By now everyone has heard about the British tabloid newspaper that published this picture in its Sunday editions, accompanied by the headline, “What a Dope,” and followed by the dire prediction the “astonishing” news threatened to “destroy the career of the greatest competitor in Olympic history.”
Poor Michael Phelps almost immediately issued a statement to The Associated Press .
“I engaged in behavior which was regrettable and demonstrated bad judgment. I'm 23 years old and despite the successes I've had in the pool, I acted in a youthful and inappropriate way, not in a manner people have come to expect from me. For this, I am sorry. I promise my fans and the public it will not happen again.”
Sponsors of the Olympian are probably scrambling to pull out the contracts to review the morality clauses. Yeah the news will likely cost him some money. But the entire coverage is seeped in hypocrisy. You would think that Michael was the only 23-year old smoking pot once in a while. What does he have to apologize for?
A study released [in April, 2008] reported that between 1998 and 2007, the police arrested 374,900 people whose most serious crime was the lowest-level misdemeanor marijuana offense. Most are young males.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg admitted in 2001 to smoking pot and enjoying it. Now he is enforcing laws that he likely doesn't believe in. And so do many other elected officials. If taht isn't hypocrisy that what is?
1 comment:
The War on Drugs should be changed to The War on Drugs Without Powerful Lobbies.
Post a Comment