The Circus is in Town

So today is the day everyone has been waiting for- everyone who wants to waste their time. Lets face it, nothing, and I mean nothing, is going to come out of today's Congressional hearings on performance enhancing drugs. This is the ultimate dog and pony show.

Why will people, us included, tune in? Because of the gossip angle. Will Roger Clemens contradict himself? Will Brian McNamee slither out of his chair? Did Andy Pettitte implicate Clemens in his deposition?

The pols that are running the show are eating this up. They love the attention and the face time, but why are they using our tax dollars for this? They have no judicial capacity. According to committee member Darrell E. Issa (R-Calif), who may have his own agenda, the committee should not be dealing with this matter at all.

"It has jurisdiction to investigate any federal program and any matter with federal policy implications." That's what it says right on the committee's website, backing up Issa's point.

Issa also stated, in an interview with ESPN Radio's Michael Kay last night, that committee co-chair Henry Waxman (D-Calif) promised that no criminal charges would result as part of the hearings. Then why is this even happening? And are you trying to tell us that if Roger Clemens perjures himself, a federal criminal investigation won't be in full attack mode (if it isn't already). In other words, Waxman is really just saying we won't directly begin criminal proceedings.

While this may be entertaining - could it be even more boring than the hearings in 2004? - this will turn out to be an incredible waste of time and money.

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Pettitte Contradicts Clemens

We all knew this was a possibility, but now it has become fact. Andy Pettitte was excused from testifying before congress today, but in his deposition last week he made comments that contradicted statements made by Roger Clemens. Pettitte's statements lined up more with Brian McNamee's according to Tom Davis (R-Virginia), the co-chair of the congressional oversight committee investigating the use of P.E.D. in baseball.

Right off the bat, we are a little baffled by Davis' motives in making this information public prior to the hearing. It would have become public once the hearings were held, but the early dissemination of information just makes this look more and more like a witch hunt.

Clemens has already responded that Pettitte's information was incorrect and felt that Pettitte misunderstood conversations they had when discussing medications. It's interesting that Clemens didn't accuse Pettitte of lying- probably because he knew like everyone else, that Pettitte had no reason to lie and would have made himself look bad if he had done so.

Reports came out last night that Pettitte was excused due to too many inconsistencies in his deposition, but that seems to be an afterthought today. In addition to Pettitte, Chuck Knoblauch and Kirk Radomski were all excused from further testimony, which means that Clemens and McNamee are the only two left in this congressional clown car.

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