Bad Words for Good English

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There's an old saying, attributed to PT Barnum, that goes, "There's no such thing as bad publicity." Oscar Wilde put it another way: "The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about." I wonder if the all-girl indie rock band Good English feels that way about "bad publicity." This rising band has now found itself falling down an outhouse hole into a mess. It stems from the fact that Leslie Rasmussen, the drummer for the band, wrote a letter in defense of convicted rapist Brock Turner. In her "character letter" to the court, which apparently helped because this convicted rapist got six months for his crime, she wrote: I don't think it's fair to base the fate of the next 10+ years of his life on the decision of a girl who doesn't remember anything but the amount she drank to press charges against him. I think it is disgusting and I am so sick of hearing that these young men are monsters when really, you are throwing barely twenty-somethings into these camp-like university environments, supporting partying, and then your mind is blown when things get out of hand. People are outraged that this guy is getting a slap on the wrist because he's a "star." And that outrage has expanded to petitions to recall the judge who sentenced him to six months...and now to a celebrity who defended him. Good English's publicist dropped them from their roster. Several venues cancelled their shows, all saying more or less the same thing: "We do not tolerate those who promote rape culture." She's apologized, saying that she's "only 20 years old" and "still has a lot to learn." Yes, that's true. The first thing she should have thought of is what if it had been her or one of her band mates taken behind that dumpster and violated in a way so disgusting that one of the people who found Turner in the act cried while describing what he saw. She will have quite a while to think about this, too, if the backlash continues. Yes, people say stupid things and do stupid things. Don Henley, for instance, was caught with two underage (16 and 15) girls at his house in 1980 (and they were charged with prostitution while he got off with a $2,500 fine). Most people -- save for the die-hard Henley/Eagles fans -- don't remember that incident. Then there was the time when a very drunk Elvis Costello called one of his favorite singers, Ray Charles, the "N word" in a club. Of course, things were different back then: no internet to perpetuate one's sins ad infinitum the way there is today. Furthermore, people don't seem to be willing to accept apologies anymore (or at least the apologies that the PC police say are not to be accepted). Will Good English be able to survive? They were scheduled to release an album next month then go on tour. Now, with a number of venues canceling their gigs and no publicist, that may not go far. Should they be given a second chance? Of course. Maybe their tour could incorporate something that shows the lesson Rasmussen has learned from this. That is, unless she truly thinks that raping a woman is okay just because the guy is a college swimming superstar and the woman was drunk. In that case, she'd better get religion so she can pray it doesn't happen to her. Here's a song not for the squeamish, about a woman who takes out her rapist: