Crackpot Tries to 'Arrest' Rove

Karl Rove should expect this nonsense whenever he sets foot in the Bay Area. It's something in the water, I believe. And no, apparently it's not that maniac Cindy Sheehan.

There was major political theater involving President Bush's former chief of staff Karl Rove. A protestor tried to arrest Rove for treason Tuesday morning while he was speaking at the Mortgage Bankers Association Convention, continuing in San Francisco.

There were three protests during a very lively back and forth between former senate majority leader George Mitchell and Karl Rove. Rove blamed the Democrats for everything wrong with the economy.

A protestor tried to smack handcuffs on Karl Rove, but Rove slapped back, and the woman was taken off stage.

There was also this interesting observation from Karl Rove:

"So the regulators in 2005 were the Republicans and the deregulators, the anti-regulators, the let them do anything they want crowd, were all Democrats - with all due respect," said Rove.

There were two more protests and then this exchange:

"Yesterday, John Kerry, your nominee of your party in 2004, stands up and said if John McCain was asked the question of whether he wears boxers or briefs his answer would be Depends. I think that is pretty much under the table and pretty nasty," said Rove.

More here.

Here's some video:

Clemens Denies Steroid Allegations

What else do you do when your reputation goes down the crapper?

You lawyer up and deny, deny, deny.

After being implicated of steroids use in the report former Senator George Mitchell released this afternoon, Roger Clemens has enlisted the services of powerful Houston attorney Rusty Hardin to defend him from the accusations.

"Roger Clemens vehemently denies allegations in the Mitchell report that he used performance-enhancing steroids, and is outraged that his name is included in the report based on the uncorroborated allegations of a troubled man threatened with federal criminal prosecution. Roger has been repeatedly tested for these substances and he has never tested positive. There has never been one shred of tangible evidence that he ever used these substances and yet he is being slandered today,” Hardin said in a release sent to the media.

“The use of steroids in sports is a serious problem, it is wrong and it should be stopped.

“However, I am extremely upset that Roger’s name was in this report based on the allegations of a troubled and unreliable witness who only came up with names after being threatened with possible prison time.”

In the release, Hardin's office specifically addressed the claims that were made in the Mitchell Report by Clemens' former trainer Brian McNamee, who also linked Andy Pettitte to steroids use.

"Brian McNamee, a former trainer who worked with Clemens on the Toronto Blue Jays and the New York Yankees, has repeatedly denied these current claims, including in June of this year when he was first contacted by federal investigators," the release stated. "According to McNamee, after a day of repeated denials to federal investigators, he changed his story under the threat of federal criminal prosecution. He says he was then forced by those federal prosecutorial authorities to tell the same story for inclusion in the Mitchell report."

Frankly, I believe little of what Clemens has to say. He should just fade quietly away and count the millions the Yankees threw at him.

I always considered Andy Pettitte more of a straight shooter and am disturbed to find out he may have also used performance-enhancing drugs.

Here's a complete list of players named in the Mitchell report, 77 in all. Many no longer are in baseball and quite a few I've never heard of (Tim Laker? Bobby Estalella? Bart Miadich?).

Now at least we know perhaps why John Rocker behaved so erratically.

Still, back in 2003, it was reported 7% of major leaguers failed drug tests, so I find the list to be fairly limited. Jose Canseco alleged in his book that many players used steroids or HGH, and I have to think many more than 77 managed to escape this report.

Still, it's a dark day for baseball, which really has a dilemma on its hands as to how to treat the records of some of the players listed. I think those who are Hall of Fame candidates such as Barry Bonds and Clemens may now have a long wait before they're ever enshrined in Cooperstown.

Former Met Attendant Naming Names

Looks like the dog is starting to hunt upstream now.

Report: Ex-clubhouse attendant revealed names of clients to Mitchell

NEW YORK -- A former Mets clubhouse attendant revealed the names of major league players who bought steroids from him to baseball's chief steroid investigator, SI.com reported Tuesday.

Kirk Radomski, who pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in April to felony charges of distributing steroids and laundering money, met recently with former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell, according to the report. He faces up to 25 years in prison and a $500,000 fine at his sentencing, scheduled for Sept. 7.

As part of the plea deal, Radomski agreed to testify before a grand jury, if needed, and to meet with investigators from baseball's own steroids investigation.

Now, understand that it is a far cry from this guy coming up with a list of names and proving the players took the stuff. They can always try the Gary Matthews Jr. defense of saying "yeah, I bought the stuff but I never took it and you can't prove otherwise."

True, but baseball does not have to prove it in a court of law to take action. Several things to consider:

First, Commissioner Bud Selig, if he ever grows a pair, can ban players for the good of the game. That is a possiblity here, and I think eventually he will have to make an example of some players, similar to the Black Sox scandal and Pete Rose, to put this behind them.

Second, Congress may decide they've had enough of this and step in, especially if it starts looking like the Player's Union is going to bluster their way through this. If I were involved in the union right now, I would be very careful and step very lightly in this situation.

Third, how long do you think it will take for that list of names to leak out? And won't it get interesting if a certain big-headed left handed home run hitter shows up on that list of names?

So far he admitted he took the stuff but said he did not realize it was steroids at the time. If he shows up on that list, then even that transparent cover story falls apart.

Then we will have asterisks everywhere in the record books.