B. Clinton - Yes R. Nixon - No I think liberal pink skins tend to get off easier because they are less likely to be persecuted and prosecuted in the media than conservative pink skins.
I'm thinking that maybe it seems like blacks are getting targeted since we are discussing high profile athletic cases only (OJ, Bonds, Vick, etc.). If you take a look at the other high profile cases, you could argue that there are a lot of white people being made an example of also. In fact, half of what the criminal justice system does is try to make examples out of people as a deterrent. Just some other cases that you may have forgotten about: Andrew Fastow/ conspiracy- 10 years Mrs. Fastow (WIFE!)/ 1 year for tax charge, failing to report his kick-backs Ben Glisan Jr. (enron tresurer)/ 5-years John Rigas (Adelphia)/ 15-years Tim Rigas (his son)/ 20-years Bernie Ebbers/ Worldcom- 13-25 years. I could go on an on. Kozlowski, Martha Stewart, Mark Swartz, Frank Quattrone, Kirk Shelton... All of these people are serving actual jail time. 15 years is a long time when you are 55 years old. My point is just that the media latches on to the guys that we talk about because everybody knows who they are.
I wouldn't call getting impeached for having an affair getting off easy. I can think of a lot of Presidents who had affairs in office who weren't impeached. George HW Bush, Franklin Roosevelt, John Kennedy, Woodrow Wilson, Warren Harding and Dwight Eisenhower have all been rumored to have had affairs in office. It was only an issue for Clinton.
And I think it had more to do with lying under oath about the affair than about actually having one. Though to be fair, no congressional investigating committee or special prosecutor investigating any of those other presidents would have even remotely considered asking him whether the fly remained zipped or not. They would have considered that private, tacky perhaps, but still not something to be brought out in public discourse.
Paula Jones - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Here's a pretty thorough rundown. As with most things, it's complicated. None of those other presidents were ever the defendants in sexual harrassment trials. Clinton defended his contention that she should not be allowed to sue him while he was president and took it all the way to the supreme court... and then lost. What a mess.
Maybe it has more to do with egos then? When a pink skin gets in to trouble; he usually fades away into the darkness.
Some people might think that lying about WMDs in order to start a war, or lying about nuclear programs in order to start another war, or lying about not torturing people, or lying about revealing the identity of a covert CIA agent is more important than lying about sex. Remember...I didn't start this conversation.
This Vick thing is shocking beyond belief. It would get the same attention no matter the ethnic background involved. High profile althlete not only running an illegal gambling ring but chopping up Dogs in his backyard. In some cultures that would be acceptable - this is not one of them. Dogs are highly respected, almost sacred animals here.
He would've gotten only 18 mos. if he didn't bauk about everything. He never came clean. And he was spleafing. [smokin' pot]
Seems the trend continues. Marion Jones just got 6 months in the clink. While baseball's offenders were simply allowed to "open the discussion" with no punishments handed out. Oh, and Tiger Woods should be lynched (but, it's no big deal).
Exactly. Bonds wasn't the only one questioned by investigators (and/or allegedly lied), but he's the only one being prosecuted. AND She was severely punished by her sport. Baseball has done exactly the opposite.
Track and field has had severe repercussions in place for many years now for steroid users, but baseball didn't have ANY policy about it until just a few years ago, so I don't think the lack of retroactive punishments in baseball can really be compared to track and field. As far as lying to investigators, it'll certainly be interesting to see what happens with Clemens. It seems extremely likely that the whole thing with him vs. his trainer will end up with one or the other being totally discredited for lying in a huge way, and quite possibly under oath, so let's see how that one plays out.
I think a lot of it had to do with the fact that track and field has been fighting doping for a long time, and there were checks and balances in place even before MLB even started talking about it. In MLB taking steroids, at least until recently, wasn't considered as bad and wasn't in the center of attention.
The comment by the golf channel lady was very inappropriate. Knowing the history of lynchings and how they were a common practice for so long signifies how very few people really know the history of our country. With many journalists both black and white supporting this lady, I feel comfortable stating that she's not a racist........just ignorant. Her two week suspension was a fair punishment, based on her quick apology........ I was hoping that Marion would get a suspended sentence. Not sure of the chronology of events in her situation, but she seemed heartfully sorry for what she did..............
It appears to me that her attorney worked a good deal for her by getting Jones to plead guilty to the high profile crime of illegal steroid use. By doing this she was able to get a considerable reduction in time for her involvement in a bank-fraud scheme, which is federal crime. Marion Jones Sentenced to Six Months in Prison - New York Times
It still just bothers me why people have to go to jail for lying about using something that is technically not illegal, but maybe banned. Yeah it is cheating in trying get an advantage, but there must be something contractually written that indicates that if you cheat, then you are fired or fined (give moneys, trophys back etc.) But going to the pokey when folks are out there killing people and living free??? No one wants to admit that they cheated, but if the goverment gets involved in the questioning, then you better spill the beans (Mr. Clemens) or you are going to jail
