Can you imagine anything more stupid?

Despite the worst economic recession in the last 30 years, two war zones and midterm elections on the horizon our coveted elected officials and their cozy counterparts the media are wasting time and energy engaged in the media circus surrounding Roger Clemons.  You have got to be kidding me.  40% of every dollar in my pocket disappears into the black hole of government and this is what they choose to spend it on?
Our senators will never give up a chance to grandstand in front of the TV cameras but this is pathetic. Can you imagine the costs of legal council to pursue this case?  This is OUR MONEY!!



August 19, 2010

From Houston to the Bronx, Some Divisions on Clemens

By KEN BELSON

HOUSTON — Roger Clemens went to high school here, played college baseball at the University of Texas a few hours away and led the Astros to two playoff appearances in his three years on the team. A seven-time Cy Young Award winner, Clemens still lives in the area, and his son Koby is now in the Astros’ farm system.
If any city in America would be expected to give him a pass, it would be Houston.
Yet sports fans here are more than a little divided about their hometown hero. He is still one of their own, and he did extraordinary things on baseball’s biggest platform. But some say he sullied his reputation and damaged the fickle trust between fans and professional athletes.
Sports radio shows were abuzz with callers and hosts who were quick to condemn Clemens on the day he was indicted on charges that he made false statements to Congress about whether he used performance-enhancing drugs. Many of them said Clemens had fallen a notch in their eyes and that he was no longer an upstanding member of the Texas sports pantheon.
“It’s too bad because some of you are like me — you’ve seen Roger Clemens out and about in the community,” said Matt Thomas, a D.J. on Sports Talk 790 AM.
“If Earl Campbell walks in this town, how cool is Earl Campbell’s life?” he continued, talking about the former Houston Oiler. “If Nolan Ryan walks in this town, how cool is his life? If George Foreman walks in this town, how cool is his life? Roger Clemens, at least from a playing perspective, should have that same kind of run. But he screwed it up.”
A caller named Fishbone from Beaumont said that if he were caught violating a drug policy at work, he would be fired, and that players, including Clemens, should not be treated any differently.
“I don’t like the double standards for athletes,” he said. “They need to come down a little harder on these athletes.”
Still, for all the venom, there was just as much regret that the indictment happened at all. Those sharing that feeling included some of Clemens’s former teammates in the Bronx.
I don’t care what happens; I love the guy,” said Lance Berkman, who was traded from the Astros to the Yankees last month. “I just feel bad for him, for his family. He’s a big boy. He’ll face up to whatever it is. It doesn’t change my opinion of him at all.”
phil Hughes, who played with Clemens in 2007, said Clemens was a mentor to the younger players on the Yankees.
“It was great to be around him,” Hughes said. “He was an awesome teammate.
“Obviously everybody respects him for what he did, and the fact that he has to go through this is tough for anybody. You feel for the guy.”
Several fans outside Minute Maid Park, the home of the Astros, echoed that sentiment, adding that politicians and prosecutors should have spent their time and money on more pressing matters.
“He probably did it, but I don’t think Congress has a role in this,” Pablo Fernandez said. “Let the Hall of Fame voters decide.”
Many fans disappointed or angry at Clemens were more willing to forgive Andy Pettitte. Pettitte, who also went to high school in the Houston area, admitted to taking H.G.H. after his use was revealed in the Mitchell report.
“You’ve always heard honesty’s the best policy, and it is,” said Berkman, who played with Pettitte in Houston and New York.
on the end, many fans said they would still remember Clemens for his exploits on the field and for what he did for Houston, no matter what transgressions he may have committed off the field.
“The players hurt themselves,” said Fernandez, who once worked as a ticket salesman for the Astros. “To a certain extent, they defrauded the fans, but I am not unhappy I saw games during the steroid era. The Astros would welcome him back.”
Ben Shpigel and Adam W. Kepler contributed reporting from New York.

Toyota cleared...Where is the news on this? You have got to be kidding!

Class,

Below is a recent article lending credence to the idea that our federal government missused its power of the bully pulpit to demonize a private company prior to any evidence of a problem.  My thoughts all along were that the Obama admistration used this Toyota issue to drive GM stock prices and give them an advantage in the market place after their bankrupcy and subsequent government intervention.

WHERE IS THE NEWS ON NO EVIDENCE SUBSTANTIATING ANY OF THE GOVERMENTS CLAIMS?


Federal Government Finds No Fault with Toyota Electronics


Posted by Mike Levine
August 17, 2010
By David Thomas, Cars.com

In a report to Congress, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration officials say the agency hasn’t found an electronics problem in any of the Toyotas it has investigated as part of its probe into millions of recalled vehicles.

The statements to Congress come less than a month after the Wall Street Journal reported that NHTSA couldn’t find any faults after gaining access to Toyota’s electronic data recorders. The federal government says the investigation is ongoing, but of the 58 cases it has already reviewed, 35 had evidence that the brake pedal wasn’t applied. The agency concluded that those 35 instances were likely human error and not a problem with Toyota’s electronic throttle.


Pedal entrapment — the problem attributed to nearly 7 million recalled vehicles in the U.S. — occurred in one of the incidents. The rest either had inconclusive results or partial brakes were applied.



[Source: KickingTires]

Hello Class

Hello Class,

I look forward to constructive and meaningful communications. 

I am always amazed at the variety and diversity of thoughts and opinions on political debate and news.  I am excitited to participate in the process.

best of luck.

Andrew