...maybe third time is a charm?

Yes, folks, it's Friday and instead of a meme you're getting my thoughts and observations and opinions on Britney Spears. I know my readership is lower on Fridays, so this is a surprise and bonus to all of you who stick with me 5 days a week....

Ok, Britney needs a clue by four. First she marries that friend of hers in Vegas and has it annulled. Then she marries K-Fed and starts procreating and claiming she wants to pop out lots of babies. Then, while pregnant with the second child, rumors of a break up start coming. And then she files for divorce shortly after the second baby is born.

Now fast forward not even 6 months. K-Fed has cleaned up, Britney went out without her underwear, shaved her head, got a tattoo and entered rehab for the third time... in a week. Apparently the first two times she said that rehab is too hard.

Well, duh. That's what rehab is people. It's hard. It's supposed to be hard. If it were easy to eschew our addictions then we'd start up on drugs and drinking whenever we wanted. I'm not saying I'd consider an addiction to take up if it were easy to get rid of it, but I personally know how hard it is to rid oneself of a serious addiction. But I digress...

Britney is back in rehab for the third time. It makes me wonder if she's only doing this in order to retain custody of her children. By going back she caused the cancellation of an emergency hearing to discuss custody, called by K-Fed's side. I don't blame him if the reports are true that he told her to get help or risk losing the kids. Everything she's done up to now has increased her risk of losing the kids. I just hope she gets the help she needs instead of trying to phone it in.

What we're watching here folks is the decline of a child star. She started off-Broadway when she was 8, she was on the Mickey Mouse Club when she was 11. She's in her mid-20s now, and we're watching that shining star implode. Stars do that, you know, it just takes a really long time for the light to reach us here on Earth.

Britney isn't doing anything differently than others like her - Todd Bridges, Dana Plato, Danny Bonaduce, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman.... they all had significant spotlights and fame at young ages, and they've blown it all up. A couple are dead, others have been in and out of jail... Bonaduce is the exception, but he's turned his train wreck of a life into a lucrative second career with a reality show and his radio gigs. I don't think that Britney is going to find that same sort of chances.

My predictions on Britney? Well, if she checks out of rehab again today (which would be the third time in a week), then I give her less than 5 years until she's on a cold slab in the morgue - she'll probably die within a year to 18 months. If she doesn't check out and makes it for the long haul, we're either going to see a very quiet Britney Spears who decides that fame isn't worth it, or we're going to see another rebirth.

She'll find God, she'll start recording Christian music, and she'll disappear from the pop/rock landscape. Not that there's anything wrong with finding God, and she's always seemed to be a believer, but I fear her trying to shove it down pop culture's throats.

Right now, however, all we can do is wait and see. And hope that the media decides to leave her alone for awhile. The media needs to give her a break - she's going nuts because they're following her everywhere, and they're following her everywhere because she's going nuts. It's a train wreck right in front of us and they want to cover it. Why else would the media be following around a woman who hasn't had a hit in a couple of years, and really hasn't even tried to have one? It's not news. It's just interesting to watch because she does things so publicly, and people like to bash on her.

I know. I like bashing on her too. I seriously hope she doesn't decide to mock herself when she comes out the other side and makes her first concert appearance opening with "Oops I Did It Again"....

...because when it comes to rehab she'd better not have to do it again... and again... and again...