'roid Rage

What with the release of Jose Canseco's tell-all book, and the Giambi brothers' abject confessions, steroid use and abuse is once again a hot media topic. Even worse, it has become a hot-button issue for Congress to stick its snout into.

House lawmakers investigating illegal steroid use in baseball said Sunday they have the votes to hold several current and former major-league players and two top baseball officials in contempt of Congress -- which could lead to fines or prison time -- if they refuse to appear at a hearing this week.

House Government Reform Committee Chairman Tom Davis, R-Va., suggested Congress could also play hardball with the league and the players union by revoking baseball's antitrust exemption and its tax breaks if they continue to fight the subpoenas of the players.

....

"These people are not above the law," Davis said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press." "They may fly in private planes and make millions of dollars and be on baseball cards, but a subpoena is exactly what it says it is. They have to appear."

Heh. Good one, guys. You're gonna throw Sammy Sosa in jail and yank MLB's antitrust exemption -- which would do absolutely nothing -- if they don't go along with your little dog-and-pony show? Good luck with that. As we can see by the informal poll on the linked article, some 75% of respondents indicate the common-sense response of "Is this really the most pressing issue before Congress?".

Maybe it's just because it's a slow time of year or something. Recall this time last year, when the real big deal was that split-second of Janet Jackson's titty popping out at the Super Bowl halftime show. Within six weeks, every broadcaster had been put on notice by Congress and the FCC that huge fines would be rolling down.

Obviously, the idea is that our esteemed lawmakers -- from both sides of the aisle -- get to spin their wheels on an issue of very mild import, while pontificating as much as possible, thus making it look like they are Doing Something. The sad part is, they really could be using all this time and energy to do something useful.

Imagine if Congress gave half this much of a shit about Enron, or protecting seniors and veterans from bankruptcy ruin, or affordable health care, or researching alternative energy sources. You could come up with a dozen better things than steroids in a matter of seconds. So why the hell are they so all fired up about something that the vast majority of American people -- while rather repulsed by the whole thing -- do not regard as a tremendous priority?

Probably for the exact same reason the media makes sure you know more about Martha Stewart's poncho and Michael Jackson's pajamas than any of those important things -- it saves them the trouble of explaining all the fun ways your representatives are screwing you over, while leaving the loopholes for the top tier of Americans intact.

Arthur Miller put it best: Attention must be paid.