Shortstop Miguel Tejada of the Houston Astros today was sentenced to one year of probation for withholding the truth from Congress when asked what he knew about specific and alleged performance-enhancing drug use by other players. He was not in court at the time of the offense. Nor was he in the act of testifying before Congress or a subcommittee. He was not even under oath at the time. Also note that the "probation" is NOT a suspension from baseball.
To read more on my feelings about Congress wasting public time and resources on something so non-critical as professional sports, please refer to my previous post, "Moeroids". For the full extent of my thoughts regarding steroid use in baseball, you'll want to read, "I Just Didn't Care".
Today's blogal-bludgeoning goes to the following statement from Assistant US Attorney General Steven Durham. I've got no issue with Mr. Durham whatsoever, and I don't want to detract from his point about the importance of honesty.
"If Congress or a representative of Congress asks somebody a question in their official capacity, that question must be answered truthfully. There are no options to prevaricate or withhold the truth or parts of the truth."
Tejada Gets Year Probation for Misleading Congress, by Howard Fendrich
Mr. Durham obviously must have forgotten about whom he was speaking, as Congress certainly has perpetuated its fair share of deception, half-truths, and outright lies - all whilst engaged in its fiduciary duty to the people of this country. Do we, the people, not have the right to that same expectation of complete integrity?
Hypocrisy is a pretense of virtue. I think the real story here is not the wrist-slap given to Miguel Tejada. It is not the message to children that crime never pays or 'just say no'. No, the message of import herein is the valuable parenting lesson taught by Congress, "Do as I say, not as I do."
No comments:
Post a Comment