Friday, November 16, 2007

Bonds

I take a bite out of crime
wash it down with some juice.
East Coast - Das Efx


Sigh its going to be hard to stay retired.

Read about the Barry Bonds indictment yesterday. Well its about time isn't it! Took them only 4 years to finally get the info they needed to indict him. Day duz run til night ketch it ya hear.

Well its good to see that our law enforcement folk have got their priorities set straight. Time to get that scumbag and menace to society off the streets. Society is going to be so much safer. Maybe he can be cellmates with that other despicable athlete and criminal Mike Vick. The world will be a better place and we can all walk around singing Kumbaya and holding hands. Om!

But wait a minute Bonds isn't a menace to society, the scumbag part could be argued though.

I woke up this morning to a female radio announcer with a bit more than a little glee in her voice celebrating Bond's indictment. Finally he gets his comeuppance she basically said. Apparently his arrogance and disdain for the media was her argument for why he needs to be punished. Without directly saying it I interpreted her words as its time they wiped that smugness off his face and took him down a notch. Who does he think he is? Time that surly attitude was dealt with. Take that you despicable criminal!

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at PhotobucketBut I tend to look at this a bit differently. Bonds is neither war criminal, despot or genocidal maniac as much as the media would beg to differ. He hasn't killed anyone, he hasn't robbed anyone, he hasn't stolen anything (besides arguably the home run crown from Hank Aaron and that's for Major League Baseball to decide) and he isn't any sort of violent offender, unless you count him putting a beating on baseballs.

Yet here he is facing 30 years in jail for allegedly perjury and lying about taking steroids. Damn. That's like getting publicly stoned for allegedly lying about stealing a cookie.

Look its not like Bonds is the shoe bomber. Its not like Bonds lied about supplying arms to the Contras or he lied about disclosing state secrets to the enemy. Put this in perspective. Even John Walker Lindh only got 20 years in jail for fighting with Al Quada against American forces!

Bonds allegedly lied about whether he, himself, one man took steroids or not. And while taking steroids is apparently a crime he's not currently under threat of punishment for the actual deed but rather about lying about the actual deed. He faces 30 years in jail for a crime that in the most part effects him more than it does society.

I know some folks disagreed with my argument against the Mike Vick case but this Bonds case reminds me a bit of that. Its just with so much real crime and threat of crime out there is this really a big deal? I mean its not like Bonds was even a distributor of the steroids. He just allegedly took them and allegedly lied about it. Big deal! Who has he hurt besides himself? Oh yea and the American past time baseball.

How much law enforcement hours in the past four years do you think have gone into dealing with this Barry Bonds threat? Sometimes you would think the cat was Al Capone or some other mob figure.

Look I hesitate to use the words witch hunt here and I truly think Bonds can be an ass more times than not but just like that announcer's glee on the radio this morning I cant help but think this is more about knocking the smile off the face of a smug son of a .... than about any sort of justice. If Bonds was a nicer guy, like for argument sake say Mark Mcguire, aside from having more public opinion on his side the question is would Law Enforcement be going after him as diligently as they are now?

Guess we can only surmise.

A fact though is that Bonds has been labeled difficult (y'all know what I mean), he's not the smiling jolly sound bite giving star athlete and it could be argued that some of this again I hesitate to use the word persecution is about a negative perception of him.

But then I guess bad guys can finish last sometimes.

12 comments:

Melody said...

Reminiscent of Sosa an' de cork bat -- people say, "Were they really as great as we thought, or was it deception?" People feel deceived & betrayed an' jump over de thin line between luv & hate, to de conclusion that they want revenge. Ah guess that's de risk any celeb athlete take when he enjoys de fame of people's intense emotional involvement wid his sportin' acheivements. Marion's bein' female prob'ly garnered sympathy.

Dee said...

so, let me get this straight:
if it turns out he took steroids, then he's guilty of perjury.

He hasn't been found to be a steroid user--simply accused on and off for years.

Since when is accusation equivalent to conviction?

So, if it turns out he's never used steroids, can he sue them for wasting everybody's damn time?

Abeni said...

If Marion guilty and Barry did similar then all fair ent?

chrome said...

strange case. Marion's steroid confirmation was very disappointing.

bitchdoctrine said...

this is a waste of time. i don't even care. why waste taxpayers money on a juice pig? dont they have better things to do?

Crankyputz said...

hang on drama boy, i though u weren't blogging anymore??

Unknown said...

30 years huh! I wonder if Marion just wet herself again?

Bajegirl said...

Glad to see you're still blogging.:)

nahmix said...

i'm convinced (even w/o of shred of evidence) 50% athletes are on something anyway!

Unknown said...

Finally! They got the bastard! It's too late for the "pure" sport of baseball now. Bonds has done too much damage.

Jhaldir said...

Or is it a case of "no wonder this black man was decimating all our records... lock him up and throw away the key!"

Dekkah said...

Those who gamble and do match fixing get less hassle and punishment....he is an arse and a cheat well do not induct him in Baseball Hall of fame, strip him of all the titles etc....I eh get the whole grand jury thing and how the law got involved. Steriods is not an illegal drug is it?

ppl don't like ot hear it but I swear if Barry was white guy or Michael Vick they would not be fighting t o stay out of jail for these offenses.

But good for these guys,they get up there and forget where they are, who they are etc etc and thin they have transcended all the bullshit. Well duh!