Oh, Man, I Was Sooooo Messed Up …

So it was the drugs, huh? Well, one thing you can say in Chuck Rosenthal’s favor: At least he didn’t roll over on his wife during a nationally televised congressional hearing, or insinuate that a supposed good buddy is so feeble-minded as to have misremembered significant conversations.

Instead he fell back on America’s all-purpose excuse. These, of course, were legal drugs---at least according to the statement by Rosenthal that accompanied his resignation as district attorney---but prescribed and consumed in such a combination as to impair the D.A.’s judgment (or to cause “some impairment,” as he phrased it). Anyway, that’s what he said, and who are we to discount that explanation (for whatever)? After all, you don’t have to be a Scientologist to see that ours is one seriously overmedicated society. It would be one last act of public service by the retired D.A. to publicly specify which drugs combined to loosen his screws, if only to warn other depressed middle-aged males of the dangers of mixing certain medicines.

We must confess to finding it difficult to suppress a latent sympathy for Rosenthal that arose while we watched the news clips of Lloyd* Kelley** and noted theologian and recent Holocaust Museum visitor Quanell X (what a pair!) holding forth on the courthouse steps. One station aired a snatch of Quanell, speaking before it was known that Rosenthal had permanently clocked out, declaring the district attorney to be “the devil himself.” That right there is all anyone needs to know about Quanell: No sooner does he emerge from the Holocaust Museum a "changed man" than he’s back setting the bar for "deviltry" as close to the ground as possible.

*By the way, it’s still unclear to us at this late date what relevance Rosenthal’s email traffic held for the lawsuit Kelley is pressing against the sheriff’s department. We think the answer is “none,” although the lawsuit appears to be meritorious in its claims.
**Check out the way Kelley tosses out for public consumption the rumor that Rosenthal is a boozehound, much the same way he years ago tossed out for public consumption the rumor that Sylvia Garcia was gay. The boy’s a charmer!