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The True Scandal of Lance Armstrong: Enough Free Passes for Role Models
Townhall.com ^ | January 16, 2013 | Armstrong Williams

Posted on 01/16/2013 2:23:57 PM PST by Kaslin

Another day. Another scandal. Another high-profile celebrity headed to Oprah’s couch to express contrition and try to resuscitate his image. Today it’s Lance Armstrong, but tomorrow it will be someone else -- which is why I believe it’s time to say enough is enough. No more free passes for our children’s role models.

I don’t know Lance Armstrong and apparently nobody else really did either. What I knew was the same cynically constructed fairy tale that he sold all of us: the inspirational story of a young cyclist who nearly died from cancer and was resurrected through the miracles of modern medicine and his own indomitable spirit. The dedicated, focused, gifted and meticulous athlete who pushed himself beyond all barriers of pain to achieve an unprecedented seven Tour de France victories.

But now the truth is finally coming out and the magical tale has lost its luster -- it turns out that his critics were right all along. Lance Armstrong was actually a doper; a cheat who betrayed his sport, his fans, the cancer survivors who looked up to him as a modern-day superman. So recently he sat with Oprah to tape an interview and we all must now wait for Thursday’s airing to judge for ourselves the sincerity of his “confession.”

But I don’t need to see crocodile tears or listen to words carefully constructed by crisis PR experts. Enough is enough. Lance Armstrong should be held fully accountable and we shouldn’t be so quick to forgive the horrible offenses that he committed. He can only look skyward for true forgiveness.

We owe it to today’s youth not to so quickly forgive Lance Armstrong and not to just sweep this whole sordid saga under the rug and let him move on with his life. Americans are a remarkably forgiving society and everyone makes mistakes, but this is something altogether different. A lie of this magnitude cannot be permitted to be trivialized.

Lance is just the last in a string of public figures that let us all down -- and then are given a free pass. Bill Clinton violated one of the ten10 commandments, inside the Oval Office and then lied under oath and to the public about it. Today he has been redeemed, and is revered by the Democratic Party. Tiger Woods admitted to a series of infidelities and, while his golf name has never returned to the same stratospheric levels, has largely moved on.

If we give Lance Armstrong a pass then the real message we send our children is that you can make hundreds of millions of dollars in sponsorships and achieve world-wide fame by cheating -- you just have to make sure that you don’t get caught or you might be embarrassed.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: cancerawareness; cycling; lancearmstrong; oprah; tourdefrance
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To: Kaslin

I don’t follow cycling so I know little about it over those years. But in all the discussions I’ve heard about Armtstrong, there is a concensus that doping has been widespread, that “everybody does it”.

I’ve been wondering how many other riders were caught doping over the years Armstrong was winning those Tour de France events? If cheating is so widespread, have significant numbers of others been caught?


21 posted on 01/16/2013 5:34:06 PM PST by Will88
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To: a fool in paradise; Slings and Arrows

Well, if the Popess of the Church of Eracism forgives Lancey, then so should the rest of us believers.


22 posted on 01/16/2013 5:34:36 PM PST by Revolting cat! (Bad things are wrong! Ice cream is delicious!)
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To: KevinB
As Lance seeks forgiveness, let’s not forget that he ruined many other peoples’ lives, businesses and reputations (nuts and sluts attacks, had Trek terminate its relationship with Greg Lemond, filed frivolous lawsuits against anyone who dared to question him, etc.) in order to perpetuate the fraud. And there is some belief that his cancer was actually caused by the doping. He is the lowest form of scum.

Two months ago I defended him but now I know about all the people he screwed over in his doping coverup including this friend he knew from age 16. >>>>>  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2263075/Lance-Armstrong-judge-Oprah-says-assistant-Mike-Anderson.html

 

23 posted on 01/16/2013 5:42:10 PM PST by dennisw (The first principle is to find out who you are then you can achieve anything -- Buddhist monk)
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To: The Antiyuppie

Not sure how closely you have been following the story, but it turns out that they were all doping, not just Lance.


24 posted on 01/16/2013 5:56:36 PM PST by Delta Dawn (at)
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To: Revolting cat!

Will Oprey spend one or two nights on the sob fest when Obama finally admits tearfully to using a stolen social security number in college?


25 posted on 01/16/2013 6:29:50 PM PST by a fool in paradise (America 2013 - STUCK ON STUPID)
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To: Delta Dawn

“Not sure how closely you have been following the story, but it turns out that they were all doping, not just Lance.”

I find it hard to believe that they ALL were doping. OK, so what about the poor bastard who wasn’t, whose name will be known only to himself? That person was robbed.

I don’t know, maybe we should just give up on the charade, and do something like the very prophetic “All-Drug Olympics” on SNL many years ago...where the Russian weightlifter ripped his arms off trying to lift 6000 pounds...


26 posted on 01/16/2013 6:34:41 PM PST by The Antiyuppie ("When small men cast long shadows, then it is very late in the day.")
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To: Theodore R.
People are always trying to recruit people who have never even given their political stance on basically anything. Some on the right have tried for years to recruit every high profile military general, who is simply rumored to be a republican, to run for president, from Powell to Petraeus. If it wasn't for them not accepting those invites I'm sure some would have made it.

Many of those generals never spoke out in details showing exactly what their overall political view was/is, or that they had even formed any real view on many issues. Even Powell fooled a lot of people for a long time.

A lot of people expect all generals to have a solid political view on all the issues, and be able to argue their points perfectly, making the switch to top level politics seamless, which we have seen isn't the case.

Considering the situation we are facing as a nation at this point I guess those politically unknown generals couldn't have given us a much worse situation, but I don't see a much better one either.

That turned into an off topic rant fast enough lol

www.OathKeepers.org

27 posted on 01/16/2013 6:36:22 PM PST by ThermoNuclearWarrior (www.OathKeepers.org/oath/)
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To: Kaslin

Anyone who compares Lance to Tiger Woods doesn’t understand sports.


28 posted on 01/16/2013 7:46:40 PM PST by GunRunner (***Not associated with any criminal actions by the ATF***)
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To: GunRunner
Anyone who compares Lance to Tiger Woods doesn’t understand sports.

Amen. One cheated on his sport. One cheated on his wife.

One's unprofessional. The other is unmanly.

29 posted on 01/16/2013 7:54:20 PM PST by okie01 (The Mainstream Media: IGNORANCE ON PARADE)
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To: Alberta's Child

I now can’t stand the lying bastard Lance Armstrong. I’m a pretty avid cyclist and used to love the guy and the fact that he DENIED ever having used and was still the most incredible athlete pound-for-pound of anyone I’d ever watched.

What I’m absolutely tickled about however is hearing the pearl-grasping members of the MSM crucify this fraud, who is after all just a friggin athlete, not the leader of the Free World! They are absolutely appalled that a man of Armstrong’s stature could LIE to them like he did!

I have to laugh when I recall the fawning liberati in the media, slurping at the trough of their godhead Bill Clinton, even as he lied DIRECTLY to them AND under oath as the highest law enforcer in the land. And being as evil as he is, Clinton didn’t stop in his lies at that point. He and his evil minions went on and attempted to destroy all of those who told the truth (like Lance set out to destroy Floyd Landis—himself a fraud BTW).

Clinton’s lies were forged and billeted by more lies and more damage, under MUCH higher stakes, jeopardizing not only his pathetic and deadly presidency but more importantly irreparably damaging the credibility of this once-great nation.

He completely effed the country, flipping the bird at all of us—especially the “effete snobs” who still faint in his presence, and who still virtually and actually felate him on every possible occasion.

The hypocrisy just reeks, and it makes me laugh. Well, after it makes me sick!


30 posted on 01/16/2013 8:11:26 PM PST by Husker8877
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To: Theodore R.; Alberta's Child

Oh yeah, he’s Austin through and through.


31 posted on 01/16/2013 9:36:10 PM PST by Mamzelle
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To: KevinB

Who didn’t know he was scum after he started dating Sheryl Crow??


32 posted on 01/17/2013 2:56:44 AM PST by Ann Archy (ABORTION........the HUMAN sacrifice to the god of CONVENIENCE.)
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To: The Antiyuppie

“...maybe we should just give up on the charade, and do something like the very prophetic “All-Drug Olympics” on SNL many years ago...where the Russian weightlifter ripped his arms off trying to lift 6000 pounds...”

The good old days when SNL was actually funny!

So let’s say 90 percent of the racers doped. Doesn’t this, in a perverted way, level the playing field? I doubt doping could take an average person and transform them into a world class athlete. Sure, drugs enhanced LA’s performance, but he still had to have the goods to start with.

What mystifies me is the PUBLIC confession. Is there anything more emasculating than sitting down with Oprah? I’ll never forgive him for that.


33 posted on 01/17/2013 8:00:24 AM PST by Shugee
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