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This latest Mario Balotelli thing has got me thinking about the whole nature of blame and recrimination in modern society.
I was listening to it being discussed (Not So Super Mario's latest gaff) on FiveLive and found myself becoming increasingly angered by the steady procession of Mario-apologists, lining up to say: "He's done wrong but then he's said he's sorry, so can we just leave it and move on now, please?"
Should this be enough or should he still face some sort of sanction?
This thread's not about Balotelli though, it's a wider exploration of the whole idea of "getting caught out and paying the price. Or not...."
When I was a kid, politicians regularly used to get caught being naughty and they almost always paid the price by resigning on the spot.
Nowadays, you have to prize them out of the Commons with a crowbar, they're that hard faced.
And look at that prick who was in charge of South Yorks Children Services at the time of the Rotherham grooming scandal.
It took about three weeks of sustained pressure (which even included Cameron weighing in) before he did the decent thing and walked from his position as Police & Crime Commissioner, the necky bastard!
And take Mackay and Whelan.
As with Balotelli, we've had to endure a seemingly endless list of people who know them telling us how great they both are and how they aren't really racist and how they should be allowed to continue in their chosen line of work because they're both "proper football men" - whatever the fuck that means and what bearing it has on their character, I have no idea.
I suppose what I'm getting at is, why should wealthy and powerful people be allowed to get away with a quick "mea culpa" when they get caught out, but if it was one of us, we'd end up being pilloried for it.
If I robbed a bank and got caught, would it be ok for me to say "I'm sorry, I've made a mistake and I'm not really a criminal, ask my wife."
Would it bollocks, so why do we have to put up with it from "famous" people?
I was listening to it being discussed (Not So Super Mario's latest gaff) on FiveLive and found myself becoming increasingly angered by the steady procession of Mario-apologists, lining up to say: "He's done wrong but then he's said he's sorry, so can we just leave it and move on now, please?"
Should this be enough or should he still face some sort of sanction?
This thread's not about Balotelli though, it's a wider exploration of the whole idea of "getting caught out and paying the price. Or not...."
When I was a kid, politicians regularly used to get caught being naughty and they almost always paid the price by resigning on the spot.
Nowadays, you have to prize them out of the Commons with a crowbar, they're that hard faced.
And look at that prick who was in charge of South Yorks Children Services at the time of the Rotherham grooming scandal.
It took about three weeks of sustained pressure (which even included Cameron weighing in) before he did the decent thing and walked from his position as Police & Crime Commissioner, the necky bastard!
And take Mackay and Whelan.
As with Balotelli, we've had to endure a seemingly endless list of people who know them telling us how great they both are and how they aren't really racist and how they should be allowed to continue in their chosen line of work because they're both "proper football men" - whatever the fuck that means and what bearing it has on their character, I have no idea.
I suppose what I'm getting at is, why should wealthy and powerful people be allowed to get away with a quick "mea culpa" when they get caught out, but if it was one of us, we'd end up being pilloried for it.
If I robbed a bank and got caught, would it be ok for me to say "I'm sorry, I've made a mistake and I'm not really a criminal, ask my wife."
Would it bollocks, so why do we have to put up with it from "famous" people?
