Via The Consumerist, I found the story of a Minden, Louisiana police officer who was arrested for stealing gasoline. The Consumerist writer knows exactly where the blame for the theft lies — gas prices.

Yes, gas prices are high, and yes, it sucks, but the source of this problem isn’t the high gas prices. The source of the problem is the honorless police officer, whose dishonesty and lack of integrity unfairly tarnishes the image of the entire department.

A few days ago, Rachel Lucas had a post about a ““Real Woman manifesto, in which she said:

So there’s really not a lot of mystery about what everyone agrees a “real” man is. We all know “real” men are:

Mentally, emotionally, and intellectually strong, even if not physically (crippled and elderly men can still be “real” men). Hardworking, honorable, honest, dutiful, protective of family and country. Brave, courageous, rational, reasonable, kindhearted, and respectful. Knowledgeable about how to survive in rough times and how to solve problems. And so on.

What I started wanting to know when I was about 16 was just how in the hell any of those things were (or should be) exclusive to men. I realized even then that in fact, they are not. All adults should have every one of those personality and character traits as a matter of course.

Bolded emphasis mine. (The Italics are all Rachel)

The former officer who (allegedly) stole gasoline in this case was not a “Real Man”, and, now, thankfully, he’s not even a real cop. That gasoline prices are high don’t even enter into the equation.