I admit that I don’t follow sports and, frankly, I don’t care about such matters. (Nothing against those who do, mind you.) But I was shocked to hear about the abusive Congressional hearings on a matter over which the members of Congress have no jurisdiction — whether athletes use performance enhancing substances. Colman McCarthy of the Washington Post gets it right: “Sanctimony’s Turn at Bat.”
I’m hoping that Roger Clemens polls the members of Waxman’s committee on their use of performance-enhancing drugs. Start with Viagra. Or Cialis, ready for action “when the moment is right” — say, a congressman stumbling home after a late-night floor vote on an earmark bill. Clemens might ask the members how many need shots of caffeine drugs to get themselves up and out every morning. He might ask the members how often they reach for another shot of Jack Daniels to enhance their performance while grubbing for bucks from lobbyists at fundraisers. And before leaving Capitol Hill, he should grill the allegedly clean-living baseball reporters on how many of them sit in the press box enhancing their bodies with alcohol, nicotine and caffeine drugs. And a blunt or two when night games go extra innings and deadline nerves need steadying.
While I agree that Congress has no jurisdiction on the matter (and shouldn’t have written the report that mentioned Clemens in the first place), Clemens is the one who requested this hearing. Congress did not pick Clemens out of all of the players mentioned in the Mitchell Report for a hearing: rather, he demanded a hearing to “clear his name”.
Josh P: Even if that’s true, he’s in a position where he (feels he) needs to clear his name because of congressional inquiry. I agree with Tom: I can’t think of any combination of moral principle and facts about the state that justify this kind of public shaming of a private citizen.
I don’t follow sports either, but on the title of this blog entry, I would ask the same thing of the recent energy bill, which as I understand it, outlaws incandescent light bulbs. Clemens’ hearing will have no direct bearing on me, but adjusting the few fixtures in my house that still relies on incandescents will be problematic. (I use mostly CFLs already).
Hit & Run has more on the Clemens affair: http://www.reason.com/blog/show/125026.html Waxman says that Clemens wanted to have the hearings, so it’s not Congress’s fault. I didn’t realize all it takes to obligate Congress is a wish by a private citizen. I’d personally like a congressional inquiry into whether I am a great American, or the greatest American. Some have doubted that I’m the greatest American, and I’d just like to set the record straight (especially because nobody’d be able to get to the truth better than Congress). Congress: give me some of your time.