Anyone know why Barry Bonds was not among those subponaed by

[joeybee12]

Congress?

I think it's a joke, but considering they asked McGwire, Sosa, Giambi and Canseco (why the phuck did they subpoena Curt Schilling?), how come Bonds wasn't included in the list. Any insight anyone?

[jakefrep]

1. Official reason given by Rep. Davis:

was that they didn't want to turn the hearings into a "circus."

As if it weren't already.

[joeybee12]

2. OMFG! That is priceless!

What a jack-off! Bonds must have a hard-ass lawyer who pre-empted their moves!

[KitchenWitch]

3. Supposedly they didn't want it to turn into the "Barry Bonds" show

[joeybee12]

4. I don't buy that!

Do you?:hi:

[KitchenWitch]

5. of course not

:hi:

[joeybee12]

8. That's what I figured...

...but I had to ask!;-)

[Caution]

6. Because every time bonds is questioned he brings up racism

Congress is most likely afraid to have someone as high-profile as him on the stands talking about racism in sports and in general. The last thing Republicans want is a strong black man who is a superstar talking about institutionalized racism in today's America (which they control).

Do I think Bonds is right in his profligacy with the "race card" (a term I REALLY hate)? No. I think he uses it as an excuse for his own borish behavior and attitudes and was personally insulted when he called Boston a racist town. But if you are looking for the reason Congress didn't subpoena him, well this is it. They are afraid of what he'll say. The players they called are either all beloved (McGwire, Palmeiro) Republican (Schilling), inocuous (Thomas) or have no credibility (Canseco, Sosa, Giambi).

Canseco will get up there and talk about how great steroids are, how everyone in the sport is using them and will generally sound like the idiot he is.

McGwire and Palmeiro will deny widespread use of steroids and call Canseco a liar.

Sosa will deny as well but no one will believe him after the corked bat incident and the news coming out of Chicago that he is a complete A-hole.

Giambi will hem and haw as usual, skirt the issue as much as possible and finally break down under the pressure and choke just like the NYY in the ALCS.

Schilling will toe the Republican line, talking about the evils of steroids, the need for a level playing field and stringent testing.

Thomas is a bit of a wild card here, He shuns the media so much, I have no real feel for how he'll respond.

[joeybee12]

7. I see your point...it's the same reason why Clarence Thomas is on

the Supreme Court--he threw the race card at the Dems, and they just quivered. Every since then they've tried to avoid it--as an example, Conod-liar Rice, totally unfit to work at McDonald's, is the Secretary of State. I was glad to hear Obama speak against Bush's ignornat claim that Social Security discriminates against bvlacks. The Dems need a high-profile African-American to show the Repukes for the true racists they are.

[AmericanErrorist]

9. Dave Zirin thinks that...

Because Congress does not want their hypocrisy highlighted, there is one slugger whose absence from the subpoena list speaks volumes: Giants outfielder Barry Bonds. Bonds, poised this year to become baseball's all-time home run king, is the player around whom "performance enhancing drug" rumors swirl and the player whose ascension has stoked the anti-steroid furies.

As USA Today's Mike LoPresti put it, "Holding a hearing on steroids in baseball without Bonds would be like an inquiry into the Titanic sinking without mentioning the iceberg."

Committee spokesperson David Marin, when asked why Bonds wasn't called, mumbled, "He tends to ramble and get off-point."

It's not Barry Bonds "off point" they want to avoid, but Barry Bonds "on point". While most players will either plead the fifth or cut a deal, Bonds would probably tell them to go straight to hell. The future Hall of Famer seems to have been deeply politicized in recent years by the recent steroid controversy coupled with the death of his father a former Major League player and staunch unionist. In recent interviews, Bonds' pose has not merely been his normal surly and rude, but surly rude, and political. As Bonds said recently to a group of reporters in Arizona, "You want to define cheating in America? When they make a shirt in Korea for a $1.50 and sell it here for 500 bucks. And you ask me what cheating means? I'll tell you how I cheat. I cheat because I'm my daddy's son. He taught me the game. He taught me things nobody else knows. So that's how I cheat. I'm my daddy's son."

It's language like this that reminds Congressional hacks of their own history. The last time they dragged out a proud, angry Black man with nothing to lose was in 1952. That someone, now seen gracing a US postage stamp, went by the name of Paul Robeson. They expected Robeson to roll over like so many others. Instead he lacerated the committee, saying, "You want to shut up every Negro who has the courage to stand up and fight for the rights of his people. That is why I am here today. . my father was a slave, and my people died to build this country and I am going to stay here and have a part of it just like you. And no fascist- minded people will drive me from it. Is that clear?" It is not far fetched at all that Bonds would also be perfectly "clear".

http://www.counterpunch.org/zirin03112005.html

[joeybee12]

10. Damn! Then make sure he shows up!

That's the only way it would be interesting! Now all we'll have is Curt Schilling bending over for all the Repukes on the committee. Ho-hum.

[CroixRoussienne]

19. Puhleezzz!

To equate the the posing cheater Bonds with Paul Robeson is just plain ridiculous, no matter what point you are trying to make. Robeson made his (extremely engaging and articulate) voice heard in a hell of alot more heated forum than Barry has ever imagined.

Asterisk Baseball - What a Joke!

[bmbmd]

11. Mike and Mike on ESPN radio

theorized that perhaps Bonds had already perjured himself in the Balco grand jury testimony, and the sports attorney guy they had on said that they could jeopardize the case against him by calling him to testify in front of the congress. I don't understand all that legal stuff, that's just what I heard.

I don't for a second buy that crap about Congress being afraid to call him because he might be unruly or hard to handle. Contempt of Congress is a serious matter, and no one stands up to that. I don't believe it is a matter of race or politics or fear-I think there is a legal reason.

[joeybee12]

12. Could be--I'm sure Bonds has a hard-ass lawyer...the guy told Bonds

to give the story about thinking the steroids were linseed oil, or soething like that. He was told to play dumb during his grand jury testimony.

[Hokie]

13. Mike and Mike

Does anyone else agree that these guys are total idiots? Mike Golic is a total shill for the status quo (as in sports management, Notre Dame, etc.). Greenberg is so full of himself I wonder why his head doesn't explode.

[jakefrep]

14. I don't know...

..but I think they are better than most of what passes for talent in the sports-talk radio world.

[bmbmd]

15. Here's an update, also mentioned on countdown last night.

Kimberly Bell, 35, of San Jose, testified with full immunity for about two hours Thursday before a federal grand jury, attorney Hugh Levine told The Associated Press.
Bonds has consistently denied ever knowingly using steroids.

Levine said Bell will likely testify again in the near future.

Bonds attorney, Michael Rains, told the San Francisco Chronicle in a story published Sunday that the slugger has no reason to be concerned about her testimony. He accused Bell of attempting to extort money from Bonds, and said she is using the platform to promote a book about her life.


http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/3480486

[joeybee12]

16. Interesting...thanks for the update!

[erpowers]

17. Belco

The official answer is that Bonds was not called before Congress in that Congress did not want to interfere with the Belco investigation in California.

[sabbat hunter]

18. simply because

he is involved in an ongoing investigation to him perjurying himself in the BALCO trial, possible tax evasion and Congress did not want to give him immunity to testify and thus absolve him of those possible crimes.

david

[MikeG]

20. How's this? Who wants that asshole around?