Updated. My kudus to Kellyn Brown and the crew at the Flathead Beacon for making the 24-page Kaleva report on the death of Jeffrey Bowman available on the Beacon’s website. The Beacon’s website also has the full text of the Bowman’s statement of 23 October. That’s modern journalism at its best.
There are several annexes, exhibits, appendices, etc., to the report, that I need to study before commenting on Kaleva’s findings.
Time to stop the bashing. What I do not need to study further before commenting, however, is the despicable campaign of vitriol and abuse that some are directing at Robert and Troy Bowman, Jeffrey’s parents. The websites of the Beacon and the Daily InterLake allow readers to comment on stories — and to comment without publishing their full names, a policy that brings out the worst in some people. It certainly brought out the worst in Nick, who posted this to the InterLake:
Wow... the family has turned a the tragic death of their son into a circus. It is very disconcerting that they seem to “know” so much about what went on, yet they were not present at the time…Yet the family is making this situation out to be a death camp run by the Nazi’s![sic]…
Nick also contributed his brand of wisdom to the Beacon’s comment page.
Nick’s comments, and comments like them, are beyond the pale. They’re unfair, cowardly, and cruel.
There surely is a good deal of anger and concern in Bigfork over this situation. Football is the fall religion of American high schools, so it’s not surprising that some fear that the program is in jeopardy, that others fear the financial burden that the taxpayers might assume because of the district’s mistakes, that others believe the coaching staff does not deserve the criticism it is receiving, that still others consider any criticism of football to be blasphemy. These are human reactions, and they’re understandable.
But playing blame the victim is an inhuman reaction. The Bowmans are easy targets, especially because they’re new in town and lack the deeply developed social and political support systems that others in the community have. They’re also been outspoken in their criticism of the school district, and so the wagons are beginning to circle. That’s unfortunate, and I hope the cooler heads in Bigfork will knock together the heads of the Nicks and bring the Bowman bashing to a halt.