Who is perfect? And what do we mean by perfect? The reason I ask is because I’ve been pondering quite a bit about the high standards that we hold many of our “leaders” to, like political, sports, corporate, nonprofit, etc. Let’s leave religion out of this post, as it is its own complex beast. Some infractions are so bad, even criminal — such as sexual harassment — these should not be treated with leniency. But others are minor, somewhat trivial and ridiculous, so over-zealous punishment seems to rise from some type of puritanical, white, mainstream, out-of-touch place. This must be stopped. Like now, people.

Take the suspension of Sha”Carri Richardson as an example of the expectations of perfection placed on certain individuals; and the imbalanced and definitely unfair treatment if that perfection is marred by the subjective standards of the organization. If she would have gone out and drank two margaritas and gotten a bit drunk nothing would have been found in her blood. But taking two puffs on a joint puts her in Olympic jail and she is suspended for a month.

As an Oregonian, I well know the cannabis laws. Weed is treated the same as beer: you can’t drink beer in a public place such as a park, and you can’t smoke weed in a public place; you can’t drink and drive if impaired, and you can’t use weed in any form and drive if impaired. But you can use it, just like alcohol, in your home and on your property; and in some Cannabis B & Bs where pot is legal, like Oregon, akin to wine tasting rooms or wine country hotels.

Cannabis in all of its wonderful forms is now legal in in 19 states, Washington, D.C. and most of the territories; and medical marijuana is legal in 37 states. Only in 4 states is marijuana fully illegal. I’ll make this Friday-night Trivial Pursuit and you can guess who those folks are. Just as with alcohol, a weed purchaser has to be 21. This trend towards full legalization across the country is a recognition that it was a mistake by the white Anglo-Saxon establishment to classify weed as a Schedule 1 drug, the same as heroin. Yet it stays as a Schedule 1.

But where is alcohol in all of this? I don’t believe I’m alone in recognizing in our society the devastating outcomes of over-drinking and of alcoholism. It ruins marriages, careers, parenthood, family relationships, and even causes death, quickly in the case of auto accidents, slowly in the case of cirrhosis of the liver, heart problems and other lethal disorders.

Yet there is no testing for alcohol. Why? And why the double standard with cannabis, despite the fact that it is now widely accepted in our nation? Not to mention, the whole bullshit weed scare by the US government and enablers like religion that put out QAnon-type crap that pretty much everybody bought into. Just a few years ago a Black person was imprisoned by the majority white-run justice system for selling, buying or using weed in almost any amounts, especially in certain parts of the country. Now that same majority white establishment is legalizing weed in legislatures across the country, not to mention opening weed stores and selling weed to the same Black people who they imprisoned just a few years before for doing the same thing.

Wake the hell up, Olympics, and all the rest of you out there. Using some bullshit “standard” that you created in your little fairyland world is unjust discrimination. That’s an example of creating some random standard of perfection, and then applying “justice” should anyone veer from that perfection. Using weed does not enhance someone’s performance on the field, just as alcohol does not. It’s not steroids, you dumb asses. Get off the fucking Mayflower and join us in the 21st century!

I would dare anyone to try and do what Sha”Carri Richardson has trained to do for years. She passed perfection level in the height of her talent. Most of us could never truly understand what it takes for someone to prepare for and be in the Olympics. That is real, pure strength. If someone like that takes a few puffs BECAUSE HER BIOLOGICAL MOM DIED, and she heard about it, not from family, but from a reporter, any judgment made against her and other Olympians should be made within that context. Did she a frequently fail these tests? NO. So why the draconian treatment? Is it because she’s Black? Hmmmm….

I’ve heard commentators and others say, ‘Well, a rule is a rule.” And that’s the crux of this whole bullshit affair! Some group of white men made a rule for all others, and god knows when, so only an Act of God can change it? Fuck no. That’s ridiculous. Common sense, people! Humane treatment of one another for a change. And change the damn white-standard rules because they were man-made and they can be man-changed. People get so enamored of their rules that they forget that a biased human created them. They didn’t come down the mountain carved on stone tablets. Which even that, people, was likely just some white-bearded fool mansplaining his way out of disappearing for a few months and wanting to be in charge again.

And one last thing. It is also hypocritical that a body such as the Olympics that has taken bribes, cheated in various ways, and had other illegal and unethical moral lapses, should itself take draconian measures against another Black person because they veered outside of laws created by Karens and Kens. It is in no way unprecedented to change or eliminate outdated, racist and other rules and laws. For example, Black-white couples used to not be able to marry; Black people weren’t allowed to own property or run their own businesses; and you know the rest of the many crimes and misdemeanors of white folk against Black people so I won’t enumerate those here.

Today is the 4th of July, Independence Day in America. As we all celebrate with hot dogs and warm beer, let’s remember that our nation is only successful if it makes and applies the law equally. I invite everyone to look at the application of some of our uninformed, unfair, and unethical rules and laws, with the same lens we are now looking at police violence against Black people, such as the George Floyd murder. In other words, we get shit lethally wrong, all the time, so don’t just respond with, ‘Those are the rules.”

That’s weak shit. Look at your institutions, sports, and even marketing approaches, and fix this broken, inequitable system of rules, such as what drives decisions by the Olympics. Your credibility is at risk. That means money, too, you corporate folks.

Cha-ching. Fix it.

From Lady Proverbs, somewhere on the Oregon Coast

Find more from Lady Proverbs at PulayanaPress.com