“The two-game suspension of Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice for domestic violence has provoked angry reaction from fans and commentators, but ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith wants to remind everyone that the ladies should be sure not to ‘do anything to provoke’ violence from men. On Friday morning’s First Take, Smith said that while he agreed that Ray Rice’s suspension was too lenient, he also tells the female members of his family. ‘Let’s make sure we don’t do anything to provoke wrong actions.’

“Smith went on to say, repeatedly, that there is never an excuse for domestic violence, but then seemed to create separate categories of domestic violence, saying that the provocation he referenced ‘doesn’t negate the fact that they already put their hands on you. So let’s try to make sure we can do our part to make sure that that doesn’t happen. You have some dudes that are just horrible and they are going to do it anyway.'” *

In this clip The Young Turks’ Cenk Uygur (http://twitter.com/cenkuygur), Ana Kasparian (http://twitter.com/anakasparian), John Iadarola (http://twitter.com/jiadarola) and Wesley Clark break down the controversy.

* For more, read the Daily Banter story by Tommy Christopher here: http://thedailybanter.com/2014/07/espn-commentator-says-women-shouldnt-provoke-men-domestic-violence/