February 17, 2009 / Social Commentary

If You Get Busted Smoking Pot Make Sure You Are An Olympic Athlete

The South Carolina lawman who drew criticism for launching a criminal investigation over the Internet-disseminated photo of the Olympian smoking a bong has announced that he will not pursue charges against Beijing’s golden boy.

Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott, who has already arrested eight other coed ne’er-do-wells as a result of his investigation, nevertheless defended his decision to investigate Phelps.

“Ignore it and be criticized or address it and be criticized,” he said. “I chose to do what was right.

“Michael Phelps is truly an American sports hero…Even with his star status, he is still obligated to obey the laws of our state. He is not immune from his responsibilities to do what is right. He is also human and can make a mistake.” (Link; emphasis added)

Double standard much? I guess the other eight people arrested aren’t human and aren’t entitled to make a mistake. As much as I don’t care about Phelps smoking pot, (and I really really don’t care), the fact is that if the Sheriff is arresting other, less famous people, his decision to investigate Phelps is at least fair and consistent with the law.

Look, I don’t care that Phelps smoked pot. He could be shooting up heroin for that matter and I still wouldn’t care and no, I don’t think he should have gone to jail for this. But neither should anyone else and the fact of the matter is that other, less famous people are being arrested.

The moral of the story: if you are famous odds are you get to break the law and have few, if any, repercussions while the rest of us less famous people would be (and in fact are) doing time.

On this day..