Brown Nosers

An alarming number of teenagers blame Rihanna, not Chris Brown, for the brutal beating she received during the couple's highly publicized altercation. Madness, I say. And so do the experts in this New York Times piece and this On Point broadcast. Both attempt to refocus the conversation to Brown, the once clean cut ascendant to Michael Jackson's King of Pop. (Maybe this should have been our first clue that all is not right behind Brown's irresistible smile. Anyway, we all know Justin has long since sat at the throne. What about Usher, you ask? Please, don't make me laugh.) Indeed, the media attention has been more on Rihanna's grisly police photos and at the behest of Queen Oprah, so many calls for her to get out. It's not a wonder Rihanna herself is siding with Brown. The stacking external pressure makes Brown's false innocence and pleas of "baby, don't leave me" all the more attractive. He, not she, needs to get out.