I suppose a certain amount of hypocrisy is inevitable in politics as politicians try to make everyone happy and end up promising too much, but it is still aggravating. Case in point: the recent choice of Michael Phelps. READ THIS hilarious send-up of the hypocrites.
Obligatory disclaimer: the writer of this rant describes himself thusly: "I’m a former policy analyst with the Cato Institute, now a senior editor for Reason magazine. I’m also a biweekly columnist with FoxNews.com. I’ve been published in lots of places, from Playboy to the Wall Street Journal, and have done lots of TV and radio interviews (see resume or published writing). My work has also been cited in a Supreme Court opinion, helped get a guy off death row, and I’ve testified before Congress a few times."
So yeah, drugs are bad. Smoking is bad for your lungs. Stoners are lazy and forgetful. But if you hadn't figured that out by now...
6 comments:
That is really funny.
Quote: You’ll have to pardon my cynicism. But I call bullshit. You don’t give a damn about my health. You just get a voyeuristic thrill from watching an elite athlete fall from grace–all the better if you get to exercise a little moral righteousness in the process.
Commentary: This claim is completely truthful, but at the same time, also terrifying. Applying this back to government: If we can suddenly turn out backs on Michael Phelps (half human-half fish man) who won this country 14 gold medals and struck our patriotism with lightning bolts and car batteries, then what is going to happen when President Obama "slips up" once? They both have a huge fan base, and this quick shift shows how simple-minded people nowadays are, always jumping to conclusions and passing stupid judgements. But I guess this is more of a rant.
Unrelated: It took the Onion long enough to comment on Michael Phelps burst back into the news and it wasn't as good as most of the readers anticipated: http://www.theonion.com/content/news/michael_phelps_returns_to_his_tank
Does anyone actually care if Phelps smokes marijuana?
Very true. You'd think that this wouldn't get blown into such a big deal. The dude came back with 14 gold medals, and though marijuana is against the law, this is just a bit ridiculous. Whether or not people want to admit it, marijuana can be useful to terminally-ill patients in immense amount of pain. And even though marijuana is a drug that causes a high, I don't think that it's reasonable to argue that marijuana is more harmful than cigarettes and tobacco, both of which are legal. And I don't really fall for the whole 'marijuana is a gateway drug' argument either. It's his body, it's not a steroid, and it's simply a lifestyle choice. God forbid that a person in the public eye may get a little stressed and would want to take a hit. It is irresponsible, considering that he has endorsements and is now a role model to many people of the world, but give him a break. It just happened to get caught in a picture.
Wow! I guess the great cryptic Michael Phelps hadn't really exploded his thoughts and words yet, not until now. I believe that Michael Phelps was probably just under an extreme amount of pressure, or he must have been pretty out of shape and mind to propose such a speech. But some of his statements does make people consider the fact that there has been many misuse and corrupted drug usage in the world, but the real question is, does this speech of his going to impact the world on how they portray him or will the world start to fluctuate according to his comments on drugs & marijuana?
@ Norman
Phelps didn't write the rant.
Thus the title "A Letter I’d Like To See (But Won’t)"... as in a letter the author would like to see. Yet it will never come. Phelps is in too high a position to do it. He needs to maintain his pure "hard-work-and-honesty-and-all-that-good-stuff-will-get-you-far" image.
I actually really liked this a lot. So Phelps did marijuana. That's something I didn't know...but is it important? Most great people tend to have some sort of problematic past. From suffering to wandering off of the "righteous" path, those we see as the "great" seem to have a tendency to not have led perfect lives. Maybe that's why colleges love kids who have endured hardships. Perhaps they are more likely to become great people.
Public figures... sucks to be one. They are under constant scrutiny... and slip-ups, even ones that happened in an obscure past, can come back to haunt them. I'm not sure if Phelps did marijuana before or after winning the medals. Before, then ok... After, then, well, he shouldn't have done it. People look up to him and being the holder of so many gold medals just sort of elevates him. A higher pedestal for him to stand on just means a bit more exposure and visibility to others. (does that make any sense? maybe not..)
@ Ballin
People do care. It's just kind of stupid that they do. Why does society elevate celebrities in this way? They are people. Maybe they did something different, but they are still human after all. (Well, Phelps is part fish.) Paris Hilton, for instance. She's out there doing whatever it is she does and the media loves her for it.
I'd like to know why many of those who are most "enraged" about the Phelps "incident" readily smoke cigarettes or at least are opposed to any tobacco bans. Between smoking tobacco or smoking pot, I'd say Phelps made a perfectly healthy choice.
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