So Michael Phelps does bong hits. Who cares? I think just about everyone I knew growing up did at some point, if not far worse, and they all have 2.5 kids, an SUV and a nice house in the suburbs now. As a matter of fact the only person I know of who didn't do that stuff was me, and I'm the one living the "burnout" lifestyle now! Seeing as how most people in the United States today under the age of 70 have some familiarity with bongs, pipes and rolling papers, the outrage that Phelps used these things is outrageous.

The sheriff in South Carolina who has vowed to bring Phelps to justice is, in my opinion, bitter that he's stuck in Mayberry while Michael Phelps can get laid in any zip code around the world, so he's going to turn this into an issue and embarrass the swimmer to death, lose him a few million and perhaps even put him behind bars to get even.

When Michael Phelps raced across that pool at the Olympics like a shark, it gave me a sense of pride in being an American I hadn't had in probably eight years. It said this really is the place where exceptional people reach their potential. Before Barack Obama seized the White House, Phelps was the icon who made you think this country may be all right after all. So in going after Michael Phelps, I think this sheriff may as well be attempting to prosecute the bald eagle or Uncle Sam. Fortunately, the chief prosecutor of that county says they've never heard of a case where someone was successfully prosecuted for drug possession based on a photograph, so nothing will probably come of this.

I guess I'm saying yes, celebrities should be treated differently.

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In Defense of Barack Obama

Nothing to defend him on, really. I had a wait-and-see attitude towards Obama, but less than a month in, I'm impressed. His comments to the Arab TV station were on the mark and strategically brilliant. I just saw him address some Democratic klatch on CNN, and he combined a down-to-earth, youthful folksiness ("Thanks for giving me a reason to fly on Air Force One. It's pretty cool.") with an eagerness to respond to critics ("You can nitpick every little thing about this bill and say it has earmarks, but can you think of a bill this size that's ever passed that didn't?...That's what stimulus is! Spending! That's the point!") with the ferocity of a Pentecostal minister ("We're not doing this to expand the government, we're doing this because this is what the best minds in the country say we need to do!"). He gives you a feeling there's a deep thinker with a grasp of the big picture in the office, and I haven't felt like that since 2000. It's a good, old feeling.

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In Defense of Klaus Meine

I'm listening to the Scorpions' Blackout, which I bought in seventh grade, for the first time in over 20 years. Klaus Meine is guilty of some really weak lyrics (Arizona really was a gas/I was screwed up in a total mess/Mindblowing all the way, you know/Just out of sight), as well as trying to front a heavy metal band while having a receding hairline. I'm not sure I can defend Klaus Meine.