Just Go Away Next Time, OK?

I’m not sure how much this has to do with politics, but I feel like I should say something anyway.

After witnessing the aftermath of the fiasco with Michael Richards of “Seinfeld” spouting racist profanity at a comedy club, I think it’s safe to say that many people really don’t understand the concept of humility (and I don’t mean to exempt your humble narrator here on occasion).

Sorrow and unfortunate personal circumstances shouldn’t be used as a means to promote oneself. How many damn times did we hear about Mel Gibson saying “I’m sorry” to everyone in the universe for his anti-Semitic rant after he was pulled over by the police? Why must we know about what seems like a new celebrity divorce every single stinking week (apparently, Pamela Anderson and Kid Rock are the latest to qualify…the all-timer was Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt, of course). And as far as I’m concerned, you can toss the James Frey/Oprah controversy into that mix also.

And of course, the same corporate media “news” sites that bring this stuff to us will also run an opinion piece periodically about the “coarsening” of our culture, prudishly admonishing us for ingesting the fluff that they themselves publish whenever it hits the fan.

I’m not saying people shouldn’t apologize or atone when they do wrong (are you reading this, Dubya?). I’m just saying that they shouldn’t turn it into a cottage industry.

And finally, I have to wonder why Richards even has to work at all. If he isn’t making a fortune off “Seinfeld” royalties along with the other three stars, then he needs a new business manager (who of course will then initiate a lawsuit and start the “star meets unfortunate circumstance” news cycle all over again).