, and fear. Michael Bloomberg should go to prison for undermining the
    Constitution before Plaxico Burress ever spends a single day there... but that would truly be an "outrage," to use Bloomberg's terminology, now wouldn't it?
  • Mike Glaser
    Let's see... Plaxico Burress is carrying a gun illegally (what in New York City isn't illegal?). He accidentally shoots himself in the leg. Many New Yorkers now apparently believe that sending him to prison for 3 1/2 years, where he risks being beaten and raped by other inmates, is somehow "justice." After all, they're tired of seeing rich athletes get off easy, and hey, if it was they themselves who had committed the crime, they'd get the book thrown at them. So if a criminal "justice" system that is out of control is unfair to everyone, it's O.K., right? And of course, your emperor Michael Bloomberg, who has purchased the right to reign over New Yorkers, states that it would be an "outrage" if Burress were not to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. What is actually an outrage is that this self-appointed ruler of New York City is still in office. If the people of New York had not lost their spines a long time ago, there is no way that this tyrant would still be trying to micromanage the lives of everyone in the City. After all, none of you are capable of controlling your own behavior - you need the likes of Michael Bloomberg to dictate what you eat and drink, where you can go and when, and whether or not you have the right to defend yourself. Yes, Plaxico Burress committed a crime, according to the letter of the law. Keep in mind that, in the near future, more and more of us are technically going to be labeled criminals, as more and more behavior is criminalized in the name of "safety" by the likes of Michael Bloomberg. The truth of the matter is, if anyone really wants to think about it, that we should remove the word "justice" from the term "criminal justice system." The System more often than not gets in the way of real justice. Our prisons are an abomination, joked about and winked at, and those authorities who send people there at the drop of a hat are as guilty of prison-rape as are the rapists themselves. Incidentally, just the other day, a Pittsburgh Councilwoman by the name of Tonya Payne was quoted as stating, "Who really cares about it (a gun law proscribed by Pennsylvania's Constitution) being unconstitutional?" She went on to state that she knew that City Council was engaging in activism, but that their end justified the means. Perhaps Plaxico Burress was not attempting to break the law, but rather engaging in activism against a City and a Mayor who despise the thought of anyone who might choose not to be at the mercy of the depraved and totally dependent upon government for protection. Your liberty, all of your liberty, is disappearing, and you continue to be distracted from what is happening by class envy, self-righteousness, and fear. Michael Bloomberg should go to prison for undermining the
    Constitution before Plaxico Burress ever spends a single day there... but that would truly be an "outrage," to use Bloomberg's terminology, now wouldn't it?
  • Chris
    Doc:

    You say: "It is a privilege to play in the NFL. Plaxico Burress, Adam (Pac Man) Jones and many others need to understand that playing in the NFL is not a right. "

    While I make no defenses of Burress, I have to wonder what the idea behind that statement is. I feel that a job is a privilege, not a right, and should be treated as such.

    But in the past, you've mentioned the "right to work", specifically in connotation with Obama's policies. So, why is it that Burress doesn't have the right to a job with the NYGiants, but Joe Everyman has a right to a job at, say, GM?
  • Chris
    Doc:

    You say: "It is a privilege to play in the NFL. Plaxico Burress, Adam (Pac Man) Jones and many others need to understand that playing in the NFL is not a right. "

    While I make no defenses of Burress, I have to wonder what the idea behind that statement is. I feel that a job is a privilege, not a right, and should be treated as such.

    But in the past, you've mentioned the "right to work", specifically in connotation with Obama's policies. So, why is it that Burress doesn't have the right to a job with the NYGiants, but Joe Everyman has a right to a job at, say, GM?
  • cinco
    These guys know the risks. They choose to roll the dice. When they 'lose' they want to call foul or play ignorance at the situation. You've been given a chance that so many others haven't and the best thing you can do with your opportunity is to go 'clubbing'? Please give me a damn break. Din't you have a wife Plaxico? Aren't you old enough to not need the club scene? I'm not empathetic. Loaded,, concealed weapon without a permit in a state where you have been privy to the law? It's a mistake that will cost him alot more than money, and he deserves it. What can he use as a reason to plead not guilty? Insanity? Drug/alcohol problem? Fear of his life or safety? What Plaxico something wrong with obeying the law and rules of your career? You just thought you wouldn't get caught. And apparently you didn't even know how to use the damn gun.
  • cinco
    These guys know the risks. They choose to roll the dice. When they 'lose' they want to call foul or play ignorance at the situation. You've been given a chance that so many others haven't and the best thing you can do with your opportunity is to go 'clubbing'? Please give me a damn break. Din't you have a wife Plaxico? Aren't you old enough to not need the club scene? I'm not empathetic. Loaded,, concealed weapon without a permit in a state where you have been privy to the law? It's a mistake that will cost him alot more than money, and he deserves it. What can he use as a reason to plead not guilty? Insanity? Drug/alcohol problem? Fear of his life or safety? What Plaxico something wrong with obeying the law and rules of your career? You just thought you wouldn't get caught. And apparently you didn't even know how to use the damn gun.
  • All good points.

    Doubt Plax will be playing in the NFL any longer. I hope that he learns how to say, "would you like some fries with that?"

    Thanks for your comments.
  • ecthompson
    All good points.

    Doubt Plax will be playing in the NFL any longer. I hope that he learns how to say, "would you like some fries with that?"

    Thanks for your comments.
  • Robin Majumdar
    Good points - unfortunately we hear about these silver spoon athletes living up to the nasty side of having life easy... easy money = easy problems with no respect for the situation they are in.

    However while the "blame" is being passed around:

    1) Security really let in a loaded weapon because the guest was VIP yet not a LEO (law enforcement)? Huh?

    2) Hire some security for yourself, like you mention, if you don't trust the environment, in this case the Latin Quarter and their security...

    3) A ready to fire Glock "tucked" into sweatpants?

    Yikes.

    3 years, 18 months minimum - and pull that NFL career, it isn't that big a blow for him.
  • Good points - unfortunately we hear about these silver spoon athletes living up to the nasty side of having life easy... easy money = easy problems with no respect for the situation they are in.

    However while the "blame" is being passed around:

    1) Security really let in a loaded weapon because the guest was VIP yet not a LEO (law enforcement)? Huh?

    2) Hire some security for yourself, like you mention, if you don't trust the environment, in this case the Latin Quarter and their security...

    3) A ready to fire Glock "tucked" into sweatpants?

    Yikes.

    3 years, 18 months minimum - and pull that NFL career, it isn't that big a blow for him.
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