United Liberty

After being out of town a lot over the last month or so, I finally sat down this weekend to catch up on some much welcome non-political reading. While perusing the October 15th issue of ESPN: The Magazine,  featuring the resurgence of sports in the District of Columbia, I ran across a story on athletes from the United States’ four major sports about their their views on the upcoming presidential election and some of the issues being hotly debated across the country, including gay marriage, abortion, and taxes.

The sample size is small, so it can’t be taken as anything solid, but it’s still interesting for those of us that are both sports and politics junkies.

On who they want to see win the presidential election, athletes are overwhelmingly behind Mitt Romney, with Major League Baseball (MLB) and the National Hockey League (NHL) showing the strongest support. Suprisingly, the National Basketball Association (NBA) is also firmly behind Romney. President Obama only gains a plurality in the National Football League (NFL), with many Sunday stars staying undecided.

The nanny statists are now telling the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) that they should ban members from using tobacco products during games:

The day before game one of the World Series, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and other senators are asking Major League Baseball to ban players from using tobacco products at games, especially smokeless or chewing tobacco.

“Tomorrow night, an expected 15 million viewers, including many children, will tune in to watch the first game of the series. Unfortunately, as these young fans root for their favorite team and players, they also will watch their on-field heroes use smokeless tobacco products,” wrote Durbin and other senators to MLB executive director Michael Weiner.

“During the upcoming negotiations over the bargaining agreement, we write to ask that the Major League Baseball Players Association agree to a prohibition on the use of all tobacco products at games and on camera at all Major League ballparks. This would send a strong message to young baseball fans, who look toward the players as role models, that tobacco use is not essential to the sport of baseball.”

“Tomorrow, Roger Clemens goes on trial for lying…to politicians. Which is like trying a woman for flashing her breasts at a stripper.” – Radley Balko

Roger Clemens went on trial this week for lying during an investigating into the use of performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) in baseball. Mind you, he is not being put on trial for actually using the drugs – and he shouldn’t be; rather telling a the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in 2008 that had not used them.

I get that no one forced him to come forward, but it’s laughable for Clemens to be indicted for lying to and “obstructing” a parliament of whores, to quote P.J. O’Rourke. And let’s face it, there are plenty of other things more important that a trial to avenge the delicate sensibilities of members of Congress.

John Stossel rightly notes that this is both a waste of time and taxpayer resources (emphasis mine):

When the Feds went after Barry Bonds, the taxpayers had to cough up more than $55 million to pay for it. I bet Clemens’ case will cost at least that. Why should you have to pay for this?

At the time Clemens allegedly took steroids, lots of players did, and the substances weren’t even illegal in private MLB.

Congress loves such hearings because they bring the narcissists the media attention they crave. Since 2000, there have been 11 congressional hearings related to Major League Baseball.

Clemens may have lied to Congress about using Performance Enhancing Drugs.

In his column yesterday, John Stossel makes this point about the indictment of Roger Clemens for lying to Congress:

Clemens may have lied to Congress in 2008 about whether he used PEDs, but who cares? Congress shouldn’t even be asking such questions.

While I agree with Stossel that Congress shouldn’t really be investigating steroid use in baseball, this is all Clemens’ own fault.

When the Mitchell Report came out in December 2007 and the House Committee investigation was reviewing it, Clemens and his attorney demanded a public hearing where he could answer what he contended were lies being spread by his former trainer. When Andy Pettitte, a teammate and personal friend, came forward and admitted both that he had used steroids on one occasion and that Clemens had admitted to him that he had used them as well, Clemens essentially called his friend a lair. The evidence that Clemens was lying that day in February 2008 was readily apparent and his testimony under cross-examination by Committee members was, quite frankly, an embarressment. But, he knew the consequences of lying under oath and he choose to do it anyway.

Like I said, I don’t think this should even have been a Congressional issue. It’s an internal baseball matter. But, that’s not what’s at stake here. Clemens put himself out front when the allegations came out by denying them publicly and then doing it again under oath. Now, it looks like he lied.