DaveKillens wrote:... But they were in the past, he received his penalties (or got away with it), and whatever happened, happened. But that's in the past, in the end his record in the books will be balanced out by tales of indiscretions. History will decide his status...
Some people have problems with this "extremely neutral" approach: if whatever happened, happened, why not let Landis ride the next tours? History is not only for books: history is happening right now. Most people accept that life is not a series of separated events. Life is just one, big thing. People judging your way to handle this big thing is another fact to take in account.
Accepting DaveKillens is right on his commentaries on this particular thread, I want to add to his message: you should not be too prudent to react to bad apples.
Ethics is not for the books: it is for you to apply it every minute of every hour of every day. And, pleeeze, moral and ethics are different subjects...
Look, I work building roads in a third world country. You are not asking me anything, but I can tell you I have not earned a single "peso" through bribery or corruption in my professional life. It is not easy, let me tell you, my young padawans. You cannot look to the other side when it counts, if you want to achieve honesty.
In the process, I have become a fan of judging character. Finally, I have ended working only for the private sector or the general public: rarely if ever I can find a public work totally free of unfair practices. I have had to build
a new approach to my work because of this, providing useful services for real persons, not being happy with the same old attitude of "let's accept facts of life" I see in some of my professional friends.
I do not know how much attention you paid to ethics courses on school or college: it is the funnier subject if you like to ask questions about real life during your studies, funnier than design.
If somebody steps on your foot and you react to it, you cannot argue that the second action justify the first. We all know how cheaters do this routinely: part of the advantage of a crook is that he knows some people will be exasperated by his actions. If some pilots behave like crooks, they will be judged every time by their previous actions. Of course we give them the benefit of doubt, but after the third time... hey, we are talking real life here.
Some of us are just waiting for this sorry saga of consecutive championships to end without any more "character failures" (or what could be construed as that) on the part of pilots. And we tend (sorry, we have the same defect of your idols) to have knee jerk reactions to their numerous front page controversial appearances. You can expect people like MC, claiming every time that mistakes are different from frauds.
So, let me say it with all its letters: it is worse to be cool, manipulative and a cheater than to display the irritation this attitude finally instills in you. You don't have the right to attack but you have a right to defend yourself. Even a lawyer can make this distinction.