Lessons on Forgiveness, from the King of Civil Rights

No, not Martin Luther, Rodney.

I'm not sure if any of you are as debase as I in your television watching repertoire; but I have been known to take a gratuitous pause when I channel-land on some less then quality programing such as (but not exclusively):

*Housewives of [Orange County/Atlanta/New York]
*Rock of Love [Bus]
*Dog the Bounty Hunter
...etc...etc...etc...

Because I take the time to give these fledgling programs a chance, I have come to know and love the only truly historically relevant, and by that, famous person ever to be on reality television--

RODNEY KING!

Now, we all know that Rodney was enjoying a little Jesus-juice when he was pulled over and then outrageously and monstrously beaten right off of an L.A. freeway...but what we never would have known is that he went on to become a desperate alcoholic. How do I know that, you ask. VH1's ironically addictive Celebrity Rehab followed up by Sober House (or some title to that effect).

Why does all of this matter? Well, aside from the trauma of a horrific beating, the acquittal of those horrifying beaters, and then the subsequent deadly riots that followed--Rodney has somehow managed to recover from an intense alcohol addiction, cohabitate with Gary Busey, AND, on top of that, forgive those disgusting 5-0s--all in 2 seasons of a reality show/spin-off.

It's odd to actually have a moment of emotional movement while watching VH1, but when Rodney King is standing on the freeway, marking his beat-down spot with flowers and a bible, and then goes on to read a forgiveness letter to the assholes who committed the heinous crime, it makes you think.

Well, it makes me think--things like, could I forgive those assholes? Why can't Rodney be a goodwill ambassador and get this whole Mid-East conflict resolved once and for all? Can't we all just get along? Can't Rodney just say that one more time?