The United States Prosecuted Roger Clemens While The World Burned

Here are some things that have happened while the United States of America has spent thousands of dollars and untold man-hours attempting to bring ex-baseball player Roger Clemens to justice:

Financial executives and bankers continued to show they learned nothing from the financial crisis of 2008, as JP Morgan lost $2 billion thanks to unnecessarily risky trading.

The Occupy Movement and other protestors planned to descend on Chicago in conjunction with the NATO Summit, a stark reminder that despite the movement’s numbers and momentum, lawmakers have done nothing to address out country’s wealth disparity.

Our court system debated whether or not it’s OK for cops to taser a fucking pregnant woman who doesn’t want to sign a traffic ticket, showing that our country continues to have a massive problem as it relates to civil rights and authority, particularly for minorities and the impoverished.

Republicans turned to obfuscation and legislation to deprive citizens of voting rights and assure that they can continue to rig elections in their favor.

The GREAT state of Arizona passed a law that states that whatever debt collection agencies claim you owe them, you actually owe them. (via Eschaton)

We learned that the BP oil spill continues to poison seafood from the Gulf, affecting not only consumer health but Gulf Coast business viability.

The federal government granted Louisiana $10 million to help turn around its failing education system — but is doing so by forcing low-performing schools to close or become charter schools, part of a growing and terrifying disparity between public and private schools across the county.

Congress prepped for future battles on the debt ceiling and increased taxes, either of which could prove a nightmare for most Americans if things go the wrong way.

Some wars continued and stuff.

Of course if the United States elected not to prosecute Clemens, that wouldn’t instantly solve any or all of the above problems. But perhaps the federal government should make strides to get its house in order and address the many severe problems facing this country. Perhaps it should pursue dangerous criminals instead of pitchers, and perhaps it should devote its finite resources to problems that actually harm people.

Ryan Braun as Sports Media Case Study

Ryan Braun’s successful appeal, and the resultant overturning of his 50-game suspension for violating baseball’s PED policy, unleashed a torrent of articles, blog posts, television yelling and finger-shaking. So many opinions. So many words.

Now, a week later, the issue’s been dropped so people can write and scream about more pressing issues like Bobby Valentine banning beer in the Red Sox clubhouse. But the Braun kerfuffle is valuable as a perfect example of the sports media cycle today — particularly as it relates to the aggravating issue of baseball PEDs, but it goes beyond that. This is how it always happens.

An incident occurs.

In this case, Ryan Braun wins his appeal.