Everything Falls Apart

Where have I been?

I've been hiding.

The renaissance is over and all that's left is the trash and glitter in the streets and the hangover and regret in the bed sheets.

I hate this.  I hate every second of this.  Every time I turn on the news or log on to ESPN.com I find myself with yet another bitter taste in my mouth.  And it's never, ever remotely sane or in the grasp of my realm of understanding.

Oscar Pistorius, the dual-amputee Olympian that competed just recently in London has been accused of shooting and killing his girlfriend.  A guy, that they call 'Blade Runner' (not making this up), who has non-biological parts attached to his body (not making this up), has been accused of murder...after he made the Olympics (not making this up) and competed against able-bodied Olympians.

Note 1: There have been many times in this blog where I wished I could have retracted something that didn't turn out the way I hoped it would or quite simply times where I just sound stupid and I wished it would go away but for the sake of whatever back-alley journalism I think this is, I never changed it.  And I just want to say, "Thank Karma God that I never wrote some really inspirational piece on Oscar Pistorius and how he's showing us two-legged folks up and what an inspiration he is to handicapped people everywhere...and yadda, yadda, yadda."  At least I don't have that egg on my face.  Suck it, CNN.

But, in all seriousness, are you fucking kidding me?  This happened?  He was the flag bearer for South Africa in the closing ceremonies for Christ sakes!

Look, I've never sought out South Africa as the pinnacle of human analysis, but to distinguish one man as the FLAG BEARER of your country, you would think you would take the time to make sure that he wasn't...hmm...I don't know...a MURDERER!

Note 2: The trial hasn't even started yet, and probably won't for some time, and us citizens won't know exactly what happened until Pistorius stands trial in South Africa (that should be pretty rough) and even then who are WE to pass judgement.  I put a period at the end of that question because it was rhetorical and I think we are more than qualified to pass judgement on scumbags.

I'm this passionate and at the end of the day I could probably give two shits about this guy.  He's never been MY role model...but I'm sure he's been somebody's.  I'm sure he's inspired somebody to do something they probably wouldn't have done by themselves...and now they feel like an enormous asshole.  And I feel for them.  That's where I come in.  I'm always an enormous asshole.

It takes tremendous courage to stand up against all odds, against the over-whelming wave of resistance, and boldly stand like a pillar of defiance and do something nobody on the planet thought you were even capable of.  It also takes courage to know that all men are created equal and all men are susceptible to faults on the simplest of levels, such as getting mad.  It takes a lifetime to build a kingdom and a day to burn it.

This man didn't gain some sort of societal free pass because of his disability.  His disability, which was a birth defect, caused his two legs to be amputated just below the knees.  Nobody gives you a "Hey man, do what you want" pass for that.  Naive people treat you like a invalid, guilty people treat you like a charity case, and good people ask how they can help.  There's no such thing as a 'get out of jail free' card.

Where do we go from here?  Well, frankly, not very far.  I can only do so much.  I can simply tell the people of the world that your (non-fictional) heroes of the world are mortal.  They are susceptible to mortal flaws.  They are PRONE to let you down.  There is no such thing as a model human being.

There isn't.

Do you know why?  The answer is simple...and fairly dark.  Everywhere you would think to look for the model human being is corrupted.  Boy Scouts, politics, Catholic Church...etc.  The precedent has been set.  But I wasn't misleading you.  The answer is quite simple.

Every time you are faced with a decision, ask yourself this question, "Will this ruin or even maim someone's life?"

It's really that simple, morons.  Stop believing everything you hear.  Including this.