Primarily, I won't be an advocate of breaking the law as it is the standard by which all citizens have agreed to abide in order to maintain the peace within our nation.
Furthermore, I believe that personal opinions on the use of either for (medicinal, recreational, etc.) or against (religious based, fear of addiction, gateway drug, etc.) illegal narcotics are irrelevant as well, as one could easily argue the pros and cons of either side with the end result being a draw because (like many other controversial issues) there seems to be no middle ground.
However, I will offer that it is ridiculous for the media to criticize Michael Phelps in the manner that some have chosen.
I personally disagree with statements that say Michael Phelps betrayed some sort of imaginary trust with the American people. He had no such trust with Americans nor anyone else. He is a gifted athlete who simply out-performed other gifted athletes on a grand stage while representing Team USA....period...nothing more.
Superior athletic abilities simply do not equate to superior judgment, intellect, or moral character. One has to look no further than the NFL (i.e. Michael Vick, Adam "Pacman" Jones, 90's Cowboys), MLB (steroids) or the NBA (Eddie Griffin, NBA gambling scandal, etc.) to verify that statement.
I do not know Michael Phelps personally, therefore, it is impossible to know what kind of young man he is outside of the pool. Additionally, I do not know the terms of his contracts with any corporate sponsors. However, to imply that he betrayed one of them through his actions is ridiculous.
Unless his contract included written stipulations as to how he would conduct himself personally and publicly, he has done nothing wrong in my eyes to those sponsors. I refuse to feel sorry for corporate sponsors that wanted merely to profit from his name as long as possible.
They are well aware that all business has its own risks and sometimes promising ventures fail. In turn, I do not blame any of his sponsors for wanting to change direction. I highly doubt that even Kellogg's made a decision to drop Phelps based on some true moral ground.
It is simple cost-analysis of current revenue gained from Phelps compared to future revenue to be gained from using his image on their products. Kellogg's obviously feels that it is less profitable to use him at this point. I would not be surprised to see a change of heart come the summer games of 2012.
The root of the "Phelps scandal," if you will, is a problem that is systemic in our culture. We foster the idolization of athletes and celebrities. We want to place them on a pedestal and live vicariously through them, so when Casey strikes out (or in this case, smokes weed) the fall from grace is often over- exaggerated as outrage ensues from all sides.
We have become so enthralled by reality TV, TMZ, and the personal lives of these "heroes" we have created in our minds that we lose sight of the humanity within them. They have personal lives, opinions, and attitudes that are completely removed from their innate abilities for which we so admire them.
So, it comes to no surprise, that when they appear less than "idyllic" we castigate them without real reason. This is not the problem of the superstar - it's our problem. They did not make themselves famous - we did.
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