At 11:58 PM on Monday, June 25th, 2007, as I was checking website stats and watching CNN, CNN announced that Paris Hilton was being released from jail in LA County.
As I watched the events unfold, I could not help but think that "the system" had unknowingly planted the seed for a person who could become one of the most politically powerful people in the World...with just a bit of a push.
This video contains advice which, if Paris heeds it, will cause her to become that person. She's 22 years old and at the perfect place in her life to start political organizations and a political action committee and direct money toward elected officials that can effectively change the system for the better. If Paris does this, mark this day as the start of a new star in politics.
Paris has been through alot , from thinking she was going home under house arrest, to her medical condition and of course, the unfair and silly media misrepresentations of her. The 45-day sentence she received for driving on a suspended license and violating probation was deemed excessive by even representatives of the LA County Sherriff on CNN Monday night.
I really believe God caused this to happen for a specific reason. A window has been created that, if Paris steps into it, will lead to the kind of changes we need to see and could see in 10 years. She can be an effective force for those who are under-represented and powerless.
Wow. LA City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo, who wanted Paris Hilton to serve 45-days in jail for driving on a suspended license, now suffers from the public knoweldge that his own wife drove on a suspended license for nine years -- and counting. Here's the news report:
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The wife of the city's top prosecutor has an outstanding arrest warrant for failing to appear in court nine years ago on charges of driving without insurance, with a suspended licence and in an unregistered car.
City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo got Paris Hilton jailed for violating probation for driving with a suspended licence, then condemned her early release. Now, he says he's embarrassed about the outstanding warrant for his wife, Michelle, the Los Angeles Times reported yesterday.
Rocky Delgadillo said he didn't know about it until this week and has urged his wife to remedy the situation.
"My wife is embarrassed about this, and I am embarrassed as well," he said.
Well, should his wife receive the same treatment as Paris Hilton? This really brings home my point that Paris Hilton was being punished for being Paris Hilton.
I just ran accross this blog that essentially says that had Paris Hilton enjoyed better communication with her lawyers, she would have likely stayed out of jail.
This New Jersey law firm, working to draw clients itself, explains that poor attorney / client comunication was the reason for her jail time and that a responsible lawyer would make sure their client was following the law and staying out of trouble.
"Today I told my attorneys not to appeal the judge's decision. While I greatly appreciate the Sheriff's concern for my health and welfare, after meeting with doctors I intend to serve my time as ordered by the judge.
This is by far the hardest thing I have ever done. During the past several days, I have had a lot of time to reflect and have already learned a bitter, but important lesson from this experience.
As I have said before, I hope others will learn from my mistake. I have also had time to read the mail from my fans. I very much appreciate all of their good wishes and hope they will keep their letters coming.
I must also say that I was shocked to see all of the attention devoted to the amount of time I would spend in jail for what I had done by the media, public and city officials. I would hope going forward that the public and the media will focus on more important things, like the men and women serving our country in Iraq, Afghanistan and other places around the world."
As much as I disagree with Judge Sauer's decision, perhaps this will go a long way toward ending the stupid ways people treat Paris Hilton. Several news accounts quote people calling her "a stupid dumb blonde" which itself is totally racist.
According to TMZ.com , LA County Sherriff Lee Baca says that Paris Hilton has "severe problems." TMZ reports:
In a statement to the press, Baca said, "There's 20,000 inmates the largest jail system in the united states ... It's very overcrowded."
According to Baca, 90% serious felons -- many in his jail on murder charges or attempted murder charges.
Baca also said that he reassigned Hilton based on "her severe medical problems." Baca said that her "increasingly deteriorating problems" were evaluated and add, "This lady has some severe problems."
In a bizarre turn of events, Paris Hilton was ordered back to jail by Superior Court Judge Michael T. Sauer, according to CNN and other news sources. It seems the Judge didn't sign the documents that allowed her release from prison as the LA County Sheriff's Office had sent her home under house arrest, and the LA City Attorney signed a petition demanding to know why Hilton was released.
I think Judge Sauer's right in that he didn't sign the release and so procedure had to be followed. But I don't think Paris needs to be in jail. Hey, when Judge Sauer originally sentenced Paris to 45 days, he got a standing ovation in his church, so he feels emboldened to do this.
The basic reason I favor Paris Hilton going home is that it would be a direct negative reaction to the rise of this police state. It seems that we -- some of us -- want to see those who have more money than we do "get it" but aren't even considering the laws and the way they're enforced.
Look. Drinking and driving is dangerous and wrong. But we've taken things a little too far in how we allow constitutional rights to be smashed on. Paris had no business flouting the law, but the punishment doens't seem to fit the crime. Plus, and what I rail against, is that there's a weird lynch mob mentality out there, one that hungers to see Paris punished, at any cost.
Let's take some of the blogger's commentary, particularly angry ones like this one at "Boo-Hoo Paris" where the writer asks Paris to "Shut her mouth." Okay.. "No seriously" wants to know what's up with Paris head, although the writer seeems unmoved by her return to jail.
Or how about this angry post , which reads "Paris Hilton: Is she for real. Let's all of us common folk defy a judges order and see where that leaves us. I did and it landed me in PRISON for 30 months ( same Offense ). Jail--a drop in the hat, She could sleep for 45 days and leave. She's isolated--what could be better. Read a book or two if you know how to. Oh I forgot --there isn't a menu. Showers are refreshing but don't bend over. Give me a break. This spoiled rich Bitch thinks she can do anything she wants and buy her way out because she's rich. Hoo-ray for a judge who sticks to his gun's. Don't tell me that money doesn't buy freedom--just ask the idiot sherrif who released her because she didn't feel good or was he afraid of HOLLYWOOD. That's a whole different topic."
See? All these posts -- or most of them -- exhibit anger over the very mention of Paris Hilton. Do we have that many slackers in the USA, now? People who are so lazy and unambitous they'd rather see others dragged down to where they are, rather than be on a socially upward path? Well, not everyone thinks that way. Frank Paul supports Paris Hilton, stating "even though the Paris home is like super luxury...it would still be a punishment *For Paris* to be home-bound for 42 days. I think that to a certain degree, celebrities should receive special treatment when it comes to matters like this becuase they are treated as special people of our society."
I agree. But only in the case of non-violent offenses. For example, who's going to protect Paris from the photo seekers in jail? I understand the LA Sherriff's office stands to gain $500,000 from any pict taken while she's in custody. That's not something which happens to "normal people" so the idea that Paris should be treated "normally" is silly because if she were "normall" no one would even have to make that statement. She's not common, so we should respect that; we can't change it and the very act of trying is proof that we can't.
On Thursday May 17th I wrote a post called "Give Paris Hilton A Break - Why Not House Arrest?" Well, it seems the LA County Superior Court was reading my blog, because today she was released and placed under house arrest. The reasons given in the report were for "unspecified medical conditions" which could very well be claustraphobia. Hey, some people don't take to being in confinement.
Whatever the case, this in my view rights a real wrong of massive injustice -- the court seemed to give in to a kind of mob rule directed by jealous, poor, unhappy, resentful people who wish they had Paris' money and celebrity. They're going to holla back that she should be treated like everyone else. My retort is that she wasn't really treated like everyone else -- even in this case, she was treated like Paris Hilton.
That means she was subjected to jokes, an unsusually harsh sentence, people who wanted to make money off her jail photos, and that includes the LAPD.
In fact, I'll bet the real reason for her release had something to do with that. The LAPD is legally barred from profitting in such a matter, thus Paris mere existence in jail placed them in a bind.
See, the point is that because she's Paris Hilton, she's got the problem -- the blessing and the curse -- of being treated like Paris Hiton.
But for me this keeps the meritocracy intact. If you want to be Paris Hilton, you've got to work at it. Period.
