Once you see something happen it’s worse than what you know happened but didn’t see. Just look at the whole ISIS thing, which generates more outrage: the unseen knowledge they’re killing thousands of people, or the seen beheadings of 2 people? We know which one should, but the visceral sight always hits harder than the unseen information. We’re a visual species, we entreat each other to “look at what happened”. Before the inside the elevator video got released we knew what happened, but we hadn’t seen it, now we’ve seen it.
As for the idea that his wife seems to have forgiven him that’s no reason for us not to be outraged. Anyone that knows anything about domestic violence knows the abused tend to forgive the abuser for years and years before they finally realize (if they ever do) they don’t have to live like that. Just because she hasn’t hit the point of realization yet is no reason for us not to decide Rice is just not the kind of person we want entertaining us.
This isn’t about the left or the right. This is about actually seeing what happened, and understanding that the victim is not in a psychological place to draw a line, but we are.
The fact that people need to see something evil before comprehending it says a lot about the lack of thinking skills in our nation. (thanks government schools!) It is quite true that it took the beheading of two people on video for many people to recognize the evil of ISIS. This despite reports of thousands of dead and dreadful attacks on Christians, especially Christian girls. It’s pathetic that society needs visual evidence of evil in order to comprehend it.