The law doesn’t apply to celebrities
Blagojevich, Clemens, Roethlisberger just latest to get away with things
The heck with the money. Who cares about the fame, or the glory, the power or the possibility of partying with a Hilton or a Kardashian?
The only reason I want to be a celebrity is to have the ability to get away with anything.
If I were a former governor, a pitcher with over 300 big-league wins or a two-time Super Bowl winning quarterback, I’d do what I wanted — laws and standards of morality be darned — and face minimal repercussions.
You may have heard something recently about a politician from our very own state going in trial for federal corruption charges. Myself and thousands of other Illinoisans who somehow were disappointed with the job Rod Blagojevich did as our governor were eagerly anticipating last Tuesday, when, as Maury Povich would say, the results were in!
Like a poor woman who has just learned from Maury that her potential baby’s daddy is NOT the father, we were left distraught by those results. Even if we didn’t immediately run backstage to bawl our eyes out and scream “Why?” over and over.
Why, however, is an appropriate word when discussing Blagojevich being convicted on just one count of the 24 he faced at his trial. He was found guilty of lying to the FBI and the jury was hung on the other 23 counts.
U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald has vowed for a retrial, which could happen as soon as early next year.
Blagojevich almost certainly won’t be sentenced until after the second trial. It seems likely that he won’t get off with mere probation, no matter what happens in the retrial, but also that he won’t be sentenced to anything close to the maximum five-year prison term.
It hardly seems fair for a guy and a situation that have prompted headlines like “Blagojevich trial: Sadly, business as usual in Illinois” from the Baltimore Sun. That headline isn’t indicative of strong national confidence in our state’s ability to police and prevent corruption in its politics. That lack of confidence isn’t likely to change unless more of the charges stick the second time around.
Speaking of trials, seven-time Cy Young Award winner Roger Clemens should soon face one. Clemens was indicted last week on six counts involving perjury and making false statements related to his February 2008 testimony before Congress, when he vehemently denied using performance-enhancing drugs.
To this day, Clemens sticks to his story, in spite of former Yankees trainer Brian McNamee saying Clemens used steroids. In spite of former friend and teammate Andy Pettitte admitting that Clemens allegedly told him about using Human Growth Hormone. And in spite of a career that included several injury-plagued and mediocre seasons in its middle and several unusually productive seasons for someone of Clemens’ age at its end.
The public overwhelmingly seems convinced that Clemens was a user, and so do many of the few people inside of the game that have been willing to take a definitive stand. Few people still seem to think that Clemens will ever end up in prison, even though he seems intent on fighting the government on the issue to the bitter end.
Indeed, I’ll be absolutely shocked if we ever seen Clemens in an orange jumpsuit, no matter who testifies against him or how strong of a federal case gets made. The reason why is, quite simply, because he’s Roger Clemens. The Clemenses of our society don’t get put away for non-violent crimes, and the case being made against him isn’t about his All-Star run-in with Mike Piazza. At least not specifically.
While the government is at least trying to get Clemens into some legal trouble, Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is a free man. Charges were never filed after Roethlisberger faced allegations of sexual assault in two different places, by two different women.
All that came of the allegations was a six-game suspension from NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell that still may end up being reduced. He just played in an exhibition game over the weekend. Then again, maybe we should be surprised that someone of Roethlisberger’s celebrity would even have to miss a few days of work, no matter what they do.
Mark Johnson is a staff writer for the Morris Daily Herald — and a celebrity in his hometown of Verona. He can be contacted via e-mail at mjohnson@morrisdailyherald.com.
