Is Michael Phelps being crucified on the alter of a false morality? Or he is just the latest victim of America’s penchant for watching the mighty fall?
Felipe Restrepo Pombo of Colombia’s Semana newspaper writes that as the American establishment continues to wallow in hypocrisy and misinformation, the real victims are dying across the hemisphere every day.
Pombo writes in part:
“The entire matter is nothing more than pathetic proof of the double-standard that exists in the United States when it comes to drug use – and more generally of its false morality. One recalls the affair involving Janet Jackson’s nipple some years ago. The nation that consumes more pot than any on the planet continues to insist on prohibiting and penalization its consumption and is in the midst of an armed conflict against its trafficking. I won’t cite the statistics which prove this here: that would be like rain falling on wet ground.”
By Felipe Restrepo Pombo
Translated By Paula van de Werken
February 25, 2009
Colombia – Semana – Original Article (Spanish)
There is something unique about how idols are disgraced in the United States. Perhaps this is because in a nation obsessed with fame, the way idols fall is especially dramatic. Examples abound: Michael Jackson, Britney Spears and O.J. Simpson, just to mention the sorriest cases, went from the very heights to experiencing humiliating declines. To Michael Phelps, the Olympic multi-medalist, the same unfortunate thing could happen. With the photographs showing him proudly wearing his eight gold medals still fresh in our minds, he has been disgraced. Phelps was smiling then: he was happy to be the new American hero.
READ ON AT WORLDMEETS.US, your most trusted translator and aggregater of foreign news and views about our nation.
Founder and Managing Editor of Worldmeets.US