http://theweek.com/article/index/273108 ... e-pardoned


In April 1988, Mark Wahlberg, 16, set upon a Vietnamese immigrant named Thanh Lam, and, with a wooden stick, beat him so severely that Lam fell to the ground, unconscious. Later that night, according to contemporaneous accounts, Wahlberg found another Asian man, Hoa Trinh, and, calling him a "freebie" and "slant eye," smashed him in the face.

Trinh lost sight in his right eye.

Wahlberg was arrested, convicted, and spent 45 days in jail, an experience that hardened him for the rest of his younger days and provided him creative fodder for many of his later projects. He has insisted that, despite his liberal use of racial slurs, race did not motivate his attack. His intoxication, apparently, did.

Twenty-six years later, Wahlberg wants a formal pardon from the commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Why? He has devoted the rest of his life to being a model citizen. His movies do not glorify violence (apparently). He has contributed significantly to his community. He has mentored many young boys away from a life of crime. He has demonstrated, in deed, a respect for the police.

His pardon application includes the following ambition: "My hope is that, if I receive a pardon, troubled youths will see this as an inspiration and motivation that they too can turn their lives around."

Interesting logic. It works better, though, with this rewrite: "My hope is that, by not seeking a pardon, troubled youths will know that their actions have repercussions, even if they later become wealthy celebrities. Although this wonderful country provides plenty of opportunity for them to turn their lives around, they can never use their renown to erase the indelible consequences of their decisions."

Is a young person not going to commit a crime they'd otherwise commit because Wahlberg got his own criminal record expunged? Or would a young person be less likely to commit a crime, (supposing, by the way, that they look to Wahlberg as the arbiter of their ethics) if they knew that even if they managed to overcome obstacles and become successful later in life, they could not get pardoned?

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favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."

He should be pardoned for eye-gouging the Vietnamese kid but sentenced to death for the Funky Bunch.

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

I actually have seen him in concert with my girlfriend. We went to one of those B96 summer events back in the early 90's. Black Jack Mcdowell was also their with his "band." Things you do for pussy.

What's the difference? He still did it. Now he's famous and filthy rich. Pardoned or not pardoned, he still did it and will still be famous and rich.

It's not like having this on his record hurt him in Hollywood.