Charles Barkley; "Buy or Sell"

Recently on an ESPN daily talk show, a group of well-known sportswriters had this question posed to them. Charles Barkley, are you buying or selling? The reason for the question was due to his recent arrest for a DUI offense. The response to a man, buy. They used terms like, "a good friend" and "a colleague" and a "good guy". In addition to the DUI charge that he admitted to, he also pleaded "responsible" for running a stop sign. Why wasn't he getting charged for solicitation of a prostitute and for possession of a firearm? Mr. Barkley was so intoxicated, according to the arresting officer, that he admitted that he was a block away from picking up a girl for oral sex. He also admitted that he had picked the same girl up the week before and had been looking forward to getting her in his car again. Once his car was searched, a pistol was found. Only one article I read concerning Mr. Barkley's arrest mentioned the gun. That part of the story never found the media's spotlight. Nothing was mentioned in court about the prostitute that he admitted to picking up a week earlier and was a block away from picking her up again. Maybe I watch too much television, but I thought they arrested guys for soliciting prostitutes. In addition, miraculously Charles was .001 of a BAC (bodily alcohol count) away from receiving a more severe minimum penalty for drinking and driving. Charles Barkley will serve five days for his indiscretions. Isn't that one of those things that makes you go, hummmm?

Arizona's minimum sentencing law places the sentence at 10 days. Then once Charles completes the Alcohol treatment program, his sentence is reduced to 5 days. It looks like the court system in Scottsdale, AZ, bought Charles Barkley as well. Hey, he was a great basketball player in college, known as The Round Mound of Rebound. He was a great Pro player in the NBA and until just recently, he was one of the leading sports announcers for TNT. However, as of this writing, he has lost that gig, but what ya wanna bet, they buy him back.

I was not in the courtroom and I do not know the Judge, so it wouldn't be fair for me to "judge "him based on the limited amount of information that has been released. For all I know, maybe the Prosecuting Attorney decided to buy Charles Barkley. Come on, admit it, doesn't it really make you want to go, hummmm? Let me recap. He had admitted to a DUI, pleaded "responsible" for running a stop sign. He admitted to the officer at the scene, (which anything you say can and will be held against you in a court of law) of a sexual indiscretion committed a week earlier and that he was a block away from doing it again, and oh yea, he had a weapon in the car and was under the influence. Do ya think you would walk after five days? Oh Contraire Monfrare. OK, I guess I'll buy Charles Barkley, everybody can't be wrong and he does appear to be a likable enough guy. However, I'm going to sell the Scottsdale court system. Too many people have served way more time for committing much less of a crime for this sentence to hold water with me.