I Don't Care if Clemens is Lying

I'm a lifelong baseball fan, and I don't care if Roger Clemens took steroids, or if he is lying or if McNamee is lying.

News is stuff that's important. If it's national news, it's stuff that is important to everyone in the nation. Whether Clemens took steroids or not is a proper topic for a 60 Minutes, Fresh Air or Nightline segment. To take a whole day across all the cable channels the day after three pivotal primaries is very wrong. (And what if they do it again tomorrow? Oy.)

So it's ridiculous that all the cable news channels are broadcasting the full testimony of Roger Clemens and his accuser. Hours of repetitive questions and the same answers, over and over, while there is news happening in the world. I know because I'm subscribed to the MSNBC and AP feeds on Twitter. I have a Google Alert that shows me results of all the campaign conference calls. (There have been a couple this morning, from Obama and McCain, I'd love to get MP3s, and still looking for a feed.)

It's time for some serious routing-around, or for the cable news programmers to get back on the job.

Comments

[Boris]

Without steroids, Baseball would have tanked long ago.

New Ad: Feel the rage, feel the heat...get the fever, yeah!! steroid fever. Now at your ballpark.

Also, redo marketing.­..'Steer-o­id Burgers', 'Oid Dogs...RAGE beer on tap, get tough, get angry, get drunk...

[castlerider]

Why didn't Congress come down this hard on AG Alberto Gonzales when he was on the stand? or Karl Rove? or any of Bush's criminal elite? It was SO OBVIOUS Gonzales was lying, so many times. Obvious that all these vermin lied to the country.
But no, Congress has to save their most daunting, aggresive questiioning for a Baseball player whose testimony and career does not do any damage to anyone, and not anywhere near as much damage as Bush's cronies have to our country and our Constitution.

[Silpat]

I wonder if the author felt the same way when Barry Bonds was under scrutiny?

[jblanch3]

I totally agree with you, but my question is, where have you been? This has been going on for as long as I remember. There was Laci Peterson, Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, Anna Nicole Smith, Heath Ledger, should I go on? The media has consistently shown that issues which have a direct effect to the American people aren't "newsworthy". This Clemens "scandal", as well as all the other names I just mentioned, shouldn't be relevant to anybody, but the unaccountable news media tells us that it's so important.

And to echo a previous poster, shame on Congress too. With all the events going on which, again, directly impact the American people (particularly our sinking economy), Congress's main priority is whether a baseball player used steroids? And this isn't the first time either; remember the hearings with McGuire and other players a few years back? Seriously, WTF? This is IMPORTANT???

[Bulbul]

I am not a sports fan.

Here is my take, how about the Kids ? Parents encourage their children to get involved in sports, it is healthy for mind and body and also keeps them busy and perhaps out of trouble. I know I did.
Why are we bringing this man to gutter and having this event all over the news ?

I am not sure when the authorities set the strict rule about drugs, are we going back and bringing people to justice before it was a rule ? If not have these hearings should be held behind close doors.

I feel for all the Kids who worships these sport heros and their hearts are being broken, again.

[emjay1954]

I feel a lot more for the kids who don't have health care coverage. Or who go to crappy schools. Or whose parents lost their house.

Interesting how congressman don't seem too upset about those kids, but really think steroids are an important issue--to protect the kids, of course.

[PackyJ]

Even MORE amazing than Clemen's news coverage:

The US is emboiled in 2 unwinnable wars, the economy is tanking, the dollar is become a second-rate currency, the national debt has tripled, Americans are dying because they can't afford health care, New Orleans is still a shambles, and the US Constitution is under seige... yet Congress has time to fuck with THIS nonsense.

No wonder Congress' approval rating is even lower than Bush's.

[emjay1954]

There is no question that Congress has a million more important issues to investigate than Roger Clemens.

Still, there is something enjoyable about watching a cheater and a bully begin his own destruction. Clemens could have simply kept his mouth shut after the Mitchell report came out, and he would have suffered no consequences whatsoever. Instead, he appears to have set himself up for a perjury investigation.

And please, if I am ever in a legal jam, I hope Rusty Hardin is on the OTHER side.

[LeeMay]

I couldn't agree with you more. Whether Roger Clemens used steroids or not does not affect the lives of the majority of Americans. For the cable programmers (and the Congress) to assume that this is "major" news indicates a startling lack of insight into the things that are of importance to the average American. There has been over 4 hours of live coverage of this junk but just yesterday, as the Senate of the United States chose to give retroactive immunity to the telecoms and further erode our fourth amendment rights, these same channels spent less than 5 minutes, if any at all, in sharing this with the American public. The priorities of our so-called media are totally screwed-up!