Embarrassingly Partisan Baseball

clemensSteroids in Major League Baseball should not be a political issue.  But it is.

Who’s the liar? Brian McNamee or Roger Clemens? I don’t know…and actually, I don’t much care. Damn them all. Professional baseball is full of over-amped egos and self-defined Masters of the Universe.

Yesterday, however, continuing the outrageously partisan approach to what is, by its very nature, a non-partisan issue [cf. my earlier post on this], Republicans on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform issued a 109-page report [downloadable here] that supports Clemens over McNamee.

The report includes this paragraph on page 3:

“Clemens and McNamee told two spectacularly conflicting stories. The differing testimony leads to an obvious conclusion – one committed perjury and made materially false statements to Congress. Both are serious crimes. The ultimate question for the Justice Department is whether Clemens knowingly provided materially false testimony about using anabolic steroids and human growth hormone. If Clemens is not lying on that subject, McNamee is.”

No objective witness or judge should disagree with the above. And since the members of the Committee all heard the same testimony, how can it be that all the Republicans lined up with Clemens, while all the Democrats believed McNamee?

According to the New York Times report, Richard Emery, a lawyer for McNamee, said, “This report is nothing more than a way for the Republicans to justify their partisan behavior at the hearing,” Emery said. “Their behavior was disgraceful, and this report showsSomething stinks even more that orders were coming from above from other Republicans to support Roger.”

It certainly smells like Clemens has friends in high places.

But blame the Democrooks, as well. One cannot have partisanship without partisans apple pieon both sides.

Being against steroids is as American as apple pie and, dare I say it, baseball.

But taking sides when it is inappropriate to do seems to be as American as Congressional politics.

Sigh…

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