As you might remember, Plaxico Burress had a minor incident at a clubin Manhattan last November.  Apparently, he had a gun stuck in hiswaistband and he accidentally shot himself in the leg.  Yeah, I know,this is hilarious.  And he's an idiot.  But now he's going to jail fortwo years on some bullshit weapons charge.  TWO YEARS!!

I understand why Michael Vick had to go to jail. People fucking lovedogs.  But since when is it a crime to shoot yourself in the leg?  Whathappened to the good old days when a famous athlete could get drunk,smack around his girlfriend, run over an old lady, and be out of jailin time for the next game?  Ray Lewis stabbed a guy, and everyoneforgot about it before the playoffs started.  And what about Kobe? 

In in case of Plaxico Burress, who was hurt besides Plaxico, himself? No one had to think about any deeper social issues like domesticviolence or animal cruelty.  If anything, only good came from theincident.  Everyone got a good laugh about how stupid Plaxico was.  Imean, really, isn't shooting yourself in the leg punishment enough?

I guess I'm writing this to hate on what this country has become. America was founded on the idea that money can buy youhappiness.  And it's hard to be happy if you're in jail.  The dream ofany young person crippled by poverty is that maybe, if they work hardenough, they might have a chance to become a celebrity.  If celebritiesare punished just like regular people, then that dream is taken away. The best anyone can hope to become is a crack dealer rather than acrack user.

So America, you need to take a long, hard look at what you've become. Because a country where money can't buy freedom is not a country inwhich I want to live.