by Brian C. Noell

Created on: January 13, 2007   Last Updated: May 09, 2007

Rehab, Rehab, Rehab. Why are we Letting This Happen?

Maybe I'm crazy or something, but when did going to a rehabilitation center become fashionable? Perhaps fashionable is not the appropriate word, maybe convenient would better describe what seems lately to be the answer to every public figure who finds himself in a legal or embarrassing situation.

This past year countless celebrities, sports figures, and politicians have opted to check themselves into some sort of rehabilitation center rather than face the real problemthemselves.

Last December we saw the current Miss USA, Tara Conner face public scrutiny as she tearfully broke down at a press conference and admitted her indulgence of alcohol, and admitted to other allegations of inappropriate behavior at several New York nightclubs. Give me a break. This woman is twenty years old. How many twenty year old people have you met with perfectly clear judgment? Conner doesn't need rehabilitation, what she needs is a good helping of humble pie. Stand up, take your dose of humility and move on already.

Comedian Michael Richards made a fool of himself by slinging racial epithets at several hecklers at one of his performances. He doesn't need the Betty Ford clinic, maybe an anger management seminar or class, but 28 days of rehabilitation is probably not warranted, and in Richard's defense he has made a concerted effort to admit his wrongs and try to right them.

A lot of these people need to admit to themselves and their families that they are just plain dumb. Being in the public eye certainly makes no one an Albert Einstein.

"Hey Lionel, your daughter Nicole was arrested this morning for being parked in the car pool lane on the 101 while facing the wrong direction and talking on her cell phone. Since her arrest she has admitted to smoking marijuana and taking a few Vicodin. Do you think she needs to go to rehab?"

The response by Lionel Richie should have been "No I think she's just dumb. She's spent the last few years hanging out with the likes of Paris and Nicky Hilton and that stupidity has leeched into her brain. She's just dumb."

Mel Gibson falls into this category too. Here's a good idea Mel, stop drinking tequila. Better yet, just stop drinking. Do you know what the saddest part about his arrest was? The fact that the press and the public lost focus of the matter at hand was the real problem. Who cares if he bad mouthed the cop and the Jewish faith and its followers? The real problem was the fact that he was drunk, and

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