The Mitchell Report: Politics As Usual

Sports fans from around the country have been salivating for this day. With a budget of $20 million, former U.S. Senate Majority Leader, George Mitchell was hired by Major League Baseball to investigate steroid use among its' players. While names like Mark McGuire, Jason Giambi, Jose, Canseco, and Barry Bonds had been thrown around like candy out of a pinata over the past several years, most other players probably held out hope that their names wouldn't appear on what some have referred to as "The List." Surely, Roger Clemens and Miguel Tejada would have loved for this day to have come and gone without the new found fanfare that doesn't go along with signing autographs, but realistically, the list was small. Some 80 or so former and current players - 7 MVPs and 31 all-stars - were named in the 400 plus page report that covers the use and abuse of steroids in baseball. So what? What now?
If you listen to Mitchell; it's over. He was paid to compile a list of offenders so the national media would have something to talk about. Seriously? How can a sport really think they will clean up their image by producing such a high profile document with so many accusations and decide to just move on? Whereas I may not yet be a parent, but if I were, I'd be furious if I had a kid playing sports and watching as these players get a seemingly free pass. Wasn't part of the point to be made that if you break the law or cheat and get caught, you get punished? Isn't that what we try to teach young athletes?
Having followed Mitchell's career as a Mainer, I have great respect for the wonderful contributions he's made to our nation and others, but this is a joke. If anything, it is a time to take a stand. If you say you want to clean the sport up and produce real role models, this is the wrong way to go about it. All it has done is provide fodder for sports talk shows and basically said that cheating and lying is okay if you're a high profile athlete. In my book, Bud Selig, the MLB commissioner needs to take a stand and follow-up on his statement from today. Not that Selig has really done a great job in cleaning up the sport, but at least he has the opportunity to take this report and run with it. Suspend players, fine players; do something to ensure that this was not all for naught. Our game and our youth need something more to come from this. I don't need a report to tell me that someone has been on the "juice," I want a report that tells me that participating in such illegal actions is unjust, unethical, and punishable. All great politicians learn how to play both sides of the aisle, but in this arena and in this fight, there shoudn't be such a middle ground.

Popular Websites Will Not Bring Youth To The Polls!

Have you ever seen the annoying little banners at the top of your computer screen when on a website like myspace or facebook? Of course you have. Have you ever tried to play the game it is asking you to play so you can win whatever prize? I would think that some of you did, if only to see what would happen, but you were smart enough to realize that it's a scam.
That said, why would people pay any more attention to ads or banners from presidential candidates on the websites they frequent? Seriously folks, most of the people that use myspace or facebook are not trying to change the world. Conversely, they are often connecting with friends, looking for dates, or surfing. The mere fact that these sites are so popular now just means that people know about them. It is in NO WAY indicative of how or when someone will vote.
Call me what you will, but there are a lot of things that may or may not be good alternatives to sitting in front of either a computer screen or Xbox 360. That doesn't mean the youth of America are going to get involved with them.
The problem with this topic, which is actually quite amusing, is that every four years, a candidate says they will win the election because of the youth vote. A few years back, Howard Dean raised a ton of money by using teens and twenty-somethings to solicit through the internet. Obviously Dean got spanked in the primaries, but that didn't keep John Kerry from hedging a victory on young voters coming through for him. Are these people serious? Sure, you can get people involved a lot easier through the internet because they are already on there, but getting them to the polls to vote is a lot more difficult. Do the research, the percentage of young voters has not had an impact on elections over the past few campaigns and it will not in 2008. There will be countless candidates, who will allow themselves to think this will be the year of the internet platform, but the joke's on them.

Green Compromise?

Now to a topic that has been bothering me, which happens to be loosely related Sugarloaf Mountain, at least in location. The deal is this; we in Maine, like most other places, have been taken over by everything Green. No. I'm not saying that I'm against improving the environment. Of course I am I want to improve the environment, but these people are off the wall. They often say one thing and do another and cross political lines more often then democrats seeking votes. The sad fact in Southern Maine is that some of these folks have taken their agendas to places they should just STAY out of. Don't get me wrong, anyone who is qualified should be able to run for elected office, but there are certain elected offices that do not have political affiliation. For example, if you go to the polls and vote for an office and that person's affiliation is NOT next to their name, there's a reason for that. The most egregious example of this is with the Portland School District. That's right, the Portland School Board is made up of elected officials who are supposed to represent the best interests of Portland's residents and not their own political aspirations, but I'm sorry folks, this is just not the case. This past year we had up to 3 members of the school board who were/are outspoken Green party members. While I have a pretty good idea what party the other members may belong to, they don't talk about it and certainly don't run as a part affiliate. I won't mention the three (Oops! 2 now) members names, but to think they are on the board to serve the people rather than get a foothold towards higher elected office and to broaden the exposure of their party, is wrong. This is not a rant against Green members, but those individuals and those who support them. It's irresponsible and shameful.
My other current gripe with environmentalist is more frustrating because it deals with our future sources of power and the ever-growing debate about alternative energy. For all that care, I think alternative energy is GREAT. I too, wish we could be less dependent on oil and perhaps we will get there, but folks, those of you that are pushing harder than other need to pick a side and stick to it. You either want other resources that are clean and efficient or you don't. If you, do, some sacrifices need to be made. I say this because here in Maine we have had a great opportunity to produce energy with the use of wind turbines. in Western Maine. One farm has already been established in northern Maine and another, larger one was proposed for a mountaintop near Sugarloaf. The amount of power this would produce is immense, but when the meetings came to a close and the LURC votes had been cast, it was turned down as the turbines would not only be seen from hikers and nature lovers, but a few bats might not see them. Are you kidding me? When CLEAN environmentally friendly energy opportunities like this come up, we must take them and being hypocritical is nonsense. Some people are their own worst enemies and will never be happy. Yes, a smaller version of the western Maine wind farm has been proposed and we will see what complaints surface this time...