hopelessly devoted to deconstructing popular culture and conventional wisdom, one blog at a time

Even golden boys do stupid things

Published Tuesday, November 09, 2004 by seanlmccarthy | E-mail this post

The president and vice president have done it (Cheney did it twice). Many others have done it. That's little consolation to swimming stud Michael Phelps, who waited until the morning after getting the royal treatment at a Baltimore Ravens football game to reveal that he had, at 19, been arrested for drinking and driving. Most would think this arrest derails his endorsements. But sports likes its bad boys, too. See Ray Lewis. Or, closer to the pool, Gary Hall Jr. Or any other number of people who behave badly but make up for it with superior athletic ability or acting chops or other creative talents. So don't go dumping on the kid just yet. The even bigger question is when are we ever going to reevaluate the way we tackle drinking and driving so people cannot get behind the wheel drunk in the first place? No amount of PSAs or tough laws have proven able to prevent others from doing it. In my mind, it's akin to gun control. People feel they have a right to drive, just as they feel a right to own a gun. But both are dangerous when used under the influence. We need to prevent accidents by being proactive. That's why I think trigger locks are a good idea on guns, and that's why I think we need to think about requiring ignition locks on cars to keep drunks from driving. Think I'm crazy? Fine. But I may be right, too.