Michael Phelps
I thought I would comment on this man. I am not a sports fan, nor did I watch the Olympics. In fact I did not even watch the Superbowl this year.
So, back to Phelps. He has a charity foundation to promote water safety and advocate swimming for children, he wrote two books, won 14 career Olympic gold medals, and has set numerous world records. He voluntarily signed up for Project Believe to be tested for doping and passed 9 times.
He has an impressive history in the sport of swimming and all of this is easily found on Wikipedia. He has also been picked up for DUI and most recently a picture of him with a bong.
So we have to weigh whether his accomplishments far out way his mistakes. Also, he is 23 years old. Young people will make mistakes and I don't think we should destroy them for those mistakes.
He could claim his ADHD was uncontrolled and he acted impulsively during the troubled times, but he didn't. He manned-up and is taking his punishment. Good for him.
Imagine if pictures of me were published back in my hey-day. Either I would be laughed at because of the way I was dressed or criticized for what I was doing.
Great people have been penalized for making mistakes. Presidents, kings, and military hero's have all made mistakes (some have tried to cover them up), and yet we realize later they were great people under a greater amount of pressure because of their accomplishments.
The power to forgive is greater than the power to penalize.