The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Lindsay Lohan Begins Serving Life Without Parole Two Weeks in Jail

Posted on | July 21, 2010 | 22 Comments

She’s not a victim:

With a thick glass partition separating them, Lindsay Lohan received her first visitor in jail – her attorney.
“Understandably, Lindsay’s having a difficult time adjusting as it would be for anyone,” Shawn Chapman Holley told PEOPLE after the brief visit with her client Tuesday. “She’s trying to make the necessary adjustments to an extremely stressful and difficult situation. There were some tears.”

Boo hoo. Let Merle Haggard explain something very basic:

“I turned 21 in prison
Doing life without parole.
No one could steer me right, but Mama tried.
Mama tried to raise me better,
But her pleading I denied.
That leaves only me to blame, ’cause Mama tried.”

We all fail from time to time and, no matter how often I succeed, every time I fall short of my own expectations or disappoint others, the sense of failure is psychologically devastating. So why do I sometimes seem so unsympathetic to my fellow losers and screw-ups?

Because misguided sympathy can be a poison.

Everyone must come to grips with and make sense of their own failures. Excuse-making, blame-shifting, scapegoating — “It wasn’t my fault!” — prevents us from learning the lessons of our failures. If it wasn’t really our fault, there’s no need for us to change and improve and strive to prevent repetition of the failure.

Persistently attempting to externalize blame for our own failures is a recipe for moral disaster. Offering criminals ready-made scapegoats for their resentments and excuses for their crimes is neither merciful nor “tolerant.”

Other people with far fewer advantages than Lindsay Lohan have overcome far worse problems than she’s ever experienced. Like Merle said, that leaves only her to blame for her “extremely stressful and difficult situation.”

Comments

22 Responses to “Lindsay Lohan Begins Serving Life Without Parole Two Weeks in Jail”

  1. Mike LaRoche
    July 22nd, 2010 @ 1:12 am

    Though not life without parole, La Lohan is facing a lifetime of “Misery & Gin”.

  2. Mike LaRoche
    July 21st, 2010 @ 9:12 pm

    Though not life without parole, La Lohan is facing a lifetime of “Misery & Gin”.

  3. jefferson101
    July 22nd, 2010 @ 2:05 am

    Jail is the least of her problems.

    It only goes to show what too much money and way too little intelligence will get you.

    Economic and social Darwinism in action…..I can’t say that I’m surprised. I’m always glad when one of the “entertainment” set proves me wrong, but there are very few times that they do so.

    Those who can afford all the dope they want usually wind up proving how dopey they actually are. Sad, but there it is.

  4. jefferson101
    July 21st, 2010 @ 10:05 pm

    Jail is the least of her problems.

    It only goes to show what too much money and way too little intelligence will get you.

    Economic and social Darwinism in action…..I can’t say that I’m surprised. I’m always glad when one of the “entertainment” set proves me wrong, but there are very few times that they do so.

    Those who can afford all the dope they want usually wind up proving how dopey they actually are. Sad, but there it is.

  5. Adobe Walls
    July 22nd, 2010 @ 3:48 am

    Misery and Gin invested a lot of quarters in that old standard. That was back when 5 bucks could get two fifths of Aristocrat Gin and enough 7-up to mix with it.

  6. Adobe Walls
    July 21st, 2010 @ 11:48 pm

    Misery and Gin invested a lot of quarters in that old standard. That was back when 5 bucks could get two fifths of Aristocrat Gin and enough 7-up to mix with it.

  7. Dandapani
    July 22nd, 2010 @ 11:06 am

    We cannot escape Karma. If we refuse to face it and learn from it, we are doomed to repeat the lessons over and over, this life or next. The sooner we learn and make changes in our behavior, the sooner we move on to the next lesson. Karma may be delayed, but is never escaped. Aum.

  8. Dandapani
    July 22nd, 2010 @ 7:06 am

    We cannot escape Karma. If we refuse to face it and learn from it, we are doomed to repeat the lessons over and over, this life or next. The sooner we learn and make changes in our behavior, the sooner we move on to the next lesson. Karma may be delayed, but is never escaped. Aum.

  9. Lindsay Lohan, Meet Chaos And Old Night « The Camp Of The Saints
    July 22nd, 2010 @ 10:19 am

    […] Stacy McCain, I think, has the answer in a well-done posting over at his joint this morning.  A highlight: Everyone must come to grips […]

  10. Adrienne
    July 22nd, 2010 @ 2:56 pm

    Stacy – those are just some of the typical character flaws you will find in any alcoholic/druggie. Until she admits she has a problem and only God can help, she is doomed.

    We alcoholics always have hope for a fellow sufferer, but in the case of Ms. Lohan things are not shaping up to be a success.

    They’ve got 90 days in rehab to make her understand that. I doubt they will…

  11. Adrienne
    July 22nd, 2010 @ 10:56 am

    Stacy – those are just some of the typical character flaws you will find in any alcoholic/druggie. Until she admits she has a problem and only God can help, she is doomed.

    We alcoholics always have hope for a fellow sufferer, but in the case of Ms. Lohan things are not shaping up to be a success.

    They’ve got 90 days in rehab to make her understand that. I doubt they will…

  12. Joe
    July 22nd, 2010 @ 4:42 pm

    A couple of weeks in jail might be a life saver for Ms. Lohan. Seriously. If only Britney Murphy got that chance. I hope she stops playing victim and starts realizing it is time to turn her life around.

    Lindsay’s dad is a piece of crap. Her mom is probably not much better. I feel a little sorry for her, but lots of people have gone though much worse and done far better.

    Time to buck up.

  13. Joe
    July 22nd, 2010 @ 12:42 pm

    A couple of weeks in jail might be a life saver for Ms. Lohan. Seriously. If only Britney Murphy got that chance. I hope she stops playing victim and starts realizing it is time to turn her life around.

    Lindsay’s dad is a piece of crap. Her mom is probably not much better. I feel a little sorry for her, but lots of people have gone though much worse and done far better.

    Time to buck up.

  14. Joe
    July 22nd, 2010 @ 4:55 pm

    On the bright side, look at all the angst and material she is getting for playing “Whose Afraid of Virginia Wolff” in a few years. Now that is serious method acting!

  15. Joe
    July 22nd, 2010 @ 12:55 pm

    On the bright side, look at all the angst and material she is getting for playing “Whose Afraid of Virginia Wolff” in a few years. Now that is serious method acting!

  16. Live Free Or Die
    July 22nd, 2010 @ 5:37 pm

    “Excuse making, blame-shifting, scapegoating–
    ‘It wasn’t my fault!’–prevents us from learning the lessons of our failures.”

    If only O-bah-muhh/Democrats/Leftards would learn this lesson.

  17. Live Free Or Die
    July 22nd, 2010 @ 1:37 pm

    “Excuse making, blame-shifting, scapegoating–
    ‘It wasn’t my fault!’–prevents us from learning the lessons of our failures.”

    If only O-bah-muhh/Democrats/Leftards would learn this lesson.

  18. Rich Fader
    July 22nd, 2010 @ 8:56 pm

    I volunteer to spank some sense into the lass.

  19. Rich Fader
    July 22nd, 2010 @ 4:56 pm

    I volunteer to spank some sense into the lass.

  20. Estragon
    July 23rd, 2010 @ 6:20 am

    A couple of weeks in jail may or may not be the bottom for Miss Lohan, but I hold small hope it will be. She’s been in and out of rehab at least a dozen times, and it never seemed to take. Publicity-conscious authorities in LA are notoriously careful with high-profile inmates, so her experience will not be what it would for an unknown offender.

    What ails her is not so much a disease of the body but one of the spirit, and its cure can only come through the spirit.

  21. Estragon
    July 23rd, 2010 @ 2:20 am

    A couple of weeks in jail may or may not be the bottom for Miss Lohan, but I hold small hope it will be. She’s been in and out of rehab at least a dozen times, and it never seemed to take. Publicity-conscious authorities in LA are notoriously careful with high-profile inmates, so her experience will not be what it would for an unknown offender.

    What ails her is not so much a disease of the body but one of the spirit, and its cure can only come through the spirit.

  22. Death by Political Correctness? : The Other McCain
    August 3rd, 2010 @ 5:35 pm

    […] attempting to externalize blame for our own failures is a recipe for moral disaster.” – Robert Stacy McCain, “Lindsay Lohan Begins Serving Two Weeks in Jail,” July 21If even an overprivileged Hollwyood star like Lindsay Lohan must be permitted to indulge the […]