The past few weeks brought a few similar incidents together in the news, but each with a different outcome.

It has to make a sane person wonder about American principles, issues of fairness and how much influence partisan politics has in our daily lives.

Take these three incidents.

Comedian Joan Rivers died on Sept. 4 following a routine medical examination. Rivers was one of the most caustic, vicious comics in entertainment. That was her "brand." She could say bad things about anyone and everyone expected it.

After she died, she received a funeral suited to a member of the British Royal Family, remembered at a wake at one of the nation's most prestigious synagogues and attracting some of the wealthiest and most influential people in politics and entertainment.

You might almost have mistaken Rivers for a good person. She wasn't.

In addition to some hilarious comic lines, Rivers was notorious for bashing people. Viciously. It's one reason why her eulogy was offered by Howard Stern, the king of cruelty.

Cruel and vicious satire pays off. Her estimated worth is $150 million.

Bruce Levenson is the controlling owner of the Atlanta Hawks, an NBA team that is considered so-so. They usually make it to the playoffs but are like the Chicago Cubs, lots of promise, no real trophy.

Last week, it was revealed that two years ago Levenson had discussed with his team's General Manager Danny Ferry ways to sell more season passes. The email discussion turned to issues of race and Levenson bemoaned the fact that not enough white men between the ages of 35 and 55 were buying season tickets. That's the profile of the typical NBA season ticket holder. White and wealthy.

Levenson didn't express racially derogatory comments about black people the way the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, Donald Sterling, did months before. But he did make some pretty dumb conclusions that the best way to boost up revenues was to attract more white people to the Hawks games. He said he thought many white men stayed away from the games because they were afraid of blacks. He said that he thought that there were too many black cheerleaders and not enough white cheerleaders to attract white men.

Levenson's 2-year-old emails, and his really stupid conclusions about whites and blacks, surfaced this past week. He was immediately censured and ordered to sell his team.

I don't think Levenson was being racist. I think he merely was discussing issues of race in an awkward way. Why? Well, in America, Americans don't really talk about racial issues any more. The only people who do use racial material for jokes are those like Joan Rivers.

Maybe if Levenson had done a stand-up routine about the team's poor appeal to white people, he might have received Hollywood accolades or a reality show to increase his net worth from $500 million.

Far away from Hollywood, in Southern Illinois, a tenured Virginia Tech professor and his wife quit their jobs to take a tenured job at the University of Illinois Urban Champaign.

Steven Salaita was well-known for his public views on Israel and the Palestinians. He was harshly critical of Israeli government policies and the military assaults in the Gaza Strip that took the lives of 2,000 civilians, including more than 500 babies infants and children.

The Israeli war in Gaza was a painful event. So many innocent people were killed by the Israelis, who justified the killings claiming that the babies and teenagers and women and elderly were being used as "human shields" by Hamas militants.

American Jews and Israelis said terrible things about Palestinians, and Palestinians in America and the Diaspora said terrible things about Israelis and Jews. Salaita was no exception, posting his anger on his Twitter feed.

Weeks before he was to take his job, UIUC Chancellor Phyllis Wise notified Salaita on Aug. 1 that the job offer was being rescinded apparently because wealthy pro-Israel funders implied they might not support the university if this anti-Israeli critic were hired.

Salaita is no millionaire, unlike Rivers or Levenson, who, by the way, are both Jewish.

In a fair world, though, Rivers would have been reprimanded for her vicious humor long ago, although maybe the best we could hope for was that she would not have been encouraged for her sometimes hateful remarks.

In a fair world, Levenson would get understanding from the public and the African-American community. He certainly is not a racist, just a typical American who made the dumb mistake of speaking publicly about an issue that most people try to avoid.

In a fair world, Steven Salaita has a good case and will probably win a lawsuit against UIUC, but whether he gets his job back or just a financial settlement is a toss-up.

After all, this isn't a fair world, is it?

Ray Hanania is an award-winning Palestinian American columnist managing editor of The Arab Daily News at www.TheArabDailyNews.com. Follow him on Twitter @RayHanania. To find out more about Ray Hanania and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit www.creators.com.