Posted on Sun, Nov 20, 2011 : 8:58 a.m.
We celebrate the rich and famous and overlook the victims of their immorality
By Letters to the Editor
The victims of the immorality of the rich and famous are frequently overlooked by the mainstream media.
For instance, I read a national news story that reports the celebration of the 20th anniversary of basketball icon Magic Johnson announcing he was H.I.V. positive. Even renowned media talking head Bob Costas said he never thought the star athlete and mentor to the young "would survive the last two decades."
Well, Bob, and others, "Are the victims who Johnson exposed to the deadly virus celebrating an anniversary? Or are they ill, hospitalized, under hospice care or dead?"
Oh, yeah, a real anniversary to celebrate.
Dale R. Leslie Ann Arbor
Comments
groland
Mon, Nov 21, 2011 : 3:33 a.m.
There are many better examples than Magic Johnson. Here is one from closer to home. The Business school has a building named after Sam Wylie, with a huge r of the man hanging in the lobby. He has been indicted for securities fraud and tax evasion, not exactly a model for a business school. Of course, the U of M would not think of renaming this building since they were happy to take his money.
groland
Mon, Nov 21, 2011 : 3:34 a.m.
that should read, a huge portrait...
johnnya2
Sun, Nov 20, 2011 : 6:47 p.m.
Please let us know who the "victims" of Magic Johnson are? Those he had sex with? Are you claiming it was non-consensual sex? As far as we know Mr Johnson did not have sex with anybody after finding out he was HIV positive. I could argue that a parent sending their child to school with the flu virus is more immoral than Magic, since they KNOWINGLY are spreading disease. How about the fact the media is celebrating that a person can now live for twenty years with HIV. That is celebrating science (something you conservatives hate as well) and progress.
David Briegel
Sun, Nov 20, 2011 : 5:27 p.m.
When I read the headline I thought maybe Dale had converted from his conservatism and was condemning the immoral behaviour of the Banksters and Corporate bosses. How disappointed I was to read that he thinks that some are deserving of a virus. Gee Dale, are they deserving of cancer or alzheimers? And are you in favor of health care for all to assure everyone gets appropriate treatment for their afflictions?
jcj
Mon, Nov 21, 2011 : 4:27 p.m.
Please copy and paste the part in this opinion that indicates anyone is "deserving of a virus"
dotdash
Sun, Nov 20, 2011 : 4:53 p.m.
Wow. Just wow. Why are people who might have been exposed to the virus by Magic Johnson any more victims than he is himself? It is a virus. Unless you have proof that he knowingly exposed others, then he is not a perpetrator and they are not victims. As a change from the late 1980s when HIV infection was a virtual death sentence, the survival of HIV-positive people *is* worthy of celebration. There are millions alive today who would have died if not for the medical minds that went to work on the virus. If you are saying it is unjust that he got better medical care than others with fewer resources -- fair enough. But that doesn't make them his victims; it makes them victims of the wealth structure of this country or the medical system -- or else it's just tragedy. I agree with you that the there are many examples of the rich victimizing the poor and the victims are often ignored by the press; this just doesn't happen to be one of those examples.
joe.blow
Sun, Nov 20, 2011 : 4:49 p.m.
This author is a very angry person. I don't think Magic went around spreading HIV once he knew. He was a victim who has brought the disease into the mainstream and has done countless acts to help cure the disease. Thanks to people like him, in industrialized nations, the mortality rate from HIV is the same from life in general i.e. it is no longer considered deadly for most.
Basic Bob
Sun, Nov 20, 2011 : 3:49 p.m.
Morals are relative, and in a free society we must support the right of individuals to have their own morals and live by them. That does not give anyone a right to judge someone else based on their own personal beliefs. Mr. Johnson and his partners engaged in risky behavior and some have paid a price for that. I think I find common ground with the author that that is a tragedy and not a cause for celebration. What I can celebrate is that in the last twenty years, it has become possible for people to survive HIV. That was not widely suspected at the time, and I believe that's what Mr. Costas alluded to.
stunhsif
Sun, Nov 20, 2011 : 3:43 p.m.
As you Dale, I will never understand the media's idol worship like this. Magic Johnson admits to having north of 300 sex partners and it nearly cost him his life. As you said, many of those partners he had sex with are probably not as fortunate as he, because they could not afford the medicinal cocktails that have kept him from getting full blow AIDS. Good Day
Brad
Sun, Nov 20, 2011 : 2:44 p.m.
I see my comment questioning why this would even be printed has been censored as I expected. I know it's just AA.com's attempts to appear "balanced", but there has to be a better way than printing decidedly unbalanced opinions.
fjord
Sun, Nov 20, 2011 : 2:37 p.m.
A poor example used to support a self-serving assertion. Remembering something is not the same as celebrating it. (Also, an inexplicable abuse of quotation marks.)