Maybe it’s because I live in LA LA land, or perhaps I’m just reading too many blogs these days, but when did our society cede personal responsibility to a 28-day stay at Promises or Betty Ford?

I understand it when Brittany, Amy and Lindsay need to get the heat off, but come on, Bill Lerach has asked to enter a treatment facility at the prison:

According to the motion, filed by John Keker, his lawyer: Lerach has struggled for years with severe alcoholism and faces the substantial possibility of relapse without the type of treatment offered by the BOP’s residential drug program. . . . Lerach suffered from alcoholism for more than 20 years. The extent of Lerach’s alcohol abuse and his need for continued treatment is documented in detail in the four letters from his doctors filed herewith under seal.”

I’m not criticizing alcohol treatment, and please understand, I have personal experience with the havoc alcoholism causes in the lives of the alcoholic and to everyone they come into personal contact. I just have a problem with the recent trend in lack of personal responsibility when the s*&^ hits the fan.

I am really, really tired of pampered celebrities, indictment-facing executives, and now disbarred attorneys, seeking sympathy by avoiding personal responsibility via a 28-day program … and then issuing a press release, or leaking the information, so we all know about it a la Josh Gersten of the NY Sun, who quotes one friendly to Lerach:

“Bill has accepted responsibility for conduct that had no victims and is doing all he can to address his human frailties,” a political strategist friendly with Lerach, Christopher Lehane, said in response to a query from The New York Sun. “When you take it in the totality of all he has done, it is clear the guy has always stood up — and will continue to stand up — to make sure the little guy has an even playing field.”