and another thing

the article has a nice little sidebar:

Thank you, Michael Phelps. Your latest "youthful transgression" provided the opportunity to teach my kids that role models are best chosen from those you know well, not those you know through a TV screen, writes Pat Forde.

really? like who?

your pastor?

your bishop?

officer friendly?

your teacher?

the truth is, the people you "know well" in person are probably bigger assholes -- and probably far more dangerous to your kids - -than michael phelps. you think michael phelps never smoked pot before this picture was taken?

maybe he could have won ten gold medals if he hadn't been a stoner, huh?

or maybe you've been lied to about pot, and you're perpetuating a kleptocratic police state.

but seriously, no way to find anything in phelps that would make him a role model? how about the responsible use of drugs and alcohol? after all, he hasn't harmed anyone, and he did win a medal or two, so it seems he hasn't harmed himself -- isn't that responsible?

and isn't responsibility something you'd want in a role model?

maybe you'd prefer someone who is widely respected and always follows the rules?