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 he was driving under the influence of alcohol. He ended up being arrested and he should have been. People mouth off to the police every day; it just never makes the headlines because 99.99% of those people aren't celebrities.
Then there's another category of high profile people to be considered. Those people that put themselves into rehab for the sole purpose of avoiding jail sentences. Former congressman Mark Foley is a prime example of this. He spent last April pushing legislation through Congress aimed at convicting those accused of exploiting children and at the same time was sending explicit e-mails to underage male congressional interns. What about radio personality Rush Limbaugh? He coerced his Latino housekeeper into obtaining fraudulently written prescriptions for pain killers on his behalf for his personal use. And when confronted, both these men failed to accept responsibility, Foley blaming the Catholic Church and an aging priest, and Limbaugh blaming poor judgment and addiction for his indiscretions. Both these men may need some sort of rehabilitation, but what they really need is some time to contemplate their mistakes, and frankly that time should be in the slam.
Back in 1987, I had some trouble with alcohol and the law myself. I embarrassed myself and my family. My father was working for the Michigan Department of Corrections at the time, and my mother was working for a circuit court judge. I didn't stand before a judge and ask that my sentence be a 28 day program at some in-patient mental facility for people with addictive tendencies, I pleaded guilty and took my lumps. I did my 14 days in jail, seven weekends at a time. Am I proud of that? Of course not, but it is a part of my life and I regret that it ever happened; but in the same respect I know that I lived up to my end of the deal. I was young, stupid, and foolish. But I stood up, admitted I was wrong and took my punishment like a man should.
We are letting people shirk off their responsibilities these days.
And we shouldn't.