Chris Brown: The sort of thug only a mother could love

I know, I know, it's hard for mothers to see the faults in their kids - after all, admitting fault in them is tacitly to concede the flaws in your own parenting skills.

But you'd think Joyce Hawkins, mother of Chris Brown, might have found something to criticise in her son, right? Not a bit of it:

"I just want to say from the bottom of my heart thank you for your continued support. I'm sorry I wasn't allowed to speak to anyone as this case was on going. I can now say this has been the most painful moment in my entire life, but knowing that you were still standing by Chris' side in his time of need made this a little easier for us. Because of all your prayers God brought him through. I just want to say God has never failed me and never will. All moms and dads please stand by your children and pray for their goodness each and everyday."


"I made a promise... I would never be ashamed of him no matter where I am or who I talk to. You see this whole thing isn't about Chris, it's about God. He wants to show all of you the goodness of him through Chris. Chris will be addressing all of his fans very soon. We love you so much and so does God."

Now, standing by your kid - that's admirable and brave. But unless you're realistic - and share your disappointment in their behaviour - how is the child ever going to learn right from wrong?

And prelates of all denominations might like to intervene at all this praising God; the obvious question being 'what sort of God intervenes to get a soft sentence and a stage-managed orchestrated sob-session on Larry King for a bloke who hits women, but couldn't be arsed to intercede to stop Chris Brown from smashing Rihanna's face in in the first place?'

Mind you, this message from his Mom appears on Brown's website. Given his record for hitting women, perhaps she felt she had no choice.