Writing a humor/opinion column about Charlie Sheen should be a breeze and a blast. It should be like shooting fish in a barrel. That is, if the fish appeared on national TV every night giving people every reason to pull the trigger.

But for some reason, I wasn’t as excited as my editor expected me to be when he approached me with this assignment.

I understand his surprise. This should be perfect for someone like me who enjoys making jokes and judgments about people who don’t deserve them.

But I think that’s exactly why I can’t, in good conscience, give Charlie Sheen the same treatment that many TV and radio show hosts have given him.

He does deserve the judgments &- he is an incredibly easy target, and he definitely is somewhat out of his mind.

And that just isn’t funny to me.

This entire Charlie Sheen episode has played out like one big, delusional, pathetic cry for help. And I don’t mean pathetic as an insult. But as in Charlie Sheen has appeared to lose control, and that has only made me feel sympathy, rather than a desire to attack.

Though it would be really easy to comment on his “winning!” ways, I know I wouldn’t feel good afterward.

That’s not my type of humor.

I mostly make fun of myself; I can take it.

I also find it funny to poke fun of people who are in power. Who have control. Who exhibit some type of strength. And even in those situations, I find it best to do so in an indirect manner, such as echoing their point of view in an exaggerated way that calls attention to their ludicrous behavior or beliefs.

Charlie Sheen certainly has said some ludicrous things over the past few weeks, things that make Glenn Beck look sane in comparison. OK, I don’t really mean that last part. But it is obvious that Sheen is far from in control.

Britney Spears acted similarly when she was dealing with her addiction problems a couple years ago. She acted erratically, shaved her head and became the favorite target of morning zoo hosts who like to follow most jokes with fart sound effects.

When health professionals comment on Charlie Sheen’s condition, many speculate that he is going through a sort of temporary bipolar episode. Apparently this is common for people who are attempting to get clean after years of addiction, as it is assumed Sheen is.

If that’s the case, then people are basically making jokes about a disabled person. In almost any other context, it would be horrific to ridicule someone for a disease he or she has.

Make no mistake about it, addiction is a disease. But when it’s a famous actor who is making a fool of himself it suddenly becomes OK, and even encouraged, to vilify him.

There is a part of me that hopes Sheen is hamming it up a bit a la Joaquin Phoenix. I would rather find out that he was using this march into infamy as a way of getting out of Two And A Half Men and reinvigorating his movie career. By the way, the fact that this show ran for 177 episodes is the topic for an entirely different column tentatively titled “America, I’ve given up on you.”

While I don’t truly believe Sheen is putting on an act, there is some evidence suggesting it’s not out of the realm of possibility.

Sheen does seem more self-aware than people are giving him credit for. You can’t tell me that he doesn’t know that he’s getting a rise out of people with some of the stuff that he’s saying. He has repeatedly referred to himself as a warlock, although personally I was a big fan of the term “Vatican assassin.” He has fully embraced becoming a spectacle.

I like to say completely absurd things to unsuspecting strangers and store clerks just as a way of amusing myself. So perhaps Sheen is engaging in an incredibly elaborate prank.

But to be honest, I’ve seen Money Talks too many times to believe Sheen can fool a nation with his acting skills.

The most likely scenario is that he is suffering the effects of becoming sober.

Which is something no one wants to give him credit for. He appeared on Piers Morgan Tonight with the results of a drug test that apparently proved his sobriety. But instead of saying “good for him,” everyone attempts to humiliate Sheen by laughing at his manic behavior.

Sheen could be on the verge of a major victory. Recovery doesn’t often happen for people who have been addicted for as long as he has.

Sheen could also be on the verge of a major tragedy, one that will likely leave many people speechless, remorseful and shameful.

Regardless of which scenario plays out, it’s hard for me to see how this is a laughing matter.

Dante Frattini can be reached at [email protected]