COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Baseball Hall of Shame. Cheats and Liars All?

Everyone of these players, if the charges hold, are guilty of infractions greater than that of Pete Rose.

Mitchell Report exposes Professional Baseball to be something less than expected.

PLAYERS NAMED IN THE REPORT INCLUDE:


Chad Allen
Rick Ankiel
David Bell
Mike Bell
Marvin Benard
Gary Bennett, Jr.
Larry Bigbie
Barry Bonds
Kevin Brown
Paul Byrd
Jose Canseco
Mark Carreon
Jason Christiansen
Howie Clark
Roger Clemens
Jack Cust
Brendan Donnelly
Chris Donnels
Lenny Dykstra
Bobby Estalella
Matt Franco
Ryan Franklin
Eric Gagne
Jason Giambi
Jeremy Giambi
Jay Gibbons
Troy Glaus
Jason Grimsley
Jose Guillen
Jerry Hairston, Jr.
Matt Herges
Phil Hiatt
Glenallen Hill
Darren Holmes
Todd Hundley
David Justice
Chuck Knoblauch
Tim Laker
Mike Lansing
Paul Lo Duca
Exavier "Nook" Logan
Josias Manzanillo
Gary Matthews, Jr.
Mark McGwire
Cody McKay
Kent Mercker
Bart Miadich
Hal Morris
Daniel Naulty
Denny Neagle
Rafael Palmeiro
Jim Parque
Andy Pettitte
Adam Piatt
Todd Pratt
Adam Riggs
Brian Roberts
John Rocker
F.P. Santangelo
Benito Santiago
Scott Schoeneweis
David Segui
Gary Sheffield
Miguel Tejada
Ismael Valdez
Mo Vaughn
Randy Velarde
Ron Villone
Fernando Vina
Rondell White
Jeff Williams
Matt Williams
Todd Williams
Steve Woodard
Kevin Young
Gregg Zaun


67 comments:

  1. Please don't tell me these players are victims of the system.

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  2. Well then they should all be banned, as was Pete Rose.

    Standardized sentencing, for similar crimes against the Game.

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  3. Are any of those fellows named any good at base-a-ball?

    Selig says it's Societies problem.
    Just now, in a press conference.

    He says he's going to set an example, with what is coming next.

    Do something about it. He says he has to do something about it.

    Do something about it, he's said it about 6 times, now. He's moving forward, going to do something about it.

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  4. DR: Standardized sentencing, for similar crimes against the Game.

    And I want these guys in Federal Supermax, because Baseball is the National Pasttime. That's why Congress gets to call 'em on the carpet to testify.

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  5. Long time since I paid attention to baseball. Nevertheless, I have one of Todd Hunley broken bats (wonder if the worth is going to go down) and I know Santiago.

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  6. sheesh, they are pros, let 'em do whatever they like, whatever it takes, to be the best. On with the show and the money it spouts!

    pass the popcorn and watch the freaks compete!!!

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  7. Hear hear, but the debate finished a few hours ago, didn't it?

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  8. Pete Rose Rules!
    Charlie Hustle.
    ---
    Anybody else remember the Series when he was with Philadelphia and the pop fly popped out of the catchers mitt?
    There was Pete, to snatch it before it hit the ground!

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  9. Pete Rose Tribute. Good music too.

    When I played, nothing felt better than coming back covered in dirt. Broke my forearm jumping over a catcher one game.

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  10. Hrmm, didn't know Rose served in the National Guard.

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  11. Team43 is having a hard time getting convictions on these old terror charges.
    Either they were overhyped at the time of arrest, or the jurors are traitors to the US justice system.

    In this case there were not even any Israeli agents testifying under a false name.

    MIAMI (Associated Press) -- In a stinging defeat for the Bush administration, one of seven Miami men accused of plotting to join forces with al-Qaida to blow up Chicago's Sears Tower was acquitted Thursday, and the case against the rest ended in a hung jury.

    Federal prosecutor Richard Gregorie said the government planned to retry the six next year, and the judge said a new jury would be picked starting Jan. 7.

    The White House had seized on the case to illustrate the dangers of homegrown terrorism and trumpet the government's post-Sept. 11 success in infiltrating and smashing terrorism plots in their earliest stages.

    Lyglenson Lemorin, 32, had been accused of being a "soldier" for alleged ringleader Narseal Batiste. He buried his face in his hands when his acquittal was read.


    Perhaps it's because even the prosecutor admitted:

    The group never actually made contact with al-Qaida. Instead, a paid FBI informant known as Brother Mohammed posed as an al-Qaida emissary.

    The defense portrayed the seven men as hapless figures who were either manipulated and entrapped by the FBI or went along with the plot to con "Mohammed" out of $50,000.

    The group never actually made contact with al-Qaida and never acquired any weapons or explosives. Prosecutors said no attack was imminent, acknowledging that the alleged terror cell was "more aspirational than operational."


    Trying to con the Mussulman of $50,000. Given the opportunity, not a bad idea, except the Mussulman was a Federal who didn't take kindly to being conned.

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  12. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  13. Oh, ash, the Base-a-Ball business is given leave of various antitrust laws, just to be able to manage their Game. So they are more than just "professional", they are "special".

    Then again, there are bankers and doctors whom are also "professionals", whom have to obey the law and regulations.

    Just becasue they're "Pros" does not excempt them from obeying the law, does it?

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  14. Mitchell said evidence of illegal use involved each of the 30 clubs and more than half of players mentioned are no longer playing baseball.

    He said the players union was largely uncooperative with the investigation.

    They are expected to hold their own press conference later Thursday.


    Mitchell Report

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  15. Where'd you get that poster, 'Rat?

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  16. 2164th,

    Fox News stole your headline!

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  17. Somewhere on Google, do you want a copy, I could upload it, if there was a reason.

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  18. Yeah, I think it's cool.
    Please do.

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  19. Richardson also raised the surprising disappearance from recent debates of what had been a central political issue for most of this year: Iraq.

    "In the last debate, the Iraq war was not discussed," he said.

    "Somehow, we're losing sight that that's the most important fundamental issue facing our country."


    Last Debate

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  20. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  21. sam ,

    fox and buchanan have no shame.

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  22. I can hardly wait to hear the union line....

    "Look for the Union Libel" see if that shows up on fox

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  23. The Report from Mr Mitchell, in pdf form, for those that care.

    Interesting site. www.realclearsports.com

    Just like their politics site, but different. Guess hooking up with Forbes expanded their horizons.

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  24. So is Mike Huckabee an "easy kill" for the Democrats? And are the Republicans the distinct underdogs, no matter whom they nominate for the presidency?

    Maybe. After all, in public opinion surveys, the critical "right track/wrong track" question shows negative feelings predominating by a 2-to-1 or even 3-to-1 margin. That's bad news for the incumbent party, in terms of holding the White House.

    But some Democrats maintain that the former Arkansas governor, in particular, has a "glass jaw." Hence the headline in Tuesday's Drudge Report: "Dems Hold Fire on Huckabee; See 'Easy Kill' In General Election."
    ...
    But it's also possible that the Democrats might have miscalculated the Republican race - certainly plenty of Republicans have done so - and now they are spinning, while reassessing.

    It's happened before. Long ago, I worked in Ronald Reagan's 1980 presidential campaign. And I well remember Democratic politicos insisting that Reagan was the weakest Republican opponent that Jimmy Carter could face as he sought re-election that year. Was that "psychological warfare" by the Democrats? Or did they really think that the 69-year-old "cowboy" ex-actor - not yet known as "The Great Communicator" - would be the easiest Republican to beat? Probably a little of both.

    But we all know this for sure: Reagan carried 44 of 50 states in the election against Carter. So the moral of the story is that predictions from hired-gun spin doctors are not to be trusted.

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  25. It surely did expand their horizons, but then again those fellows were lawyers that got on ahead of the curve, maybe eight years ago, now.

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  26. They always responded to e-mails and took what they were doing seriously.

    I recall when they asked for donations, many moons ago, said they raised around $50,000 bucks in a very short period.

    Then never again did they come, hat in hand. They had loyal readers, pretty smart fellows.

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  27. As I look at the list of ball players and had to take any one on that page to back me up, i'm going with Pete Rose.

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  28. Forgot the name of the A's 3rd baseman:
    He was up there too.

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  29. KC Royals, I was thinking KC A's!

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  30. It must be fifteen years ago, i was in a steak house with a fine looking lady and there was this guy who looked like one of my brothers staring at my date. The guy had a $22 million Rolex and forearms that made Popeye look like he had AIDS. The waiter told me it was Lenny Dykstra. Should have known he didn't get arms like that punching a body bag..

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  31. So I'm writing a final on 'stability operations' (in class, really nation-building). I'm tempted to turn in, 1 letter per page, "A V O I D L I K E T H E P L A G U E"?

    If I were her I'd laugh and write back "You forgot the letter F."

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  32. Doesn't seem to make super Governors outta folks:
    CA's projected deficit:
    14 Billion!
    He just spent 305k on a plane trip.

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  33. Yuck yuck.
    Laugh Attack: Question for Obama Leaves Clinton in Stitches
    Obama was pretty quick with a more authentic smile and retort.
    ---
    Favorite moment so far:
    Fred refusing to raise his hand or answer yes or no.

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  34. The worst part of the class is seeing all the dysfunctionalities of these third world countries and recognizing them happening here in slow motion.

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  35. Doug: CA's projected deficit:
    14 Billion!


    Under Gray Davis it was $38.2 billion, more than all 49 other states' deficits combined. So, good job Governator!

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  36. Mr Bush explains why, cutler, back in '03:

    the most basic aspirations of life. Human cultures can be vastly different. Yet the human heart desires the same good things, everywhere on Earth. In our desire to be safe from brutal and bullying oppression, human beings are the same. In our desire to care for our children and give them a better life, we are the same.

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  37. We are the same

    So there you have it, from the President of the United States.

    We are the same

    So much for American exceptionalism, or even the belief in it. Amongst the elites ...

    We are the same

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  38. So there is no reason to expect more.

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  39. It's funny Desert Rat, I wrote a letter to someone a few weeks ago sayign that, in retrospect, American universalism (varieties of which I agree with) has become a trojan horse. Open borders and globalist foreign policy both draw from it.

    "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

    I believe that.

    "The most basic aspirations of life. Human cultures can be vastly different. Yet the human heart desires the same good things, everywhere on Earth. In our desire to be safe from brutal and bullying oppression, human beings are the same. In our desire to care for our children and give them a better life, we are the same."

    That's vapid and does not follow from the first.

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  40. A little ideology, backed up by a lot of wishful thinking, can be a dangerous thing.

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  41. Just watched that Clinton/Obama clip doug posted.

    Man oh man, she really is one nasty piece of work. Supremely unlikeable. What a witch.

    We are totally fucked if she makes it in.

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  42. Sam: Man oh man, she really is one nasty piece of work. Supremely unlikeable. What a witch.

    I liked her line about how to enact change, not by demanding it (right, Edwards?), not by dreaming for it (right, Obama?) but by working hard for it like Hillary.

    But it was good to see Obama cut her extended cackle short with the line about wanting Hillary to work for him.

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  43. "A parliamentary republic--this is my personal opinion--is not acceptable in Russia, either today or in [the] future. Probably, in 200 or 300 years when the idea of democracy is different and we can express our will without leaving our homes, when everything is different as to the current situation, the model we are having in Russia, the socioeconomic model is compatible with the parliamentary democracy.

    Russia should develop the same way as a number of major countries with strong presidential power."


    Dmitry Medvedev

    Law of Succession

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  44. strong presidential power."

    Isn't that another way of saying dictatorship?

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  45. rat wrote:

    "Just becasue they're "Pros" does not excempt them from obeying the law, does it?"

    No, but in all else 'law like' it is at the margins that one plays: 'you haven't broke the law til youse caught'. The law gets explicated and you probe that line.

    I only put forward the 'all things go' meme half in jest. On the one hand, like in sailing where you have a design and build class, all goes. The goal is to build the fastest sailboat money can buy; winner takes all. On the other hand you have one design sailing where you all sail the same boat. Often, at competitions, you swap boats.

    Now take pro baseball, or football. The biology is a science, you pack your carbs, you up you oxygen capacity, you make use of your testosterone. You've got professional biology wonks advising you, feeding you, supplying you with pills ect. You've then got these drug rules that you've got to adhere to but like all rules, and boundries, the line is actually somewhat fuzzy so you play in the grey areas.

    Brother B-day, the video you posted was cute, and to the point. I find it especially ironic in the face of the carnage pro football inflicts upon its participants. And yes, rat, the anti-trust nature of the Baseball business (and the NFL) is quite astounding - you don't think those owners are backing political candidates ever, do you?

    On the other hand, I look at my kids pursuing sport and competition and there is no way I would counsel them to 'dope' to win even though I love riches and the spectacle of a good game. If I have my way my kids are not pursuing a pro sports career. Kids have their own way though....

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  46. Thanks, Rufus. Great article.

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  47. One person who purchased drugs from Radomski was McNamee, who, according to Mitchell, became a "sub-distributor" who provided drugs for Clemens, Pettitte and former Yankee Chuck Knoblauch. To avoid being charged, McNamee agreed to cooperate with both the Radomski investigation and Mitchell's investigation.

    McNamee said he personally injected Clemens with performance-enhancing drugs beginning in 1998 through the 2001 season.

    However, unlike with Radomski's direct clients, no paper trail exists linking Clemens to the purchase of drugs from McNamee, who, according to Mitchell, continued to draw income from Clemens as a personal trainer into 2007.


    Star Players

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  48. Hollywood news and views--

    Jodie Foster comes out(not to go in again), and

    No Country For Old Men is a pretty good movie, and I must get the book to read the Sheriff's dream.

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  49. Hey, 'Rat:
    Family Values don't stop at the border!
    ---
    "...they're going to come to the United States if they think they can make money here. That's a simple fact. And they're willing to walk across miles of desert to do work that some Americans won't do.
    And we've got to respect that, seems like to me, and treat those people with respect. I remind people all across our country: Family values do not stop at the border."


    President George W. Bush

    Crawford, Texas, August 23, 2001

    ---
    Talk about supreme hubris:
    "seems like to me"
    is good enough for King George to rewire the country in the shape of the new World Order.

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  50. Make that ANY Border.
    We are the Whirled.

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  51. Walt reports on the Democratic Convention--

    The members who comprised it were seven-eighths of them, ...the meanest kind of bawling and blowing officeholders, office-seekers, pimps, malignants, conspirators, murderers, fancy-men, custom-house clerks, contracts, kept-editors, spaniels well train'd to carry and fetch, jobbers, infidels, disunionists, terrorists, mail riflers, slave-catchers, pushers of slavery, creatures of the President, creatures of would-be Presidents, spies, bribers, compromisers, lobbyists, spongers, ruin'd sports, expell'd gamblers, policy-backers, monte-dealers, duellists, carriers of conceal'd weapons, deaf men, pimpled men, scarred inside with vile disease, gaudy outside with gold chains made from the people's money and harlots' money twisted together; crawling, serpentine men, the lousy combinings and born freedom-sellers of the earth.

    - Walt Whitman on a Democratic Party Convention

    stolen from maggie's farm

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  52. I already don't remember what used to be where that Orange Blogger 'B' is now!
    Nuthin?

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  53. Sam, in other words, zombies.

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  54. Don't forget Travolta's Golden Globe nomination for Hairspray.

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  55. Bobal: Jodie Foster comes out(not to go in again)

    A mere formality, sort of like when they found confirmation of the first extra-solar planet. Everyone assumed it was true (because her movie "Panic Room" was a veiled metaphor for The Closet), but we needed actual evidence to mark the check box

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  56. Sam: Don't forget Travolta's Golden Globe nomination for Hairspray.

    They really should do a pecker check (like in the Olympics) before they nominate for best Actress.

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  57. Zombies


    Congressional Democrats, meanwhile, seem lost in a time warp. They could try to impose new benchmarks that acknowledge the military progress. Instead, too many seem unable or unwilling to admit that President Bush's surge of 30,000 more troops has succeeded beyond their initial predictions. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., who in the spring declared the war lost, said last week that "the surge hasn't accomplished its goals." Anti-war Democrats remain fixated on tying war funding to a rapid troop withdrawal. Yet pulling the troops out precipitously threatens to squander the progress of recent months toward salvaging a decent outcome to the Iraq debacle.

    USA Today, the newspaper for everyman

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  58. Doug: I already don't remember what used to be where that Orange Blogger 'B' is now! Nuthin?

    It sure is handy though. I clicked on the Orange Blogger 'B' next to some dummy who was giving me a hassle today, and everything he wrote done disappeared!

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  59. CIA Realizes It's Been Using Black Highlighters All These Years

    LANGLEY, VA—A report released Tuesday by the CIA's Office of the Inspector General revealed that the CIA has mistakenly obscured hundreds of thousands of pages of critical intelligence information with black highlighters.

    CIA Director Porter Goss has ordered further internal investigation.

    "Why did it go on for this long, and this far?" said Goss in a press conference called shortly after the report's release. "I'm as frustrated as anyone. You can't read a single thing that's been highlighted. Had I been there to advise [former CIA director] Allen Dulles, I would have suggested the traditional yellow color—or pink."

    Goss added: "There was probably some really, really important information in these documents."
    When asked by a reporter if the black ink was meant to intentionally obscure, Goss countered,
    "Good God, why?"

    The Onion

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