During the past few weeks and days the names Kanye West, Roman Polanski, Michael Vick, and David Letterman have triggered salacious stories and accounts of celebrities behaving badly in their personal lives and even committing criminal acts.  Now, whether we agree with their actions, what these folks do in their personal lives is their business - if they break the law or affect the well-being or safety of others, they should be held responsible.

A relatively new phenomenon has been celebrities, high-profile athletes, and politicians falling on their respective swords in public, often during press conferences and television appearances, complete with tearful remorse.  In my opinion, most of the remorse we see is related to getting caught rather than having put themselves and others in a bad place at the outset.

People do bad things and get into trouble every day, some worse than others, some more habitually than most.  My concern has been the inexplicable tendency of TV and movie celebrities and the general public to give movie stars, TV stars, directors, athletes and other high-profile celebrities something of a free pass.  Is this an informal fraternity where they look they other way for each other?  Why would someone want to redefine rape, animal cruelty, employee harassment, or other intolerable behaviors in a way that allows a celebrity to just walk away or be forgiven in a way that you would not see elsewhere?  Just becasue they entertain us once in a while?  Does that justify their actions?  What if the local landscaper exhibited such poor behavior?  Would we be just as willing to forgive?

Let's not compromise our standards for ourselves and others just because someone is "famous".  We teach our children to know right from wrong.  ...and most of us know right and wrong when we see it.  Right?

As always, let us know if we can help...

- Lou G.