Wise Up Wise Guy ...

Word is that Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) intends on recommending to the congressional committee, which has previously hosted current and past MLB baseball players, that Alex Rodriguez receive an invite to testify about his use of steroids. "I think we're going to have to see what Rodriguez will tell us," Cummings said in a phone interview with Newsday. "He is in a confessing mode, so maybe he needs to put his apology into some meaningful action by cooperating with the committee so we can see if there are things we need to reopen to make sure baseball is doing all that it can to rid itself of this kind of practice."

But Rep. Cummings, hasn't Congress already wasted too much valuable time and taxpayer dollars on this issue? If Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association were serious about ridding the sport of illegal performance-enhancing substances, all that would require is an all-inclusive and panoptic testing program, of which the consequence of any player's clear and definite positive test would result in that player's permanent, lifetime ban from professional baseball ... period. However, we're all aware that when foxes are allowed to guard the henhouse, the outcome can be easily foreseen and expected. The fact is, neither MLB nor the MLBPA have yet to get serious concerning this issue, although the majority of the blame for it lies squarely upon their obviously narrow shoulders. That being a well established fact, along with the evident reality that many of these professional athletes possess neither the morals nor the character to refrain from committing such unlawful or licentious acts under their own volition, some entity somewhere must assume the responsibility of policing them. That entity should be Major League Baseball.

Rep. Cummings, how many more congressional hearings and oversight committees will be needed before Congress simply passes legislation that would essentially force MLB and MLBPA to clean up their acts and forever end the steroid era? It has been irrefutably evidenced that they are not yet willing to accomplish that, and this shameful mess has been permitted to continue far too long. What more could a now proven liar such as Alex Rodriguez possibly tell Congress that would be of any positive value? Anything he might say would merely serve to add to the endless pages of testimony from other cheats and liars already at your disposal. It's time for Congress to either move swiftly and with firmness to resolve this issue, or get off the pot! ... Don't waste another minute or another dollar, for our country is presently facing far too many serious and pressing problems for that. The economy is in shambles, folks are losing their jobs, their pensions, their savings and their homes ... unemployment is rising, the dollar is falling ... folks have to choose between a bottle of medicine or a month's worth of food ... thieves in government and on Wall Street are robbing us blind ... more than a trillion tax dollars are being given to God-knows-who with little to no oversight ... ridiculous rules and regulations are being forced down our throats until common sense no longer has a place in our society ... the list is endless ... the point is, this is not the time for Congress to be wasting time on MLB or steroids, you've had sufficient information and plenty of opportunities to have already dealt with it ... either enact and enforce laws that would compel MLB to wholly get rid of illegal performance-enhancing substances, or drop the subject altogether and move on to solving our country's real problems ... our nation needs your undivided attention ... by the way, Rep. Elijah Cummings, you've been in Congress for several years now, maybe you are one of the many that should be apologizing for the poor condition our country is in today.

Lastly, although he deserves whatever he gets for his use of illegal drugs .. cheating .. lying .. and theft ... I have a piece of advice for Alex Rodriguez ... Alex, when and if you receive that invitation from Rep. Cummings to come before a congressional committee to tell your story ... you should respectfully decline, but if not, by all means keep your mouth shut when you get there ... because if the government can't get you any other way, they will resort to setting you up for a federal perjury charge ... just ask Miguel Tejada, Barry Bonds and soon to be Roger Clemens ... so A-Rod, you need to find a cure for stupid real fast ... so wise up.

--sja