The Chris Moeller Archives

Selig appoints investigator, nation shrugs

The depths of the baseball commissioner's cowardice never ceases to amaze me. Bud Selig has surrendered to media pressure once again by naming former Senator George Mitchell as an independent investigator into Barry Bonds' and others' steroid use since 2002. The man never acts-- he just reacts. That's not leadership. That's John Kerry.

The commissioner has already implemented a successful "performance-enhancement" testing program. Has he rid his sport of steroid use? Of course not, but he's succeeded in putting baseball's testing on par with the other major American sports, and that's the most that can be expected considering that players will always attempt to stay a step ahead of the testing technology. By publicly flogging, er.. I mean, investigating, a notoriously unpopular and unsympathetic player (Bonds,) Selig thinks he's made a strong public relations move, but all he's really done is insure that the focus of the steroid question will remain on the past and not the future, which we should all agree is the opposite of our desired motive in protecting this nation's impressionable youth and all that other bullshit.

What exactly is it anyway that makes the bitter and resentful sports media think Bud Selig can nail Bonds on a perjury charge when the federal government has already failed to do so? Am I the only person who thinks there's a major disconnect between the media and the fans on this issue? By and large, I think fans are quick to pile on the players they don't like and eager to defend their favorites or the players on their favorite teams (Gary Sheffield's certainly received a free ride-- I suspect, because sportswriters are physically intimidated by him.) If the fans are angry or even just disappointed with Major League Baseball, they're certainly not proving it with their pocketbooks or at stadium turnstiles.

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It doesn't fit into the media's preferred narrative but Barry Bonds had an extraordinary, albeit brief, spring training. He pounded out 10 hits in 16 at-bats with four home runs. Not bad for a 41-year-old man in full rehab who just passed his drug test. As his agent pointed out Thursday, Bonds had three knee surgeries last year, no spring training, and no rehab assignment, and he still came back and hit five home runs in 14 games. It just goes to show the vast ignorance of the game. It's not massive arms and legs, or even superior hand-eye coordination, that separates the Bonds and McGwires from their contemporaries. It's their tunnel vision at home plate. If Bonds retires as baseball's all-time home run king, it will be an extraordinary achievement by any standard.

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Senator Russ Feingold's motion to censure the President for his wiretapping program isn't getting much support from fellow Democrats, but former Nixon White House Counsel John Dean testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee today that he believes Bush's domestic spying exceeds the criminal wrongdoing of Dean's former boss in the Watergate scandal. Even if the censure goes down to defeat, and it will, Feingold will have succeeded in sparking more investigation and congressional attention to the spying program, and forced the President's supporters to fail back on that old chestnut line-- we can't weaken the presidency during wartime-- paying no mind to the truth that we're now in a state of perpetual war. Only California Senator Barbara Boxer and our Iowa Senator Tom Harkin have had the courage to sign on as co-sponsors to the censure motion.

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I found this map on-line. It's red state/blue state America corresponding to President Bush's lastest approval ratings.

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Former Senator Gary Hart had this to say today on the Arianna Huffington blogsite:

"I have been pleading with the American press corps for months to ask the Bush administration one simple question, a question designed to expose our true agenda: 'Are we, or are we not, constructing permanent military bases in Iraq?'...

"Despite recent assurances that we were going to withdraw our military from Iraq as soon as we 'stand up' the Iraqi military, President Bush stated a few days ago that his legacy to his successor was the Iraqi war.

"As we learned nothing from the French experience in Indochina, we have learned nothing from the 28-year British occupation of Iraq. Presumably, our remaining forces, say 50,000 to 75,000, will be garrisoned outside the chaotic urban areas where they will be used to keep Syria at bay, intimidate the Iranians, and protect the Saudis (and their/our oil). Problem is, garrisoned U.S. forces will be safe within their fortresses from suicide bombers but sitting targets for mortars and IEDs launched by primitive artillery.

"Anyone thinking we are entering the end-game better wake up."

Depressing.

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It seems as though having to review this weekend's premiering "Basic Instinct II" has dropped Roger Ebert into a bit of an existential or career crisis.

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If you're a cable television subscriber, you may already know that Showtime has a free programming preview this weekend. I'm looking forward to the re-broadcast of the landmark musical special "Liza with a 'Z'" from the early 1970s, airing Saturday night. Liza Minnelli will also be the guest of David Letterman tonight on "The Late Show." She's easily my favorite among the gay icons. (Sorry, Sharon Stone.)

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Quote of the day: Big-leaguer Rickey Henderson, a couple years ago, when asked if Ken Caminiti's estimate that 50 percent of MLB players were taking steroids was accurate, "Well, Rickey's not one of them, so that's 49 percent right there."

posted by CM @ 3:35 PM