Let's Root, Yes, Root for Jon Gosselin

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Let's Root, Yes, Root for Jon Gosselin

Tue., Nov. 3, 2009 6:15 AM PST by Joal Ryan

INFdaily.com

It is so easy to scoff at every apology that comes out of Jon Gosselin's sorry mouth.

He's a joke, you say. He's a loser, you say. He poses for pictures like, well, the one above, you remind.

And most of all, you offer as final argument, he's a celebrity, and not even a very good one at that.

To you, the idea that Jon Gosselin's recent mea culpas are sincere and heartfelt is laughable. Believe Jon Gosselin?! Trust Jon Gosselin?! Root for Jon Gosselin?!

To which we simply say, yes.

See, around the same time the lightbulb went off in Jon Gosselin's head about the mess he'd made of his image, if not his life, we had a novel thought, too:

What's the downside in pulling for the lug?

What's the harm in saying "Good luck"? Or "Break a leg"? Or "Hope you find meds for those mantrums"?

There isn't any.

After Sunday night's apology show in New York City, Gosselin can go one of two ways: He can keep partying (and dressing) like it's 1999; or he can, per last week's apology-show teaser, "reconnect with [his] deeper, more spiritual, more altruistic self with regular study sessions and counseling."

If he does the former, then no sweat. We can all continue to have a good laugh at the man's expense. In today's tight economy, Jon Gosselin the trainwreck is nothing if not reliably cheap comedy.

But if he does the latter—and would it kill us to wait until, say, tonight before we start trolling Vegas in search of him and his cubic-zirconia studs—then isn't that great? For him? And more important, for his children?

After all, isn't that what we always say we care about in the Gosselin saga: the children?

If Jon Gosselin lives the words he has said the past several days, then maybe the Gosselin kids have a shot at emerging from tabloid hell singed but not scarred. Maybe the Gosselin kids have a shot at living a real, not surreal, life. Maybe we have a shot at never, ever hearing the word mantrums again.

Sure, Rabbi Shmuley Boteach will take credit for any transformation. And harsh taskmaster Hailey Glassman and harsher taskmaster Kate Gosselin will, too. Who cares? It's fun to take credit—heck, we understood "misunderstood" Jon Gosselin months ago.

The bottom line is, there are things worth rooting for. There are people worth rooting for.

And in the case of Jon versus Kate, they're all about 50 inches tall and under.