High and Tight.

Friday, February 15, 2008

I Wonder if Senator Geary Made the Clemens Hearing

Is it just me, or did Clemens at times conjure up memories of another famous hearing before Congress?

"When the Commissioner asked me to get myself together to go out there, and the league asked me to put USA on my chest and represent my team, my country, I did everything I could do to get ready. They pushed my date up to try get me ready sooner.
I told them, I could shake hands and wave flags and sell tickets for you if you want me to do that, but if you want me on the field it is going to take longer to get this body going. And I did, and I went out there and I did the best I very -- I could probably do. And I was proud to have the USA on my chest.
When a player went down in the All-Star Game in Chicago, I happened to be on my All-Star break with my youngest son at a lake house about an hour north of my house in Houston. They found me. This player was hurt, he didn't want to pitch -- collect his bonus, but did not want to pitch. They asked me if I would come pitch an inning in this game. I told them, let me talk to my family. But they found me. When all this happened, the former President of the United States found me in a deer blind in south Texas and expressed his concerns, that this was unbelievable, and to stay strong and keep your -- hold your head up high." - Roger Clemens, appearing before Congress, 2008.

"In the hopes of clearing my family name, and in the sincere desire to give my children the fair share of the American way of life, without a blemish on their name and background, I have appeared before this committee and given it all the cooperation in my power. I consider it a great dishonor to me personally to have to deny that I am a criminal. I wish to have the following noted for the record: that I served my country faithfully and honorably in World War II and was awarded the Navy Cross for actions in defense of my country; that I have never been arrested or indicted for any crime whatsoever; that no proof linking me to any criminal conspiracy whether it is called "Mafia" or "Cosa Nostra" or whatever other name you wish to give has ever been made public. I have not taken refuge behind the 5th amendment, though it is my right to do. I challenge this committee to produce any witness or evidence against me. And if they do not, I hope they will have the decency to clear my name with the same publicity with which they now have besmirched it." - Michael Corleone, apprearing before Congress in The Godfather, Part II, 1974

Wrap yourself in that flag, Rocket.

Also if you look carefully behind Clemens, you can see the guy who played him in Roger Clemens 2057.

Labels: mitchell report, roger clemens

posted by Mr. Faded Glory @ 10:27 AM 0 comments

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Let the Witch Hunt Begin

America has troops fighting and dying in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere abroad. Our economy is in poor shape, and the president is considering sending every citizen a check as a "stimulus" package. American children keep falling behind the rest of the world in education. The infrastructure of the country is in desperate need of attention, as has been evidenced by lax and corrupt policies in regards to the levees in New Orleans and the bridge collapse in Minneapolis. Luckily, we have Congress on our side to concentrate huge amounts of time, money, and energy on figuring out whether one individual did hGH or not.

While Congress would have you believe this is somehow about "children" and protecting "children" that is so far from the truth as to be laughable.

There were a total of 89 players and former players listed in the Mitchell report. Out of those 89, how many did Congress summon for this hearing designed to "protect children"? Three: Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, and Chuck Knoblauch. Clemens is the big name, of course; Pettitte is an All-Star pitcher in the big leagues. Knoblauch hasn't smelled a ball field in over 5 years and has nothing to do with baseball. Why choose these three and only these three? Simple: Congress is simply out to "get" Roger Clemens, so they're picking his teammates who also had contact with McNamee. Their goal as a committee is to be able to say they "got" someone and most likely to attempt to bring him up on perjury charges at one point.

Kirk Radomski, whose name appears more often than any other in the report and who is personally responsible for about 80% of the information and accusations contained therein, was excused from the hearing and allowed to simply give a deposition. Why, if this is truly about "truth" and "protecting the kids" was the guy who has the most information and in exchange for speaking with a baseball investigator was granted freedom from prison, not asked to appear in public?

This is a witch hunt, pure and simple, and Clemens is wearing the pointed hat. Don't be fooled into thinking that this is anything else.

Did Clemens use steroids or hGH? I don't know, I wasn't there. It's certainly possible and there is ample evidence to suggest as such. That, however, is irrelevant to this discussion. Whether or not he used or not, the Mitchell Report was an incomplete study with the majority of the evidence coming from two people facing serious jail time. Congress is simply choosing the "biggest name" from the report in an effort to make a big splash on the front and back pages of newspapers.

Hopefully, it will keep buried reports from Iraq, studies of failing grades in public education, and stories crumbling bridges in the midwest. I mean, we elect people to federal government to focus on retired athletes as priority one, right?

Labels: andy pettitte, douchebag, mitchell report, roger clemens