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Oz Bengur
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Apology Schmology - Michael Phelps and Tom Daschle
Michael Phelps and Tom Daschle have a lot in common. They are both in the public eye by virtue of their significant accomplishments. They both suffer the conceit of entitlement. They both got caught. And, they both gave what is now becoming a ritual apology for their indiscretions.

In the process, if anyone has noticed, the notion of an apology has lost all meaning.

That Michael Phelps had his head in clouds of marijuana smoke shouldn’t be surprising for a kid (yes, 23 is still a kid), who almost literally, has had his head underwater for the past decade. Michael’s training prepared him to win 8 gold medals in Beijing but there was little that prepared him for the adulation and endorsement millions that he received after winning those medals. That he smokes marijuana shouldn’t be surprising. The reality is that many young men and women use marijuana recreationally. Hey, two of our past three presidents have admitted to drug use - all three if you count alcohol abuse.

Phelps’ apology obviously was written by his advisors. It smacked of insincerity, but it was enough to provide cover for companies like Speedo and Omega who pay Michael millions. They have a big investment in his image, and the image has to be protected. So, the kid needed to apologize!

Most everyone, especially those of his generation who smoke weed and drink regularly, won’t be persuaded that Phelps’ apology is real. It’s the adults who make a living off Michael who needed his “apology’ to protect the wholesome image of their product.

Michael Phelps was perfect in the pool, but like every other young adult, he is learning the consequences of his actions in the real world. As a 23 year old, he didn’t understand that image is everything and that his life now belongs to the companies that pay him the endorsement dollars. His Faustian bargain is that in return for fame, he has to give up being who he is.

Which brings us to Tom Daschle. What we know is that he (and Tim Geithner) knew they owed taxes and didn’t pay it until they were forced to. We all know the tax code is complicated; many of us make mistakes. Probably some people cut corners knowingly. Some get caught; most don’t.

Daschle did. So he apologized.

As a man in the public eye, and an adult, Tom Daschle at the least should have paid more attention to his tax situation. He knows full well that people in public life come under more scrutiny than the rest of us. A man of Daschle’s experience should’ve known better.

No one questions that Daschle competence; he knows the challenges that the country faces in the health care arena better than most. But Daschle’s competence isn’t the question; his judgment is.

If anything, Daschle’s bigger error in judgment was in not telling President Obama of his tax problem until after Mr. Obama nominated him.

Even if one is to forgive his tax “error”, it is hard to explain his hiding knowledge of these “errors” from his boss. As a veteran politician, Daschle knew that this would put the President on the defensive once the information was disclosed, as he knew it would be eventually.

It was unrealistic to expect that a young and inexperienced Michael Phelps would be able to live up to the image of a super hero outside the venue that made him one. The lesson of Phelps is that he is young and naive and made a mistake. His handler-drafted apology sounded insincere, but Phelps deserves some slack.

But we had a right to expect more from Tom Daschle.

At least he finally recognized that his self serving apology wasn’t good enough.

For that, we can thank him.


  1:18 PM •
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