Facing the Facts
There’s a few different ways I could start this blog. Since baseball season is just around the corner, I’m going to start off by talking about Barry Bonds.
I remember that, when Bonds played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, he was an easy guy to root against. He was extremely talented, but he could be arrogant, too, and he was often rude to reporters and fans.
Then, in 1993, the San Francisco Giants signed Bonds as a free agent. Since his father, Bobby Bonds, had played for the Giants, and Bonds had grown up in the San Francisco Bay Area, it was like our Prodigal Son had come home. We greeted Bonds with open arms. (He could still be a jerk, but he was our jerk, now.)
We marveled at baseball prowess for years. We watched as he racked up MVP awards and All-Star appearances, set home run records and knocked ball after ball out of AT&T Park and into the water.
When the rumors started that Bonds was taking performance enhancing drugs, we didn’t want to believe it. We thought that people were picking on Bonds because, most of the time, he was still aloof and arrogant. Fans across the country booed him, because he was so talented, just the way we had booed him when he was a Pirate.
Then some investigative reporters from the San Francisco Chronicle, the Giants home newspaper, dug into the rumors and learned the truth. They laid out the facts in great detail, in a series of stories. Bonds, and many other well known athletes, were cheating by using steroids and other PEDs.
It was tough news to hear. We didn’t want to believe it, but it was right there in black and white. We read the stories, reviewed the facts, and collectively put an asterisk next to many of Bonds’ records.
***
I’ve been a fan of Bill Cosby my whole life. Years before the Cosby Show, on my way to Sunday school or summer camp, I would repeat some of Cosby’s famous routine about God telling Noah to build an ark.
When the rumors surfaced that Cosby was drugging women and raping them, I didn’t want to believe it. None of us did. But, when woman after woman came forward to accuse him of the same thing, it became harder and harder to deny. Eventually, we had to face the facts.
***
The Starr investigation into Bill Clinton was a snipe hunt if I ever saw one. It went on and on, into every aspect of Clinton’s life, and never amounted to anything. There were never any indictments. Nobody turned against Clinton and became a witness for the prosecution.
And then, the Lewinsky story broke. There was no early denial this time. Our image of Clinton wasn’t shattered. It sounded just like him!
I was mad at Ken Starr, but I was mad at Clinton, too, for fooling around with this girl when he knew his enemies were out to get him. I read the Starr report all the way through, the steamy parts and the perjury parts. I had to admit, my guy screwed up, big time.
***
Another investigation is underway right now for our current president, and this one isn’t a snipe hunt. There’s blood in the water, and Robert Mueller’s team is swirling around like sharks, interviewing witnesses, and issuing indictments and subpoenas. Three members of Trump’s inner circle have turned on him and are now testifying against the President. The Worst Case Scenarios, which I wrote about a year ago, have broadened to include money laundering via shady real estate deals in New York, Florida and elsewhere.
Perjury, subornation of perjury, collusion, espionage, it’s all still on the table. Trump could not only face impeachment - he and his sons and son-in-law could face time in prison.
Yet, millions of Americans are still backing their guy. They seem blissfully unaware of the scandals and the chaos in the White House. It’s Fake News, they say. The Swamp is out to get Trump. This is a witch hunt. “He’s doing good things,” a friend of mine told me recently. “It just takes a while to get things turned around.”
I didn’t know what to say to my friend when he said that. Where would I even begin to refute that statement? It drove home the fact that our country is split in two, not between Republicans and Democrats so much as between the Fox News audience and the Mainstream News audience.
What’s going to happen when the trap finally snaps shut? Mueller at some point is going to lay out his indictments against the Trumps the way he did against Manafort and the thirteen Russian agents. Will Trump’s people read the news and face the facts?
Will they turn on Trump, and say, “We knew that guy was bad news all along. Mike Pence will be a great President!” Or, will they deny it all, and say it’s corrupt, partisan, fake?
What will happen to our country if they do?
I remember that, when Bonds played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, he was an easy guy to root against. He was extremely talented, but he could be arrogant, too, and he was often rude to reporters and fans.
Then, in 1993, the San Francisco Giants signed Bonds as a free agent. Since his father, Bobby Bonds, had played for the Giants, and Bonds had grown up in the San Francisco Bay Area, it was like our Prodigal Son had come home. We greeted Bonds with open arms. (He could still be a jerk, but he was our jerk, now.)
We marveled at baseball prowess for years. We watched as he racked up MVP awards and All-Star appearances, set home run records and knocked ball after ball out of AT&T Park and into the water.
When the rumors started that Bonds was taking performance enhancing drugs, we didn’t want to believe it. We thought that people were picking on Bonds because, most of the time, he was still aloof and arrogant. Fans across the country booed him, because he was so talented, just the way we had booed him when he was a Pirate.
Then some investigative reporters from the San Francisco Chronicle, the Giants home newspaper, dug into the rumors and learned the truth. They laid out the facts in great detail, in a series of stories. Bonds, and many other well known athletes, were cheating by using steroids and other PEDs.
It was tough news to hear. We didn’t want to believe it, but it was right there in black and white. We read the stories, reviewed the facts, and collectively put an asterisk next to many of Bonds’ records.
***
I’ve been a fan of Bill Cosby my whole life. Years before the Cosby Show, on my way to Sunday school or summer camp, I would repeat some of Cosby’s famous routine about God telling Noah to build an ark.
When the rumors surfaced that Cosby was drugging women and raping them, I didn’t want to believe it. None of us did. But, when woman after woman came forward to accuse him of the same thing, it became harder and harder to deny. Eventually, we had to face the facts.
***
The Starr investigation into Bill Clinton was a snipe hunt if I ever saw one. It went on and on, into every aspect of Clinton’s life, and never amounted to anything. There were never any indictments. Nobody turned against Clinton and became a witness for the prosecution.
And then, the Lewinsky story broke. There was no early denial this time. Our image of Clinton wasn’t shattered. It sounded just like him!
I was mad at Ken Starr, but I was mad at Clinton, too, for fooling around with this girl when he knew his enemies were out to get him. I read the Starr report all the way through, the steamy parts and the perjury parts. I had to admit, my guy screwed up, big time.
***
Another investigation is underway right now for our current president, and this one isn’t a snipe hunt. There’s blood in the water, and Robert Mueller’s team is swirling around like sharks, interviewing witnesses, and issuing indictments and subpoenas. Three members of Trump’s inner circle have turned on him and are now testifying against the President. The Worst Case Scenarios, which I wrote about a year ago, have broadened to include money laundering via shady real estate deals in New York, Florida and elsewhere.
Perjury, subornation of perjury, collusion, espionage, it’s all still on the table. Trump could not only face impeachment - he and his sons and son-in-law could face time in prison.
Yet, millions of Americans are still backing their guy. They seem blissfully unaware of the scandals and the chaos in the White House. It’s Fake News, they say. The Swamp is out to get Trump. This is a witch hunt. “He’s doing good things,” a friend of mine told me recently. “It just takes a while to get things turned around.”
I didn’t know what to say to my friend when he said that. Where would I even begin to refute that statement? It drove home the fact that our country is split in two, not between Republicans and Democrats so much as between the Fox News audience and the Mainstream News audience.
What’s going to happen when the trap finally snaps shut? Mueller at some point is going to lay out his indictments against the Trumps the way he did against Manafort and the thirteen Russian agents. Will Trump’s people read the news and face the facts?
Will they turn on Trump, and say, “We knew that guy was bad news all along. Mike Pence will be a great President!” Or, will they deny it all, and say it’s corrupt, partisan, fake?
What will happen to our country if they do?
No comments have been added yet.
