It's a tough time to be a sports fan.
I recently read "Game of Shadows" and came away convinced that the integrity of many sports have been compromised deeply. But, I didn't have to read "Game of Shadows" to be disillusioned. I could just read the sports section.
I have long defended sports as suffering the same ailments as our world as a whole. Percentages, I figured, would show that sports stars were no more likely than anyone to be convicted of a crime. That may remain true, but the allure of success has led to some troubling actions that compromise the integrity of competition.
That is where I get disillusioned as a fan.
Percentages and overall trends aside, the list of current problems in the sports world is longer than any time I can remember.
CYCLING
Cycling is essentially a mess overall. Last year's Tour de France winner still hasn't been cleared of doping and his fate might not be decided until a new champion is crowned. Almost all of the best 10 riders from years past have been forced out of competition from a scandal involving a Spanish doctor distributing blood doping agents. All of this keeps chiseling away the faith I had put in Lance Armstrong.
My one argument was that he was the most tested athlete ever. Now, I know that all he had to do was use something they don't test for. It's simply not hard to beat a test, as evidenced by the confession of a former Champion (Riis). Passing a test doesn't mean you are clean. I really hope Lance was clean, but how does one explain his dominance over all those "cheaters."
I hope, but I can no longer believe whole heartedly.
FOOTBALL
Pacman Jones just got suspended for a season for his and his posse's involvement in a shooting that left a man paralyzed... The Cincinnati Bengals had something like 10 arrests in 12 months... Michael Vick was caught in a huge dogfighting ring.
I also believe there will inevitably be a steroids scandal in the one sport in which steroids make the most sense. I mean, only in football does one have to be HUGE just to compete. High school offensive linemen were 240 pounds when my dad played football. Today, high school lines can average 300 pounds. I'm sure some of that is from nutrition and the general upward trend of size in humans, but that's dramatic for only a generation.
Sometimes, if it seems amazing that a human body can weigh 240 pounds and run as fast as a 4.5 40 yard dash, it might just be artificial. I'm waiting for this scandal. It's coming. I love football, but it may NEED some sort of cleansing. It would be naive to think they are all just naturally that big.
BASEBALL
Where do I start?... the 1998 resurgence led by Sammy and Mark is now under a cloud... The evidence from "Game of Shadows" is so convincing, I can't believe Bonds is allowed to walk to the plate... The Commissioner isn't showing up to watch the most cherished record in baseball be broken... That same commissioner has allowed this steroid scandal to balloon to what it has become... It is possible that the once sacred statistics will be deemed so tainted as to be meaningless... The Jason Grimsley and Jason Giambi steroid revelations continue to unfold and may lead to many more being proven as cheats...
This sport is under a cloud because it appears that the owners and league offices almost encouraged the use of steroids to rescue the sport from the 1994 strike. And, steroids weren't even banned until after 2000.
The players push Bud Selig around and his response was initially that a 10 game suspension would be the punishment. It took the threat of Congressional intervention to get baseball to move the penalty for first time use to 50 games.
OLYMPICS
Game of Shadows basically lays it out: We are the new East Germans... Steroids have become such a cloud over our Olympic athletes (Marion Jones, Montgomery, Gatlin to name a few) that I can't get excited for this event.
Unfortunately, it appears that some Olympic records may actually have been impossible while clean. The 2004 games saw many alleged users back out with "injuries" and the winning times were very low compared to other years. Not coincidentally, that is when a test for THG had been found.
The difficulty is in proof. This is because all those athletes initially passed all drug tests. Once the test catches up (temporarily) it is too tough to know how many past champions just got out before the test. It is discouraging.
BASKETBALL
The worst of all of the scandals mentioned is the current NBA referee scandal. The referee has been allegedly caught influencing the outcome of games because of gambling troubles.
At least with steroids they still had to perform (possibly against other users). This scandal involved the official literally creating an outcome. This is horrible. And, NBA officials control outcomes more than officials in ANY other league.
I am a HUGE basketball fan and was most depressed by this discovery. Unfortunately, it did not come as a shock since the NBA has long been the "iffiest" league when it came to calls.
We accepted that superstars would get calls. Fans almost became numb to it and just expected the unexpected. This one hurts me the most.
CONCLUSION
Unfortunately, the cheaters always seem one step ahead of the law. That seems like it will continue because no one will use a drug that can result in a positive test. It's unfortunate, but sports seem so infiltrated by drugs, gambling and cheating of various kinds that there is no way to ever eradicate it. But that is no reason to stop trying.
I will always be skeptical of these outcomes from now on. Sigh.
Unfortunately in life, we must accept a certain amount of dishonesty, corruption and deception in our world. It's hard to finally realize that... just hard to accept.
I will elaborate on this point in a future post about what I have seen in law. Specifically, how those who understand law can use law to abuse it. That topic will have to wait for another time and another post.
NEXT POSTS
I have a hard time holding myself back from commenting in detail about the current executive privilege being claimed, but I am open to other topics anyone wishes to put forward. Just post a comment with your suggestions.
... but I assure you, eventually the extreme executive privilege claim will be dealt with.
Monday, July 23, 2007
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Iraq
NOTE: This is a long post. I will try to make future posts shorter (and about less controversial topics). I try to express my opinions without vitriol, and I hope that was achieved with this one. The Iraq war inspires very passionate feelings and a lot of anger on both sides. For me, it still incites stronger feelings than any other topic. That said, I welcome respectful dialogue, but I expect strong feelings from supporters of preemptive war. I promise I will respect all opinions, but be ready to defend them.
Here we go...
I was against the Iraq invasion from the beginning. But, I was against it for different reasons than most people who currently want a change in policy. This is my argument against anyone who would defend pre-emptive war under any circumstances. Preemptive invasion coupled with nation building injures our national security, is morally and ethically wrong, and damages our standing in the world enough to influence our interests.
I won't even go into the facts about how wrong we were about WMD, how it appears that the administration purposely misled and exaggerated the threat or that diplomacy was faked while we prepared for the inevitable invasion. All of that is beyond inexcusable. However, I do not believe that we should have invaded, overthrown and occupied Iraq EVEN IF it would have had WMD.
These are the reasons why.
NATIONAL SECURITY
No one in his or her right mind would say that we should invade, overthrow and occupy Iran and North Korea now. It would be foolish. Obviously. Since not everyone agrees that it is immoral, I'll make an argument even the very conservative would agree with: We don't have the military readiness to do it.
THAT is exactly why this should never have been done in the first place and should never be done again absent a WWII-like scenario. It is irresponsible to our national security readiness to leave ourselves so militarily vulnerable. Occupation occupies an army as well as a nation. It does so to the point of being not available if a real emergency were to arise. If North Korea invaded South Korea tomorrow, we can't do much about it.
That is dangerous.
Our biggest deterrent was the threat of our power. That threat is gone right now. For one, our military is unavailable. In fact, even the mystique of our power is being chiseled away as our powerful army gets bogged down by citizens without uniforms. It empowers other nations to believe that we aren't so invincible after all. We took our biggest deterrent away to disarm a toothless, caged and impotent tiger.
Today, the same administration that decided to invade Iraq for national security reasons reported that Al Qeida is now back to pre-911 readiness. Our national security has officially (and by Bush administration admission) gotten worse because of the Iraq invasion. Why? Because we are no longer chasing them around the world. They are in Iraq only because we are. They remain hidden in Afghanistan. All those "unpatriotic dissenters" were right after all. This really didn't make us safer.
No responsible argument can be made that this invasion has made us safer. And I have heard no strong argument that our continued presence will make the situation better. We must look to Vietnam, but this time learn from it.
Many point to the fact that if we leave, all hell will break loose. That may well be true. However, no one has convinced me that our continued presence would do anything more than temporarily delay that same chaos. Our presence in Vietnam delayed the inevitable by more than 10 years. It took less than a year to finally fall when we left. The real lesson is that that is why nation building does not work when forced by invasion.
We should have known that by paying attention to history.
Finally on this point, to those who argue that we all knew it would take years I say this: Only a nation with people strongly united behind a war effort will have that kind of patience. When commenced with shaky support, the idea that we would sustain a decades-long occupation supported by the populace is foolish. With a morally clear objective, such problems do not exist.
This was not a morally-clear objective.
MORAL AUTHORITY
I believe very deeply that it is immoral to start a war for preventative reasons. Preemptive war is per se wrong. Action to neutralize the arming of a dangerous nation does not require invasion, overthrow and occupation. If it did, we would currently occupy half the earth. If the threat is true and rationally supported, we won't ever have to do it alone.
This war has bred even more stains to our authority as an example of good in the world. The United States of America engaged in torture. Our president declared he had that authority.
While sitting in the mud, how can we now denounce those who partake of that brutal assault on humanity?
These United States punched first. How could we ever tell China not to invade Taiwan? At least Taiwan has up-to-date weapons (we have their receipts).
My county is now one that doesn't believe in non-proliferation treaties. Doesn't seem right but it is true. Our pursuit of the Star Wars program has antagonized many potential aggressors. It is foolish to think that such a system can help us in the age of suitcase nukes. But, that hasn't stopped us.
The fact that my phone could be tapped for any reason without any judicial oversight stifles our influence toward the spread of a freedom-based system of government. We look like hypocrites.
These issues have eroded the once shining example we provided. And it has affected how our allies look at us.
WORLD STANDING
I was in Germany when we were rattling sabers, threatening invasion and faking diplomacy. And then something amazing happened. It worked. Bush pulled off a coup. He got Saddam to blink. He used our biggest deterrent and won. All inspectors were allowed to look where we told them to. People forget this, but inspectors were on the ground before the invasion. Look it up. I remember vividly because that made me most livid about the decision. I remember because we had to have them pulled out before we invaded. We had won. We could make sure no WMD were in existence and we didn't have to go to war. A really brilliant move. We took a risk and won.
And then we went all in with a pair of twos and invaded anyway.
I discussed this with many Germans. Even though I was staunchly against the war, I found myself trying to justify the sanity of my nation. They were confused because polls showed Americans were split on the idea of war in Iraq before the invasion, but those numbers turned to 80 percent support once the invasion became imminent. They wanted to know why.
I tried to describe the political phenomenon called "rally around the flag" and explained that Americans support even controversial actions when the bullets fly. I will never forget the look on an instructor's face when I explained that. She was horrified and said "Das ist Dummheit!" (that is idiocy!). There is no reason to suspend our rational thought when bullets fly, she said. In fact, it should be intensified. I agreed, but tried to explain that our nation isn't used to being wrong and tried to explain our level of trust in our government.
I was asked to look around at all the houses. Not a single German flag could be found. I was told, "we know the dangers of excessive nationalism." We are not Nazis, but we weren't looking real good at the time.
We were very unpopular when I was there. I was told we were monsters and bullies. One man (who only spoke a heavy Bavarian accent I could not understand) bridged the communication gap by saying "Bush" and making a throat-slash sign.
If we cannot convince like-minded nations of the rightness of our action, we should stop and think again about what we are about to do. Like minded nations were afraid of us, our actions and the precedent we seemed determined to set. I was frustrated and a bit ashamed for us. We were supposed to be moral leaders in this world. Our example was supposed to shine. For the first time in my lifetime, I felt like our country had lost its moral authority.
The world is much less willing to go along with us today. The EU now also considers itself a possible counterweight to a reckless US rather than just another large block of allies. Sure, we maintain friendships with these nations, but we have earned some suspicion.
CONCLUSION
We are in this mess. Our nation has been divided, and bitterly so. The truth is finally coming out and the approval ratings are showing just how disappointed the American people are. Many options for withdrawal are being considered. I consider it a late attempt to undo a mistake. The tragedy is that the Iraqis must pay the price when we finally leave. But leave we must. Civil war has already started.
I am concerned that this nation is too nationalistic when armed forces are involved and too convinced that dissent equals non-support of troops. Support for the troops is important and they should always have the respect and admiration of the populace no matter what. But, we should be more responsible with their sacrifices. Our system of government depends on reasoned analysis and debate, continued analysis and scrutiny.
The blame for this disaster falls only on Bush, his administration and every Congressperson who voted to trust him without careful consideration. This was a rush job, but it was allowed to happen by a Congress that can best be described as an accomplice. But the Congress represents a populace that it believed (probably correctly) wanted that action. Therefore, we, the populace, also failed.
Our government failed us and we failed our government. But I know our people are smart enough to right the ship. Polls indicate a national reevaluation. Many were misled and are eager to make up for it.
Maybe this time we will learn from our mistakes. Then our moral authority will once again influence constructively while we use our power responsibly and with humility.
Here we go...
I was against the Iraq invasion from the beginning. But, I was against it for different reasons than most people who currently want a change in policy. This is my argument against anyone who would defend pre-emptive war under any circumstances. Preemptive invasion coupled with nation building injures our national security, is morally and ethically wrong, and damages our standing in the world enough to influence our interests.
I won't even go into the facts about how wrong we were about WMD, how it appears that the administration purposely misled and exaggerated the threat or that diplomacy was faked while we prepared for the inevitable invasion. All of that is beyond inexcusable. However, I do not believe that we should have invaded, overthrown and occupied Iraq EVEN IF it would have had WMD.
These are the reasons why.
NATIONAL SECURITY
No one in his or her right mind would say that we should invade, overthrow and occupy Iran and North Korea now. It would be foolish. Obviously. Since not everyone agrees that it is immoral, I'll make an argument even the very conservative would agree with: We don't have the military readiness to do it.
THAT is exactly why this should never have been done in the first place and should never be done again absent a WWII-like scenario. It is irresponsible to our national security readiness to leave ourselves so militarily vulnerable. Occupation occupies an army as well as a nation. It does so to the point of being not available if a real emergency were to arise. If North Korea invaded South Korea tomorrow, we can't do much about it.
That is dangerous.
Our biggest deterrent was the threat of our power. That threat is gone right now. For one, our military is unavailable. In fact, even the mystique of our power is being chiseled away as our powerful army gets bogged down by citizens without uniforms. It empowers other nations to believe that we aren't so invincible after all. We took our biggest deterrent away to disarm a toothless, caged and impotent tiger.
Today, the same administration that decided to invade Iraq for national security reasons reported that Al Qeida is now back to pre-911 readiness. Our national security has officially (and by Bush administration admission) gotten worse because of the Iraq invasion. Why? Because we are no longer chasing them around the world. They are in Iraq only because we are. They remain hidden in Afghanistan. All those "unpatriotic dissenters" were right after all. This really didn't make us safer.
No responsible argument can be made that this invasion has made us safer. And I have heard no strong argument that our continued presence will make the situation better. We must look to Vietnam, but this time learn from it.
Many point to the fact that if we leave, all hell will break loose. That may well be true. However, no one has convinced me that our continued presence would do anything more than temporarily delay that same chaos. Our presence in Vietnam delayed the inevitable by more than 10 years. It took less than a year to finally fall when we left. The real lesson is that that is why nation building does not work when forced by invasion.
We should have known that by paying attention to history.
Finally on this point, to those who argue that we all knew it would take years I say this: Only a nation with people strongly united behind a war effort will have that kind of patience. When commenced with shaky support, the idea that we would sustain a decades-long occupation supported by the populace is foolish. With a morally clear objective, such problems do not exist.
This was not a morally-clear objective.
MORAL AUTHORITY
I believe very deeply that it is immoral to start a war for preventative reasons. Preemptive war is per se wrong. Action to neutralize the arming of a dangerous nation does not require invasion, overthrow and occupation. If it did, we would currently occupy half the earth. If the threat is true and rationally supported, we won't ever have to do it alone.
This war has bred even more stains to our authority as an example of good in the world. The United States of America engaged in torture. Our president declared he had that authority.
While sitting in the mud, how can we now denounce those who partake of that brutal assault on humanity?
These United States punched first. How could we ever tell China not to invade Taiwan? At least Taiwan has up-to-date weapons (we have their receipts).
My county is now one that doesn't believe in non-proliferation treaties. Doesn't seem right but it is true. Our pursuit of the Star Wars program has antagonized many potential aggressors. It is foolish to think that such a system can help us in the age of suitcase nukes. But, that hasn't stopped us.
The fact that my phone could be tapped for any reason without any judicial oversight stifles our influence toward the spread of a freedom-based system of government. We look like hypocrites.
These issues have eroded the once shining example we provided. And it has affected how our allies look at us.
WORLD STANDING
I was in Germany when we were rattling sabers, threatening invasion and faking diplomacy. And then something amazing happened. It worked. Bush pulled off a coup. He got Saddam to blink. He used our biggest deterrent and won. All inspectors were allowed to look where we told them to. People forget this, but inspectors were on the ground before the invasion. Look it up. I remember vividly because that made me most livid about the decision. I remember because we had to have them pulled out before we invaded. We had won. We could make sure no WMD were in existence and we didn't have to go to war. A really brilliant move. We took a risk and won.
And then we went all in with a pair of twos and invaded anyway.
I discussed this with many Germans. Even though I was staunchly against the war, I found myself trying to justify the sanity of my nation. They were confused because polls showed Americans were split on the idea of war in Iraq before the invasion, but those numbers turned to 80 percent support once the invasion became imminent. They wanted to know why.
I tried to describe the political phenomenon called "rally around the flag" and explained that Americans support even controversial actions when the bullets fly. I will never forget the look on an instructor's face when I explained that. She was horrified and said "Das ist Dummheit!" (that is idiocy!). There is no reason to suspend our rational thought when bullets fly, she said. In fact, it should be intensified. I agreed, but tried to explain that our nation isn't used to being wrong and tried to explain our level of trust in our government.
I was asked to look around at all the houses. Not a single German flag could be found. I was told, "we know the dangers of excessive nationalism." We are not Nazis, but we weren't looking real good at the time.
We were very unpopular when I was there. I was told we were monsters and bullies. One man (who only spoke a heavy Bavarian accent I could not understand) bridged the communication gap by saying "Bush" and making a throat-slash sign.
If we cannot convince like-minded nations of the rightness of our action, we should stop and think again about what we are about to do. Like minded nations were afraid of us, our actions and the precedent we seemed determined to set. I was frustrated and a bit ashamed for us. We were supposed to be moral leaders in this world. Our example was supposed to shine. For the first time in my lifetime, I felt like our country had lost its moral authority.
The world is much less willing to go along with us today. The EU now also considers itself a possible counterweight to a reckless US rather than just another large block of allies. Sure, we maintain friendships with these nations, but we have earned some suspicion.
CONCLUSION
We are in this mess. Our nation has been divided, and bitterly so. The truth is finally coming out and the approval ratings are showing just how disappointed the American people are. Many options for withdrawal are being considered. I consider it a late attempt to undo a mistake. The tragedy is that the Iraqis must pay the price when we finally leave. But leave we must. Civil war has already started.
I am concerned that this nation is too nationalistic when armed forces are involved and too convinced that dissent equals non-support of troops. Support for the troops is important and they should always have the respect and admiration of the populace no matter what. But, we should be more responsible with their sacrifices. Our system of government depends on reasoned analysis and debate, continued analysis and scrutiny.
The blame for this disaster falls only on Bush, his administration and every Congressperson who voted to trust him without careful consideration. This was a rush job, but it was allowed to happen by a Congress that can best be described as an accomplice. But the Congress represents a populace that it believed (probably correctly) wanted that action. Therefore, we, the populace, also failed.
Our government failed us and we failed our government. But I know our people are smart enough to right the ship. Polls indicate a national reevaluation. Many were misled and are eager to make up for it.
Maybe this time we will learn from our mistakes. Then our moral authority will once again influence constructively while we use our power responsibly and with humility.
Monday, July 9, 2007
Blog-GORE
I took the plunge. I am a blogger. I blog. Ich bloge gern.
In truth I had been considering this for awhile, but Al Gore pushed me over the edge. I finished his book, The Assault on Reason, just last night and decided right then and there to take the plunge. He presented many well-reasoned points in the book, but his discussion about what our culture considers news and how political dialogue through television resembles a one-way street really hit me. The answer: The two-way political forum offered by the internet.
I grew very tired of the kinds of stories that dominate even the most reputable news sources. How could anyone care so much about where that certain celebrity (rhymes with Ranah my Cole) will finally be buried when we are now losing tens of soldiers every day in a controversial and arguably immoral war? I found that it actually took effort to find real news about the war and the immensely important fight brewing about the meaning of separation of powers. That's sad, but not as sad as the realization that our indifference has led us to repeat history.
As Archibald Cox said after being fired as special prosecutor by Richard M. Nixon, this nation stands on the verge of making a decision about whether it is a nation of men or a nation of laws. I believe we are again at that point for this nation. I consider that issue to be of paramount importance. A gauntlet has been thrown to the ground by the executive branch in a stated-effort to strengthen that branch of government to a point at which it would be almost un-checkable. I consider this very time to be a defining moment. How the other branches respond to this challenge will be reviewed in history books for future generations. And I can't find coverage of it through the smoke-screen of a multi-millionaire and her 23 day prison term.
Simply stated, it's time to talk about these things. It's time for everyone to realize that these issues will influence each and every citizen. It's time to wake up. I want dialogue. Open, cordial, well-thought, well-reasoned dialogue. I want Adams-Jefferson-type back and forth. I've been looking for that for years, so my expectations are realistic.
But that isn't the only purpose for my blog. I welcome political discourse and look forward to actual debate, but I hope to explore other topics as well. I titled the blog "prelude to a book" because I have a vision for a project and want to use this forum to develop it. I hope to post a series of essays about topics that interest me. Most will deal with political questions, but not all of the essays will be political. Some will be about those I look up to and lessons learned from those individuals. I hope to challenge my own beliefs by articulating why I believe what I believe on a number of issues. I hope to even alter some beliefs based on further examination. I will also discuss political evolution of a person over factors of time and education using the only experience at my disposal (my own). Finally, I hope to muse about interests I have ranging from chess to sports.
I encourage posts in German if anyone out there can speak it. I look forward to any point of view so long as it is well reasoned.
I must not conclude without mention of my lovely wife Jen and my son Jacob. They are the most important people in the world to me. It is out of concern for the world Jacob will inherit that I contemplate so often politically.
I have no idea how often I will have occasion to post. But vibrant discussion will drastically increase posts.
In truth I had been considering this for awhile, but Al Gore pushed me over the edge. I finished his book, The Assault on Reason, just last night and decided right then and there to take the plunge. He presented many well-reasoned points in the book, but his discussion about what our culture considers news and how political dialogue through television resembles a one-way street really hit me. The answer: The two-way political forum offered by the internet.
I grew very tired of the kinds of stories that dominate even the most reputable news sources. How could anyone care so much about where that certain celebrity (rhymes with Ranah my Cole) will finally be buried when we are now losing tens of soldiers every day in a controversial and arguably immoral war? I found that it actually took effort to find real news about the war and the immensely important fight brewing about the meaning of separation of powers. That's sad, but not as sad as the realization that our indifference has led us to repeat history.
As Archibald Cox said after being fired as special prosecutor by Richard M. Nixon, this nation stands on the verge of making a decision about whether it is a nation of men or a nation of laws. I believe we are again at that point for this nation. I consider that issue to be of paramount importance. A gauntlet has been thrown to the ground by the executive branch in a stated-effort to strengthen that branch of government to a point at which it would be almost un-checkable. I consider this very time to be a defining moment. How the other branches respond to this challenge will be reviewed in history books for future generations. And I can't find coverage of it through the smoke-screen of a multi-millionaire and her 23 day prison term.
Simply stated, it's time to talk about these things. It's time for everyone to realize that these issues will influence each and every citizen. It's time to wake up. I want dialogue. Open, cordial, well-thought, well-reasoned dialogue. I want Adams-Jefferson-type back and forth. I've been looking for that for years, so my expectations are realistic.
But that isn't the only purpose for my blog. I welcome political discourse and look forward to actual debate, but I hope to explore other topics as well. I titled the blog "prelude to a book" because I have a vision for a project and want to use this forum to develop it. I hope to post a series of essays about topics that interest me. Most will deal with political questions, but not all of the essays will be political. Some will be about those I look up to and lessons learned from those individuals. I hope to challenge my own beliefs by articulating why I believe what I believe on a number of issues. I hope to even alter some beliefs based on further examination. I will also discuss political evolution of a person over factors of time and education using the only experience at my disposal (my own). Finally, I hope to muse about interests I have ranging from chess to sports.
I encourage posts in German if anyone out there can speak it. I look forward to any point of view so long as it is well reasoned.
I must not conclude without mention of my lovely wife Jen and my son Jacob. They are the most important people in the world to me. It is out of concern for the world Jacob will inherit that I contemplate so often politically.
I have no idea how often I will have occasion to post. But vibrant discussion will drastically increase posts.
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