"What's It Gonna Be, Boy?"

 To me, the saddest thing was that EVERYbody running the Oscars show left Chris Rock hanging here, right after the assault, and did not a thing to reach out to help him.  This isn't acceptable.

Not in Hollywood. Not anywhere in America. Don't tolerate physical violence because of words, period.

Imagine if these were two little black boys in public school.  The weaker one is "okay" with the assault, and even "accepts" a public apology to the teacher, principal and class -- the violent boy who lost his temper is afraid of being suspended and wants to come back already -- that tellingly is not made to him, the one hit.

Is this a healthy environment that "looks away" at black-on-black violence then?  They're just boys, and boys will be boys, and we'll worry about it if it repeats in a cycle, or address it when someone brings a gun or is hurt more seriously?

This is us, America.  Nevermind Ukraine and protecting the women of the world by overthrowing all their evil dictators...

This is us.

How we respond here, whether we accept violence by the angry ignorant, or defend the speech of the writers and the messenger delivering the lines, matters most.  #LifeMatters #EndTheEscalations #WordsNotFistsAndGunsYesEvenOffensiveWords

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*  Full disclosure.  Mal has alopecia.  Nervous disease, but no true health concern.  When he was a kid back in the day, his mother tried to "protect" him from word by ordering him a wig.  The kids grabbed it and tossed it around the room in school.  Called him Kojak.  He didn't lash out violently.  "Who Loves Ya, Baby?"  He used words to respond.  And in college years later, he met a girlfriend (not me) who told him to lose the wig, he looked better without...

And later, when he was less nervous in life maybe, his hair returned.  And he lost it again later in life.  It's the loss of the eyelashes that's the hardest -- they're part of the body's defenses to keep out irritants...

Nobody should be defending their wife's honor with his fists or hands (the man is a slapper) and the world is holding its breath to see if Will Smith, like Alec Baldwin and OJ Simpson to a higher degree, is given a pass for his misbehavior in responding violently (perhaps, in the case of Baldwin... the investigation continues...) to a perceived slight.

Let's look good here, America.  Let's see smith for the punk-ass that he is.  Let's call him out, and let's give Chris Rock some love... Does everybody really still hate Chris for being a smartass little wiseguy in the classroom?  Enough to see him sit back and get shut up by the rich-boy bully?  I swear, Hollywood could write these scripts themeselves.

Let's hope the Free Speech good guys win this one.  And the pressure forces the teachers and the principals to protect all their students, even the perpetual good guy "go-along-to-get-along" Chris Rock funnyman messengers getting physically bullied before our American eyes.