OK, I said at the end of my blog that I would try to address and comments from my readers regarding my defense of Charlie Sheen.  Today I will do my best.  There were a couple of people who made very good points and one that made many good points, I will have to address the ladder in portions I think. I would like you to read the whole blog before commenting though, as I will be making an addendum at the end. Also, as always  I omit the names of my readers  for your privacy and protection.

Here is the first: "While I agree with most of this, I find it disheartening that he keeps getting married, hurting his wives and the children he is bringing into the world. If he likes "non-complicated" relationships, and living on the edge, he should stay single and stop having children!"

In a way this one sort of makes my argument. Now I don't know and none of us do really, what Charlie's intentions were when he married these women or had the children.  One could argue however that it was in moments of  his life where he was in denial about who he really is, and what he truly wants and needs from his life that he made these commitments. One could aslo argue that many families and children "pay the price" for the choices and lifestyles their spouses and parents choose.  I may be offered a very high paying job that requires me to be away from my family for very long periods but I take it for what I feel are the right reasons.  Maybe I know my Wife can handle the raising of the children well and we desperately need and want the money to put a good roof over their heads and pay for a quality education for them. Will they pay a price? Yes. But it is what families do.

Our next comment is:  "Guess if he wants to kill himself, that's his choice. I feel sorry for the family members who will be there as he goes."

This one I saw coming, many people say well he is killing himself or he may overdose.  This being the reason that he has a problem and out forcing our opinions on his life is necessary.  This is simple, the racers at The Daytona 500 that I just went to also are risking their lives.  Soldiers are risking their lives.  Hang gliders risk their lives. People driving their cars everyday put their lives at risk. Every person on their own must decide what is their personal threshold for risk/reward.  But it is indeed a personal decision.

Now the last comment was pretty long but was good so I will have to break this one up a bit.

I am waiting for him to jump and down on the sofa holding hands with Tom Cruise... As much as I agree with your analysis and wish it was so simple it's not, just ask anyone of our elected politicians who are crucified in the media daily (whether justified or not). His actions have consequences whether they are towards his family, friends or co-workers. The career he has chosen is not one in which his income is based on solitude, but on public acceptance and appreciation.

On this note, I have said many times that I do not buy into this frame of mind.  For politicians, I believe if what they do goes directly in opposition to what their platform is like an  anti-gay rights politician who gets caught with a gay lover, then this is worthy of public scrutiny.  But if he or she did not run on a "family values" platform and I elected them because they can balance a budget, I don't care to hear about it. I expect people to do a job that I elected or hired them to do, what they do in their personal life is no business of mine and in my experience when you probing around bee's nests you will eventually get stung. You don't ask your plumber if he has an extra marital affair before he fixes your pipes, you don't want to know and have no right to know.

The show pays him based on advertising, which is public purchase, peoples acceptance, etc... If you are going to live your life based on public acceptance, than you have to also accept public disagreement. I personally find it hard to believe any CEO would care what he does in his off time as long as the ratings are high and the revenue flows ("he does his job"). But that same CEO will have an opinion when the revenue stream for the show is in jeopardy. These days given you have 24/7 media attention and a multi-billion dollar business based solely on celebrity actions there is no escape.

To my knowledge Charlie's escapades have had no effect what so ever on the ratings of the show or its revenue stream. In fact, it probably helped.

If in his interviews he said, "this is who I am, this is what I like to do, love me or hate me, but accept me for who I am" I could easily be swayed. Instead he rages against the MAN for putting him down (underpaying him, disrespecting him, etc...) and chooses to stir the pot and deflect or even attack instead of simply standing firm on who he is and the way he chooses to live his life.

If you listen to what he is actually saying, whether true or not, he believes he is being used as a scapegoat by the executive producer of "Two and a Half Men". In Charlie's opinion the producer , being distracted by his other two new projects, " The Big Bang Theory" and "Mike and Molly", never had scripts even ready to tape for the last four episodes. Charlie has also offered to pay the salaries of anyone working on the show who is effected by his not being able to do his work, and he claims when he asked that of the producers and CBS they said "they are not my problem". Again, this is what Charlie alleges and that he "believes" he is fighting the good fight for himself and his co workers.

OK, all that being said I must make a confession. I do believe that in many ways Charlie probably does need help, who doesn't.  And I also believe that in some ways he is definitely off his rocker at the moment. But what I am also saying is that in many ways he is right on the money with what he is trying to say.  And I may also point out that he is completely sober at the moment ( he has been tested) which also makes one wonder if Charlie isn't a better Charlie when hes had a few drinks. It wasn't until he got sober that he became such an outward ass.

The main point is, lets not all be so quick to judge. Let's all try to be understanding that when it comes to these entertainers and politicians we just don't ever know all the facts. And we really don't know the real person they are, or what they have been through.  I know I would hate for the world to judge me on just the worst moments of my life, the bad choices I have made or the mistakes I have made. Especially if they don't know the facts or take the time to know the good parts of me as well.  And balance it all justly.

God Bless.


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