I know it's a little early to call, but I'm thinking 2009 is going to be the year of "I screwed up."
We'll start right at the top. Our president uttered those words a little more than a week ago when some of his Cabinet appointments took an embarrassing turn.
And while President Obama got a lot of fun and furor poked at him by the conservative talk-radio gabbers, I found something earnest and transparent in standing up and saying, "Yeah, my bad."
And this week? Alex Rodriguez – baseball's biggest name and the guy who was supposed to cleanly bring the game out of the steroid era -- got busted for being on The Juice.
What does the ever-sly A-Rod do? Owns up. Apologizes.
True, true, he only admitted it once he was caught, a PR ploy for sure. But he's willing to wear the "I screwed up" tag when Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens aren't.
Which brings us to Michael Phelps, who went from Olympic hero to High Times with one picture of him hitting a bong with some college kids.
Are you surprised? I'm not. Come on, he's listens to Lil Wayne a lot. And did you see Katie Couric's interview with Lil Wayne? Wow.
But back to Phelps: He also played the "I screwed up" card.
"I engaged in behavior which was regrettable and demonstrated bad judgment."
Exhibit Four: Christian Bale.
(Can I just stop here and emphasize how it has been a fun couple of drama-filled weeks).
To read the complete column visit The Fresno Bee.