I Really Have Some Issues With The Bonds Thing

By Deb McIver
Posted Sunday, November 18, 2007

So, the United States government finally feels it has enough evidence to proceed against Barry Bonds, and a grand jury indicts him on five counts having to do with perjury and obstruction of justice.

And I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m sitting here wondering exactly what evidence they have. And whether or not they somehow obtained the results of a positive blood test on Barry proving he had steroids in his system, and if so, how they got it. Or whether it’s just going to be more of he-said versus he-said, or whether it’s going to be a witch hunt of sorts, and whether any of it really matters, in light of the Mitchell report, which will be disclosed in due course, sooner than later, more likely.

I have some issues with all of this, I really do.

In the first place, it appears as if they have been building this case against Barry since around 2002. Yes, that’s 2002. That’s five blanking years. So it does seem as if they’ve “been after” Barry for a long time, doesn’t it? And what exactly has Barry done to make them want his arse in jail so badly? Has he, say, murdered people? Has he, say, kidnapped or extorted people? Is he a rapist? A child molester?

Nope, none of those. He may have used a banned substance. MAY HAVE.

Putting all of my concerns about throwing the kind of money and taxpayer dollars it takes towards an investigation of a non-violent individual who MAY HAVE done nothing more than abuse his own body, I have other concerns. Like, what’s changed that they now feel they can convict Barry on these charges? Had the government had real evidence at some point in this five-year hunt for Barry, you would think he’d have been arrested or indicted long before this. So, what evidence do they have? Nobody’s saying, but as I said, there are rumors out there that the government somehow may have obtained the results of a blood test taken by Barry at some point within the past five years, evidencing positive proof of steroid use.

And I really, seriously have problems with that. I hardly believe Barry would ever consent to allowing anyone, let alone the government, access to his private medical records, and with all the HIPAA laws out there these days, you would think that private citizens would reasonably be protected against unwarranted or illegal snooping into their personal medical affairs. I mean, we have little enough privacy these days; now the government can come in an seize our medical records?

Apparently, if you’re Barry Bonds, and they’re looking to make a case against you, they just might be able to do that. Unless, of course, the government has some kind of weird-arse agreement with major league baseball over these records, which is even more concerning to me, in some ways.

And believe me, folks, if they can do it once, they can do it again. And maybe next time, it might be done to one of us, or to someone we actually care about.

And even if they have somehow obtained a positive blood test, and manage to survive the inevitable legal challenges, does that necessarily mean Barry KNOWINGLY took steroids? Not necessarily. He has always maintained that it was possible he used some creams or substances that someone else gave him which contents may not have been totally known to him. So you have problems there, as well. OK, maybe that's a totally CYA statement, or really true, honest-to-goodness bullpokey, but hey, it's possible, right? That's all Barry needs to show.

And even if we get past all of that, what are they going to do, indict/arrest/witch hunt EVERY SINGLE GUY whose name appears on the coming-soon-to-a-news-report-near-you Mitchell list? Guys like Gary Sheffield, for example. He’s a star, a huge public figure, no pun intended on the "huge," there. What about him? What are they going to do, haul all these guys before a grand jury and force them to either 'fess up or perjure themselves? Yeah, how exciting is the prospect of THAT!!! I'm getting out my hot buttered popcorn now. And how about the Rafael Palmeiros of this world, who having been down that road, clearly lied to Congress when testifying so vehemently and believably that he NEVER did steroids. Remember that, folks? Are they going to go after him, too?

I just see this as a Pandora’s Box of a sorts, giving the government yet another tool to pull out of its already formidable arsenal to use against anyone whom they don’t like, or to satisfy personal vendettas, or for other non-altruistic and probably arbitrary and capricious reasons. As if there were any other, seriously, though.

Get the feeling that I just don’t trust them???? Well, you’d be right.

Here’s another thing to contemplate. Who’s gonna testify against Barry, Victor Conte? The Anderson dude? And if so, why would they? Obviously, in consideration for reduced sentences and/or immunity from prosecution. Real credibility issues there, if you ask me. They had better have more than that, they had better. Because here’s a huge problem – if that’s all you really have on Barry, other than circumstantial evidence, one or both of them is going to have to testify that he personally saw Barry knowingly use steroids and/or that he supplied and/or injected the steroids into Barry. Skank time, winter in the city if I ever saw it, and a real risk insofar as a jury is concerned. Especially in view of the fact that it’s now coming out how many major leaguers probably used steroids or other banned substances.

The public may have reached its saturation point with this stuff, and may feel as I do, that they truly don’t care anymore, and if they do, they certainly don’t care to the level of seeing criminals, real live jailbirds in orange jumpsuits with numbers across the chest, locked up in real good old nasty prisons, created out of all this.

And thereby potentially ruining the coming season, or seasons, for many rabid baseball fans.

Think the fans and the American public really want that? If you do, I've got the proverbial bridge I can sell you......

And here’s the real wild card – Barry himself. Is there any one of you reading this column that honestly believes that Barry would ever admit to steroid use, and that he wouldn’t fight the charges with every last dollar he has and with every copious breath he takes? Knowing what you know about him?

Could be a long, drawn out battle, folks, making only the reputations of a few US attorneys, and further lining the pockets of a couple dozen or so lawyers, as if they needed it.

Another fine example of American jurisprudence and wise and thoughtful use of the taxpayer dollars.

Enough to make me seriously scratch my head, and wonder how much money and how much of his reputation Barry will have to cough up before the powers that be are satisfied.

And as you all know, I'm no fan of Barry's, and the whole thing with the all-time home run record and all kind of leaves me befuddled and confused, but maybe that's a matter for baseball and the record books to sort out, and not the government.

Because believe me, at this point, justice has NOTHING to do with it.

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