Congressional Train Wreck

John Swinton of the New York Times once said of the press, "Our talents, our possibilities and our lives are all the property of other men. We are intellectual prostitutes."

Glad to see the ESPN baseball analysts are wearing lovely red pumps today.

Look, I've been able to catch bits and pieces of this throughout the day, and I'm more convinced than ever that Clemens is guilty. I was not convinced by Brian McNamee, or Roger Clemens, but by Andy Pettite, Chuck Knoblauch, and this unnamed Nanny. My favorite highlights that I can remember from the very beginning:

"I told the investigators I injected three people -- two of whom I know confirmed my account. The third is sitting at this table." -- Brian McNamee

"Andy Pettitte is my friend. He was my friend before this. He'll be my friend after this. And again, I think he has misheard." -- Roger Clemens

And the new existance of the word, "misremembered." If only the word had been around during the Clinton administration...

Oh, and not to mention an exchange between Roger and William Lacy Clay which amounted to him wasting his time with pointless hero worship.

Other highlights include a Congressman who has worked extensively with drug committees defending McNamee for rolling on everyone late, and a Representative claiming that Mr. Clemens is going to heaven.

As far as the Nanny goes, Clemens' tampering with the witness was glossed over so fast, it made my head spin. He claimed he was doing the Committee a favor by tracking down this lady, but did not turn her over until over 2 days after he found her, invited her to his home, talked with her for an hour, and then had his personal investigators call her and ask her questions.

Hey Roger, don't ever do me any favors. The whole thing stank of terrible, and watching the ESPN talking heads discuss it so far has made me even sicker.

For every real, salient question raised, there is someone there to slam the credibilty of McNamee, and take the glaring light of truth off of Clemens. This is the closest a legendary name in baseball history has ever been to being directly linked to steroids, but if you ask these guys, they'd be much more apt to crucify Barry Bonds than Roger Clemens. There's no shock that the MAWSM habitually takes this stance, and I won't get into them now. But, Rep. Elijah Cummings summed up the hearing in the best possible way during the closing when he said this:

If I walked in here, and it was even-steven, you and Mr. McNamee, I must admit that the person I believe most (pause) is Mr. Pettitte.

I've listened to you very carefully. And I take you at your word. And you're telling me that Andy Pettitte is an honest man, and his credibility is pretty much impeccable. … You said you were misunderstood. But all I'm saying is, it's hard to believe. It's hard to believe your story.

I hate to say that... You're one of my heores. But it's hard to believe you.

Roger Clemens. Owned.