Guilt by association

EJ Obiena is on drugs because he is mentored by the same person who coached a former Olympic pole vault champion suspended for doping last year. This is the theory of the stage wife of a spent Olympic gold medalist upstaged by the new generation of pole vaulters including the Filipino ranked world number two. Faultless logic.

Realizing her folly, the wife has since deleted the post. That’s what happens when spouses, not only wives, do not know where to place themselves in the lives of their better half. They intrude the workplace and behave like first ladies or gentlemen, even if the other half does not work in Malacanang. Exactly how Paul McCartney felt about Yoko Ono sharing the music studio with the band believed more popular than god.

But why bother about propriety, suspecting spouses cannot be restrained from guarding their bitter, er, better half even in the most neutral places, virtually transforming their marital union into some kind of fishing expedition. Pathetic, but everyone has a right to pursue sense of insecurity, er, security in a relationship at the expense of happiness, the one true reason for being with another person.

The articulate Obiena has dealt with the accusation with class and dignity. He wasted no time to shut it down and calmed down. Why prove innocence when there is no proof of guilt? The winged Filipino is immaculately clean, having passed all his drug tests, especially the test of his character, commitment and patriotism.

Curiously, Justin Brownlee is quiet amidst loud evidence. Supposedly, the innocent is the first to deny, especially where reportedly, the banned substance detected in his urine sample does not enhance athletic performance. It is instead a downer, or so they say. Imagine if had it been an upper, how many more rimless treys would have been fired by Brownlee? But he may only be circumspect, most likely upon volition of the champ or upon advice of his camp. For, sometimes athletes unknowingly or inadvertently take a banned substance mixed with an otherwise legal drug. It’s tricky, exactly why the initial finding is subject to confirmation. Trust the process, including the processor notorious for processing inferior clones.

But at least Justin should have said something to clear his name. Silence means yes, flight indicates guilt. But that is not always the case. There is no standard human reaction to a certain stimulus. Exactly why humanity differ in what they believe in. The gullible believe in fake news like it was gospel truth, including some of the wisest who not only believe in lies, but peddle them. Wisdom may be taught in the four corners of the classroom, but it is caught in the university of life.

In evidence, silence of the innocent is called contrary to human experience. In politics, an accusation of misuse of public money is answered neither in the negative nor positive, but in expletive. In life, it is called impunity.