In San Francisco, the government has unveiled a new superseding 15-count indictment to replace the prior five-count indictment. The indictment covers basically the same ground and corrects a badly drafted original indictment criticized by U.S. District Judge Susan Illston.
The original indictment grouped together alleged lies. The new indictment separates the individual lies so the jury can properly make specific findings. The superseding indictment contains 14 counts of making false declarations to a grand jury in 2003 and one count of obstruction of justice.
For the full story, click here.
For a copy of the original indictment, click here.
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I believe that there is some racism extant regarding Bonds. Unlike Tiger, Michael J. and even (dare I say it?)OJ. Bonds did not come across as an affable black man who did not challenge the white power structure. He was surly to everyone and most importantly to sportswriters, who generally repay unkindness with bad press. Bonds was throughout his career portrayed as an “angry black man” and we know from Reverend Wright’s experience mainstream, white America doesn’t tolerate “angry black men” very well. So in the sense that Bonds was generally disliked for years does relate to racism.
However, Mespo’s point re: Roger Clemen’s fall and adding Mark McGwire to the equation balances this all out as another kind of berration. As I referred to previously it is the phony “I’m shocked” reaction that has become a standard of our MSM. This is an issue of trifling importance that should be decided by the baseball fans themselves and whether they continue to support the sport. The steroid issue is a subset of the phony “War on Drugs”, using the same stale arguments about its effect on those innocent children being influenced by their sports heroes.
I grew up a Brooklyn Dodger fan and my favorite player was Duke Snider. I also, of course liked Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays. Duke was a very good ballplayer, who otherwise came across in interviews as very cynical and self-serving. Mantle was an All-Time Great whose womanizing and drinking were open secrets even in 1950’s New York.
Willie, another All-Time Great was portrayed as a black man with little on his mind (unfairly so)and he has admitted to using amphetamines. While I loved watching and rooting for these “heroes” the idols, who actually influenced my life were Ed Murrow, Joseph Welch, Jack/Bobby Kennedy, Norman Mailer, Jack Kerouac and Clarence
Darrow. More than even those heroes was my father. Kids who follow the examples of their sports heroes are either deficient in intelligence, or need counseling.
racism,not baseball:
Maybe the fact that Spitzer admitted fault, took the fall from power, and has been contrite escaped you, but Bonds has been anything but that. When you poke the lion in his cage, you should not be surprised when he bites back,and that has been Bonds’ M.O. from the start. If you really think that racism is the culprit, why has Roger Clemens been so keenly pursued–is he black under the skin? How do you explain that America has many African-American icons who broke many records previously held by Caucasians — Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan to name just two — and have been embraced by the citizenry, both black and white. Racism is a scourge to be sure, and, as anyone who has seen the polling in the PA and WVA primaries knows, it is still around. The problem is that finding it under every rock and in every situation makes you look more like Joe McCarthy than Martin Luther King, Jr.
Of course, the black man who trounces Babe Ruth’s record must be punished. Just like black men who date white women, or violated the Mann Act, get put in prison. When a white man like Eliot Spitzer undeniably violates the Mann Act, his $500 Million dollar New York white boy family franchise kicks in and the media spins it like a Lewinsky blue dress, instead of the Organized Crime link to Spitzer when he was New York Attorney General. How many hundreds of millions of dollars are being spent on baseball steroids phony scandal when nearly every large U.S. High School football player has been taking steroids since the 1970s. This is nothing but racism against Barry Bonds. He is indicted for telling a lie when countless white lawyers do it every day and get away with, even when exposed. http://whitemalesneverlie.blogspot.com/
I disagree with this Baseball Steroid Witch Hunt and as a dedicated baseball fan I’ve never liked Bonds, or even Mark McGwire. Willie Mays admitted to taking “greenies” (amphetamines) in the clubhouse and Jim Bouton in his book “Ball Four” talked about their extensive use on the Yankees and indeed all of baseball. Amphetamines are performance enhancers as much as steroids. In my lifetime I have seen football linebackers go from 6′, 220 lbs. to 6’5″, 270 lbs. Football lineman now seem to all be over 300 lbs. and yet run faster than linemen in the past. Where is the investigation in both the Pro’s and College Football? Could it be the popularity of the sport?
All of this is just another instance of Claude Rains being “shocked” by gambling in Rick’s Cafe. We are in an illegal and immoral war where our children and innocent Iraqi’s are dying. Our government is torturing people in the name of national security. Our constitutional rights are being shredded. Our Justice Department is more corrupt than at any time in our history. Our Elections are being stolen both by corrupt Supreme Court rulings and hackable voting machines. Yet in the midst of this crisis that threatens the very foundations of this country Barry Bonds is being prosecuted for perjury and our congress is conducting dog and pony hearings on the integrity of Baseball.
I like the new criminal defendant who sports a gleaming smile in his mug shot. Gone are the 70’s with the frowning scowl, or my favorite shot, the jacket over the head as you enter or leave the court. No I like our prototype defendant Tom Delay, whose famous grin practically guarantees conviction for something –felonious arrogance comes to mind.
Here’s the classic shot from the Smoking Gun:
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/1020051delay1.html