When Juice was Orange & Baseball Wasn't Played on Capitol Hill

We the people haven't seen the cost for last week's congressional hearings on baseball. It's Spring fever though and thoughts of pitching a few and not striking out appeal to the senses of a number of men 'suited up' in pin-stripes and horn-rims on Capitol Hill. Maybe there was a congresswoman in that bunch but she wasn't very visible. Nah, have to lay this blame on the fellows -- show them a baseball and they're liable to run and fetch.

Yes, Drugs are bad. Let's say it differently, perhaps a thousand different ways. Drugs kill. Drugs hurt innocent people. "Here's your brain on drugs [imagine the fried egg public service ad right now]. . ." Steroids and/or performance enhancing drugs and/or body enhancing drugs are wrong! Vary that message with other modifiers, threats, and risks of life & death and you will have covered it. No argument here.

Yet steroid use is a widespread societal problem, just like drug use is In General all across the country, not just in professional baseball! Sure, baseball is beginning to be on many fans' minds, but that should not be reason enough to parade the cause to Capitol Hill. Any day of the week However, take the nation's Drug Problems to Capitol Hill and let them stew on those with full C-Span coverage for hours.

It's up to parents, churches, communities and schools -- all of us together to help influence people of all ages -- including our aging Austrian-born term-style Governors -- that steroid use now OR 20 years ago is/was wrong, period. But when we push local control up to Capitol Hill to intervene then we are asking for something unreasonable.

We should expect the U.S. Congress to Lead the Way in our Nation's fight against a multi-billion dollar illegal drug industry. We don't just lose brilliant minds to drug abuse and overdose, we lose the innocent people they unintentionally take with them through car accidents, meth labs that blow up in unsuspecting neighborhoods, and horrific outcomes due to impaired judgment while in possession of handguns and all the rest. It's measurable, you see, not just an emotionally-charged subject. And it would not be singling out one employment sector such as Baseball Players as the root, visible cause of perpetuating the vice.

Yeah, when a war is approaching a two-year anniversary, look to inordinate time to be misused on topics in Congress that could be handled by industry, private sector groups, or at worse, congressional subcommittees. Eleven hours and counting on this topic driven by the "juiced" book over which Jose may get rich. Just how many times do we need to document use denials along with good charitable works by pro baseball players in front of tv cameras? Do it on your own time, Congress! Otherwise we're docking your pay by the hour from now on.

Shame on him and shame on us if we devote more hours to making a steroid user look good. But double shame on us [You, Congress] if we don't spend adequate time on the business of the Nation -- the whole Nation, not just those looking to steal home.