The Superior Court of California, Los Angeles County, with great legal wisdom, affirmed what folks down at the 7-Eleven magazine rack have been saying for weeks. Britney Spears, pop star, actress and legal trainwreck is a bad mom. Our friends at the Associated Press put the incomparable Linda Deutsch, its special correspondent and court guru, on the case. Here's what she had to say:

LOS ANGELES — A Superior Court commissioner decided Monday to keep in effect an earlier order suspending Britney Spears’ right to visit her two sons and keeping them in ex-husband Kevin Federline’s custody.
The ruling by Commissioner Scott Gordon came after a full day of testimony on a bizarre incident earlier this month in which police had Spears taken to a hospital after a standoff in her home when she refused to return the children to Federline.
Gordon scheduled another hearing for Feb. 19.

On the other end of the spectrum, the slightly less esteemed TMZ tells us that Ms. Spears has a bit of a profanity problem. My colleague Greg Hernandez weighs in, as well.

Britney and her other famous lawbreaking pals always present a struggle for a reporter/blogger. The Times wrestled with it publicly here, just as the AP did here (thanks to LA Observed for the links on both).

One of my editors referred to it as a cake/vegetables dilemma. We all know people like cake (tabloid stories about trashy celebrities), but how do we slip in some veggies (examining the failings of the legal system and the role fame plays in our culture) along with it.

Part of me says, forget about the famous, focus on the real people. But on the other hand, people are clearly interested in this stuff, so I can't ignore it. I guess, to clumsily adapt the analogy, that I'll try to offer you an odd hybrid of cake and vegetables. So enjoy your carrot cake/zucchini muffins and come on back for more.