Rep. Waxman’s Committee Hearings on MLB

Yesterday I had a doctor’s appointment in the morning. He was running behind schedule– as he always does–but I didn’t mind because I’d brought a good book to read while I was waiting.  I never had a chance to open the book because he had a television set on in the waiting room which was tuned in to the Waxman Committee’s grilling of Roger Clemens. I have a few observations to make.

• Congressional committee hearings are a great way to legally trash someone’s reputation. If Roger Clemens is telling the truth, the allegations may cost him entry into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Where can he go to get his good reputation back?
• As I understand it, Congressman Waxman is a liberal Democrat from California. As a liberal, shouldn’t he remember the HUAC hearings of several generations ago which trashed the reputations of people in the entertainment industry or Sen. Mc Carthy’s hearings into alleged communist subversion of the federal government? I guess that Santayana was right about those who don’t learn History are doomed to repeat it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Santayana
• Later in the day, I heard talking heads on Fox News point out that, generally speaking, the Republicans on the committee seemed to be favorably disposed towards Roger Clemens and the Democrats seemed to be hostile. Assuming this to be the case, I have to ask, “What political advantage is to be gained from attacking one the greats of baseball?”  It must be me, but I can’t see an obvious partisan connection here.
• Once the committee finishes its work here, I have to wonder what they will move onto next? If they’ve trashed organized baseball, will they move on to the Boy Scouts? The possibilities are both endless and disgusting at the same time.
• If I was practicing law and I was given the choice of prosecuting or defending Roger Clemens, based on what I saw yesterday, I’d gladly take defense. Assuming that they manage to find something to charge him with the trial would be a media circus ala the OJ Simpson case, but with a much more sympathetic defendant.

By way of full disclosure, I’m still angry with Roger leaving the Astros for the Yankees. But turncoat or not, I can still be objective about the show trial that I witnessed yesterday. No one, not even someone who abandons the home town team for big dollars in NYC, deserves that sort of treatment. I say that because in a trial, there is a definite outcome and a resolution of the issues.  High profile congressional committee hearings are political theater–nothing more or less. Nothing is decided one way or another.