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March 11, 2005
Kucinich: from Peacenik to Grand Inquisitor
Neo-McCarthyism Slugs Major League Baseball
By DAVE ZIRIN
Now, as Cubs manager Dusty Baker says, a new "McCarthyism," is being imposed on Major League Baseball. A congressional committee, already preening for the nearest cameras, has been tasked with "getting steroids out of Major League Baseball." Current and former players Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro, Curt Shilling, Frank Thomas, Jason Giambi, Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco, have all been subpoenaed to testify under oath.
Major League Baseball and the Players Association have pledged to fight the subpoenas, taking the unprecedented step to unite under one attorney, Mr. Stanley Brand. Brand is arguing all over TV land that this congressional committee has no jurisdiction, is violating the player's first amendment privacy rights with no purpose but to "satisfy their prurient interest into who may and may not have engaged in this activity." Brand has also made the point that forcing former and current major leaguers to answer questions or risk prison will accomplish nothing since baseball just adopted a far-reaching steroid testing plan. Brand argues that the MLB program, like any drug testing plan in any work place, has a confidentiality agreement that would be worthless if players feel compelled to accept immunity, name names, and rat out teammates.
But players and their union shouldn't stop there. They could bury this ridiculous congressional committee in its own bloated sanctimony. The inquestors, like in McCarthy's first go around, range politically from arch right winger Rep. Cliff Stearns to liberal darling Dennis Kucinich. Kucinich, as with the liberals of the past, pledges that this will not be a "witch-hunt." Kucinich also promised to "stand up" to pro-war democrats at last July's convention. We shouldn't have believed him then. We sure as hell shouldn't believe him, or any of the committee's liberals now.
That's why anyone who opposes the unchecked power of the federal government, who cares about civil liberties and rights in the work place, should oppose these hearings. We can't compare this witch-hunt to the more devastating ones in the 50s but it is part of a trend of attacks on civil liberties, academic freedom, and anyone who dares buck against the bipartisan party line. In a time when students are being investigated for singing Bob Dylan and wearing the wrong t-shirts, and Gitmo is just a stone's throw away, such hearings help create an atmosphere where the bipartisan pit bull in Washington feels it can get away with more, and more, and more. The time has come for all of us to collectively ask the question of Congress that Joseph Welch asked of McCarthy five decades ago: "How have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last have you left no sense of decency?" Only this time--at long last--we should press for an answer.
http://www.counterpunch.org/zirin03112005.html
March 11, 2005
Kucinich: from Peacenik to Grand Inquisitor
Neo-McCarthyism Slugs Major League Baseball
By DAVE ZIRIN
Now, as Cubs manager Dusty Baker says, a new "McCarthyism," is being imposed on Major League Baseball. A congressional committee, already preening for the nearest cameras, has been tasked with "getting steroids out of Major League Baseball." Current and former players Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro, Curt Shilling, Frank Thomas, Jason Giambi, Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco, have all been subpoenaed to testify under oath.
Major League Baseball and the Players Association have pledged to fight the subpoenas, taking the unprecedented step to unite under one attorney, Mr. Stanley Brand. Brand is arguing all over TV land that this congressional committee has no jurisdiction, is violating the player's first amendment privacy rights with no purpose but to "satisfy their prurient interest into who may and may not have engaged in this activity." Brand has also made the point that forcing former and current major leaguers to answer questions or risk prison will accomplish nothing since baseball just adopted a far-reaching steroid testing plan. Brand argues that the MLB program, like any drug testing plan in any work place, has a confidentiality agreement that would be worthless if players feel compelled to accept immunity, name names, and rat out teammates.
But players and their union shouldn't stop there. They could bury this ridiculous congressional committee in its own bloated sanctimony. The inquestors, like in McCarthy's first go around, range politically from arch right winger Rep. Cliff Stearns to liberal darling Dennis Kucinich. Kucinich, as with the liberals of the past, pledges that this will not be a "witch-hunt." Kucinich also promised to "stand up" to pro-war democrats at last July's convention. We shouldn't have believed him then. We sure as hell shouldn't believe him, or any of the committee's liberals now.
That's why anyone who opposes the unchecked power of the federal government, who cares about civil liberties and rights in the work place, should oppose these hearings. We can't compare this witch-hunt to the more devastating ones in the 50s but it is part of a trend of attacks on civil liberties, academic freedom, and anyone who dares buck against the bipartisan party line. In a time when students are being investigated for singing Bob Dylan and wearing the wrong t-shirts, and Gitmo is just a stone's throw away, such hearings help create an atmosphere where the bipartisan pit bull in Washington feels it can get away with more, and more, and more. The time has come for all of us to collectively ask the question of Congress that Joseph Welch asked of McCarthy five decades ago: "How have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last have you left no sense of decency?" Only this time--at long last--we should press for an answer.
http://www.counterpunch.org/zirin03112005.html
