Major League Baseball officials met with the Albany District Attorney’s Office yesterday. It’s being reported the MLB is “trying to gain the same kind of cooperation with investigators that the NFL has received.”
Beautiful. Big business cozying up with the government. How do you think that’s going to turn out?
We got a glimpse last week when someone in the Albany District Attorney’s Office decided to smear Rick Ankiel – along with Troy Glaus and Jay Gibbons – by leaking medical records to the media.
Ankiel is a great baseball story and a great baseball player.
His medical records don’t change that.
They can tap his phone and read his emails and track the Web sites he visits and that won’t change it either. They can follow him around and find out what books he reads and throw his friends in jail if they won’t testify against him and it still won’t change.
Ankiel was a good pitcher who remade himself into good hitter.
The people chasing him have only made a mess of everything this country is supposed to stand for, starting with the fact that no one should be branded by the type of medical treatment they receive. That’s why such matters are supposed to be between a doctor and a patient.
But I guess we are well past that now. The Albany District Attorney’s Office is part of the government that once stood for decency and now stands for torture. They are part of the team that’s ripped democracy out by the roots and shook out every last dollar.
If this government were as concerned with providing medical care as they are with disclosing confidential medical records there wouldn’t be more that 46 million Americans that can’t even go to a doctor when they’re sick.
But this government isn’t about what’s good for people anymore. It’s about what’s good for business.
A partnership between the Albany District Attorney’s Office and Major League Baseball is good for business.
And that’s perfect for America these days.
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4 comments:
You hit the nail on the head. This is all about having power over baseball players. They want to make sure the rest of us are afraid of what the government can do. Mission Accomplished. I fear nothing more than I fear my own government.
As a customer who pays a lot of money to watch legitimate competition I think I have a right to know if I'm being defrauded by Glaus or Giambi or whomever else. What would be the motivation for MLB to "smear" its players? That only hurts the baseball business. MLB should be interested in protecting the integrity of the competition. It the games are not on the level the games are meaningless.
As for business cozying up with government, that's a different story and a consequence of 20th century style liberalism.
Lastly, I take issue with the idea that government is supposed to be "concerned with providing health care." Especially since you earlier show concern for the ideals "this country is supposed to stand for." Any reading of the Constitution and the founding of this republic makes it very clear that government's powers and responsibilities are to be limited and defined. The belief was that ordinary people could take care of themselves and their neighbors and did not need to be lorded over and therefore tyrannized by the state. That is the essence of true liberalism and the basic ideal of the founders. We were warned time and again about the expansion of the federal government and the consolidation of power, responsibility and control. Sadly, we've ignored these warnings and disregarded the Constitution.
Anyway, I like the blog. Keep it up.
Danny,
The Albany DA leaked the information to the media and “smeared” the players. It is a clear violation of every basic right to privacy in this country. I would imagine that you wouldn’t want your complete medical history printed along with your photo and place of employment in every newspaper in the country. None of us would. I think that’s the point.
It’s easy to say people should take care of themselves when you are able, but you are welcomed to your opinion on healthcare. I just don’t agree.
Donna,
If the AG's office was the source for the story then I agree. Without formal charges this information should remain sealed until a case can be brought.
However, does this info constitute a medical history or a history of illegally purchasing steroids from a lab?
As far as privacy goes: How about keeping Washington out of our local schools? Privacy between employer and employee? The IRS taking private property? The right of private transportation industries to arm their employees and protect their property and passengers? Privacy between physicians and patients? Indeed, there are quite a few privacy issues to be concerned about.
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