Our politicians tell bald face lies, supported by gobs of cash from corporations that actually lie better than those who they feed at the trough. In fact they pay professional liars to do that for them. Paragons and titans of our corporate communities commit out and out theft and here lately get bonuses for doing so. If they get caught with their hands in the till, they do some time, pay some fines, and then some of them become celebrities once they get out. The same goes for our political leaders. Their books will sell better if they are caught up in a scandal of some kind and their lecture fees will go up. Some who fall from grace due to their misdeeds, might even get a chance and run for the big prize. We make heroes and millionaires out of professional talking heads who spread idiocy on all sides of the political societal spectrums. Some after having been awarded the coveted status of convicted felon. Add virtue behind that paragon word, and we’ve even seen our faith shattered in our the keepers of the faith, as those who’ve preached haven’t quite been so good at the practicing what they’ve been preaching.
And of course along with all the other failings we got our heroes in the sports community. Today I was reading about Cincy Reds pitcher Bronson Arroyo who after all the scandals that have plagued baseball continues to risk his career by taking unapproved substances to try and gain the edge. That brought back all the reasons I gave up on professional baseball in the wake of the steroid scandals.
And then along comes this. The Philadelphia Eagles signed Michael Vick today. Vick was the amazing QB who liked to arrange dogfights, got caught, convicted, and did his time. Now he’s going to be back in the spotlight.
Call me old. Call me old fashioned. But didn’t there used to be a day, that when someone got caught doing something heinous or depraved or just plain wrong that shame entered the game and they just faded away? I know we should forgive and forget, and if someone pays their debt to society they perhaps deserve a second chance. But, c’mon here, it’s almost like the keys to success have been changed and having a record of lying, cheating, stealing, killing, or depraved behavior in order to really be someone we, and our children, and their children look up to.
But that’s just business.
