Why is it that every person with a Y-chromosome who is even remotely in the public eye feels it absolutely necessary for the general population to see his one-eyed trouser snake? Tradition.

In the past year we’ve seen Chris Brown’s Charlie Brown, Brett Favre’s Viking figurehead, and Rep. Weiner’s Willy Wonka.

In case you’ve managed to avoid the phallic parade, here’s a quick recap:

— A nude picture of Chris Brown was sent in, allegedly by an ex-girlfriend looking for some type of revenge.

— Brett Favre apparently attempted to seduce Jenn Sterger, the game-day host for his Minnesota Vikings. These alleged attempts culminated in several pictures of his little quarterback being sent to her cell phone.

— Last but very clearly not least, the unfortunately named Rep. Anthony Weiner allegedly sent pictures of his bulge to a female intern.

To limit this trend to Bilbos and their associated Baggins would be doing it injustice. Although the craze is admittedly pretty big right now, there is no shortage of famous people using tried-and-true methods to find opportunities to apologize to the general public.

In fact, it seems as though pretty much everyone decided to take on Tiger Woods at his own game. Tiger’s golf club does still stick out on top of the pile, but it still isn’t far below par for the course.

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s fathering of an illegitimate child came as a shock to his family and many members of the general public. It should have been expected, however, as extramarital affairs are essentially basic job requirements for movie stars and politicians.

The general reactions to these incidents have been shock and disgust. This, however, is totally inappropriate. These men are simply the latest standard-bearers of a proud, time-honored tradition of famous people sticking their purple-helmeted Prussian warlords in places they don’t belong.

Documented examples of this tradition have been around pretty much since history has been documented. In fact, it seems to been the standard practice of whoever happens to be running the world at any given time.

Many United States Presidents have a history of horniness, including Bill Clinton, John F. Kennedy and Grover Cleveland.

The history of the papacy has been riddled with well-known instances of wayward junk. In the interest of space, special mention will only go to the title-holder, Pope Leo X, who famously said, “God has seen fit to give us the papacy, I see no reason not to enjoy it.”

It can even be traced back to Zeus, who, being pretty much the most powerful entity in the universe, gave just about every woman on earth a chance to ride the lightning.

So don’t punish or persecute these innovators of impropriety. We must simply accept that this is the way things have been and how they always will be. All we can do strive to be one of those with enough power to abuse.