Yachats Oregon Writer Rick Schultze

Well television and print media are having a field day with one television late night host and his alleged romantic affair with a former staffer.

Another current media favorite is a Mayor in Oregon who was facing a recall that didn’t happen. His discretions have been played out so many times on the news and in the papers that there appears to be a bit of disinterest in the whole deal. Needless to say the Mayor’s political life has taken a big hit and barring some grandiose deal for his city I’d say his political days are numbered.

Another headline grabber was the college football player who punched a member of the other team after the game was over. The player’s original punishment was suspension from the team’s games for the rest of the season. Now that punishment is in the process of being amended to allow him to pay in games again.

What do these things have in common? Bad actions by high profile people who are in the glare of the spotlight. Of course Waldport, Yachats, Florence and the other fine towns on the central Oregon coast have all had their own bad actions but outside of the immediate circle of local residents affected, not much has been made of those. However, they are just as intense to those involved as are those of the national news caliber. In Waldport there was an embezzlement that hurt a lot of people, in Yachats one man’s disagreement with a former Mayor lead to a restraining order against the man. Florence had a Rhody Pageant coordinator resigned after an investigation by the Department of Justice. Unfortunately in the end it’s more than just the person that causes the situation that gets hurt. In the small town scenario the perpetrator can often just disappear or fade into the background and life goes on. But in the big time cases where everyone that reads or watches TV or listens to the radio knows about the event it’s very hard for those people to just fade away. They will forever be linked to their actions as well as the people they were associated with at the time. The late night host has staff that was with him when the alleged affairs went down. The Mayor had supporters that where there when he did his thing. The football player had teammates and coaches that were, and are now again, affected by the punch. I guess what I’m trying to get at is that if one chooses to live outside of the accepted norm they have to be ready to be called on about their actions. It’s amazing that some high profile people get in trouble considering they are supposed to be intelligent and aware of society’s rights and wrongs. I’ve heard it said that those folks think they are above reproach because of their stature but checking the news lately I’ve seen too many that were “above reproach” answering awkward questions and not only jeopardizing their own careers but those of their supporting casts.
So for those in the “above reproach” category remember, be careful, everybody is watching!
To reach Rick Schultze email yarick@pioneer.net