Michael Powell, a longtime New York Times columnist, usually writes fine, if inoffensive, copy. However, in his recent move to the Sports desk, it appears he's reaching—very badly—for metaphors. Check out this appalling, tone-deaf lede to his most recent column on Ray Rice's domestic abuse scandal:

Ray Rice: An athlete of unbelievable aplomb even when he's beating the shit out of his wife. Go Ravens!

The sad thing about this little bit of text—besides the fact that it now exists, on the record, in a seemingly liberal publication, for epochs to come—is not only that Powell thought to write it, but that the many editors who it went through didn't think it was fucked up.

I look forward to Powell's next column, in which he appraises Adrian Peterson's parenting skills.

Update: In response to several Twitter messages from inquiring readers, Powell wrote that the paragraph in question was being taken out of context from his entire column. To another reader, he wrote ominously, "my point was to provoke. I suppose i succeeded ..."