Hey guys,
Willie Nelson. Country Singer, Folk Singer, Peace Activist, Pot Head. For those of you who do not know who Willie Nelson is, take a few minutes to Google the man… it is pretty difficult to not like Willie Nelson; after all he is one of the last true hippies… a remnant of a bygone era and generation which tried to change the world with messages of peace and love.
Preaching peace and love and singing folk songs to millions of fans does not however make it acceptable to break the law, regardless if you agree with a certain law or not. Our country does not operate under the conditions that you only follow the laws you think are good laws.
Willie was arrested last November for possession of marijuana, and this was not his first time at the rodeo. This time however it looked like prosecutors were going to make an example out of him… after all, the warnings didn’t have any effect, so now he has to be punished, right? Wrong! He is Willie Nelson… and the prosecutor and the judge are really big fans!
Willie was offered a deal. He pleads guilty to the charges, comes to court to sing a song for the Judge, and he will not have to serve jail time. Are you kidding me!?!?!? The prosecutor was even quoted as saying, “There is no way I’m sending Willie Nelson to jail.”
I am shocked and disgusted at this outright acceptance of bribery, nepotism, and hypocrisy. This is not the way it is supposed to work in this country! You break a law, you pay the price. I doubt the judge would have been so “creative” in his deals had you or I been the person caught with drugs… we would have just been some pot head who got caught.
Is Willie Nelson a danger to society? Highly doubtful. That is beside the point. If they wanted to simply drop the charges, or sentence him to community service which singing could be part of, I’m fine with that… but singing before the judge in a courtroom as part of the deal?… no way! Is this the year 2011 or is it 1411 in which a person must entertain his King to receive leniency?
How can we claim that we are all equal under the law as long there are some rules for the regular folks, and different rules for celebrities.
What do you think?
- X
That is totally wrong!!! A person, no matter who they are, should not be able to get out of a court sentence by singing. If some pothead with an amazing voice was caught with drugs, he would not get out of trouble just by using his voice. Your popularity, or singing voice should have nothing to do with the judge's decision in court. I think it's completely unfair to anyone else charged with the same thing as Willie Nelson should be treated the same way. And anyway! nobody should be able to just perform in from of the judge and get away with something illegal!
ReplyDeleteThis is ridiculous!!! Nobody should be allowed to sing to get them out of trouble. It does NOT matter who you, if your famous or just an ordinary person, you should still serve the time that you deserve. This judge should be fired from his or her job. If Nelson has been caught with Marijuana before, he should not go unpunished this time. This is unfair to other people who have been charged and jailed for Marijuana. Who knows that they did not have a good singing voice?
ReplyDeleteThis is crazy. I think it's ridiculous that he's being offered that deal. If you break the law, you break the law and regardless of who you are or what you represent you need to deal with the consequences. The fact that he goes unpunished is both a slap in the face to others who have also been caught with drugs and to other famous people who have done their time in jail. He should have served time just like everyone else.
ReplyDeleteI heard this on the Adam Carolla Show today. I highly recommend it. I couldn't believe it when I heard it. No one is above the law. If this were the average guy, he'd be in trouble right now but I guess being famous calls for immunity when it comes to the American legal system. I don't care if he got caught ripping the tag off a mattress, if he's caught, he should face the consequences. I think the judge should get penalized in some fashion.
ReplyDeleteI don't have a problem with him getting off the hook. What I have a problem with is how it happened. If your going to have him sing, at least do it outside of the workplace. A courtroom is for court cases, not a concert. The comments were idiotic and so was the way it was handled. This is why people hat America!
-Brandon Maxwell
Well if I ever get arrested for such a thing, I'll just propose the same bargain. It works for everyone right!?
ReplyDeleteI am at a loss for words. I really hate celebrities for this reason. They believe they can do whatever they please and get away with it. Lindsay Lohan can endanger countless lives by drunk driving, yet she bats her eyes at the judge and can get off with two days in prison. Any average joe does that, and he is in jail, possibly, for months and/or years on-end. It really is ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteAs for Nelson, I really do not like his music, but, as I feel for many musicians, I still respect his career and the fact he was, and still is, quite successful. However, NO ONE should be able to evade the law. Trying to show teens that having, and smoking, pot is bad and can get you in trouble? Showing them that by being famous, you can easily get off scot-free, and can carry as much marijuana as you want, is certainly NOT a good start. It sickens me that celebrities get special treatment. I don't care if the first album you ever bought was by Willie Nelson, he broke the law, and deserves to be punished, just like everyone else.
-Jake M.
This is a prime example of how stars get special treatment for things that they do wrong. If any common person was charged with the same, they would be paying for the crime, not singing.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I do not agree with the law (not because I am another one of those high school stoners) but because the profit that the country could make by taxing it is very large. Somewhere around $14 Billion dollars estimated. When they categorize drugs, the government catergorizes marijuana as more dangerous as cocaine. Marijuana is just as dangerous as alcohol is, and the laws should be the same.
Back to Willie however. It seems any celebrity gets let off the hook because of who they are, and it is not acceptable. Someone needs to make an example as them.
This is ridiculous!! It disgusts me how this happens in our soceity. Willie Nelson is not the first and he definitly won't be the last. Although he is the first to get off with just singing a song, he is NOT the first to get off easy, such as Linday Lohan. If these celeberties get special treatment why can't I? So as Violette said if I ever get arrested I'm going to offer the judge the same deal, and we'll see how that turms out.
ReplyDeleteI agree with tiffany this is ridiculous! I hate that society rates people so much higher when they are famous. Laws are created for a reason, they are supposed to keep our society in order and when they are broken there are supposed to be penalties. EQUAL penalties for everyone. I dont care if your Willie Nelson or some homeless person. If you commit a crime you commit a crime and deserve to be punished. If celeberties are getting away with drugs and such they are gonna keep pushing and pushing until they get away with murder. Our system of law was set up for a purpose many years ago and should be continued and followed excatly the way it was set up to be.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely not his first time at the rodeo...
ReplyDeleteThis is a prime example why people like professional athletes and singers believe themselves different (meaning above) the rest of us. In addition to being able to sing or play baseball better than most, they apparently are also entitled to immunity from the law short of murder, and even then, I doubt it. With the average person, the judge/jury/whoever have no clue who they are before the trial. This makes it as fair as possible. But you would have to be living under a rock to not know some famous people, and that is when judgements get clouded. As much as they try to be fair, the first impression that the famous person had on judge/jury/whoever was probably of some sort of positive impression. And first impressions really do make a difference. Before the trial even starts, the judge is already unconsciously biased towards the defendant, whether they know it or not. That is the biggest problem, and not necessarily one that can be fixed. Justice isn't blind, as much as we all would like it to be.
ReplyDeleteI know it's wrong of me - especially seeing everyone else's comments - and it truly is wrong, and unfair on many, many levels. Please note that I do not support his antics or illegal drug possession in any way... But I still think it's hilarious. I remember once my family went to a Toby Keith concert. (I know, I know, he likes country music! Shame on him!) But one of the songs that Toby Keith sang was "I'll Never Smoke Weed With Willie Again."
ReplyDeleteYes, it is dreadfully wrong of the judge and of Willie... but I really wouldn't expect anything different.
In life, it’s truly who you know that determines your success. It’s a sad reality. Those who go by the rules and do everything right their whole lives usually get the crappy end of the stick. Those who lie, cheat, and steal are unfortunately successful with getting away with whatever they please. Shouldn’t it be the other way around? Those who do the right thing should be praised. But the world works in dirty ways, the government, politics, the law, etc. No matter how much we would like to deny it. It’s true.
ReplyDelete