Arthur Thompson's blog

Sean Taylor, Meet Rae Carruth.....

I doubt that anyone reading this post actually subscribes to ESPN the Magazine, but if you do, then you have seen the cover story this month  about how scared the NFL players are of citizens and criminals and the extraordinary precautions they take for security.  Ha...ha...ha..ha...ha!....I'm dying here.  That is sooooo funny my stomach aches!  Really, stop, your killing me.

This is supposedly a result of the incident last year in which Sean Taylor, a player on the Washington Redskins, was shot and killed during a burglary/robbery at this home with his girlfriend and child in the house with him.  DURING THE SEASON.  He was home in Miami during the bye week when several young men broke into the house and he ended up confronting them and getting shot.  He died of the gunshot wounds.  He had an alarm system in the house but it wasn't activated.  The house had been broken into just nine days before and burgled as well.

It was an awful and tragic crime, he was a victim of black on black violence.  I don't know the neighborhood but am told it wasn't the best.  You have to feel sorry for him and the family that this happened.  The young men that shot him did not know who he was.  Again, this was terrible and unfortunate for Sean and his family.

But to associate this with paranonia over security of NFL players is laughable.

The NFL has a long and terrible history of violence against US, that's right, US.  The fans, friends and relatives of NFL players have much, much more to fear from them than they do from us.  Seriously, these oversized, steriod injecting criminals do far more harm than is done to them.  Lets start with a body count: 

NFL players killed: (2)  Sean Taylor  Washington Redskins

                                  Darrent Williams  Denver Broncos

NFL killers (3) victims (6):  O J Simpson  (2)  Nicole and Ron

                                        Rae Carruth  (2)  Seven months pregnant                                                  girlfriend

                                        Ray (the knife) Lewis two hairdressers                                         after SuperBowl

And that's only the ones I can recall off the top of my head.  Should we all get state of the art home security systems if your city has an NFL team?  I guess so.  Rediculous!

And let's not forget the other acts of violence.  These are waaay to numerous to list.  NFL players routinely go out for nights of drinking, fighting, raping, theft, soliciting, etc....  There are at least two players that have been arrested the very night prior to playing in the SuperBowl. 

And if you added college football to the list, there isn't enough space in the internet to list the football players and their crimes.  Most of which get thrown out or dismissed, or acquited, much like O J and Ray.  Dead is still dead.

These guys start by beating people up in grammer school and never stop as they go through high school, college and into the NFL.  The drinking and drug use as they get older doesn't help.  Few players drafted by the NFL teams have a clean rap sheet.  Most have violations and arrests somewhere along the line.  And they fear US?  Like I said, that is patently absurd.  They go looking for trouble, looking for situations that might escalate into violence.  I don't and I don't think most of their fans do either.

Wake up ESPN, you are out of touch with reality.  You and the NFL both need to grow up.

Taking Down The Post....

I am going to take down the post I put up about my son's fighting.  I had a chance to talk to him and it turned out I didn't have all the facts.  I knew that was a risk when I posted it, I even mentioned that the information I presented was all I knew, but it was incomplete and the parts missing were key.  The first thing missing from the second hand description I heard was that our kid was not the aggressor.  He punched in response to a shove, not just words, but a hand on the chest and push.  Not exactly a punch, but it was designed to instigate a fight.  So be it.  The other information that was missing is equally important.  The two guys had run across each other before on that same night and were already at the stage where they were pissing each other off.  The incident wasn't rash and spontaneous, it was brewing.  The fight was quick and over.  I spoke to him about the dangers that exist when you get involved with an unknown someone after drinking.  I haven't changed my view on fighting or bullies.  I detest both.  But that wasn't the case here. 

I think that part of the problem I had in this case is that I want my kids to listen to what I say and avoid some of the situations that I have had to go through.  I had my share of fights when I was young.  And I realised as I spoke to him that my last punch throwing fight was at age 22.  He is still 21.  I would sure like to spare him the ordeal of learning the hard way that someone can always fight better than you think they can.

What Was He Thinking?

One day in April of 1993, 17 yr. old Carmen Tagliere III and a buddy were racing some friends to school in his car along the roads of Colorado.  While trying to get around one vehicle, he almost ran the guy off of the road with a very deep drop off of the shoulder down to a rocky bottom some thirty feet below.  Vern Smalley, the driver of the vehicle became incensed over the incident and sped up to take the lead again just as the two vehicles were approaching the freeway on ramp.  Instead of getting on the freeway, Vern, 52, pulled off the road onto a turnout and waved the high school students to follow.  Vern was really going to let the kid know what he thought of his driving that morning.  Carmen obliged, turned off as well, parked ahead of Vern, left his passenger in the car and got out to confront Vern.

Carmen came charging back to Vern's vehicle, angry and frustrated.  Vern was upset and annoyed.

When I first heard this story, I was in Colorado and knew the area, knew which high school the kid went to, knew where the other guy had worked, was familiar with most of the details.  What do you think at this point?  My first thought was: teenage high school students drive like idiots the world around.  So what?  Did Vern really think he was going to set the kid straight just by lecturing him on his poor driving habits?  And what about Carmen?  What was he thinking?  Was he going to yell at the old guy and tell him to get off the f---ing road! cause he wanted to drive by and race his buddies?  It struck me that neither party had a rational plan in place and that therefore there wasn't really a reason to pull over and engage further with each other.  But they did.  Couldn't Carmen have just gone on to school?  Couldn't Vern just taken down the plate number and called the police and complained?  Of course they could have, but they didn't. 

According to his testimony, Vern pulled his loaded .357 S&W revolver out of the glove box and put it in his lap until he determined that Carmen did not have a weapon.  Carmen charged up to the car and immediately began punching Vern in the face and side of the head, breaking his glasses and possibly knocking him out.  Then he walked away from the car.  Stopped, and returned.  This time he climbed halfway into the car through the open driver's side window and began punching Vern again.  Only Vern had slumped over to the right, the passenger side and for Carmen to keep hitting him, he needed to get halfway into the car.  Oops.  The gun went off, although Vern isn't saying if it was deliberate or not, and tore a hole in Carmen's chest through the left lung and the major artery coming from the heart.  He left the car, staggered off toward his vehicle, collapsed, and died.

Now what do you think?  Fault?  Blame?  Terrible tragedy?  Hot headed kid meets vigilante Charles Bronson wannabe?

Turns out neither party was exactly a saint.  Vern turned out to be a retired Air Force officer that decided to engage with the kid that day for whatever reason.  The kid turned out to be an angry bully, kicked out of schools, malls and with a police record for threatening to kill other students.

Regardless, Vern was charged with 2nd degree murder, manslaughter.

My point with this story is that you never know who you are dealing with when you meet someone, some random stranger, under whatever circumstances.  He could be a student in a hurry that was running late and just wanted to get to class.  Vern could have been someone like me that doesn't drive around with a loaded revolver on his way to work, or shopping, or wherever he was headed.

So when my son decided to take a poke at some mouthy stranger that threw a slur toward him on Halloween, he was, in my opinion, making a huge mistake and taking an enormous risk with his life.  The other guy could have easily beat the snot out of him, or had his friends do it for him.  He could have pulled a knife, as happened at one of the S.F. Giants games over the summer, and stabbed him dead on the spot.  Or a gun.  Dead is dead, doesn't really matter how.

And here's the point I want to make to him.  No matter who ends up injured or dead, the fault and legal responsibility always rests with THE ONE THAT STRIKES THE FIRST BLOW.  If he wins the fight or kills the other guy, off to jail he goes, if not, then he dies and the other guy goes home.

Vern Smalley was acquited of all charges and sent home, he didn't spend a single minute in jail.

Son, defend yourself...yes.  But be the aggressor and throw the first punch?  NEVER. 

Vote For ALL The Issues........

We are coming up on the elections and everyone is busy trying to decide who to vote for President in November.  That's great.  But don't forget to spend some time trying to figure out who and what to vote for on the rest of the ballot.  There will probably be at least a House of Representatives battle to decide, maybe a Senate seat or two as well.  Then there are the various state offices that are running, maybe some county superintendents or whatever they are called where you live.  If you are in a city, the city council may be up for a few seats, possibly the local school board as well.  Do some research, look them up on-line and read up on the editorials in your local newspaper.  In short, don't spend all of your time trying to decide who to vote for as President and then just make a wild guess for the state and local offices.  These people make more of a direct impact on your daily lives than the President ever will.  They are the ones who will spend large amounts of your tax dollars.  They will make decisions regarding things like gay marriage and abortion, things you thought were decided on a national level.  They aren't, they are local decisions, just as are school district decisions, city activities and county road maintenance.  Read up and find out who best represents you.

When you are done with that, start looking through the numerous propositions and amendments.  Most states have a half dozen or more that you need to vote on.  Be careful, these can be tricky.  Often the campaigns for a particular proposition or amendment will be grossly misleading as to what the measure is for and how it will impact you.  You need to read the actual wording and think about the measure before deciding.  Again, these directly impact you right there in your state, your county, your city, your school district, your fire district, etc.. 

And pay particular attention to how much some of these measures will increase your (and my) taxes.  Often, the author of the measure tries to mislead you to believe that taxes will not be impacted or will go up less than they will.  Don't be fooled, politicians will often mislead if not outright lie about such things.  Figure them out for yourself.  Do your homework people and......DON'T FORGET TO VOTE!!!!!

When the Rains Stopped Falling......

No one noticed at first.  The rain just didn't fall for days, then weeks, finally months and eventually years.  Dry as a bone through summer and winter.  The first year was tough, crops were lost and the livestock didn't produce very well.  But the second year was a disaster.  No crops again, even though we tried to plant.  Livestock became less and less of an asset and more and more of a liability.  Tried selling the livestock, but had no luck.  Eventually, had to butcher them to feed the family.  By the third year, it was time to drive into town and have a talk about some help.

Farmer:  "I need a crop loan to plant the wheat, Bill.  About $500 ought to do it."

Banker:  "George, you're ten months in arrears already and owe about $5,000.  I can't extend you another loan.  You haven't paid anything in months and I don't see how you're going to be able to make do with what you've got now.  I'm thinking we have to foreclose if you can't give us any money against the loan."

Farmer:  "You can't do that!  I need more credit or I'm lost for sure.  Bill, I'm counting on you to help me out here.  The drought can't last forever, we need to team up and ride this out.  These are tough times, but you know I will make it work.  I need a crop loan!!!"

Banker:  "Sorry George.  I've done all I can.  It's not personal, I love you and your family like my own, but the bank has gone as far as we can.  If you can't pay me anything on the loan, I'm going to have to start foreclosure on the farm.  You understand, don't you?  We can't carry you any further."

Farmer:  "I understand.  I understand I came here today to ask for help and you kicked me in the nuts.  If you can't help me, I guess I'll just have to find someone that can."

So the farmer left and went back to his farm and started calling on other bankers and friends trying to find someone that could loan him enough money to plant the crop, pay the loan, feed his family and make it through the drought.  But no one was in a position to help others any longer, having been tapped out the years before by those that failed earlier.  So the farmer went bust.

The bank foreclosed on the farm, took posession and promptly put it up for sale.  Only no one wanted to buy it because the other farms had suffered a similar fate and all of them were up for sale at staggeringly low prices.  But still there were no takers.  And no one wanted to rent the farm and farm it because the drought continued and there were no crop loans made.  Credit had disappeared.  The farm, like its neighbors, was abandoned.  And, inevitably,the bank became loaded with unsold, unrented, non-producing property.  Property that the bank now had to pay property taxes on as the owner, had to pay people to repair, mow lawns, paint and maintain.  Property that had eaten thousands of dollars of the banks cash.  Cash that could no longer be loaned out to borrowers.  Cash that had to be given back to depositors that suddenly wanted to withdraw their accounts.  The bank runs had begun.  The bank couldn't operate anymore, couldn't pay for their investments, couldn't pay the tellers and loan officers, or even the execs.  The banks began to close their doors and fail.  The panic spread to non-farm banks, to the bigger and bigger cities until the entire nation was in a panic.  Unemployment rose and the recession began.

Meanwhile, lack of rain meant lack of crops.  Lack of crops meant scarce food.  Scarce food meant higher prices.  Higher prices meant inflation.  Inflation meant the government had to raise interest rates and tighten credit.  Tighter credit during a recession kicked the whole thing into a Great Depression.  It was 1929.

Sound familiar?  See the similarities?  The differences?

Folks, I know this is going to sound crazy, but the worst thing you can do is nothing.  You can't sit on your money and make things worse.  Keep it safe, yes.  Do nothing, no.  If you need to buy a car, buy a car.  Shop around and find a good deal and buy a car you can afford.  There are terrific deals out there for all kinds of things people use and need every day.  Find them and buy them.  We need to spend money on consumer goods and get the economy back on track.  Yes, even cars, boats, houses and financial investments.  If you need something, research and find a good deal and BUY it.  Don't wait for 'things to turn around', the turn is never noticeable.  Once the prices have hit bottom, they will reverse and go up.  And with interest rates this low, the money has to go somewhere.  Once it was real estate, then oil, now.....????  Who knows?  The point is, when prices are low, it is time to buy.  Buy prudently, research thoroughly, but buy.  In about 3 years, you will look back on this time and say "Man, I could have bought that car for half of what they cost now.  Why didn't I buy it then?"

The stock and bond markets are pretty suspect right now, only buy what you can afford to keep for years as an investment.  Same with real estate, there is no hurry to buying a property unless you need a place to sleep tonight.  But consumer goods? Furniture, appliances, clothes, etc.... go ahead and buy what you can afford.

And don't forget to vote! 

700 Billion Reasons Why.......

....you should be ready to vote.  If you don't already know it, Congress is about to pass legislation that will create the largest toxic financial dump of all time.  After which they will present you with the bill.  And you will pay for it several times.

First, Congress will ask you to pay the income tax monies that will serve to pay the costs and absorb the losses for the $700 billion depository for mortages, derivatives, swaps and just plain bad investments that will be dumped into it in an attempt to rescue the economy prior to the election.  The only way to pay it out of taxes is to increase tax revenues.  You might want to pay close attention to the debates when tax issues come up and each candidate explains his or her position on tax revenues.  McCain will try and convince you that the way to increase revenue is to get the economy going again to generate profits and wages for the government to tax.  Obama will try and convince you that the way to increase revenue is to increase taxes for those that are reporting enough income ($250,000) that they can afford to pay more.  You need to decide.

But your contribution to the bailout is not over just yet.  You have to consider the lost opportunity costs of the bailout.  How much of that $700 billion is NOT going to build roads, fund schools, feed the poor, maintain the nation's infrastructure, maintain the armed forces, provide health care for the old and poor?  Well, pretty much none of it, that's why it is lost opportunity cost.  Those things will have to be paid for by other money since the $700 billion will be coming from your pockets.  Can our taxes support both?  Probably not, get ready for a giant leap in the federal deficit.

But wait!  Thought it was over, didn't you?  You thought that with a bailout and some legislstion preventing the institutions from doing it again, your involvement was over.  No, my friends, no.  One more thing has to be done.  You have to sit and watch, yes.....watch, as the government spends your money.  If history is any example, and it is, then we can expect something along the lines of the RTC (Resolution Trust Corp) that our legislators are already using for both a model and comparison.  Risky and failed mortgages will be dumped into this thing by the hundreds of billions.  That we know.  But what then?  They come off the books of the institutions that created them, those institutions no longer have to pay out for the derivatives that trigger if the properties default and can now do something else to make money.  But what about the loans and mortgages and properties the RTC or whatever it's called is now holding.  Ah yes, this is where you come in.  You get to watch while the government appointed administrators hand them out like presents of candy to all of their very, very rich friends for pennies, probably no more than 5 or 10 cents on the dollar.  Some of their friends will deliberately default on massive loans, stick the property in the trust and negoatiate to buy it back for pennies.  JUST LIKE THE SAVINGS AND LOAN FIASCO IN THE 1980'S.  It turns out that some of the larger deals done to dump debt were by rich friends of Congress who pre-negotiated deals to buy properties back before defaulting.  The rich get richer.  Often they defaulted and then had a friend or relative buy it back for them.

Try not to get too angry as you watch this unfold.  It will happen again.....and again, until someone actually puts measures in place to stop it.  Not likely.

So, while you are watching the candidates discuss positions on abortion, gay marriage, Russian diplomacy, Iranian and Korean nukes, taxes on the internet, flags, character, morals, ethics, patriotism, spouses, airport security and (our favorite) spending on education, keep in mind that most of your tax money for the next Presidential term or two is going to bail out some Wall street buddies that didn't want to pay their (interest rate) gambling debts.  And be very, very angry about it. Now go and vote!!!

I'm Happy for You!!

My wife and I were having a discussion on happiness over breakfast this morning.  We generally have slightly different perspectives on things like this and happiness followed that pattern.  I don't know how much she believes it, but she often tells me that she wants other people to be happy.  Lots of peope, people like me, the kids, relatives and various friends.  She wants everyone to be happy, and if their not, then she wants to do something about it. 

This is where we disagree slightly.  I don't think you can make me happy nor do I believe I can make you happy.  Yeah, yeah, I know all the jokes about that statement and I don't mean make someone happy by giving them pleasure.  I mean I can't make someone happy with themselves, their life or their enjoyment of life.  I can't make them appreciate the beauty of nature, the fascination of other people, the joy of discovery, etc...

Happiness is a choice.  A choice we all make on whether we wish to be happy or sad or somewhere in between.  I bring this up because I am very happy.  Happy all of the time.  I enjoy my life, it has been great.  Sure, I've had some disappointments, some terrible things, some lost love ones, etc...  But I think most people have had some tough times in their life, times they had to work extra hard to hold it together and slog through a difficult situation.  I doubt that my life has been more difficult than others.

Not everyone has it so easy.  Some people grow up in very difficult conditions, starving, homeless, sick, etc...  Still, even in these conditions, many people decide they want to be happy, enjoy the life they are given, and do the best they can.  I was in Colorado a few months ago and the cab driver was from the Sudan.  His family had been driven from home and forced to flee.  They headed for Chad.  He and an uncle were sent to the U.S. and the rest are to follow when the means can be arranged.  He was describing some pretty bad times, but he also said he was happy to be here and looked forward to getting the rest of his family here soon.

The rest of us have a responsibility to help each other whenever we can.  There are plenty of conditions in the world that make it tough to enjoy life.  But happy people still choose to be happy and unhappy people still choose to be unhappy.  Money, status, fame, love......nothing can make you happy.  You have to decide and choose for yourself.  Life is a journey of unknown duration.  Enjoy it my friends.

Spring......

Every year at this time I feel the pull of baseball.  I love the game and always have.  Something about the feel, the movement, the association with hot weather.  The violence.  What?  You thought it was a tame, boring game played by little kids and no one was supposed to get hurt?  Then you don't know baseball.  It is a sport of incredible risk.  And for some strange reason, I think that is one of the most attractive things about it.  Especially when the risk is debilitating injury or possibly death.  I think most players, if drunk enough, would admit that they are very much aware the risk is up there with football and bungee jumping.  In boxing you can pound someone with a gloved hand.  In baseball you can throw a very hard object at another person at 90+ MPH.  I know, I've done it.  In football, you can run into another person with a helmet and injure them.  In baseball you can club that same sphere toward other players at upwards of 140+MPH.  I know, I've done it.  I've also had both done to me as well.  I have the scar on my leg from when another player went into second base and caught me with a spike.  Rippped me good.  Thirty years later another player on another team went into second base and carved up my son's knee in a similar play.  Couldn't count all of the stitches it took to close the wound.  I accidently hit a batter in the helmet in a college game.  He went down like he was shot.  Unconcious, he was totally unaware of the melee that followed as players from his dugout poured out with bats in hand looking for revenge against the pitcher they percieved as "headhunting" their teammate.  I stood on the mound calling for the ball while my teammates came out of my dugout to meet them.  It could have been a south american soccer riot scene, but cooler heads prevailed and we managed to get the player to the hospital.  I spoke to him a year later, he didn't remember anything and held no grudge.

I've ripped and torn my elbow twice.  Different injuries.  I don't care.  I LOVE to throw a baseball.  Don't ask me why, I can't explain it.  I threw hard as a kid, good control, great curve, and nasty sinker.  I loved to hit as well.  Not much for average, but surprising power.  A few home runs here and there over my career.  Oddly enough, I was and remain one of those players that was just born with great hands.  Didn't practice much, didn't like to field the ball much either.  But the ball always stuck in my glove if I got to it.  Just one of those things.

The years have passed and I don't play anymore, but I still follow the game.  And when Spring rolls around I always get the itch to go outside and start throwing again.  Every year.  This year is different because I won't be doing that for the first time in many years.  The elbow really screams when I throw.  So does the shoulder, the back and sometimes a few other places as well.  When I swing a bat, my back always balks a bit, so do the knees and hips.  I think its time to quit.

But I still want to loosen up one more time.  Stretch out in the sun, toss a few, warm up in the bullpen and go into the game.  Aaahh, yes.  Rock back, lift my left leg up while twisting back, coiling like a spring.  Reach back and extend the arm, hands relaxed, fingers across the seams.  Balance.  Find the catcher's glove, focus, focus,...focus, concentrate....see it in my mind.  Now power up, get excited, stay focused.  Go...flex the back knee just a bit, drop and DRIVE.....hard, swing the leg downhill off the mound and plant.   Your pushing......pushing hard....the torso torqueing as your arms extend, the shoulders rotate toward the plate, the wrists tense, then relax, the foot plants and the hips rotate, pulling the arms faster and faster with the elbow leading and the forearm flattening out behind, muscles, tendons, ligaments and tissue all straining to keep up as you EXPLODE off the back foot and snap the wrist in release.  You continue forward and your arm whips around toward the ground, but you don't care.  The missile is released and you don't really care about anything else.  If you did your job it is going about 90 mph and will cover the distance to the catcher in less than 54/100 seconds, the batter will have about 32/100 seconds to find the ball and decide if he wants to swing because it will take him the rest of the time to actually swing the bat.

But I just want to pop the mitt one more time, one more time, just one more time.  God, I love this game.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I Give You the Next President of the U.S.....

Sen. John McCain.  Yes, Whether you are Democrat, Republican or totally unaffiliated with the system, it should be apparent by now that Sen. McCain will be elected the next President in November.  The Democratic Party has totally blown their opportunity to finally take control of the government and begin instituting the changes they have trumpeted for years.

It began with the lack of preparation for the coming elections.  The party stood still and did not develop a legitimate candidate for the last fours years even though they knew their chance was coming.  Why not?  The 2004 election was a throw away, but this one was wrapped up in a pretty bow and handed to the Dems by the ridiculously incompetent Bush administration. All the Dems had to do was develop a viable candidate.  They didn't.  Instead we have the retread (Edwards), the civil rights movement (Obama), and the ERA (Clinton).  I'm all for civil rights and the ERA, but NOT NOW!!!  Either one of these would make a fine running mate for a legitimate candidate, but why throw the election away to run them now?

Obama represents the more traditional liberal views of the party and Clinton the more moderate positions.  Unfortunately, given that McClain represents a more moderate Republican party position, he will crush whoever the Dems put up against him.  And there is nothing the Dems can do about it now.

I'm sorry, but the voting population won't elect Obama, and yes, it's because he's black.  Being more liberal than the average voter won't help either.  The same goes for Clinton.  She could probably get beyond being a female if she ran a better campaign, kept Bill under control, and fine tuned her positions so that she could deal with McCain heads up.  But her baggage of being female and Bill, will keep enough voters from electing her that McCain will cruise into the office.  And on top of that, Obama and Clinton can't team up as running mates because that would double the baggage and torpedo the election. 

And Ted Kennedy couldn't be happier if you gave him a keg of Sam Adams' brew.  You see, he deliberately divided the party and killed any chance of the Dems pulling together and going after the oval office.  When he saw that Hillary was starting to look like a shoo-in for the nomination, he through his endorsement to Obama.  Why not?  Obama is the more liberal candidate and the closest to representing Teddy's position on matters, so why not?  But that's not why Kennedy chose to endorse Obama, nor why he chose just before Super Tuesday to announce it.  He could have waited for the party to choose and the people to vote, but he wanted to tank Hillary's chance on Super Tuesday.  Why?  Because he would rather be the top dog in the losing party than concede power to a fellow party member.  He knows Obama isn't electable, but he couldn't take the chance that Hillary might be nominated, he would rather work with McClain, possibly cut some deals.

So we will go into the election in Novemeber and the hard core Republicans will vote for McCain because he is a Republican.  The moderate Republicans will vote for him because he is their candidate all the way.  And the hard core liberals will vote for whichever Democrat the party nominates.  But the more moderate Democrats will split their vote between the party candidate and McCain, some will vote for McCain because he is a moderate, some will vote because he is male, some will vote because he is white.  And because of those swing votes, McCain will be elected in November despite his baggage, which is that he is older and he is associated with the existing Bush administration that has created war, eliminate citizen rights and totally tanked the economy.  But I think McCain will convince the voters he wasn't responsible for any of that and win the election.  And because the economy will recover on its own, he will be re-elected four years later unless his health suffers.

What Can We Do?

If you have read anything at all about the "Mitchell" report in baseball regarding the use and distribution of steroids and HGH, then you probably have an idea of what should be done to deal with the issue.  In a nutshell, the Mitchell report mentioned that over the last decade of play the use of "Performance Enhancing Drugs" (PEDs) was widespread and pervasive in every aspect and organization of baseball including both past and present major league players, trainers and organizations.  In short, baseball players have been using steroids and HGH for years with the full knowledge and protection of the fans, owners, management and organizations.  The MLB Players Union has resisted any attempts to limit, discourage or investigate the use of PEDs during that time.  Baseball owners as represented by Bud Selig and the commissioner's office, have turned a blind eye and tried to ignore the issue each and every time someone presented evidence of use.

Top to bottom, baseball has tried very hard to pretend that there is no problem with PEDs and that all of its newly created records of success are "pure".  But how can that be?  Don't we have testing?  Hasn't there been a rash of books on the subject?  Isn't the Mitchell report itself proof that baseball wants to clean up the game?  Pretty much yes........and no... to all above.  Baseball as a whole never wanted the public to hear anything about drugs, from when the whispers of drug use began to appear in the late 80's and the fans began to chant. "STERRRR-oooids" whenever certain players came to the plate, to when a sports reporter noticed a large bottle of "Andro" in Mark McGwire's locker during his record breaking homerun season.  It was quickly hushed up, the reporters berated for accusing an icon of the game of looking for an edge.  Damage control included issueing statements that Andro and Creatine were not steroids, were "perfectly legal" and available at the local health food stores and did not help you play baseball, but were only used to recover from workouts.  Besides, the announcements went on to say, "Everyone used them" so the playing field was still level.  Let's move on, there's nothing to see there, ignore the man behind the curtain.

Records were broken, set, and boken again.  And again.  As the Mitchell report informs us, at this time baseball, the owners, the organizations and the players all knew that the big homerun hitters, i.e., Canseco, McGwire, Bonds and Sosa were taking steroids and HGH to increase their size and strength and hit more home runs.  Many others were as well.  Now the report says what was known all along.  And it names "names".  The same names that have been known by rumour for years.  Nothing new there.

So where are we now?

We're in quite a sports mess.  The game is suspect, the players have been cheating, and the owners and fans are only concerned with identifying and punishing players on teams other than the ones for which they cheer.  The OTHER guys are cheating, but not my guys.  Baseball doesn't want to catch anyone, its drug testing program is very weak.  Baseball doesn't want to punish anyone, McGwire, Bonds and Clemens have yet to be punished in any manner.  Worse, baseball works very hard to protect its star players, they hide and cover up evidence of drug use or knowledge until the player has completed his year or career.  McGwire, Bonds and now Clemens have been known to have taken PEDs for years now, yet baseball continued to protect them from investigation or interview.  None.......NONE of them were allowed to be interviewed by Mitchell for his report.  NONE of them testified to Congress committee several years ago when steroids began to cause concern.  McGwire was there, but he refused to comment.

What can be done?

Very little as it turns out.  Mitchell want to "put everything behind us" and recommends that baseball not punish past offenders and cheats in order to "mover on" with the game.  Bud Selig has indicated he will likely do that.  Does that mean the fans are screwed forever?  Will we never know how many homeruns a player can hit in a single year without steroids and HGH?  Probably so.  But I have a suggestion:  Re-commission Senator Mitchell to sit down and interview ALL current players and ANY former players going back at least 10 years.  Offer the players a simple incentive to speak truthfully and candidly, i.e., no punishment for past offenses to future playing careers and inclusion on Hall of Fame ballot for retired players.  Any players that refuse to cooperate are suspended for 100 games beginning now (whenever that is) and any retired players are simply BANNED from the HOF ballot just like Pete Rose.  Likewise, any player that testifies, but is found to be lying, is banned or suspended as well. 

I believe the players would start talking and clear this mess up in a hurry.  What do you think?