well hell no. He should be punished without any remorse. He was a teacher. Maybe add another year on for being a role model for good citizen's children and letting them down. What is sad is the few in here trying to defend him for no other reason than to not let a squad name go down the gutter, all the while, the same squad is in every other thread trying to dignify their self perceived superiority (and the occasional "I'm a felon too, wanna make somethin of it?").
"I promise I will change my life to give you what you truly deserve." ~dunnrite May 4, 2005
Going to try this again. Lets see if I can get it to sink in for the high and the mighty here. Lets go down the list here, getting the mostly trivial commentary out of the way. I'm not a huge fan of the Muppet schtick. It is what it is. I think it's silly. I will say without reservation however that the guys from the Muppets that you see 'defending' Skyrock, are trying their best to support him. I have great respect for that and will support them doing so, even if i don't agree with the "Muppet way". This isn't about a squad reputation. If it was I'd be all over it. They're better people then that.
I never had much time for Skyrock's act either. I thought it was pointless and served the wrong purpose in game. He tried to get me to bite on it many a time, and he figured out I wasn't going to. Once past that bit, I had no problem with Mark. I remember seeing a picture of him with his kids and he and they looked really happy. When my little guy showed up, he was always one of the first to ask how he was doing, and seemed genuine in his good wishes while we battled Matthew's medical stuff and the adoption issues.
Am I angry at Rock for putting himself and his kids through this? Absolutely. Do I know him well enough to understand his demons? Nope. But addiction is a family wrecker for lots of folks. My heart breaks for the kids, and I want to smack Rock upside the head and then some. But at this point, what could I do to make him feel worse? As a father who lost two kids through no fault of my own or theirs, I know how horrible that is. It's a life sentence here. I'd like to believe he gets it right now, and he did it to himself. In the end he has a choice still to use the time to get his life together and to repair the damage he's done to himself and his kids. I hope they're waiting for him on the other end of this, and I hope he spends his days proving to them that he is a good man and a good Dad.
So what are my options as a keyboard commando? I can come in here and pound on him, call him evil and pass all kinds of internet judgement on him. Or I can support him through what has to be the worst time of his life.
It's an interesting thing about this 'community' we live in. When I lost my kids 6 years ago now, I got all kinds of support from folks here I'd never even met. I just posted a thread about the visit to see the Mustangs, 38 and 40s with my son Matthew. I really wanted to share that with the folks here. Again, most who I've never met. And the response was nothing but positive. That goes beyond any online persona. It means that there are good people here.
In the end it comes down to dropping this. And for those who know Mark do your best to find a way to support him. None of it means you have to have liked his "persona' or that you can't be angry with what he's done.
You do still have a choice in how you react, and that speaks volumes about you as a person.