He certainly seems to be a fool.
I don't know why him and the Rice situation are so closely tied in the media. It seems like a straw man to me, there is no relationship between the two events, except proximity in time. As far as I know (and I could be wrong) Rice was not charged, and there is no evidence at all that he actually knocked her out. Rice's punishment seems to me to be a little like Ben R's, he was given a suspension because he 'tarnished the shield'. Shouldn't Gordon's suspension be compared to Reshad Jones, or Lavon Brazill?