RICK MORAN: Adrian Peterson and the ‘Whooping’ Culture.

Meanwhile, Ann Althouse notes that Peterson is getting piled on in part because people thought Ray Rice got off too light. But punishing one person for the crimes of another is, well, unfair. “I’m not recommending or excusing disciplining children with switches or sticks, just observing that it is an old tradition. As a culture, we have abandoned that tradition, and it’s hard to believe that Peterson hadn’t noticed, but that’s his story. It’s a story that will be harder to sell coming immediately in the aftermath of the Ray Rice incident, and commentators like Gary Meyers are demanding that Peterson’s punishment include punishment for what Ray Rice did. Isn’t it ironic that outrage at the unfair punishment inflicted by Adrian Peterson distorts thinking about how to punish him? Emotional overpunishment — it’s the problem, not the solution.”

Press and social-media hysteria is the problem, not the solution. But our nation is largely run by emotional children these days. Perhaps they should have been spanked when they were younger, instead of being constantly told how special they were.