Sports Insider by Frank Coppola: Politicians make joke of Clemens hearing

February 13, 2008

Politicians make joke of Clemens hearing

See, this is why most people in the world don’t trust politicians.

Only in Washington could a public hearing about steroids in baseball be divided over party lines. I guess it’s what we should expect in an election year, but that doesn’t mean it’s any less embarrassing.

Legendary pitcher Roger Clemens and his former trainer, Brian McNamee, sat through nearly five hours of questions in front of Congress on Wednesday, giving their versions of the truth in regard to Clemens’ use of steroids and human growth hormone.

Not surprisingly, Clemens spent the afternoon denying ever using the drugs, even though his good friend and former teammate Andy Pettitte says Clemens told him he’s used HGH ... even though Clemens’ wife, Debbie, was admittedly given HGH by McNamee.

As the day went on, the motives of the committee changed from trying to uncover the truth to picking sides in the fight. Republicans seemed to side with Clemens; Democrats with McNamee.

Check out this beauty from Indiana Republican Dan Burton toward McNamee:

“You’re here under oath, and yet we have lie after lie after lie after lie. ... This is really disgusting. You’re here as a sworn witness. You’re here to tell the truth. I don’t know what to believe. I know one thing I don’t believe and that’s you.”

Ouch.

On the other hand, Maryland Democrat Elijah Cummings lobbed this verbal jab at Clemens:

“It’s hard to believe you, sir. I hate to say that. You’re one of my heroes. But it’s hard to believe.”

California Democrat Henry Waxman, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, took it one step further.

Waxman actually had the gall to apologize to McNamee for the shots he was taking from the other members of the committee.

“Mr. McNamee, you’ve taken some hits today,” said Waxman. “In my view, some were fair, and some were really unwarranted. … I appreciate your cooperation, and I want to apologize for some of those remarks that were made to you.”

Are you (bleeping) kidding me?

And this is how the afternoon ended. Previously, Waxman looked Clemens in the face and basically told him that McNamee was a more credible witness, pointing strictly to the testimony of Pettitte. Waxman noted Pettitte’s reputation as a decent and honest man (even though he’s admitted to using HGH himself), someone who is considered one of Clemens’ best friends. And yet even Pettitte said in his testimony that he thinks Clemens used HGH.

Clemens was so upset by Waxman’s statements that he interrupted him during his closing remarks, saying that just because Pettitte said he thought Clemens used HGH doesn’t mean he wasn’t mistaken.

Waxman didn’t like that. He responded by slamming his gavel and barking at Clemens: “This is not your time to argue with me.”

Come on, children.

Hey, you’ve got to give the Rocket credit for sticking to his guns and defending himself.

He’s still playing the denial card despite some mounting evidence against him, still claiming hard work is the lone reason for his 354 career victories and seven Cy Young Awards.

And this time, he’s facing perjury charges if he’s found to be lying. Clemens didn’t even have to go through this circus, mind you. Some members of the Congressional committee said so on Wednesday, mentioning that the only reason this hearing was held is that Clemens wanted it in an effort to clear his name.

Unfortunately, the hearing didn’t do much to uncover the truth. Clemens’ version of the truth is increasingly hard to believe given Pettitte’s testimony and the admission that Clemens’ wife used HGH given to her by McNamee.

On the other hand, McNamee was verbally undressed time and again by several members of the committee as a repeated liar, a drug dealer, and someone who has tainted the National Pastime.

Hard to believe him, too.

If we actually had some politicians who cared about discovering the truth rather than keeping to party lines and getting some face time on national TV, this could have been a more useful event.

Posted by Frank Coppola at February 13, 2008 06:28 PM

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