Phelps And Justice

This post, dope and change : NO QUARTER, is all about Phelps and whether or not Kellogg should have dropped him from his endorsement deal. There is a ton of moralizing in the comment thread, mostly along the lines of role models and young people, and the ever-dreaded "sending them a message." God, I wish people would quit trying to send other people messages on the flesh of someone else's carcass. It seems I have heard that crap my entire life, mostly from far-right loonies who want to send messages to criminals with death penalties and life in prison for pot possession. I have a message for you-- your messages are never going to work! When young people adulate foul-mouthed jewelry mavens whose sole message seems to be kill cops and hit women, then does anyone think a bong shot is going to shatter any adolescent dreams?

And just one thing more-- Phelps spends his time exercising and training hours each day and he has achieved the absolute pinnacle of success in his field. He succeeded; he won. And now people are wanting to string him by his gonads for having a moment of fun? Is this justice? Is it in any way fair when you compare it to, let's say, certain corporate executives who spent years sleazing their way to the top of an economic dung heap, then mismanaged the company into bankruptcy, then went begging and whining for billions of our bucks, and then began stuffing them right back into their own corrupt pockets? Please tell me what substantive damage Phelps has done to anyone?

Positions on Phelps and its attendant issues tend to reek of hypocrisy. Don't call for one nano-ounce of Michael Phelp's flesh unless you are right now leading an enraged lynch mob through the streets of New York stalking Bernie Madoff.