Clemens hearing useless unless we learn from it

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Roger Clemens squirmed, blustered and got indignant. Brian McNamee perspired, grimaced and weathered accusations that he was a liar and a "drug dealer." Hopefully, somewhere, a high school athlete took it all in and decided steroids weren't worth the aggravation. Rep. Tom Davis of Virginia acknowledged that "someone is lying in spectacular fashion," and his fellow representatives took turns pointing the finger at either Clemens or McNamee -- oddly enough, to a degree, along party lines, as if this had anything to do with politics. With any luck, somewhere, a youth coach heard enough and decided to pay closer attention to his athletes' fitness habits. Congressman Lynn A. Westmoreland, of Georgia, criticized his brethren for even holding Wednesday's hearing, which focused solely on McNamee's disputed claim in the Mitchell Report that he injected the greatest pitcher of this era with steroids and human growth hormone. Westmoreland called it a "show trial." It was. But that didn't make it a bad thing. Show the world the fools. A couple of other members expressed their disappointment that the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform bothered with this baseball dispute, suggesting they had other work to do. They do. Of course, they aren't very good at it, judging by the amount of meaningful progress they actually make on Capitol Hill these days. No, this hearing wasn't necessary. But if we're all lucky, it was useful. If we're lucky, it will serve a bigger purpose beyond the impossible task of deciding whose invisible wooden nose had grown 12 inches longer. Lon Sobel, a Southwestern Law School professor who has testifying before Congress on baseball's antitrust exemption, said the hearings could be considered an appropriate use of the politicians' "bully pulpit." "You can argue that college, high school and Little League players were being permitted, by way of the toleration of Major League Baseball, to use performance-enhancing drugs; that this is the accepted way to play better," Sobel said earlier this week. "Now you're getting into the area of public health. Congress is effectively trying to protect young players. They are making an example (of Clemens and McNamee)." And so they did, even sacrificing some of their own dignity for the common good. It was an odd proceeding at times, full-throated theater. Perfect. The more ready-made highlights, the better. With any luck, somewhere, a parent catching the news late last night decided to ask a kid some questions. Clearly some of the politicians had made up their minds about the odd couple, and looked foolishly biased. Representative Dan Burton, a Republican from Indiana, ridiculed McNamee, highlighting the trainer's past lies and his revisions of testimony. He called McNamee's account "disgusting," then called Clemens a "titan," and you half expected him to produce a ball and ask Clemens for an autograph. Laughable. Rep. William Lacy Clay, a Missouri Democrat, asked Clemens which uniform he'd wear to the Hall of Fame. Are you kidding? How about an orange jumpsuit, if this thing really takes off? Not everyone was star-struck. Chairman Henry Waxman, a California Democrat, repeatedly took shots at Clemens and suggested he had tampered with a witness. Rep. Elijah Cummings, a Maryland Democrat, said the person he believed most was a man excused from the hearing, Andy Pettitte, whose damning testimony cannot be dismissed as "misheard" or "misunderstood," as his friend Clemens insisted. Cummings told the Rocket, "You're one of my heroes, but it's hard to believe you." Iowa Democrat Bruce Braley even criticized Clemens' alibi, noting that vitamin B-12 injections are medical procedures for anemics and demented seniors, not healthy ballplayers. Not everyone picked sides. Rep. Mark Souder (R-Ind.) was ticked at everyone. He condemned the sport's owners and players. "The wall of silence coming out of baseball is disgusting," he said, adding it couldn't be trusted to do its own testing. Anyway, it's hard to imagine this going much further into the realm of a perjury charge against McNamee or Clemens, considering the apparent lack of physical or admissible evidence. As Sobel put it, "Despite the fact that (the U. S. Attorney's office) might have a firm opinion that one person or the other has lied, the standards for reaching those conclusions in a court of law make it very hard." Of course, if the government really wants to make an example, maybe Clemens will follow Barry Bonds to a federal courtroom. In the meantime, we just hope that everyone got the point. Steroids in baseball: bad. Public humiliation as a consequence: good. John Duncan, a Tennessee Republican, wasn't thrilled that the Clemens-McNamee Spitting Contest ended up as a stand-alone show in Congress. But he acknowledged that the Senate hearings three years ago had forced baseball to toughen its drug program, and that Wednesday's hearing at least might be "a wake-up call to parents and young athletes across the country." If not, well, then it was just entertainment, another Judge Joe Brown show, without a winner.(Contact Gregg Patton at gpatton@PE.com.)(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)