Charlie, I think Marv Albert's re-hiring is an interesting and pertinent counter-example, although the forcible sodomy charge you mentioned was a.) dropped as part of the plea bargain, so he wasn't actually convicted of that felony, and b.)
definitely not most people's definition of forcible sodomy. Sordid details here (
short version) and here (
long version).
My understanding is that
Albert was fired for wrongly assuring his bosses that there would be no plea bargain, because he had vehemently insisted that none of the charges had any basis in reality. In other words, Albert was fired for encouraging his boss to publicly defend his integrity, when Albert knew that at least some of the accuser's claims were actually true. The sexual crime against a third party didn't bother NBC as much as the fact that he had lied to them, personally, as a friend and colleague.
Brian William's case involves a different sort of lying, and no sexual crime. So, yeah, I agree, it's not of the same magnitude.
Then again...another factor in Albert's rehabilitation was the fact that he was SO much better at what he did than every other sports announcer NBC had at the time; is there a comparable talent gap between Brian Williams and the next-best guy they've got? Is Brian Williams as irreplaceable today as Marv Albert was back then? And is the news as important as basketball, anyway? (You know, from a business standpoint--NBC
is, after all, a business.)
But, on the other hand...would the sexual harassment of a woman be as tolerated today as it was in 1997? Two years ago San Diego's mayor found out, to his very great surprise, after a long career in the U.S. Congress as a notorious womanizer, that the answer had quite abruptly become a resounding NO. Sordid details
here. So maybe, in today's cultural climate, Marv Albert would not have been given a second chance for a sexual harassment sort of crime. In which case, his precedent may be completely irrelevant to NBC's decision about Brian Williams. That was then and this is now.
I'm actually glad you digressed from Marv Albert's case into general musings on people caught in adultery, because it's always good to be reminded of these words from a relevant parable: "He who is without sin among you, let him be first to cast a stone."
I need a
lot of reminders of that.
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