"Slap His Sorry Ass In Jail...That Will Improve His Memory Big Time..."

One upside to getting older is finding it easier to have compassion for other's human foibles and failings.

Well, there's also the "not dead" thing, too, but I digress.

If you live five or six decades in this life, chances are that you're going to have been mean, petty, selfish, even possibly violent at least once, somewhere along the way, even if your primary personality is neither mean, petty, selfish or violent.

The road of life is full of twists and turns and unexpected crossroads and we are all human, subject to moments of weakness and acts of meaness, pettiness, etc, etc.

Or, put another way...shit happens.

That's why I haven't, till now, written or spoken about Chris Brown and his physical assault on Rhianna.

First things first.

I dont condone physical violence for any reason, save undeniable self defense.

I've seen the damage, inner and outer, that it causes.

And I dont think there should be a lot of wiggle room for people who let the punches fly.

Having said that, read paragraph four again.

And in that spirit, I put down the stone I was poised to throw and resumed life in my little glass house.

Until today when this little slice of breaking news found its way to my plate.


LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Pop star Chris Brown has admitted guilt and apologized for assaulting his then-girlfriend Rihanna in February, but he does not remember hitting the singer, he told CNN's Larry King.

Looking at police reports about the incident makes him feel like he's reading about a stranger, Brown said in his first television interview since the arrest.

"I'm in shock, because, first of all, that's not who I am as a person, and that's not who I promise I want to be," he said in an exclusive interview that airs Wednesday night.

"I just don't know what to think. I'm just like, wow," Brown said. "It's crazy to me."

Brown, 20, said he still loves singer Rihanna, whose full name is Robyn Rihanna Fenty.

But, he added, it is tough for him to look at the photo showing Rihanna's battered face, the one image that might haunt and define him forever.

"When I look at it now, it's just like, wow, like, I can't believe that that actually happened," Brown said.

He now has to keep his distance from Rihanna, because of a judge's restraining order.


What is it about today's culture that makes it necessary to almost ALWAYS follow an act or expression of contrition with a rationalization or, even worse, justification?

What the hell ever happened to just "I was wrong. I'm sorry. Please forgive me."

Chris Brown doesn't REMEMBER hitting her?

Repeatedly?

Puh...and

...leeze.

Bill Cosby did a very sharp, insightful bit years ago about how his kids instinctively pleaded ignorance when it came to owning up to their behavior.

"Why did you do that?"

"I dunno..."

"Who did this?"

"I dunno."

In the case of Bill Cosby, the story is funny.

In the case of Chris Brown, the story is decidedly not.