Does Bad Behavior Pay?
Perhaps a more appropriate title might be, “Did you benefit from your bad behavior?” And for many the answer would be yes.
Deflategate
New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has been in the news lately for his suspected knowledge of using under inflated footballs in the last Super Bowl game that the Patriots won.
Brady has been suspended for the first four games. But guess what?
The sales of Brady related merchandise has nearly doubled.
“If It Bleeds It Leads”
That’s a newspaper term that means the more gruesome a story is the more papers it will sell. I guess that’s true of sports merchandise too.
Remember Mark Fuhrman? Lied on the stand in the O.J. Simpson trial? Disgraced and forced to leave the Los Angeles police force?
Author of six books, frequent criminal consultant on almost every cable news show you can think of. No loss of income there.
Do I even need to mention former President Bill Clinton and his list of marital infidelities? Yet he is still the darling of the Democrat Party and one of the highest paid speakers around.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, had numerous affairs, divorced from his wife of 25 years yet still has been able to produce a sold body of acting work even at the age of 67.
He’s currently signed to do three future movies.
Maybe “bad behavior” does pay.
Not Everyone Cashed In
Former president Richard Nixon never recovered from the Watergate scandal.
Enter former New York state governor Eliot Spitzer. Forced to resign as governor of New York after evidence surfaced he had spent almost $80,000 to purchase the company of several high priced call girls.
Ironically his large cash transfers triggered suspicions at his bank and the justice department who thought he might be taking bribes.
He resigned his governor position a little over a year of taking office.
Later, he and his wife divorced and he began an affair with a staffer for New York Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Spitzer went on to become a host and/or co-host on several political cable news shows — all were cancelled. He also had a teaching stint at City College of New York. No report if he’s still doing that.
Baseball player Pete Rose is still waiting for his entry into the Baseball Hall of Fame. He was shutout by baseball commissioners for gambling while a player/manager of the Cincinnati Reds.
Some Final Thoughts
Some notable personalities are Teflon coated and others are not. Nothing seems to stick to some of our heroes while others can’t win our forgiveness.
Is fame and fortune really the end result that these people were after? Did they know they were behaving badly or do some people simply believe they are above the rest of us?
That in their world anything goes.
What type of example do these types of bad behavior set for others? If you are well off you get off?
Bad behavior should not be rewarded but it should not be a life sentence either. Life is nothing more than a series of second chances.
If you do the crime you should do the time. Then start life over with a fresh slate; not a ready-made bankroll.
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