I am pretty sure one of Clemens' advisors is George Costanza...

I watched today's congressional hearing with Roger Clemens and Brian McNamee with a lot of interest, because it was evident that someone was going to perjure himself today.  As an attorney, I have a hard time believing that lying under oath is ever worth the punishment that comes with perjury.  So I guess in the back of my mind I somewhat expected either McNamee or Clemens to scream "Uncle!" at the last minute and confess they were perpetuating a lie.

And then the hearing started, and the bombshell was dropped on Clemens that his pitching buddy Andy Petitte confirmed that Roger Clemens spoke with him on at least one occasion about using performance enhancing drugs - steroids and HGH.  Then it came out that Chuck Knoblauch had a similar conversation with Clemens.

When asked to explain, Clemens answered affirmatively that he thought Petitte was an honest, upstanding guy, who would never lie about such things.  Then Clemens said Petitte "Misremembered" or "misheard".

Then Congressman Elijah Cummings from Maryland laid out the case against Roger Clemens beautifully - so far everyone that McNamee has said he injected with performance enhancing drugs has admitted so, confirming that McNamee was telling the truth.  Corroborating evidence had been gathered that seems to support McNamee's claims and refutes Clemens' story.  How, Congressman Cummings asked, are we supposed to believe that McNamee was telling the truth when it came to everyone else, but he is not telling the truth when it comes to Clemens.

Clemens' response: McNamee is lying.

Clemens response reminded me of an old episode of Seinfeld.  In the episode, Jerry is dating  a cop, who accuses Jerry of secretly being a fan of Melrose Place.  When Jerry denies the accusation, the cop challenges Jerry to take a lie detector test.  Panicking, Jerry asks George how to beat a lie detector.  George offers the following sage advice to Jerry: "Remember, it is not a lie if you believe it!" (despite the advice, Jerry failed the lie detector test).

I am pretty sure that Costanza also advised Clemens, because it sounded like Clemens had repeated the same lie often enough that he (Clemens) actually believes he never used steroids.  Despite the fact that McNamee's story is far more plausible and reasonable than Clemens', Roger continued the character assault on McNamee.   He repeated the same line over and over that the only conclusion one could reach is that Clemens actually believes what he was saying.  Despite the fact that Clemens' story is just not reasonable.  George would be proud.

Now don't get me wrong, McNamee is not a saint by any means.  But like Canseco when he made steroid allegations nearly four years ago, McNamee's allegations are continuing to be affirmed over and over.  McNamee has his own personal demons, without question, but after today's hearing, unless you are a real Clemens homer, you had to conclude that McNamee was far more believable than Clemens. 

In short, this was a bad day for Clemens.

A couple of other observation about the hearing itself.  Having worked on Capitol Hill, I am familiar with the committee process in addition to committee traditions.  On the positive side, I have to congratulate Chairman Waxman.  I am by no means a fan of Mr. Waxman, but he deserves a lot of credit for the way he has handled this entire affair.  If anyone comes out smelling like a rose, I think it was Chairman Waxman.  He was fair, courteous, yet stern.  Waxman's demeanor was consistent not only with the committee's rules, but also with the longstanding traditions in Congress.

On the flip side, as a Republican, I was embarrassed today by the actions of the minority Republicans on the Committee (with the exception of Mark Souder).  Dan Burton was absolutely idiotic, and Tom Davis wasn't much better.  The Democrats did focus more on Clemens than on McNamee, but by no means were the Democrats easy on McNamee.  But at no point did the Democrats call anyone a liar, the way Congressman Burton did.  While it was clear that someone was lying today, it was impossible for anyone (let alone Burton) to reach a conclusion today.  I understand the Republicans may want to believe Clemens over McNamee, and that is fine, but the committee process in Congress is supposed to have an air of fairness and respect.  Burton and Davis flushed those traditions down the toilet.

Is this an issue Congress should be involved in?  Yes and no.  Yes Congress should be concerned about the proliferation of 'roids and HGH in sports and society.  No, Congress should not be concerned about specific players and accusations against those players.  But it is understandable how Congress may want to make an example of someone who lies about the use of steroids under oath.  Barry Bonds is already being taken care of on the West Coast.  Consider that Clemens was the first - and biggest - name Congress could go after.  And they did.

In my opinion, with the exception of Chairman Waxman, Congressmen Cummings, Shays and Souder, the rest of the actors in today's drama acted in a boorish and inexcusable manner.

However, at the end of the day, I can say without question that George Costanza lost his title as "Lord of the Idiots" to Roger Clemens.

Comments

[Lacy Lyons]

There is so much gray area concerning this case. Technically speaking, anyone who has ever taken medicine for respiratory conditions ( such as asthma) has consumed steroids. There are different types of steroids and hormones that are in dietary supplements and medications. Depending on whether or not he was taking steroids and growth hormones should not be the only issue. If the defendant was consuming any illegal drugs, or any legal drugs that may disqualify him from his position, should be the issue. There are many ways to provide evidence of his habits, or lack of bad habits. If he wants to clear his name, than he must sacrifice a portion of his pride in order to prove his innocence. It must be difficult for him to talk about his personal life and his choices to take dietary supplements or stimulants or not to. The main issues need to be addressed and he could turn this potential disaster into an after-school special. If Clemens did have a problem, than maybe he could come forward and try to show others that the stress and obsession to be THE BEST, caused him to turn to something that could ruin his career. If someone like him, who is a role model to some, could make this mistake, he should take responsibility and get help. If Clemens is able to overcome this, he could turn his life around and help others recognize that you should not sacrifice everything, including your career, to be THE BEST.

[Mary Collins]

It appears the Clemens has lost reverence for the sport and needs to take lessons on integrity. I agree with ESPN, maybe Clemens has repeated to himself so many times that he hasn't used steroids that actually believes he didn't. What is so upsetting about this whole steroid scandal to me is that fact that many top star athletes are involved with it, it just make me want to stay away from the sport period .