New baseball blog

[WhirlyGirl]

BASEBALL'S WATERGATE
By Keith Olbermann
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6210240/
NEW YORK - March 11, 2005 - 10:25pmET
One of the nation's most astute politicians once warned that it wasn't the crime that did you in, it was the cover-up. It was Richard Nixon, and he said it before Watergate, and unfortunately for him, he forgot it during Watergate.
Somebody should listen to his words now -- and that somebody is the Commissioner of Baseball, Allan H. “Bud” Selig. . . .
-----------------------

[gkhouston]

1. so what is it about our society today

that makes it so unthinkable to admit wrongdoing, even when such an admission might be in one's best interest in the long term? I think KO's right; if they simply 'fess up, take their lumps, and move on, the whole steroid mess will be behind them before spring training is over. Trying to duck the subpoenas is making this a much bigger story than it has to be.

[WhirlyGirl]

2. The guy on Countdown last night was picturing -- quite reasonably --

... the image of 5 guys testifying as a group before Congress, and that image coming to stand for more than just some guys making a bad decision (in some cases before it was even illegal).

I recall dreading Clinton's making any public statement with the word Monica or Lewinsky in it, for the very reason that I had seen how the MSM (never mind Clinton's detracters in the rad-right press) had a tendency to take a few seconds of footage and loop it endlessly.

Well, you saw what happened, and how the words "I did not have sex with that woman, Ms Lewinsky" came heartbreakingly to stand for the career of a man who stood up for us -- and who has, as a result, been scarcely recognized for it.

The same treatment of the taped record is feared if baseball players appear to talk about steroids. No one knows what any of them will say, inexperienced as they are with understanding the political agenda behind every senator or congressman's question. But they do know that that IMAGE of 5 players testifying will very shortly -- and fairly or unfairly -- come to stand for the game of baseball in the public mind.

That's why I urged Clinton to defy the conventional wisdom which held that "just getting the whole thing out in the open" would enable the country to put the Lewinsky affair behind us, and why I understand baseball not wanting these players to testify, namely:

Personal mistakes are transitory -- but VIDEOTAPE IS FOREVER.

-- WhirlyG

[gkhouston]

12. which presupposes that people want to show the videotape

forever and forever. The Gannon/Guckert thing could be looping endlessly, but it isn't, because the MSM doesn't want it to. I'm not sure that they want the baseball/steroids thing to loop endlessly... yet. But the more baseball tries to cover up, the more "interested" the media will become.

As for the Clinton mess, they showed that crap so much, I really became extremely fond of the Capitol Step's song "Let's Get Over the Bimbo" (to the tune of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"). MSM obsessed on the Monica "news" so much that it ended up saying so much more about the media and the RW repugs than it ever did about Clinton.

[WhirlyGirl]

14. I'm not presupposing. BASEBALL is presupposing. I'm relating...

... what the guy said on the show last night citing the reasons why the players and owners are fighting the subpoenas.

They don't want the image of those guys testifying to become the shorthand way people refer to baseball, the way "Clinton wagging his finger" became the lazy man's way of summarizing Clinton's 8 years.

I have to give them credit for understanding that Congress has their own agenda in calling these hearings, and that the reductionist media can be counted on to encapsulate a complex story within a 6-second soundbite (accompanied every 15 minutes by a specially-written musical theme and a logo).

God bless 'em, they're learning!

[gkhouston]

13. the whole thing with the Lewinsky scandal is that

there were some rabid neocons who were pretty much obsessed with getting Clinton. Think of all the money Starr chucked down a rabbit hole on the Whitewater investigation and the best they could come up with was Monica. No matter what Clinton said or did, they were out to score points off him. I don't think the baseball steroid story is a fair analogy to that, because I don't think Congress has that much skin in the game. I also think, as time goes on, people are remembering more and more of the positives about Clinton's terms in office as blivet** just keeps getting worse and worse.

[WhirlyGirl]

15. Well, see my reply, above...

... this has as much to do with the MSM not wanting to have to think too hard, as it does with what you talked about. "Monica-gate" was as much the invention of the media as it was the political tactic of the rad-right.

So if Congess thinks they can make political hay with the "protecting our children" angle on the steroid scandal (remember there's a midterm election coming up next year), you can depend on the MSM to cooperate fully.

They're super-willing to turn anyone or anything, regardless of inate worthiness, into a CARTOON.

Just ask Howard Dean and Al Gore.

:nuke:

[gkhouston]

16. well, almost anyone

most of them dropped the Gannon/Guckert story like a hot potato, and I can't help thinking of the field day they would have had with a similar story under a different Administration.

It's interesting to see "blivet**'s SS plan not going over well" stories starting to creep into the mix, though, although I'm dumbfounded by Cheney acting as if the problem is just that all is needed is more 'splainin'. No, dumbass; we actually know a shell game when we see one.

[WhirlyGirl]

18. LOL - we don't seem to be in the same conversation here, but that's okay.

[gkhouston]

19. I understand that the media can rip somebody up over nothing

if they want to and that's a definite risk, but KO does have a point that refusing to comply can be twisted into a "what are they hiding, they sure look guilty" story in it's own right. Basically, if the corporate media is set on screwing you, they pretty much find a way to do it.

on edit: and his point that baseball has survived previous scandals is not without merit. I think a lot of people have already figured out that at least some of the players use steroids, so it's not exactly a shocking revelation. A big coverup attempt could be twisted to make it look like everyone does.

[WhirlyGirl]

20. But that wasn't - and isn't - my point, and I can't think of any more ways

... to say it. It's not a matter of life & death, tho.

P.S. The players' and owners' refusing to spill their guts doesn't entitle the media to assume any number of things, IMO. It just means the p's and o's aren't going to let the media "call them out" (maybe they're not Southern! :-)).

----------
<< I understand that the media can rip somebody up over nothing if they want to . . . >> gk

[Catchawave]

3. Gentle Suggestion:

Is this a new Bloggermann? Can we put

Bloggermann 3/11/05: Baseball's Watergate

on the subject line?

I know, I know, group growing pains, but I thought this was about a new BLOG, somewhere...out there...I didn't know it was Keith's....so sorry.

[WhirlyGirl]

4. Good thought, Catch. I'll do that in the future if I'm the one posting it.

[gkhouston]

5. hon, this is your thread. You may still be able to change the title

I'm not sure about the time window. Give it a whirl. (Pun intended.)

[WhirlyGirl]

6. Editing window slammed shut long ago. (Think you only get around 15 min.)

But unless we keep adding to this thread for days on end, the date immediately to the right of the title will pinpoint it fairly closely.

[Catchawave]

9. That's okay.....

It took me MONTHS to learn how to post on LBN....LOL. Now I just get locked for dupes!

Our KOEB Rec Room is still a work in progress, AND it will only get better. It's just that I'm lazy when I check in. As in: Kewl, here's a lovely chatty site >> or Kewl, here's a Keef link.

We can do this! If I can borrow from the LBN rules, can we post official Countdown links AS THEY ARE TITLED ?

Probably why I'm not real keen on posting all KO/countdown links under one thread. Don't get me wrong, but easy to miss !?!

[WhirlyGirl]

10. When are we going to get back to discussing the content of the blog?

This story has the potential to become a big deal.

I responded to gk's question upthread, and I'm wondering if other people had the same thoughts I did.

[Patsy Stone]

7. And has anyone asked...

How he can blog from the future? Friday, March 11 10:25 p.m...
I'm thinkin' he meant a.m.

:)

[gkhouston]

8. hmm... maybe he really is the giant irradiated anchorman

and one of the experiments in the lab has gone awry. Either that or he's trying to establish an alibi... nah, the Gates have already been taken down...

[WhirlyGirl]

11. I wrote the show about it, addressing my comments to the page editor.

He should be able to post his blog directly to the site upon completing it. It's obvious nobody's copy editing it -- so what's the holdup?

[Clark2008]

17. Maybe he has a time machine.

That might explain why he's always ahead of the other media talking heads!

:D