A Nation of Thugs: Introduction

“THUG: 1) a cruel or vicious ruffian, robber, or murderer. 2) a hoodlum. 3) an aggressive and violent young criminal”

Alright. Let’s get it on the table immediately: we live in a nation of THUGS, with a capital T. And the sad thing is, the people of America have not admitted it because they refuse to see it. This coming after another fine example of exemplary sportsmanship by the University of Miami this past weekend. But more on that later.

I received an email today from Cooter, who is a HUGE Tennessee Volunteer Fan. The email contained the top 10 college jokes. I read them aloud to two of my colleagues, both of whom are two of the most intelligent, highly educated people I know, one of them being a lawyer who used to have his own practice. I point this out for a specific reason: lawyers look at things differently than what you and I do. They can see minutiae when we cannot, and can make an argument for either side of an issue, depending on which side they want to debate on a particular day.

So I read the number nine college joke: Where was O.J. going in the white bronco? To Raleigh, NC because he knew the police would never look for a Heisman Trophy winner at Duke.

And my lawyer friend brought up the fact that he uses the O.J. Simpson case (more on that later because he is in my top five THUGS) when explaining double jeopardy: a person can’t be tried for the same crime twice. Sure, O.J. was tried twice, but his trials were in different courts: one was a civil case and one was a criminal case. But my lawyer friend brought up the fact that O.J. could actually be tried criminally on the Federal Side. Why you ask? Consider Webster’s Dictionary of Law’s definition of “hate crime:” a crime that violates the victim's civil rights and that is motivated by hostility to the victim's race, religion, creed, national origin, sexual orientation, or gender.

So ask yourself this: was O.J.’s crime motivated by the victim’s race? YES (he loved white women, but hated the white men that love white women). Sexual orientation? YES.(Ronald Goldman was rumored to be gay. That didn’t incense O.J. What incensed O.J. was the fact that a gay man could possibly be banging his WHITE wife). Gender? YES. (female, considered by some to be the weaker sex) So while this may be stretching it a little, my lawyer friend explained, those charges could be deemed legitimate, thus making the crime a hate crime. That is assuming, of course, O.J. DID IT! But we all know that O.J. didn’t have ANYTHING to do with those murders, don’t we? I mean hell, if I spread my fingers out as far as they will go, my glove won’t fit EITHER! Again, more on that later.

But when I started to think about what my friend said, the more I thought of recent events that, when looked at objectively, made me realize we live in a nation of THUGS. So what I plan to do in the next several posts is to name my Top 10 thugs of all time. Some you will agree with, some you will not. Some I will get blasted for. Some I will get praised for. But, when you hear what I have to say, you will have to take a step back and go “hmmmm. I never thought of it like that. Maybe we DO live in a nation of THUGS.” So hang on Quad fans. It is definitely going to be a wild, assed ride.