George Bush vs. Barry Bonds

Reason Online ^ | December 8, 2004 | Matt Welch

[Fatalis]

The title really ought to be "Jeff Novitzky vs Barry Bonds."

I'm not defending steroid use or every aspect of Matt Welch's opinion here, but this article looks into some other disturbing aspects about the BALCO case.

[Fatalis]

This article gets into some of the things I was telling you about the other day.

[trebb]

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.

[Fatalis]

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.

[ExtremeUnction]

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.

[GunnyHartman]

"I will not watch Bond's dash for the record. It's been tainted by this drug scandal."

Agreed. Heck, as far as I'm concerned Maris still holds the single season home run record.

[Fatalis]

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?

[L`enn]

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.

[Tallguy]

"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."

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...

[GreenAccord]

"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?

[Smogger]

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.

[kevkrom]

having his reputation (and endorsements-earning potential) deliberately shredded

Bonds' "endorsements-earning potential" is virtually nil because he's one of the least likable public figures in the country, not because of the steroids allegations.

[scottybk]

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?

[Jokelahoma]

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.

[Fatalis]

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.

[AmishDude]

This is incredibly hard to read. It's disjointed. It could have been written in a high school newspaper.

[AmishDude]

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.

[Tallguy]

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.

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?

[Wolfie]

MLB players have the same option as anybody else faced with drug testing. Piss or quit.

[Fatalis]

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.