Mac

The news that Mark McGwire used steroids is not surprising.

What is also not surprising, but incredibly disappointing, is the titanic and hypocritical self-righteousness which still accompanies the issue. McGwire is a Hall-of-Famer who is being denied because he used steroids. This represents the apex of blaming the player — and only the players — for the rampant use of performance enhancing drugs throughout the game. The completely ignores that:

  • The owners certainly knew who was using and who wasn’t. As the Mitchell Report made clear, teams do not make $100 million investments without knowing what players are putting into their bodies.
  • Either the media knew or their much-ballyhooed “inside access” is a load of crap. The Sports Media Twerps are constantly telling us how their access to players and their inside knowledge makes them so much smarter than the rest of us. How could the SMTs have such insider information and not know what was going on? How could they turn on the reporter who found that McGwire was using Andro? I think that’s why the press is so vicious and judgmental on the steroid issue. They are compensating for their own complicity. Shame on them.
  • The fans knew or suspected what was going on. I mean, we knew Mac was taking Andro. We at least suspected that Canseco was using. But we didn’t care as long as homers flew out of parks. We looked the other way and cheered the juicers, which just encouraged more use. Then, suddenly, we got religion when someone we didn’t like — Barry Bonds — broke the home run record. We’re content, of course, to ignore the obvious drug abuse in football.
  • The players did steroids, in part, because they were allowed to. They did them because the owners, the press and the fans knew what was going on and were happy to ignore it. When we suddenly decided PEDs were bad, we refused to take any responsibility. Instead, we have heaped scorn only on the players. They are, after all, rich and popular, so we have to tear them down, right?

    Screw that. I’m all in favor of a clean game. But I’m not in favor of white-washing the past and blaming the most convenient party. It’s time to admit what we allowed to happen.

    Update: Incidentally, the commish knew about steroids in 1993.

    Trouble Ahead; Trouble Behind: Predicting 2010

    Every year, I like to run an article looking ahead and behind, making fearless predictions for the year to come. I’ve written a long piece for the other site on the last year in politics called a Year in Fantasyland. 2009 was the year everyone in politics was delusional — from Democrats who though the nation turned liberal to Republicans who think they’ll ride the tea parties back into power.

    I didn’t comment on it there, but my predictions from last year held up pretty well:

  • I was right that Obama’s popularity would fade as the economy continued to stagnate. And I was right that his foreign policy would be a competent version of Bush’s. I was also right that the economy would be slow to recover.
  • I was right about the Gators, the Steelers and the Yankees, which kind of scares me.
  • I was wrong on the international picture. Pakistan has stayed stable while Iran has reeled from protests. However, at least I was right on Iraq — last month saw zero combat deaths for the US, a stunning achievement that got no press at all.
  • I was wrong on entertainment. There were a solid number of good movies this year and four science fictions films — Star Trek, Avatar, Moon and District 9 — did well critically and financially. That’s the best year in Sci-Fi that I can recall, ever. I still am not watching TV, so I assume it hasn’t improved since it drove me away.
  • Anyway, 2010 is already two weeks old, so I’d better make my predictions so I can be as wrong as ever.

  • The economy will show signs of life, but unemployment will remain stubborn. By the end of the year, debt will be the single issue dominating the discussion. This will lead to…
  • The Republicans, as as result of the above, will gain seats in the Senate and House but fell short of taking back the majority.
  • This, along with the general mood of the nation, will shift Obama’s agenda slightly to the Right. My hope is that this will mean fiscal conservatism. My fear is that it will mean tougher stances on the War on Terror and crime.
  • Sarah Palin peaked in 2009 and 2010 will see her slowly revealed as an ignorant and somewhat deluded ideologue. She’s now got a commenting bit on Fox News, which is the first step in exposing who she really is. By the end of the year, the idea of her running for President will be laughable.
  • Colts over Vikings. Cardinals over Rangers. And parity continues to be the case in the College Football, with Boise State coming very close to cracking the championship game.
  • The Iranian regime will continue to totter, but will come just short of falling. Reform may be the only way the mullahs stay in power. Iraq will continue to wind down and Afghanistan will improve. Our attention will slowly turn toward Yemen and the disaster that is Africa.
  • Television will continue its spell in the doldrums, but late night shows will improve as the comedians get better and more comfortable with mocking Obama. The year at the movies does not look terribly impressive to me. Looking at the most anticipated films does not exactly fill me with enthusiasm. Clash of the Titans, in particular, looks sure to disappoint.
  • It will be a banner year for science. Again.
  • As much as 2009 was the year of fantasy, 2010 will be, I think and hope, the year of reality. And about time too.

    Weekend Linkorama

  • Big Surprise. Smacking kids is not so obviously bad. When are we going to get over this idea that we can decree parenting techniques from on high?
  • Science Fiction is the next big thing for the religious nuts.
  • I heart Hitchens.
  • When Ta-Nehisi Coates is on, he’s on.
  • Aw, Jeez.
  • Somehow, the media fails to tell us when there are no combat casualties in Iraq. But Obama is still blowing the war, right?
  • Dear God: why? Why do you punish us so?
  • Could cellphones protect against Alzheimer’s? Further work will determine. It would be hilarious and wonderful if it did.
  • Why I Left The Right; Exhibit 87a

    Right Wing blogs are aflame because Obama is devoting CIA resources to examining global warming.

    Bzzzt.

    What’s happening is that the CIA is sharing data they already have with climate scientists, reversing Bush’s cancellation of the previous agreement.

    The monitoring program has little or no impact on regular intelligence gathering, federal officials said, but instead releases secret information already collected or takes advantage of opportunities to record environmental data when classified sensors are otherwise idle or passing over wilderness.

    There could be some concerns about classification barriers breaking. But, no, CIA agents are not monitoring glaciers.

    Guys? Do your fucking homework before you scream blue murder.

    We’re At War

    The “conservative” part of this country is busy demonstrating, once again, that the War on Terror is not something they take seriously. It’s just a big partisan game to them.

    Every since Richard Reid, we have used the criminal justice system to prosecute terrorists caught on American soil. This has been very uncontroversial. Yet, suddenly, it’s travesty that Obama wants to put the panty bomber on trial.

    It’s very difficult to define partisanship better than hating someone for doing what you praised your guy for.

    But what’s bother me more is the constant repeating of the “We’re at War!” meme. It’s the unceasing rallying cry of the Right — that Obama doesn’t realize we’re at war. This bullshit has continued in the face of a massive troop buildup in Afghanistan and the continuing of Bush’s Iraq policy.

    “We’re at war” is not a policy statement anymore; it’s the political equivalent of a fashion statement. It’s the conservative answer to “No Blood For Oil!”. Here’s Sully, describing Giuliani’s TV appearance earlier today:

    But what I really take from Rudy’s remarks is that he believes that merely saying “war on Islamist terrorism” again and again somehow helps us win. What most sentient beings have learned these past several years is that taking this war to a constant and grand rhetorical level empowers Jihadists more than it weakens them. There is a sick syndrome in which “conservatives” get into some dysfunctional relationship with Islamists with each faction elevating the other in global consciousness.

    Obama is trying to wind down this drama and focus on actually finding and killing terrorists, removing their recruitments tools (like torture and Gitmo), and defusing their appeal to the Muslim middle. I will further note that Giuliani, in his criticism that Obama has not treated this like a war, has failed to mention the huge build-up of forces in Afghanistan. I remain deeply ambivalent about this strategy, but surely Giuliani would approve. It’s many more troops and many more resources than Bush ever devoted to Afghanistan. And yet all Giuliani believed showed Obama’s concern with terrorism was his use of the word “war” yesterday.

    This is not a serious policy. It is not a serious politics.

    During the 1980’s, Leftists used the constantly criticize Reagan over his Israel policy. The constant refrain was that he wasn’t “taking the problem seriously”. When you asked them what it meant to take the problem seriously, they wouldn’t have an answer. They didn’t have an alternative. All they knew was that they hated Reagan and that he wasn’t taking the problem seriously.

    The Right does have some actual differences with Obama: mostly that he’s had back-channel talks with Iran and stopped torture — both of which are steps toward victory in my book. Both, of course, also demonstrate the spectacular incompetence of the last Administration, which is a prime motivation for the angry response.

    But in the end, the vituperative rhetoric is way way out of proportion to these policy changes. In the end, it gets down the partisan bullshit. In the end, it’s a mantra.

    Think Thin

    I’m at the AAS, listening to people talk about science. So you can imagine my response to the psuedo-science involved in a study that comes to the — gasp! — shocking conclusion that married women tend to put on more weight than single women and women tend to gain weight when they become moms (i.e., they don’t shed all the pregnancy weight). They spend the entire article wondering why and coming up with all kinds of conspiracy theories without going for the obvious explanation.

    Stand by for ground-breaking articles that show that single men have more gym memberships than married men and women tend to be less up to date on modern trends when they have kids.

    Putzes.

    It’s not that the data is useless. It’s that they can’t seem to understand the meaning of the data.

    The Trial

    It’s amazing how fast the “we can’t do trials for AQ guys arrested on the battlefield” has morphed into “we can’t do trials for AQ arrested in this country”. What the panty bomber did was a criminal act, no? Since when do we turn criminals into un-persons? It’s equally amazing how fast “we need to torture in ticking time bomb scenarios” has morphed into “we need to torture full stop”.

    This is why, for all Obama’s faults, I’m glad the GOP is no longer in power. They are still willing to burn the Constitution and the rule of law if they think it can make them marginally safer from scary terrorists. Even if it doesn’t.

    New Year’s Linkorama

    It’s been nothing but Linkoramas lately. But I’ve been posting some article at the other blog. Hopefully, now that the holidays are over, I can get back to being my usual cantankerous self.

  • Climate Crock of the Week takes on the medieval warming period. On the flip side, Ronald Bailey takes the air out of the rising oceans hysteria.
  • Bad taxes — both cuts and hikes. Will there ever come a day where our politicians see the tax system as a way to raise money not to create social engineering?
  • If you wonder why US health costs are soaring, here’s a big reason.
  • Cracked, being better than the MSM, reviews overlooked celebrity deaths of 2009.
  • I have to agree with Neal Boortz. Every year, one random homeowner’s association should be taken out and shot.
  • Interesting analysis hints that speculation, not subprimes, caused the collapse.
  • You can run but you can’t hide.
  • Christmas Linkorama

  • Peter Suderman runs down the failed healthcare experiments that comprise our national plan. Those who do not learn from current events are destined to be Democrats.
  • If you’re going to embrace alternative energy, you can’t start playing NIMBY game. There simply isn’t enough spoiled land to provide all our power that way.
  • The worst ideas of the decade.
  • Yet more debunking of the idea that global cooling was the consensus in the 70’s.
  • I’ve probably posted this video before, but I can’t find it in my links. It’s about change blindness and it’s amazing.
  • Coolnessin science.
  • A collection of hilarity from HuffPo.
  • A report says that ACORN broke now laws. Of course, this just proved how deep the conspiracy goes.
  • Well, at least lobbyists are doing well in this economy. And at least bureaucrats are getting tax breaks.
  • Astronomy, Sports, Mathematical Malpractice, Whatever Else Pops Into My Head