Thinking I might catch up with the news, earlier I turned on the TV, and saw that the big event (both on Fox News and CNN) involves past steroid use by baseball player Roger Clemens.
Not that I can blame the networks for making the subject so eminently newsworthy. They're dutifully reporting "he said, he said" testimony from a congressional hearing into the subject, and they can't be blamed if the public finds it compelling.
Now, professional sports is entertainment, right? Where in the Constitution does the federal government have power over entertainment? The steroid hearings are being held by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and I'm tempted to tell the Committee to go oversee and reform itself.
I realize that it's sleazy for professional athletes to take steroids (and it violates a sort of trust which has been placed in them by their fans), but why isn't Congress holding hearings on Britney Spears?
For that matter, how do we know that the late Bobby Fischer didn't take mind-enhancement meds before his chess tournaments?
posted by Eric on 02.13.08 at 02:12 PM
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The day's real news: Mugniyeh killed. Congratualtions to the perps.
Brett · February 13, 2008 03:16 PM
I think the theory behind Congress involving itself is that professional sports are essentially regulated monopolies. You have a player's association (union) working with an association of team owners. You can't start a competing baseball league, you need to be admitted into the inner sanctum to play.
In return for the monopoly status, Congress gets to butt in when it feels like it will get them face-time on the news shows.
James · February 13, 2008 03:36 PM
It's serendipitous that this should be going on, just when the political class needs a good hefty spectacle to sedate us in the face of the political skullduggery afoot in Washington and around the country. A dramatic upset in the Super Bowl will only serve for so long.
James gets it exactly right. It is devoutly to be wished that sports leagues be deprived of their special anti-competitive privileges from Congress. However, they've got them, they sought them, and now the rent is coming due.
The Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler
Don?t bang your head!
The day's real news: Mugniyeh killed. Congratualtions to the perps.