Yet another reason to hate the steelers

I know, there's a lot of dumb athletes in the world saying dumb things, especially since Twitter got big, but Rashard Mendenhall is on the steelers, who I do not like, and he is extra-dumb, hence this quick article.

Mendenhall has come under some fire, even from his own club, for a couple of twitters he sent apparently defending the now-deceased Osama bin Laden. (Mendenhall's timeline also features a retweet from the hilariously-named "IslamicThinking" and this gem: "Going down on your man IS optional. It's either gonna be you, OR some other chick. #choosewisely")

Anyway, Mendenhall decided to send this missive regarding American celebration of OBL's killing:

What kind of person celebrates death? It's amazing how people can HATE a man they have never even heard speak. We've only heard one side...

In his defense, I thought the degree of pride and celebration that surrounded the news of OBL's death here in the US was over the top. But criticizing American response to the news is a far different animal than defending OBL's indefensible legacy. Ironically, a very good answer to the question opening this post is...Osama bin Laden, an individual who celebrated thousands of deaths, ones that he was directly responsible for. And the idea that we haven't heard bin Laden's "side" is absurd - his rambling videos and the murderous organization he founded don't tell that story?

Mendenhall also Twittered some genius-level thoughts about 9/11:

We'll never know what really happened. I just have a hard time believing a plane could take a skyscraper down demolition style.

Great points, other than we know exactly what happened, and it's on video.

Mendenhall's been at this game for a while - back in March he supported Adrian Peterson's preopsterous claim that pro athletics are "modern-day slavery," offering that:

Anyone with knowledge of the slave trade and the NFL could say that these two parallel eachother

This statement is so stupid that I'm not going to even grace it with a counterpoint. Know that I want to, though. I know athletes live in a bubble removed from the real world, but even by those insulated standards this is pretty dumb.

Possibly realizing what a fool he might appear to be, Mendenhall quickly got on the defensive after his initial missives with:

I believe in God. I believe we're ALL his children. And I believe HE is the ONE and ONLY judge.

and

Those who judge others, will also be judged themselves.

This is pure cowardice. Hiding behind God and the day of judgement is a defiantly pathetic way to take your ball and go home from an discussion. People for some reason think that rubbish like this insulates them from criticism, like I'm going to hesitate to "judge" Mendenhall's stupid remarks because I'm afraid of somebody or something "judging" me as a consequence. People are judged all the time, at work, at home, and of course in public forums if they choose to use them. If you're confident that you've made a legitimate point, there's no need to injoin your critics with vague threats of future "judgment."

I suppose I'd better check Twitter to see if any Browns said anything dumb...