Let me say this about that.

During the years I lived outside the United States, I was often asked about daily life here in America.  Some of these questions concerned trivial subjects like: “What exactly is a bar-b-que?”, “Do people in Texas really wear cowboy hats?”, or “Do Rednecks really have red necks?”  Occasionally though, their questions were serious and thoughtful. 

During the time I was living in Singapore, there was the famous case of an ex-pat American teenager being “caned” for painting grafitti on cars.  Americans were shocked, but in Singapore, this punishment amounted to little more than a good spanking.  The notoriety of this incident spawned a flurry of questions about American justice by my Singaporean co-workers…..including this one:  “Is anyone in America above the law?”  My answer was yes – professional athletes.

Lack of punishment for crimes committed by professional athletes in this country is only rivaled by…    pedophiles in the Catholic priesthood.  And it seems the more famous the athlete, the softer the punishment.  Take for example, Mike Tyson.  Tyson was convicted of the rape of an eighteen year old girl in 1992.  Rape used to be punishable by death in the U.S. and under some circumstances, still is.  In Tyson’s case, he could have received 60 years in prison for this crime.  What he got was a sentence of 36 months.

Pete Rose was convicted of tax evasion in 1990 and could have received a prison sentence of 5 years.  Instead, he was sentenced to 5 months.  “Charlie Hustle” as he was known, was one of the greatest baseball players in history, but he didn’t believe the rules applied to him.  However in the end, his fame saved him.

Cleveland browns wide receiver Dante’ Stallworth recently confessed to killing a man with his car as he was driving home from a night of drinking with his buddies.  Driving while legally drunk is bad enough, but if you harm someone while DUI, that is a very serious crime.  If you kill someone, as was the case with Stallworth, you can be sentenced to 30 years in prison.  Stallworth was sentenced to 30 DAYS!!

O.J. Simpson takes the case for unpunished murder.  Although exonerated by a circus-like trial in the criminal case, he was later found guilty in a civil case of causing the “wrongful death” of his ex-wife and her boyfriend.  His punishment – well, he did not receive any.  Yet another perfect crime.

Michael Vick, Atlanta falcons quarterback was convicted of killing dogs in his gambling operation in Virginia.  He was sentenced to 23 months in prison.  With the case of Simpson and Stallworth, there is a total of 3 human beings dead, and a total of 1 month spent in prison.  With Michael Vick, 3 dogs are dead and he spent nearly 2 years in prison. In America, we have our priorities.

The oddest case is of  “Hollywood Henderson”, former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver.  Henderson, who was a crack addict, was convicted of forcing – at gunpoint – a 16 year old female paraplegic, confined to a wheelchair, to perform oral sex.  Henderson, who could have been sent to prison for life, served only 28 months.  Now comes the really weird part.  Shortly after his release, he won $28 million in the lottery.  As I’ve said many times, you can’t make this stuff up.

And, that’s all I have to say about that.

Shambo