I’ve been somewhat following the news on this octuplet situation and Michael Phelps happily smoking weed.

My initial reaction to the criticism of the mother was that hey, it’s a free country, leave her alone.  But then I start seeing the reports that she’s single, she already has six kids, she’s been living off of disability, and she has no real means to support six kids, let alone fourteen.  THEN I got an opinion.  Her irresponsible behavior is unacceptable, but unfortunately, not a damn thing can be done about it unless we all want to head down the slipperly slope of violating privacy rights.  So I guess the only way to attack a problem such as this is to build in more onerous requirements on the medical end.  Unfortunately, this will create more hoops for couples who are already going through hell trying to conceive.  They can thank octuplet mom and her oblivious doctor for the hoops.

Now onto Michael.  Leave the guy alone.  Yeah, it was incredibly dumb to put himself in the position of being photographed with a bong shoved in his face.  But it’s not like he’s savvy about being a celebrity – he’s a newbie.  And I’m not going to get on my soapbox about his lapse in judgment because he’s lived a much more rigorous, disciplined life than the majority of human beings can claim.  I didn’t buy the “I’m just 23 years old” excuse, because 23 is old enough to know better.  But, really, is smoking some pot really all that awful?  Yes, it is illegal and it isn’t good to shove all that smoke into one’s lungs.  However, it ain’t the end of the world and I think Michael should get a little slack. He’s paying his dues now with his suspension and his endorsement losses, so I’m pretty sure he’s not going to put himself in this position again.

Oh yeah, Christian Bale.  I heard his rant (wowza) and I heard his apology.  Mr. Bale, you are forgiven.  Carry on.