South Platte Sentinel Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2012 Page 7Opinion

Potpourrivia

By Bud Christian

Without accountability, inequality will prevail There is a sense, endemic among the rich and powerful in our society, that they don’t have to conform to standards - legal, ethical, moral, social - that pertain to the rest of us. They have the feeling that they are entitled to play by a different set of rules, often the ones which they themselves have set up. It’s a mindset which says that laws and regulations were made for others, not for them. I have pondered this question many times in “Potpourrivia” columns, and the problem seems to be growing rather than abating. With the ongoing hubbub over the past month about the David Petraeus resignation, the news media have been flooding us with as much salacious, sex-scandal laden information as we could handle, and yet the nation clamors for more. As more details continue to come to light, the involvement of the socially-elite in the military and throughout southern Florida becomes more evident. But the public and the press have been chasing a red herring. The focus, beyond the possible compromising of national security information and classified data, should not be so much on who is sleeping with someone else but more on the fact that the Uniform Code of Military Justice expressly forbids infidelity, and these military brass knew full well that they were in violation of that Code. In the case of Petraeus (who was on active duty) and Broadwell (who was a reserve officer at the time she and Petraeus were sexually involved), they were both married to other people yet engaged in their affair nevertheless. And I doubt that they were unaware of the wording and limitations of the UCMJ. Personally, I don’t care one whit about their personal lives; they make their own adult determinations, and it really isn’t anyone else’s business. But, I am concerned that because of his power and position, they decided they are not bound by the same Code of Justice and conduct to which they hold their subordinates. At the very least, Petraeus should be reactivated to duty long enough to demote him in rank, just as any other soldier would be who violated the UCMJ. I know he’s been called a hero and an American icon, but those accolades ring hollow if that hero can’t muster up when held to the same standards and ideals as a less powerful and less prominent member of the military. In a related issue, apart from the abhorrent and repugnant disclosures surrounding the Penn State football program and Jerry Sandusky, college football

is making more headlines and negative publicity with charges of coaches abusing players. A Washington State player quit the team last month saying he left “because the staff has preferred to belittle, intimidate and humiliate us, and that includes physical abuse.” The university president announced that he had called for a “review” of the charges. However, the president also put the athletic department in charge of the investigation to “get to the bottom of the matter.” One would think that he might have learned something from the Penn State debacle, but apparently not. I’ll be awaiting the report and conclusions with great interest. I suspect I can already guess what the outcome will be. At about the same time as the Washington State charges, Texas Tech head coach Tommy Tuberville was caught on live television, during a game, facing a graduate assistant, Kevin Oliver, on the sideline and slapping him with his left hand knocking off Oliver’s headset and cap. I was watching the game and could not believe what I had just seen so I hit the rewind button and watched it several more times. It was clearly a slap, and Tuberville was obviously yelling at Oliver at the same time. Later, however, Tuberville denied the slap and said, “It wasn’t anything to it. It was just one of those deals where I missed his shoulder and ended up grabbing his microphone on his head set and pulled it off.” (To borrow a phrase from Colonel Potter of M*A*S*H, “Horse hockey!” It was clearly a slap, and millions of viewers can attest to it.) However, because these and other coaches wield so much power, they are not held to the same standards as the rest of us. As long as we, as a society, continue to cede so much inordinate clout to others just because they are rich or influential, we are destined to see injustices and inequity abound. Previous question: Here’s a follow-up fruit question: What fruits were crossed to produce the nectarine? (Be very careful with this answer.) Answer: Many people believe the nectarine is a cross between a peach and a plum, but that is incorrect. The nectarine is smooth-

skinned variety of peach, not a cross product of anything. I warned you to be careful with your answers. Question: What special form of payment was accepted by Pepsi-Cola in 1973 when they became the

first American company to market a consumer product in Russia? (This one will test your imagination and your logical association.) Hang up your cell phone and just drive! Peace!

(Bud Christian, of Sterling, is the author of numerous books on the English language and trivia. E-mail comments or questions to budnjoyce1@msn.com.)

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