Roger Clemens has been indicted for lying to Congress about his alleged steroid use. Note that I said alleged - after all, you are supposed to be innocent until proven guilty in this country, right?
Note also that the indictment is only for the allegation that he lied to Congress. It has nothing at all to do with steroid use - use of which may be against baseball's rules, but which is not illegal.
I saw an op-ed piece in the local paper today, from a national columnist. His main thrust was why should Clemens be indicted? Why is this a matter for Congress at all? What business did Congress have putting Clemens in a position where he coiuld be indicited for something which had nothing to do with why he was called to testify? His conclusion was that the public humiliation that Clemens has suffered due to the allegations should be punishment enough - even if he is guilty of lying - which, by the way, has not been proven. What public good can come from dragging Clemens through the mud of a trial?
Now, I agreed with everything this guy wrote, but kept waiting for the obvious (to me) analogy. The analogy never came. The same thing happened to Scooter Libby, who was tried and convicted of lying to Congress about a matter, that even if he had done it, wasn't illegal. Libby spent two years in jail for exactly the same thing Clemens is being jacked up about.
This is what happens when you get mean, vindictive little trolls like Henry Waxman in a position of power. This jerk has used his position as chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee to drag people of all walks of life and business types to Washington to testify about crap that has nothing to do with the scope of his committee. Waxman is the Democrat Party's witch hunter. He is the tool with which they attack their political enemies. He is the instrument to force anyone who does not toe the Democrat/liberal line to be called on the carpet and punished. The method is simple - try and trap someone into making a statement that can be twisted into whatever shape he wants. Then, pressure the person into turning info on more targets, or try to bring them up on legal charges to punish them.
There was a period in US history when this practice was rampant in Congress ... a period which is looked back upon as evil, and never to be repeated. It was called McCarthyism ....
Friday, September 3, 2010
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2 comments:
Why should he get in trouble for lying to congress, they lie to us every day.
He shouldn't ... even if he did lie, which has not been proven (although it does look that way).
Scooter Libby shouldn't have gone to jail.
That's the whole point of inquisitions like Waxman runs ... you have a political enemy or target, badger them into saying something not true while under oath, and presto - you've invented a crime to charge them with.
Damn near everyone in Congress lies to us, straight to our facesd and the cameras. Not just Democrats ... Why it isn't a crime they can be punished for - because the criminals are the ones who write the laws!
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