Punching up and punching down

Punching up = Taking on something bigger than you. Something important for others and not just for yourself. It is making a statement in humility. It sometimes involves risk.

Punching Down = Abusing power. Bullying. Looking down on others. Selfishness. Arrogance. Bullies of this type are cowards because their power insulates them from consequences. 

                    
Punching Up = Attorney Barry Dyller who commented on the Kids for Cash Movie to the TL  “It’s an extremely valuable addition to the conversation Americans have every day about how Americans run their lives,” Dyller said Thursday. “It’s an important part of the conversation about good and evil, about American government. It’s a cautionary tale about a fall from grace.” 

Punching Down =  Anybody that would oppose the passionate pleas of Sandy Fonzo above. Hundreds of people who knew Kids for Cash was happening and said nothing because it would inconvenience them. And a "thumbs down" to any naysayers who throw peanuts at the current anti corruption activists. To these people I ask" "So what have you done for your fellow man today?"