Sunday, April 16, 2006

Barry Bonds and Perjury

I don't really understand what the big deal about Barry Bonds and perjury is. The case that's being investigated is whether or not he lied to a grand jury in 2003. It's been reported previously that Bonds told the grand jury that he used the "cream" and the "clear" which turned out to be steroids, but didn't know what they were. The question is whether or not Bonds knew that these were steroids. Seems pretty hard to prove.

But is ignorance any excuse for breaking the law? I always thought the answer was no. If you killed someone and then said, "well, I thought it was ok" you wouldn't gain any more sympathy. Likewise if Barry Bonds had been smoking crack. In other words, who cares if he lied, he took steroids, that should be the end of the question. While we may wonder about the duration of how long he took steroids, it seems to me a more constructive question would be to find out who else was taking steroids.


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4 comments:

PJ said...

If anyone should be investigated for perjury, it should be Rafael Palmeiro. The man emphatically lied on the stand during nationally broadcast Congressional hearings.

This isn't to say that the other ballplayers in those hearings didn't lie, but Palmeiro's example is so flagrant that if they don't go after him, who will they go after?

Blogman said...

Well oddly enough, he didn't necessarily lie, right? He said in March that he never used steroids, but then got caught using steroids in August. Perhaps some time between March and August was the first time he used them?

I agree, however, his testimony was the most obvious. While I dislike Barry Bonds, I can't help but think that the media is targeting him a little too much.

Since steroids can make men grow breasts, I did find this funny.

Anonymous said...

Can't they all plead the 5th?

Blogman said...

Sort of too late for that since he already said things to the grand jury. He could have plead the 5th to the grand jury and not testified at all.