I'm going to give credit to the blog Steroid_Nation for outlining the major arguments for Congressional involvement in the PED issue in sports.
Then I'm going to outline why I think it's almost entirely wrong and in fact shockingly weak argument coming from a university professor.
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http://grg51.typepad.com/steroid_nation/2008/03/congression-wei.html
So why should Congress pursue Clemens as well as
investigate anabolic steroids, HGH, and other PEDs?
* Because the truth is an important ethical
concept worth defending. Perjury remains a serious
issue.
CS - I can't argue against truth, justice or the American Way. But to put in context, Congress called Clemens in to "perjure" himself, and it is normally the domain of the law enforcement agencies to investigate crimes. Congress was basically a willing tool of the owners and Bud Selig to get the kind of movement on the issue from the Players Association that they never would have been able to achieve on their own. Should Congress be inserting themselves in labor/management issues?
* Because steroid and PED use (like HGH)
represents a hugely lucrative illegal industry for
organized crime
CS - Doubtful. Anecdotally you may be able to come up with a case or two here and there with links to organized crime, but "the mob" tends to focus on those goods (cocaine, heroin) and services (gambling, racketeering) that are not readily available to the masses. Unfortunately, steroids and PED's are available via our neighbors to the south (Mexico) as well as the Dominican, to say nothing about the Internet. That said, enforcement of the law, is for the local police, FBI, DEA, etc. to work out. Congress makes laws, it doesn't enforce them. Perhaps Congress should have held hearings into why the laws that were on the books were not enforced as they now, with the benefit of 20-20 hindsight, believe they should have been. Why didn't the FBI follow up on Operation Equine in the 90's?
* Because PED distribution supports a
gazillion-dollar underground network that includes
money-laundering and income-tax fraud
CS - Gazillion is not a real number, but I've heard juveniles use it before to indicate a ridiculously large number. (Gazillion and other fictitious numbers from wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indefinite_and_fictitious_numbers )
Further, you are simply repeating your last point here in an attempt to pad (juice) the numbers and make your argument stronger. In reality, it's the same point.
* Because the PED (steroids and other drugs)
distribution networks also distribute other illegal
drugs including narcotics and stimulants
CS - Redundancy, redundancy, redundancy. Same argument as the prior two really, only weaker.
* Because these drugs are also obtained from AIDs
patients, thus diverting legally prescribed
pharmaceutics to illegal activities
CS - How prevalent is this really? Is this another attempt to play the emotional card? First it's "we're protecting the nation's youth" now we're protecting against those who would prey on unfortunate AIDS patients? Come on. Surely, you're aware of the old lawyers saw "When you have the facts on your side, pound the facts, when you have the law on your side pound the law, when you have neither, pound the table"? Seems like a lot of table pounding so far.
* Because the use of these drugs amounts to
practicing medicine without a license
CS - By the same logic would the aforementioned AIDS patients selling their prescriptions constitute practicing as a Pharmacist without a license? So anyone who takes a drug, without their own prescription, is practicing medicine without a license? That's a new legal theory on me, can you cite precedent for this? Or is this more table pounding?
* Because the use of illegal PEDs defrauds the
paying public who are deceived by the drug-cheats;
this constitutes fraud
CS - Again, I think I would stay away from the legal theory, it's doesn't seem to suit you. It seems like you're stretching the legal definition of fraud to suit your cause. I know of only one case (it's still pending, but we've cited it here http://slavieboy.blogspot.com/2008/01/i-smell-refund.html ), where a ticket holder sued a team for fraud as a result of this. I would think team ownership could more sue a player for fraud (as in Giambi) and get out of a bad contract, but even that hasn't been tested yet. I wonder why. I think the onus is on the owners (employers) to take action against the players (employees) for the fraud you're describing. The fan would seem to have action against the team owners for any fraud in the purchase of the ticket. And I'm not sure there is a winnable case there.
Speaking of fraud though, an example you might be more familiar with is described below. The disgraceful state of education in this country. Tuition costs rising significantly faster than the overall inflation rate, while university endowment funds grow faster than oil company profits.
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FROM THE BLOG CARPE DIEM: DISTURBING VIDEO ON DECLINE OF MATH SKILLS
http://mjperry.blogspot.com/2008/03/disturbing-video-on-decline-of-math.html
Q: What does a major state university do when test scores on a precalculus math exam for incoming freshmen continue to decline year after year, while at the same time high school GPAs of incoming freshmen are going up?
A: If your answer is "make the test easier," go to the head of the class!
Watch a disturbing video on the decline in math skills for college students (click twice on the arrow above), with an explanation for why it has been happening ("reform math"), and some ways to solve the problem (abandon "reform math").
Thanks to Oak Norton for the pointer.
See a previous CD post on the huge shortage of IT professionals and the lack of technology talent in the U.S.. Thanks to "reform math," that huge shortage will likely continue.
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MATH EDUCATION: A UNIVERSITY VIEW
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* Because many MLB games are played in public
financed venues, that raises issues of misuse of
public funds when the games are not fairly played
CS - The publicly financed venues you cite are generally state and local funds so it would seem to be more their concern then that of Uncle Sammy. They have used the tax exemption hook to stick their nose under the tent so to speak, but even that is weak argument. And you know what happens once the camel sticks his nose under the tent don't you? Sure you do, it's not long before you have a camel in your tent. If I attend a rock concert at the same venue, where there is marijuana/alcohol abuse and perhaps other illicit drug use going on all around me (and let's face it, what other kind of rock concert is there?) then using the same legal theory, shouldn't I expect Congress to get involved in the name of reducing/stamping out recreational drug/alcohol use?
* Because that the trafficking of PEDs though
players that use, trainers that distribute, or
street-dealers that sell, represents illegal drug
activity, certainly answerable to the federal
government and the FBI
CS - We're back to the CRIMINAL ACTIVITY, LAW ENFORCEMENT argument again. Redundant.
* Because illegal PEDs likely made their way
through international checkpoints (like Canada) with
players breaking international regulations (see Juan
Gonzalez's story)
CS - We're back to the CRIMINAL ACTIVITY, LAW ENFORCEMENT argument again. Redundant.
* Because that it is clear youngsters under 18 use
PEDs (steroids and others) based somewhat on their
idol's use of PEDs
CS - Oh, Thank God. Protect the young people!!! Why is this so far down the list when it appears to most to be the number one reason for Congressional involvement. Let's get our priorities in order shall we, Professor? You say "somewhat" but if you look at the most recent issue of Sports Illustrated they cite their own polling that shows 99% of America's youth (99% PERCENT), would not, I repeat, WOULD NOT use steroids or PED's simply because their favorite athlete did.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/magazine/03/11/steroid.survey/index.html
Further, 97% said they would not use PED's even if they knew it would make them a better player. So it seems like kids are a lot smarter then we are giving them credit for. This restores my faith in the youth and makes me question more the faith in adults who would use condescending arguments from the "Reefer Madness" era to make their case in this issue. Makes me wonder if future generations are going to laugh just as much about our handling of this issue as our parents and grandparents handled the marijuana issue. Kids are not little idiots and should not be treated as such.
* Because these illegal drugs produce serious
medical side-effects, which in themselves are cause
for concern, but also represent a major public health
problem
* Because there is evidence the PEDs are addictive
CS - MEDICAL ISSUE - Two arguments for the price of one redundancy again. Now we're getting somewhere, let's let the AMA and Big Pharma decide this, they haven't screwed too many modern day issues up with their incompetence and corruption.
* Because illegal anabolic steroids have been
shown to be involved in felonious crimes beyond drug
trafficking -- crimes like murder, assault, and rape.
CS - We're back to the CRIMINAL ACTIVITY, LAW ENFORCEMENT argument again. Redundant. Nice touch by adding the murder, assault, rape emotional kicker. Did you forget about child molestation?
* Because the US Olympic team, which is obviously
a visible ambassador to the world, appears to be
violated by the drug-cheats and the PED dealers
CS - Then they would fit right in with the most corrupt organization involved in sports the International Olympic Committee. It wouldn't bother me at all if we didn't participate at all in that sham and for many reasons that have nothing to do with the PED issue. I didn't miss it at all when we boycotted the Olympics.
CS - Seriously Professor, if one of your students turned in a paper with these arguments and you didn't throw it right back into his face for a re-write than I wonder about our so-called institutions of higher-learning. Feel free to rebut.
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FROM THE REEFER MADNESS ERA: OR THE MORE THINGS CHANGE....THE MORE THEY REMAIN THE SAME
http://www.reefermadness.org/propaganda/trail_a.html
Another excerpt from On the Trail of Marihuana, the Weed of Madness:
"We now know that marihuana --
1. Destroys will power, making a jellyfish of the user. He cannot say no.
2. Eliminates the line between right and wrong, and substitues one's own warped desires
or the base suggestions of others as the standard of right.
3. Above all, causes crime; fills the victim with an irrepressible urge to violence.
4. Incites to revolting immoralities, including rape and murder.
5. Causes many accidents, but industrial and automobile.
6. Ruins careers forever.
7. Causes insanity as its specialty.
8. Either in self-defense or as a means of revenue, users make smokers of others, thus perpetuating the evil."
[italics were not added, they appeared in the original source]
Source: On the Trail of Marihuana the Weed of Madness by Earle Albert Rowell & Robert Rowell, Pacific Press Publishing, 1939, p. 33
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http://www.reefermadness.org/propaganda/congress.html
Hearing Before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Finance United States Senate, Seventy-Fifth Congress, First Session on H.R.6906 - July 12, 1937 Excerpt from statement of Federal Bureau of Narcotics chief Harry J. Anslinger
MR. ANSLINGER
I received this letter from an attorney at Houston, Texas, just the other day. This case involves a murder in which he alleges that his client, a boy 19 years old, had been addicted to the use of marihuana.
SENATOR BROWN
Shall we read this into the record?
MR. ANSLINGER
Yes, sir; I shall be very glad if you will.
(The letter is as follows:)
Houston, Tex., July 7, 1937
H. J. Anslinger United States Commissioner of Narcotics Washington, DC
Dear sir: Your article on Marihuana appearing in the July issue of the American is very useful as well as interesting. this subject strikes close to home because of a client II have who not so long ago murdered in a brutal way a man who had befriended him in giving him a ride. This client is a boy 20 years of age and he explained to me he has been smoking marihuana for several years. I would like to have about 1 copies of your article and will gladly pay any necessary charges. I would appreciate an early reply.
Yours Truly, Sidney Benbow
MR. ANSLINGER
I have another letter from the prosecutor at a place in New Jersey. It is as follows:
The Interstate Commission on Crime March 18, 1937
Charles Schwarz, Washington, DC
My Dear Mr. Schwarz: That I fully appreciate the need for action, you may judge from the fact that last January I tried a murder case for several days, of a particularly brutal character in which one colored young man killed another, literally smashing his face and head to a pulp, as the enclosed photograph demonstrates.
One of the defenses was that the defendant's intellect was so prostrated from his smoking marihuana cigarettes that he did not know what he was doing. The defendant was found guilty and sentenced to a long term of years. I am convinced that marihuana had been indulged in, that the smoking had occurred, and the brutality of the murder was accounted for by the narcotic, though the defendant's intellect had not been totally prostrate, so the verdict was legally correct. It seems to me that this instance might be of value to you in your campaign.
Sincerely yours, Richard Hartshorne
(Mr. Hartshorne is a member of the Interstate Commission on Crime. We have many cases of this kind.)
SENATOR BROWN
It affects them that way?
MR. ANSLINGER
Yes.
SENATOR DAVIS
(viewing a photograph presented by Mr. Anslinger) Was there in this case a blood or skin disease caused by marihuana?
MR. ANSLINGER
No; this is a photograph of the murdered man, Senator. It shows the fury of the murderer.
SENATOR BROWN
That is terrible.
MORE REEFER MADNESS MADNESS: This is good reading, see if you can spot the parallels between current events and the events as described here.
http://www.reefermadness.org/propaganda/essay.html
http://www.reefermadness.org/propaganda/essay2.html
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Some of the more positive suggestions I've seen from one of the few Congressmen that I thought acquitted himself well during the Clemens hearing.
FROM CONGRESSMAN ELIJAH CUMMINGS (D-MD) WEBSITE
http://www.house.gov/cummings/newsletter/050808.htm
http://www.house.gov/cummings/newsletter/050808.htm
Congressman Cummings Expresses Disappointment in
Baseball Star's Steroid Use
In continuing to take an active role in opposing the
tolerance of steroid use in professional sports,
Congressman Cummings expressed disappointment with
regard to the news that broke on August 1 that Orioles
baseball player Rafael Palmeiro was suspended for
steroid use.
He continued by noting that when sports leagues ignore
this type of cheating, they send a message to the
public that steroid abuse is acceptable.
"Unfortunately, this perception has contributed to an
increase of the drug's abuse by teens from 1 in 45 ten
years ago to 1 in 16 (and in some surveys, 1 in 8)
today. Further, the players' unscrupulous actions send
a message to young children-many of whom try to
emulate their sports heroes-that steroids are safe."
Congressman Cummings said that he would continue to
urge Congressional Leaders to expedite consideration
by the full Congress of The Clean Sports Act of 2005
(H.R. 2565/S.1114) which he has co-sponsored with his
House colleagues Congressmen Davis, Waxman and Mark
Souder (R-Indiana). Senator John McCain (R-Arizona)
has introduced companion legislation in the Senate.
Specifically, the Clean Sports Act of 2005 would
require these professional leagues to:
1. Expel athletes for two years for their first
steroid-abuse violation and impose a lifetime ban for
a second violation;
2. Adopt a comprehensive list of prohibited
performance-enhancing drugs;
3. Test each player on an unannounced basis at least
three times during the regular season and twice during
the off-season; and
4. Finally, in an effort to ensure balance, the
legislation guarantees that players who test positive
receive their due process rights, including the right
to notice, a fair, timely, and expedited hearing, the
right to be represented by counsel, and the right to
appeal.
CS Note - This provision, albeit the American Way, would not satisfy the USADA, WADA Nazi's who use tactics to counteract that would not past serious legal muster in this country. So I would urge caution when listening to these purveyors of information on the topic, their agenda and methodology is wholly un-American.
"Passage of this legislation would send a strong
message to the public and especially to young people
that no one wins when athletes cheat," Congressman
Cummings said.
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