Greg Anderson, the government's key witness against baseball great Barry Bonds, refused to testify in court this week landing him in jail for the fifth time. U.S. District Court Judge Susan Illston found Bond's personal trainer in contempt of court. His lawyer says Anderson will not testify leaving the governments case against Bonds very weak. In my view Anderson is a hero and a true stand up guy who is willing to sacrifice his own freedom to stop the imprisonment of Bonds for putting a substance in his body.
Bonds returned to the same courthouse where he told a grand jury in December 2003, that he had never knowingly taken performance-enhancing substances. His lawyer confirmed this by suggesting in court that Bonds never lied to a grand jury and even admitted that he may have unwittingly used steroids.
Let's face it, Bond's indictment for lying to a grand jury may be the legal basis of the government wanting to put the baseball legend in prison, but the real underlying reason for this federal indictment 8 years after the BALCO investigation is their failure to get Bonds to admit he had used steroids or any other performance-enhancing drugs. In that case, Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO) was alleged to have distributed illegal performance -enhancing drugs, triggering investigations by several governmental agencies. This resulted in a huge scandal which involved many major league baseball players and led to Major League Baseball initiating penalties for players caught using steroids in 2004.
Bonds is facing prison time if convicted. Anti-doping advocates are hoping this will happen and use Bonds as an example to those calling for jail time for baseball players who use steroids. Many say that it may be the only effective deterrent for curbing illegal use.
The government is willing to take down Bonds and in doing so blemish baseball so they can push their personal zero-tolerance agenda for drug use. They are set to call on Barry Bonds' former teammates to testify along with other retired Major League Baseball players in order to nail Bonds to a cross. What's next ? Maybe exhuming the buried bones of all-star Ken Caminiti who died of a heart attack at age 41 after admitting taking steroids to boost his career.
Jailing Bonds will not solve baseball's problem or curb drug use in America. The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world. It has 5 percent of the world's population, but 25 percent of the world's prisoners, with more than 2.4 million citizens sitting behind bars. Many of them have been rotting away in prison for years. One prisoner in particular I have come to know is former race car driver Randy Lanier who is in prison serving a life sentence for marijuana. He is in his 23rd year of incarceration and is currently seeking clemency from President Obama. Despite all of the incarceration, drug use and drug availability are as prevalent as ever.
For the sake of argument, what if Bonds did use steroids? Does he belong in prison? He is not the first athlete to use them and he will not be the last. The pursuit for athletic superiority through the use of chemicals has been around a long time. Before steroids were officially banned in the early 1970s, almost 70 percent of all Olympic athletes had used them.
Is it ethical and morally right to sentence someone to a lengthy prison term for putting substances in their own body? The premise for prosecuting the other war with no exit strategy - the drug war -- has slowly but surely infiltrated the public's eye through different vehicles. Now the feds attempt to bring their message through the sport of baseball.
Because of the governments stance against the use of drugs Barry Bonds has joined the ranks of those demonized. This includes medical marijuana users, pain sufferers and their doctors who prescribe opioid analgesics, and students who are forced to urinate in cups. All of this in the name of a drug-free America without concern for individuals' rights. The war on drugs is a war on people. Let Barry Bonds be!
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Bush/Cheney lied about weapons of mass destruction and Saddam Hussein's ties to 9/11 - Human beings DIED because of those lies. Justice is turned upside down!
Great balls of fire! The trial of Barry Bonds took another twist March 24 when the prosecution revealed that they would make the size of Barry Bonds’ testicles the crux of their case in order to prove that Bonds lied to a grand jury in the 2003 BALCO case. An expert was called to the stand to explain the symptoms associated with the use of steroids. Larry Bowers, the science director for the U.S. Anti Doping Agency, testified that “it has been well-documented that you can have testicular atrophy." The reason for this was to lay the scientific foundation to call Bonds' former mistress Kimberly Bell as a witness. She is expected to soon testify that she observed Bonds suffering from testicular shrinkage, bloating, hair loss and acne. All of these are documented side effects of steroid abuse.
Yippee Skipee.... I'm not holding my breath.
Prosecute bankers et al...... not ball players.
I would say most of us. Why do you want to reward cheaters and liars? As for athletes, it has been determined by sports organizations that the use of steroids gives athletes an unfair advantage in competition. That affects other people, not just themselves.
2- most people have never taken steroids of either type. Unless you have a really poor doctor, no one gets steroids for a bad cold. A small percentage of people with pneumonia, usually smokers with COPD, get steroids for lung infections.
3- do you have a reference that supports your claim that everyone (excuse me EVERYONE, period) takes exogenous testosterone or other anabolic steroids?
Tell me, who made the anabolic steroid that was used by these athletes? Little pharma?
By continuing to repeat the idea that he's being accused of steroid use, you're diverting attention from the real issue. People shouldn't lie when they're under oath. If the Feds ask you a question, you should tell the truth. That's the message that should be out there to the public and to kids.
How seriously people consider drug use (of any kind) to be will differ across the board. But telling the truth really ought to be a pretty universal goal.
And if we assume that Bonds did lie about his steroid use and that Anderson's testimony would verify that, how exactly is Anderson a hero? By covering for someone who lied to a grand jury? Really? That's what it takes to be a hero these days?
I appreciate Anderson's loyalty, I guess, but it's hard not to look at Anderson and Bonds and think, If Bonds told the truth, why does Anderson keep refusing to testify? And if Bonds lied, shouldn't he face the same consequences as anyone who lies to a grand jury?
Whether I've ever lied, you have, or anyone else has isn't the point. Lying shouldn't be a "so what" kind of matter. It's wrong. I'm absolutely not a Goody Two Shoes, but I regret the wrong things I've done in my life.
Lying, even if you disagree with the government's approach to drugs, does not make someone a hero. It's the opposite, really.
Should we tell kids it's okay to lie? If someone lies to investigators about a serious crime, should there be no consequences?
You're right that it does seem a little crazy to devote this much energy to this particular case. On the other hand, I don't think the message we want to send is that you can lie to a grand jury and it's no big deal. After all, there wouldn't be a big trial if Bonds was clean and Anderson had nothing to hide.
What kind of screwed up logic
And, to hell with anyone who can' see that he should be made an example of...