Barry Bonds will be Exploited by Fox et al to Moblize GOP Base

[McCamy Taylor]

This is how the GOP has worked ever since Nixon climbed to the top of the Republican garbage heap. They pander to the red neck base before elections by doing a media lynching of an "uppidy" black man. Remember how mad all the NASCAR dads were at Congress when they made Mark McGuire cry? Well, this is a whole different show.

We have already seen signs that the Bush administration likes to feed african-americans to the media wolves. Of all the journalists they paid, they chose to out Armstrong Williams when they needed some media coverage during the tail end of Selection 2004. McKinney is being treated like Tysen for supposedly assaulting a Capital Hill security officer with a cell phone. Harold Ford Jr.'s uncle was the target of a FBI sting (they love to target african-american politicians, dont they) which was announced the day after he announced his Senate run.

And dont forget immigrants. All this talk about "fear the immigrants" is not supposed to sway voters in Texas or California. We know who runs the kitchen of the local restaurants and who cuts the grass. People from Mexico. We love them. The immigrant talk is supposed to freak out white voters in the deep south. Bill Frist's base.

Why all this renewed hostility towards minorities? Maybe they are afraid of Katrina. Maybe they think southern voters have a lot of hate, and the GOP wants to make sure that southern whites direct it where their wealthy masters have always encouraged them to direct it...at their non-white neighbors rather than their distant landlords.

Anyway, the administration and the GOP would just love it if NASCAR dads spend the summer talking about how people like Bonds are a bad example for American youth and completely forget that people like George W. Bush encouraged their players to use drugs to make their owners more money. They would like their base to stew about how much money Bonds has and how little they have, until they get good and mad and go to the polls and vote against the party that african-americans vote for.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

1. Isn't Bonds a Republican?

[WildEyedLiberal]

2. Plenty of liberals think Bonds is a complete asshole.

Trying to inject race into the Barry Bonds roid scandal is pretty ridiculous. I sincerely believe that if a white guy on 'roids was fast approaching one of baseball's most hallowed records, and there was abundant evidence out there that he was using illegal drugs, the scandal would be the same. Race has nothing to do with this - if anything, Barry's asshole attitude has prejudiced more people against him that the color of his skin has.

Edit: I know it was ignored when McGwire broke Maris's record, but it was ignored for Sosa, too. Now that it's obvious to everyone that McGwire was 'roided up during his record-breaking season, his previously guaranteed spot in the Hall of Fame has been cast into doubt and most fans have become disillusioned with him. I know I certainly have as a St. Louis Cardinals fan.

[LeaveIraqNow]

3. There was no real evidence in 98.

There was always the suspicion but there was no real evidence. With Bonds you have he BALCO scandal and now a book giving some really damning evidence.

The commission supposedly could go back a few years so its possible they get back into Mcgwire and Sosa.

[WildEyedLiberal]

4. Yeah, no one was really talking about steroids or testing like now

McGwire all but admitted he had used 'roids in his testimony to Congress, and just the simple act of pleading the fifth will likely bar him from the Hall of Fame. So it's bogus for the OP to claim that cracking down on steroids is somehow racist. Have you read any of that book? I read the excerpt of it in Sports Illustrated, and it seems pretty ludicrous for Barry and all involved to continue to deny it. I really don't see how steroids in baseball is going to somehow overshadow 2006 elections, unless Barry starts making a serious run at Aaron's record, but even then, tough shit, other news happens in election years besides elections, and it's bogus to insist that baseball news is going to benefit one party or the other.

Welcome to DU btw!

[erpowers]

5. McGwire Broke Record

I tend to think that the real reason the Sosa steroids issue was ignored was that Mark McGwire broke the record. I contend that if Sosa had broke the record the issue of steroids would have come up. Lets look at the current steroid issue. The issue of steroids did not come up until Barry Bonds began approaching the record McGwire broke. When Bonds broke McGwire's record then everything hit the fan. Baseball had every reason to investigate the steroids issue during the McGwire-Sosa period. Many people always talked about how there was no way that McGwire did not use steriods to get that big. Also it was well know that McGwire was using performance enhancers. There was even one point were it was in his locker and reporters asked him about the substance. Baseball should have investigated than not now.

[McCamy Taylor]

6. Exactly. McGwire all but confessed--and Congress took a hit in the polls.

This has all the ear marks of another "let's take a rich african-american down a notch" media circus. And it doesnt matter if Bonds is Republican or not.

The fact that Bonds is going to break McGwire's steroid enhanced record makes NASCAR dads mad, and they want a Great White Hope, i.e George Mitchell to make sure it doesnt happen.

I just hope Congress got so scared from their last debacle with streoids that they stay the hell out of this one. Now, back to my research on George W.'s history as a baseball owner and steroids.

[cantstandbush]

7. It's not going to work because too many RW favorites took steroids.

And, before a certain time, steroids were not illegal.

[McCamy Taylor]

8. I see a larger trend to villianize Blacks as Immigration fails to scare.

The big marches did not frighten the GOP base. For sure in Texas and other Southwestern states, the "Let's scare the crap out of voters with immigrants" message is a big yawn fest, and I dont think it is working much better in the Deep South, Midwest and East either. Worse, the marcher showed the RNC that they were in danger of losing the hispanic vote for the next several election cycles, and latin-americans are a huge growth group.

So now, the RNC needs something new to rev up the base. I have seen early signs already. Beware. This may be the summer that Fox News stops telling us to fear middle eastern males and starts telling us to fear Black Women with cell phones.