George Bush vs. Barry Bonds

The United States government has sent the impressionable Youth of America an unmistakable signal: Do not, under any circumstances, break any sporting records after adding 18 pounds of muscle at age 36.

If you do, Uncle Sam will use the awesome powers at his disposal—grand jury inquisitions, illegal leaks, even the State of the Union address—to humiliate you in public and pressure your union to accept year-round random urine testing, even if you will never be charged with breaking a single law.

In 2001, the San Francisco Giants' Barry Bonds, one of the five best players ever to wear a baseball uniform (he has won an unprecedented seven Most Valuable Player awards, including the National League's last four), broke Mark McGwire's single-season home run record, with 73, far surpassing his own previous high of 49. Unluckily for him, he did so in a media market inhabited by an ex-jock IRS agent who didn't appreciate Bonds' famously surly attitude.

"That Bonds. He's a great athlete," Internal Revenue Service criminal investigator Jeff Novitzky told California Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement agent Iran White three or four years ago, according to White's account, as reported in a remarkable May 2004 Playboy article. "You think he's on steroids?" When White reckoned that Bonds was, Novitzky reportedly answered: "He's such an asshole to the press... I'd sure like to prove it."

For two years, Novitzky, a former college basketball player, lobbied various state and federal agencies—"always with Bonds as the lure," according to Playboy—and in February 2003, a sting operation was set in motion against the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO), which provided blood analysis, nutritional supplements, weight training facilities, and various anabolic steroids to an impressive roster of athletes, including (according to BALCO founder and former Tower of Power bassist Victor Conte) former NFL star Bill Romanowski, Olympic Gold Medalist Marion Jones (who has strenuously denied the charge), and Barry Bonds' personal trainer and lifelong friend, Greg Anderson.

Steroids became a federal issue after Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson was stripped of his 1988 Olympic gold medal in the 100-meter dash. Congress, which has a long and tawdry record of responding to the day's headlines by adding ever more offenses to the bulging federal criminal code, passed the

Anabolic Steroids Control Act in 1990, classifying steroids as "Schedule III" drugs, same as amphetamines and morphine.

Then as now, the rationale was that high-school athletes need to be disincentivized from using unprescribed medical substances with unknown and/or possibly dangerous side effects, such as shrinking testicles, blunted growth, testosterone-fueled "'Roid Rage," and (in women) the development of masculine characteristics. The main benefit steroids have given athletes over the last several decades is the ability to recover more quickly from heavy physical workouts.

"Between February 1991 and February 1995," according to EliteFitness.com, "the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) initiated 355 anabolic steroid investigations resulting in over 400 arrests and over 200 convictions."

In other words, despite Congressional huffing and puffing, the unprescribed use of drugs that are playing an increasingly important role in the treatment of breast cancer and HIV had been very low on the feds' things-to-enforce list.

Until 2001, when Bonds broke the home-run record...and George W. Bush took over the White House. Bush, a former minority owner

of the Texas Rangers, has a classic baseball owner's mentality when it comes to employee drug use: Players should be granted the same privacy as racehorses, in order to Protect Our Kids.

"To help children make right choices, they need good examples," President Bush warned, remarkably, in his 2004 State of the Union Address. "Athletics play such an important role in our society, but, unfortunately, some in professional sports are not setting much of an example. The use of performance-enhancing drugs like steroids in baseball, football, and other sports is dangerous, and it sends the wrong message—that there are shortcuts to accomplishment, and that performance is more important than character. So tonight I call on team owners, union representatives, coaches, and players to take the lead, to send the right signal, to get tough, and to get rid of steroids now."

The use of the ultimate Bully Pulpit should come as no surprise: By then, IRS agent Novitzky had long established that the BALCO case would be more about the pressure of negative publicity than the assembling of a viable criminal case.

Novitzky's sting operation broke down after four months when undercover investigator Iran White suffered a stroke. The IRS further bungled things by digging through BALCO's trash, then tossing the discards into the dumpster of another business, which promptly informed BALCO. Repeated requests for wiretaps were denied for insufficient cause. Finally in September 2003, after a tip from a rival sports trainer, two dozen IRS agents and local cops stormed the laboratory, in full view of tipped-off television cameras.

"Many agents—everyone, in fact, who doesn't work for the IRS—are angered by the publicity," Playboy recounted. "The search of BALCO, which was supposed to remain secret for countless investigative reasons, now resembles an episode of Cops. Members of other law enforcement groups are furious at the publicity stunt. The search was designed as a pressure tactic, not as the end of the investigation; there are no plans to arrest Conte, who walks free."

The stunt made international headlines, triggering outrage at Bonds and other athletes in sports pages and on talk shows around the country. Novitzky's heavy-breathing affidavits were released and chewed over.

Within six weeks (and likely sooner), federal officials deployed their favorite tactic for squeezing testimony out of unwilling, high-profile witnesses—they convened a grand jury. As the Cato Institute's Timothy Lynch, Stephen Johnson and Thomas Dillard showed in a 2003 paper (PDF), grand juries have been transformed

from safeguards against overzealous prosecutors, into "inquisitorial bulldozers that run roughshod over the constitutional rights of citizens."

Dozens of star athletes, including Bonds, were brought in to testify. In February 2004, three weeks after Bush's steroid-injected State of the Union address, Attorney General John Ashcroft himself announced the indictments of four dealers—Conte, Bonds' friend Anderson, and two others—on 42 counts of conspiracy, money laundering, and distribution of anabolic steroids. No athletes were named.

"Nothing does more to diminish our potential—both as individuals and as a nation—than illegal drug abuse," the hyperbolic Attorney General said. "The tragedy of so-called performance-enhancing drugs is that they foster the lie that excellence can be bought rather than earned and that physical potential is an asset to be exploited rather than a gift to be nurtured. Illegal steroid use calls into question not only the integrity of the athletes who use them, but the integrity of the sports they play. These drugs are bad for sports, bad for the players and bad for the young people who look to athletes as role models."

If the athletes thought their participation in the process had ended with their grand jury testimony (which by law is supposed to remain secret), then they gravely misjudged the up-front intentions of Ashcroft and Bush. Sure, the drugs are illegal—without a prescription or "adequate directions regarding use," that is—but more importantly to this administration they "send the wrong message" to the children. And no nickel-and-dime prosecution of four steroid distributors (including one guy, Greg Anderson, of whom Conte says "the amount of performance-enhancing drugs the feds found at [his] house was minuscule") will produce anything like Bush's desired effect of "send[ing] the right signal, to get tough, and to get rid of steroids now."

That's where the grand jury leaks come in. The San Francisco Chronicle, which has been dominating coverage of the BALCO investigation, has done so based on leak after leak from the supposedly sealed grand jury proceedings. Most of the loose lips have concerned names of individual star athletes; none (at least to my knowledge) have been accompanied by any hint from the Chronicle about which side was providing the information, and why.

"There have been leaks about track star Marion Jones and sprinter Tim Montgomery," Newsday reported

Sunday. "There have been leaks upon leaks about Bonds and other baseball stars. Leaks about minor-leaguers. Leaks about football players. Leaks about hammer throwers. In August, several leaks ago, defense lawyers counted 29 different news accounts based on confidential information about the investigation."

By far the two biggest player-related leaks came last week, when the Chronicle printed the blockbuster news that 2000 American League MVP Jason Giambi, who has long publicly denied using steroids, actually testified to the contrary, admitting that he knowingly took the stuff from 2001-2003. Before this sport-shaking revelation could even be digested, the Chron released some of the

And what did it show? That "Bonds testified that he had received and used clear and cream substances from his personal strength trainer, Greg Anderson, during the 2003 baseball season but was told they were the nutritional supplement flaxseed oil and a rubbing balm for arthritis." The "clear" and "cream" resembled specific BALCO-supplied steroids, investigators think; Bonds denied ever knowingly using banned substances.

That's it. No charge of illegal possession or use or conspiracy, no hint (so far) of perjury, no indication that he ever broke any Major League Baseball rules. Still, it was enough for the nation's editorial boards to wag their disapproving fingers, and for Congress to resume its headline-chasing song-and-dance.

The leaks could not possibly have come at a more fortuitous time for baseball owners and their enablers in government. The Thursday and Friday bombshells came just in time for this week's annual meetings of Major League Baseball general managers, and of the executive board of the Player's Union, both of which promised to be thick with reporters. What extraordinary luck!

It also came just in time for programmers of weekend TV chat shows to locate some representative outrage from Capitol Hill. They didn't have to look hard.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), appearing on "Fox News Sunday," called baseball's current steroid policy a "joke," threatened to introduce drug-testing legislation as early as January, and reported that President Bush was thrilled by the prospect. "There's not a doubt in my mind. He'd love to," McCain said. "The president is very concerned." Democratic Sen. Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) concurred, as did baseball's contemptible commissioner, Bud Selig.

"If we cannot resolve this issue privately, I gladly will accept whatever help is offered by Sen. McCain to achieve our ultimate goal," Selig said in a statement. "While I would prefer to resolve this problem directly with the Players Association and jointly implement a much stronger drug-testing policy in Major League Baseball, one modeled after our program in the minor leagues, I understand the need for swift and resolute action."

lied to Congress about baseball's supposed financial woes, and has spent his term helping owners soak taxpayers for more than $5 billion in baseball welfare.

Selig's playing of the McCain card seems to have worked wonders—the New York Times reported

yesterday that Major League Baseball and the Player's Union have reached a tentative new agreement ripping up the 2002 drug policy, and replacing it with a regime that includes more testing (including in the off-season) and stiffer penalties.

So if the players and owners agree on something the fans seem to want, what's not to like?

Plenty. First, direct threat of an imminent government crackdown—a McCain specialty—is hardly the ideal condition for private employers and employees to hash out optimal labor agreements. If my boss were to demand suddenly that I submit to urine-testing, I wouldn't want the Senator from Arizona promising to crack skulls if I didn't agree. And unless baseball has some post-Moe Berg National Security component I'm unaware of, I don't see why Congress should care.

Second, the federal justice system should be about apprehending serious criminals, not "sending messages" to schoolchildren by abusing the grand jury process to compile and illegally leak publicly damaging information about non-criminals.

Thirdly, in an era when testosterone and other hormones are being used safely to treat various illnesses, isn't it time to ask why, exactly, they can't be used to help men who use their bodies for a living recover from the daily strain as they reach retirement age?

And finally, think back to poor Barry Bonds, if you can call a jerk who makes $19 million a year "poor." What if he told the truth under oath, and never knowingly took illegal or banned substances?

If that's the case, then the man who had the season to end all seasons was rewarded for it by A) being made the prime target of a multi-agency federal investigation backed directly by the president and attorney general; B) having his reputation (and endorsements-earning potential) deliberately shredded; and C) being forced to fend off continuous hostile cross-examination, even while compiling the best four-year run in baseball history.

There is such a thing as the presumption of innocence, no matter what you read in the

sports pages. As it stands, Barry Bonds has not even been formally accused of violating a single baseball rule, let alone federal law.

President Bush has indeed "sent a message" to the kids of America: We can make you look guilty, even when you've never been charged. It's a rough lesson, but they might as well start getting used it.

Agreed that this twit is misrepresenting whenhe claims Bush is the one making the fuss. I also question why the guy would be offended that the President might have said that these athletes, who are defacto role models to our kids, should set good examples. It's like moaning about a rule that teachers should not be having sex in the halls because it would be damaging to our kids.

I also question why the guy would be offended that the President might have said that these athletes, who are defacto role models to our kids, should set good examples.

If you go to Matt Welch.com you'll see the writer is not a big fan of President Bush. That's not what interests me in posting this article, though. The actions of Jeff Novitzky and the BALCO prosecutors warrant more scrutiny, and Welch did a good job of pulling those loose threads together.

I will not watch Bond's dash for the record. It's been tainted by this drug scandal. I say that if it can be proven beyond a doubt that he and others used illicit drugs to achieve their records and glory, they should be banned from baseball. By the way, baseball is VERY boring to watch. Fun to play as a kid, but very boring to go to a game. I only go if I get free tickets.

I say that if it can be proven beyond a doubt that he and others used illicit drugs to achieve their records and glory, they should be banned from baseball.

That would involve a retroactive ban for a rule that didn't exist until 2004. I've said on other threads that Baseball is 40 years too late in addressing steroids, but I also have a problem with ex post facto laws.

What's your take on the illegal leaks from the BALCO grand jury? Does that cheating and prosecutorial misconduct concern you at all?

Other than the fact I could care less who uses roids, the prosecutorial misconduct does interest me. This country's pill paranoia is much more disturbing. The only people that have a dog in this hunt are the people taking the known (or overblown) risks taking the stuff. It is they that pay the ultimate price. If steroids are harmful as they say then its a Faustian situation.

Hyperbolic? Well if you consider that the AG is making a public statement on a potential legal issue, then yes, I suppose you might use that adjective. But then any lawyer would be given to making similar statement in defense of his legal position.

This just strikes me as another drive-by cheapshot against a decent guy. Sometimes I think that Ashcroft should have gone to the wall to challenge the election of Jean Carnahan. He had a clear-cut legal basis for a challenge. He didn't do it, and that was classy. But this venom that continually is directed toward him by the Left is just the thanks he gets. No good deed...

"That Bonds. He's a great athlete," Internal Revenue Service criminal investigator Jeff Novitzky told California Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement agent Iran White three or four years ago, according to White's account, as reported in a remarkable May 2004 Playboy article. "You think he's on steroids?" When White reckoned that Bonds was, Novitzky reportedly answered: "He's such an asshole to the press... I'd sure like to prove it."

Having not read the Playboy article cited, I cannot be absolutely sure, but man, doesn't that look like an out-of-context quote, or what?

federal justice system should be about apprehending serious criminals, not "sending messages" to schoolchildren by abusing the grand jury process to compile and illegally leak publicly damaging information about non-criminals.

Amen. The whole thing is a friggin witchhunt. The leaks prove as much.

Nice concept for an article. "Sure, Bonds admits that he did it... but because some people don't like him, and President Bush spoke out, and I don't like the President, we should all side with poor Barry on this one." In other words, it isn't whether what you do is right or wrong, it's who gets mad about it. If the wrong people complain, well, you're exonerated! Ta da!

I'd expect this sort of rationalization from the leftists, but not (necessarily) those libertoids at Reason. Just lovely.

Having not read the Playboy article cited, I cannot be absolutely sure, but man, doesn't that look like an out-of-context quote, or what?

I've read it. It's not out of context at all, insofar as the Playboy article is concerned. I'm unaware if Novitzky has challenged the gist of the article.

He seems to have the same Libertarian knee-jerking when it comes to drugs. Every other principle can go to pot as long as he gets his pot. That informs all of his politics. Moreover, he'll savage those who are closer to him in general if they aren't in lockstep with him on his pet issue.

Think Andrew Sullivan.

Amen. The whole thing is a friggin witchhunt. The leaks prove as much.

I don't know any little kid who says, "when I grow up, I want to be a assistant systems administrator." OTOH, all little boys go through that phase where they want to be a major league ballplayer. Despite their protestations, major league athletes are role models.

It's obvious to anyone with eyes that Bonds is on steroids. That said, Bonds is in a position to deny having used them, despite all (circumstantial) evidence to the contrary. In other words, we are not likely to be able to prove -- in a Court of Law -- that Barry Bonds used illegal steroids.

So where does that leave us? Bonds is no role model -- OK. And sooner or later, some enterprising investigator or AG is going to try to make a name for himself by proscecuting Bonds (even though the chances of conviction are nill).

One final thought: Let's see what happens to Bonds "numbers" next season when he knows that he's being watched. If his numbers decline significantly, or he reports to camp significantly smaller (Giambi), more people will say "see, I knew it". BTW, when to Pitchers & Catchers report?

If Bud Selig wasn't the Kofi Annan of baseball, none of this would have happnened in the first place. Where's old Kenesaw Mountian Landis when you need him?

During Baseball's Age of Steroids, the owners' investements doubled or more in value, and more than a dozen new stadiums have been built. Now a few players are being accused, via illegal leaks, of exploiting Major League Baseball's absence of rules against steroids, rules the owners could have imposed 40 years ago when the Olympics were already testing for them.

"Tsk, tsk," say the owners, as they shift on their fattened wallets while watching the witch hunt for activities that directly profited them.

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