Explaining the rapid growth of criminal gangs in the Washington suburbs, a Gaithersburg police detective said recently that part of the problem is rap stars who glorify violence in their music and videos.
Some kids draw the obvious conclusion that a thuggish lifestyle is a path to fame and fortune and join gangs to emulate the rappers they idolize. “These kids need new heroes,” he said.
Let’s hope they don’t look for one in Elijah Dukes, the outfielder acquired by the Washington Nationals last week from Tampa Bay. Although Dukes may be a talented player, he is a terrible man.
At only 23, he has been arrested three times for battery and once for assault; he has at least five children with four different women. In the midst of their divorce, he reportedly left his former wife a voice mail message threatening, “You dead, dawg. Your kids, too.” She sought a protective order against him — as another woman had done in 2005.
Dukes’ incessant fighting with teammates, coaches and managers has gotten him suspended at least once in all five pro seasons, banned from two minor league teams, and tossed off the Tampa Bay team.
Oh, yeah. This is a man you want your little boy to idolize.
Bad things happen to good people because of random chance. Good things happen to bad people by design. The Nationals’ management decided to give Dukes the opportunity to enhance his fame and fortune because they hope he will do the same for them.
There is no argument that he is a promising player, but is he so good that it is worth diminishing the entire team by his presence on it? Surely there were at least a handful of other prospects as talented as Dukes – if not more so – and any of them would have been more deserving. Because Dukes was picked, somewhere out there is a nice guy who finished last.
Admittedly, this is professional baseball; Dukes is not signing up to be an Eagle Scout. And, unfortunately, it is not unusual for notoriety to pay better than fame. Britney Spears is better known as the engineer of her life’s train wreck than for her career as a pop star.
And Bill Clinton earned infamy as a sexual predator who betrayed not only his wife but his oath of office — even being accused credibly of rape by
Juanita Broaddrick — yet he is treated like a rock star by people who won’t give
George W. Bush polite respect.
Is it still possible to say with a straight face that actions have consequences? Certain behaviors still are punished, but the penalty doesn’t always fit the crime. In our confused society, a 5-year-old can be drummed out of kindergarten for hugging his girlfriend, yet a professional baseball player who threatens his own wife and children reaps ever greater rewards.
The Nationals’ managers have cast themselves in the role of Dukes’ redeemers, saying they want to give him a chance to “get his life together.” One hopes that he does — not only for his own sake, but for the sake of other people, whom he has a habit of mistreating. But given his track record, it is fair to expect that Dukes will squander this opportunity, too.
Perhaps he will finally do something the progressive crowd finds truly intolerable — such as use a word that is politically incorrect. Maybe Dukes will refer to an Asian person as “Oriental” or describe a person with dwarfism as “a dwarf.” If so, he could be tossed out of the majors faster than a juiced Barry Bonds homer sailing out of the stadium.
In the meantime, we can only hope he does not incur any admiration among the young. The last thing they need is another reason to believe that thuggery brings riches and fame.
Examiner columnist Melanie Scarborough lives in Alexandria. Her column appears on Mondays.
