JD:
I don't like the use of steroids in sport myself, but I agree, government in sports our our medical cabinets is by far the greater evil. Little piece I wrote about this issue and my "favorite" senator from Arizona:
<center>MLB Vrs. Das Fuhrer McCain</center>
I am never watching Major League Baseball again.
Admittedly, activities involving teams of men playing with balls have alway held little attraction for me.. But a baseball game is something I would watch. Baseball had a certain tradition, a certain poetry, the samurai-like showdown between pitcher and batter, the Great American Game. The fact that for a time modern baseball's most prominent figure was a red headed Irishman didn't hurt.
But no more.
They've done things I don't like before. The bad behavior of the players, the fact that cities use theft to fund construction of places for the overpayed bastards to play, these didn't make me happy.
A scoundrel may be likable, but a coward is always contemptable. And nothing but cowardice can describe bending before the threats Nazi Nanny-Stater John McCain.
The inevitable question "Well, do you think baseball players should be on the steroids, huh, do you?" Of course not. They SHOULD not. However it's not my place, nor anybody else's, to tell folks what they can put in their bodies. Now of course, a private organization, like a club or business, CAN demand certain conditions for membership, just as you can dictate who comes into your house. And no one, especially dried up shrill RINOs like McCain, has the right to dictate what these conditions should be.
So there you have it. In this situation, MLB's concession to the most odious man in the Republican party makes it unforgivable. I guess I'll just have to stick with watching UFC/mixed-martial arts from now on...
Well, you know, unless McCain has his way. Believe it or not, the Lady Senator from Arizona made a good run at getting mixed martial arts banned in this country. Nevermind the fact that no one has the slightest right to interfere in voluntary activities between two men (whether battle or bedroom). Also nevermind the fact that no one has ever been killed in MMA competition in this country, while at least one or two boxers die in the ring per year.* McCain you see is a boxing fan as well as a bloated bag of bilge and hypocrisy. He acutely reminds me of one of those people H.L Mencken described as waking up in the middle of the night, trembling with the fear that somewhere, someone was happy.
And let's not even get into the way he pissed on the First Amendment to our Constitution while doing the bi-partisan goose step with comrade Feingold. Yes, let's make it illegal to advertise our political opinions, unless you're Dan Rather or a billionaire Hungarian stalinist with a 527. (We all know that campaign finance reform was aimed at the NRA, because, despite being a Necrotic Republican Appendage, they do occasionally remind people that their freedom exists because of armed resistance to government.)
And don't hand me any of that "but McCain's a war hero/POW" crap.
There once was a fellow named SheckelGruber, a simple paper-hanger by trade, who distinguished himself fighting for his country, was wounded, won a medal, and spent time in prison. He later changed his last name to Hitler and became succesful in politics. Need I go on? Though no one is a man without physical bravery, it is far from the only nessecary quality.
Give each one what they deserve. To hell with baseball, I hope it crashes and burns, and McCain, I hope you're the first Republican at the neck-tie party when this country comes to it's senses.
I Remain,
Mathew Bailey
*(As an aside, MMA is arguably healthier for you than boxing for several reasons. Boxing gloves protect the hands and lessen the surface damage a bare first can do to flesh and bone somewhat, but they also add weight to the fist and thus momentum, which substantially increases the shock actually afflicting the brain itself. The brain damage and the permanent "punch drunkeness" of an old pug were unknown in the bare-knuckle era. Tapping out of a choke or jointlock is also a hell of alot easier on you than getting K.Oed, I say from both a personal and medical standpoint.)