The Golden Vice

The Man With The "Golden Voice"

I'm going to regret this one later, either way. But here goes ...

I don't think this is going to end well.

Isn't this the fantasy of our culture?

The so-called "American Dream." The notion that God gives you a talent and each man is the captain of the course he sails, just so long as he has the desire?

The Cleveland Cavaliers want to give Ted Williams a job and a house (the same NBA franchise owned by the czar of a major mortgage company).

CBS and NBC -- fighting over who gets to have the exclusive interview with him on the morning show, one having to settle for a sit-down with his mother.

Countless other media and corporate entities are clamouring to associate themselves with this man, who just days ago was homeless, using his talent as a gimmick to simply get by (and who can really blame him?).

And why do they do this? It's the story of instant success, a convenient, handsom package to offer comfort in the myth that there is indeed social justice in this world.

You don't have to think when you're intent on "feeling."

And where will they be if he fails?

They'll be there -- watching from a distance once the sugar crash sets in and gossip sites and reality television shows have their way with him.

Perhaps he won't succeed or fail any differently than anyone else. After all, you give a man a haircut and a collared shirt with a sweater on top and he looks like just about any other successful person with personal demons to suppress.

But I've seen this play out too many times on stages not so grand.

Maybe that isn't fair -- however, as I see it, it's not an indictment of the man.

It's an indictment of the myth.

Let's just be honest and we're probably OK.

Here's hoping this fellow can survive it.