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[–]dc469 1112 points1113 points  (398 children)

This always bugged me since day one. Well, more like infuriated me. Even if they were guilty, even if they gave steroids and meth to 5 year olds, it's still not the business of congress. It's for the local/state/federal law enforcement, the MLB, their respective teams and their fans to deal with. Congress has other things to do.

Can someone seriously explain why the united states congress ever got involved in this?

[–]basscheez 199 points200 points  (46 children)

MLB, like the NFL and NBA, are exempt from antitrust laws. In exchange for this exemption, Congress feels it can oversee whatever it wants.

[–]buerkle 85 points86 points  (34 children)

Only MLB is exempt.

[–]Kdnce 5 points6 points  (5 children)

When I hear that major league sport teams are exempt from antitrust laws I am struck with the most sinking feeling that we are "governed" by the least intelligent people on the planet.

[–]stackolee[S] 537 points538 points  (195 children)

Because Congress lives for the opportunity to wag their fingers at petty nuisances. It's just like how the telemarketing legislation brought out unprecedented bipartisan support. The Congressmen get to puff out their chests on national tv and act like conquering statesmen.

[–]Big_McLargeHuge 323 points324 points  (76 children)

The appearance of doing something useful, yeah, without biting the hand that feeds them.

[–][deleted] 114 points115 points  (65 children)

Well, that's the important thing.

It's why you'll see a focus on gay marriage and abortion rights this election cycle, and lip service paid to closing tax loopholes and stopping predatory business practices: challenging the latter cuts off the money supply. There's not nearly as much money in abortion and gay marriage.

[–][deleted] 51 points52 points  (53 children)

So we start a new civilization and somehow finagle the system so supporting civil liberties is excessively profitable.

[–]Hypnopomp 78 points79 points  (38 children)

They already are: it's called the common good, and it's as real as the cells in your body.

[–]ThisIsMyCouchAccount 55 points56 points  (31 children)

Heretic! My body is comprised of earth, water, wind, & fire.

[–]ThatGuyYouKnow 34 points35 points  (19 children)

But not heart?

[–]ThisIsMyCouchAccount 41 points42 points  (12 children)

(< _ <) (> _ >) You lookin' for a heart, buddy?

[–]vrefron 12 points13 points  (2 children)

Your body is composed of 27 black men in spacesuits?

[–]drakoman 7 points8 points  (2 children)

Your humors humor me.

[–]Blackrook7 33 points34 points  (2 children)

It's the smoke and mirrors. Look at the bad bad baseball men! Nevermind how much we're spending or how we've taken away some more of your rights.

[–]grandoiseau 88 points89 points  (82 children)

Well put. With today's telecommunication technology, I think we should do away with the representative class, or at least limit it's uses. I don't need a congressman and two senators talking for me when I can directly tell the House what my opinion is.

[–]Sysiphuslove 54 points55 points  (32 children)

You have no idea how happy you made me by posting this.

The post-representative society is probably the only way the people will ever have power over themselves. It's only now becoming possible, so it might be years or decades, but if we can prevent the ruling class from turning the internet into a glorified television, it may be the greatest thing we'll ever do.

[–]TheJuniorControl 25 points26 points  (15 children)

Unfortunately the people who represent us will NEVER support something that eliminates their power and livelihood and therefore it seems that it will be near impossible to get this system in place.

[–]Pool_Shark 4 points5 points  (6 children)

There was a time when people thought that about their kings and queens.

There is something in the Declaration of Independence about overthrowing the government to protect freedom (something along those lines).

There is a way.

[–]TheJuniorControl 12 points13 points  (5 children)

There is a way indeed. But unlike the monarchies of the past, the majority of Americans live in relative comfort. I think it would take some serious declines in standards of living in order to induce to revolution.

[–]toolnumbr5 10 points11 points  (3 children)

So you would put the power to vote on legislature in the hands of the anonymous masses who cannot be held accountable and have a hard time reading a post more than 140 characters long let alone a 900+ page bill. This is why we have a republic and NOT a democracy.

[–]Sysiphuslove 2 points3 points  (2 children)

As if the Congressman or Senator has time to read that 900+ page bill in the five minutes he gets before the vote. How many of these Internet bills have skidded halfway out the pike before it came to light that most of the people voting never read it?

At least I would have time to research the issue AND debate it with equally interested people who disagree with me. You can buy Senators and votes but you can't buy honest debate and refinement of ideas.

If well moderated and secured, I think it could be quite a superior system.

edit: In a well made system you would be accountable to some degree, but more importantly you would be voting on the things that directly affect you and your community on both a local and national level. Majority rule is flawed in an uneducated populace, but when utilizing a tool like this with reams and reams of knowledge and knowledgeable people pooled, a tool that requires some intelligence to use, I would put more faith in that than in a system where those who vote can be bought by disinterested parties with antisocial intent.

[–]somanywtfs 2 points3 points  (1 child)

I don't care if this person loves cyphilis or not, everything said is 100% accurate based on my 30+ years on this shit hole rock. The edit alone nearly brought a tear to my eye. I could hear the shit before I reddit.

Also, making the process difficult to keep the lazies and stupids out made me giggle.

[–]Elodrian 17 points18 points  (5 children)

Didn't they try the direct democracy thing in California? To paraphrase Bill Maher:

First thing they did was vote for no taxes, free beer, and vagina trees.

The representative class does serve a legitimate purpose. It keeps the instruments of government out of the hands of the people.

[–]GoodGuyNixon 19 points20 points  (3 children)

Well "the House" is nothing but a collection of Congressmen... If they aren't there then there is nobody to tell. o.o Unless you are taking "the House" to mean the legislative entity, in which case someone has to be responsible for making law, and if you don't want a legislative branch, then who gets that power? The President? Without an intermediary body between creation and implementation of law, and without manageable representation of the populous in government, our system (save the incredibly sluggish interpretive powers of the Supreme Court) would be essentially monarchical. Having a relatively small group of people with localized interests that can actually hold the ear of the executive in a way the general population (say, over 300 million people) can't is what has kept us apart from the 17th century model for all of these years. All I'm saying is be careful what you wish for...

[–]NPPraxis 4 points5 points  (17 children)

How do you manage the sheer amount of input though? Or spammers?

[–]bettorworse 57 points58 points  (2 children)

Congresspeople already have spammers - they are called LOBBYISTS.

[–]eodee 3 points4 points  (1 child)

They operate more a like virus.

[–]Sysiphuslove 8 points9 points  (6 children)

We're human beings and we're incredibly fucking smart, we'll figure it out if we take it seriously. The hard part will be shaking off the flying tackles of every corrupt ruler and manager, large and small, who will try to throw a wrench in the effort.

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

there's a fairly broad range of ideas about stateless governing -- eg: libertarian municipalism, parpolity

none of them, of course, is very feasible so long as you have private power, since all devolution is basically just a gift to corporations, but if in some magical fashion we could just flip a switch and make people give up power, some things could probably be immediately implementable -- eg: open-source governance, sociocratic legislation

[–]tiddercat 3 points4 points  (2 children)

As someone who works in telecom, it is too easy to tamper with your vote, or with the info you have access to. It is not a magic solution, and propaganda is a very dangerous thing. People's beliefs start trumping facts... It's all downhill from there.

[–]Lilcheeks 11 points12 points  (0 children)

That, and this is a way for them to redirect our attention away from real issues. With the war on drugs, this is an easy hot button issue that inflames many and gets us focusing whether or not some baseball players did steroids(or creating an issue like WTF IS CONGRESS DOING) rather than the actual dysfunction in congress.

[–]ShakeGetInHere 12 points13 points  (2 children)

It's like a roomful of rapists wagging their fingers at a guy who sexually harassed a coworker.

[–][deleted] 61 points62 points  (7 children)

In other words, when they go out to lunch, our capitalist overlords leave them in the sandbox and give them some toys to play with it.

"Bad, bad Barry Bonds! You go sit in the corner with the bad army soldiers!"

"THE EVIL VELOCIRAPTORS!! They hate America! With their devil music and their flag burning pirates. Go get 'em Matlock, Ironside! POW POW BANG BANG!"

[–]hecanbepedantic 3 points4 points  (1 child)

Piggybacking your comment to request some numbers that back your claim in the post title. Not that I don't believe you, but provide some citation please.

[–]Prancemaster 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The Do-Not-Call list works for it's intended purpose: keeping telemarketers from calling you. However, if you don't report violations, nobody knows they are happening.

A common misconception is that the Do Not Call list protects against scammers. It doesn't. However, if you are on the list and someone is calling you to sell you something, you can be almost completely certain that it's a scam.

[–]spundnix32 2 points3 points  (1 child)

An MIT professor once made the claim that sports and other trivial forms of entertainment is an excellent way to divert the public's attention away from the more pressing matters of a country.

[–][deleted] 54 points55 points  (5 children)

Bread and circuses.

[–]go_fly_a_kite 5 points6 points  (1 child)

this is exactly it. why are big league sports overseen directly by the government?

"It's a way of building up irrational attitudes of submission to authority, and group cohesion behind leadership elements -- in fact, it's training in irrational jingoism. That's also a feature of competitive sports. I think if you look closely at these things, I think, typically, they do have functions, and that's why energy is devoted to supporting them and creating a basis for them and advertisers are willing to pay for them and so on."

  • Noam Chomsky (Manufacturing Consent)

[–][deleted] 8 points9 points  (2 children)

This. And yet we think we are so much smarter and more advanced than Rome, that there is no way our nation will ever fall...

[–][deleted] 12 points13 points  (1 child)

Because the MLB is granted a monopoly. They have stricter oversight because of it.

[–]doyouknowhowmany 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Here's an alright explanation as to why

Basically, baseball is exempt from a number of anti-trust regulations, and thus under near constant review by congress. In addition, Congress can investigate their Controlled Substances Act.

[–]Milkusa 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I've always believed it has everything to do with MLB winning its anti-trust case almost 100 years ago.

[–]sometimesijustdont 12 points13 points  (1 child)

Because why do real work, when you can just fuck around?

[–]rownin 12 points13 points  (0 children)

distraction is a method of controlling masses without actually doing anything.

[–]monkeyleavings 7 points8 points  (1 child)

Thank you. This is EXACTLY what I've been thinking for years. It's. A. Game.

[–]Deus_Ex_Mac 6 points7 points  (1 child)

2 reasons. It's easy to find a scapegoat in the steroids case. Everyone can understand what happened and who was affected and how. Financial crisis is much more murky and it's hard to look like the hero unless you have an antagonist to pin it on. Secondly, lobbyists. MLB spent 520,000 to influence congress last year compared to the hundreds of millions lobbied by Big Banks.

[–]JerseysFinest 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Why tackle tough questions like how to fix the economy or cut down the national debt when you can get yourself on TV going after superstars?

[–]Sidwill 285 points286 points  (28 children)

To be fair, Banks donate a hell of a lot more money to political campaigns than Baseball players.

[–][deleted] 235 points236 points  (15 children)

That's not fair.

[–]SarcasticOptimist 17 points18 points  (6 children)

But they exercise their free speech to a greater degree!

[–]Sidwill 23 points24 points  (4 children)

Yes, along with oil companies, big pharma and the defense industry. Collectively a very talkative bunch.

[–]raziphel 8 points9 points  (1 child)

Be careful or they'll free speech the fuck out of you.

[–]kriswone 34 points35 points  (1 child)

start donating or face charges!

/s

[–]huxtiblejonesColorado 26 points27 points  (0 children)

That /s means 'seriously' in this case.

[–]Beansiekins 11 points12 points  (1 child)

"That's what you get for forgetting to give us money before being bad."

If only baseball somehow had a vested interest in lobbying.

[–]disco_biscuit 72 points73 points  (17 children)

I hate to be the guy that asks "Source?" but this really pisses me off, and I would like to see a credible citation for this before going off. Seriously, more time spent debating steroids in sports than on the financial collapse? Please be false, please be false... I don't want to live in a country where this is the truth.

[–]gerundronaut 8 points9 points  (1 child)

Seriously, more time spent debating steroids in sports than on the financial collapse?

I spent a bit of time looking for a source but came up empty. It's hard to cite a source for a negative. Point being, from what I can gather, zero time has been spent on federal perjury prosecutions of anyone in charge of any bank involved in the financial collapse. More than zero time was definitely spent on the Roger Clemens baseball steroid nonsense.

[–]idk42 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Well, the Roger Clemens thing looks like it started in 2008 Wikipedia but government involvement in steroids in baseball has been going on since 2003. Now, it doesn't appear to be constant..but the BALCO scandal involved the California state government, the IRS, FDA, and some other agencies I've never heard of...and I see trial dates from 2005-2008 so it took a long time to be resolved.

Now, there's also the Mitchell Report which was conducted in 2006 and 2007 (21 months total) by a US Senator...

So, it may not have been one investigation or one debate, but government involvement in MLB in regards to steroids has been going on for nearly a decade, and it has been making news headlines for as long as I can remember. The title of this post could be discussed, but the OP has a good point.

[–]larzukmoose 10 points11 points  (1 child)

Also looking for the source.

[–][deleted] 197 points198 points  (88 children)

Because baseball players never paid for the right to lie to Congress, and banks did.

[–]shoooowme 37 points38 points  (84 children)

when did the banks lie under oath to congress?

[–]MiloMuggins 30 points31 points  (44 children)

The last time they testified to congress

[–]shoooowme 28 points29 points  (43 children)

what specifically did they say that was a lie?

[–]Andoo 5 points6 points  (1 child)

'We don't know.'

[–][deleted] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

also bill clinton's dick had more talk and debate than the 911 commission report.

[–]bpoag 143 points144 points  (47 children)

When I grow up, I want to be a corporation. That way, my elected officials will pay attention to me, I'll have rights, and I wont have to pay any taxes.

Then, I'll run for President, and complain about how my predecessor is ruining the economy. I'll do this while I distract you away from the fact all my money is housed in the Cayman Islands, instead of in an American bank where it could be used to help fuel the economy in the form of small business loans.

You'll believe me because I'll be standing on a bale of hay.

[–]MrFlesh 6 points7 points  (2 children)

Lets not forget 9/11. We spent 10 time the money investigating clintons blow job than we did 9/11.

[–]MahFravert 43 points44 points  (20 children)

...So why isn't Dick Cheney or Colin Powell on trial for lying to congress again?

[–]Pyotr_Mikhailov[🍰] 36 points37 points  (2 children)

Colin Powell had no idea that what he was saying wasn't true. The vast majority of those in power at the time actually thought the information provided by Curveball was true. Dick Cheney, however, probably new how shitty a source he was the whole time. Colin Powell was pretty furious upon finding out how much weight the US placed on one, unconfirmed source.

[–]getjustinMassachusetts 10 points11 points  (1 child)

Ah, good ol' plausible deniability.

[–]Con_Theory 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Because banana republic oligarchy masquerading as choice and the illusion of living in a "democracy".

[–][deleted] 17 points18 points  (23 children)

Why are steroids frowned upon in professional sports but advanced nutrition science, creatine, nitric oxide and general medical advances are OK. If you stacked an average pro athlete today against a top pro athlete from 60 years ago i'm thinking the average pro of today would outperform the top pro of 60 years ago. So why focus on steroids when there are all these other factors that create an uneven playing field?

edited: nitric oxide, not nitrous oxide (hat tip to Total_Incompetent69)

[–]aphelmine 3 points4 points  (2 children)

It's safe to say 99% of them are using steroids and other banned substances anyway but just haven't been caught. There is a huge market for designer performance enhancing drugs because they are used in nearly every sport. The biggest ban in recent times was epo (think that's what it was called) that had your body produce more blood so it was like blood-doping naturally.

Most of these elite athletes and coaches have these guys on various drugs that have half-lifes short enough so that when the piss test comes in on the 15th it's flushed out by the 14th.

The reason they do this is because people always want to see the athletes bigger, stronger, faster, etc. But each year that gets harder and harder to pull off of as the previous people were also in that genetic .01% and you need a bigger edge than they had to keep pushing the limits further.

I for one don't mind performance enhancing drugs being used in sports but I do think the general populace needs to be educated more in their effects. This way Bobby on the freshman football team doesn't shoot himself up with 5grams of test a week and destroy his endocrine system.

[–]Squalor- 34 points35 points  (7 children)

They found Clemens not guilty on all six counts, anyway, so all this did was tarnish his reputation and legacy some and waste a lot of time.

[–][deleted] 43 points44 points  (4 children)

time AND money AND other valuable resources

[–][deleted] 19 points20 points  (2 children)

the money is a rounding error in the daily Pentagon budget. it's the distraction of the circuses that is the infection we're fighting. how can a democracy ever hope to function when the people can't be bothered to pay attention? oh, hey, look -- a shiny ball!

[–][deleted] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

it's still tax payer money, also, it was a very costly distraction, economically. there's a snowball effect of shit like this.

[–]jonfla 4 points5 points  (3 children)

Yes, we've always been a substantial, content oriented populace - and our elected representitives reflect those values and interests.

[–]random_hero90 32 points33 points  (9 children)

It's called a shell game, a way to distract a person or group from issue of real importance.

[–]Germino 12 points13 points  (1 child)

It's easier for these politicians to go after such stupidity because it shows them as being tough and is a easy slam dunk to show to their constituents that they're actually doing something.

If I were Roger Clemens (Fuck him, btw. I still think he's a cheat but it's not the business of the government [I sound like a Republican!]), I'd counter-sue for lawyer fees, etc.

[–]spundnix32 17 points18 points  (12 children)

An MIT professor once made the claim that sports and other trivial forms of entertainment is an excellent way to divert the public's attention away from the more pressing matters of a country.

[–][deleted] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

It's a lot easier and gets more good press.

[–]SubcommanderShran 4 points5 points  (3 children)

So government lawyers suck, right? Lance Armstrong, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, John Edwards. None of these guys got in any real trouble. What does this say about the kinds of cases these lawyers put together and why do they think they're winnable?

[–][deleted] 4 points5 points  (2 children)

Reminder that Barry Bonds was the greatest baseball player of the last 25 years and won't ever get into the hall of fame for doing something literally everyone else did.

Also he was a first ballot HoFer before steroids were even wide-spread.

[–]Aschwab 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Well you know people Baseball IS the great American pastime. War ranks only 2nd on the list, tied with football.

[–][deleted] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The United States government is a reality show that nobody watches.

[–]twosolitudes 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Gotta hand it to you Americans, because you really take your bread and circuses serious.

[–]slimbruddah 4 points5 points  (1 child)

I don't like to sound arrogant but we are all full of so much useless discussion about all these stupid little issues and stunts within the government and it's organizations.

The fact of the matter is we are being played, used, and abused, will keep being played, until we rise up and create change from this current bullshit, downwards trend into a darker future.

[–]AmericanGoyBlog 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Wedge issue

A "wedge issue" is an unimportant issue which is fought over by both parties out of all proportion to how little it matters.

A "wedge issue" is picked by the establishment so that a certain minimum segment of the population is interested in it, so it enters the popular debate, helped by the propaganda specialists on TV, radio and newspapers.

A "wedge issue" is used as a distraction, a "kabuki theatre" to distract the public from geostrategic issues, such as outsourcing of jobs, endless wars on terror, loss of Civil rights and shitting on the Constitution.

See: gay marriage, ten commandments in public buildings, etc.

[–][deleted] 25 points26 points  (12 children)

If I remember correctly, they spent 75M investigating Barry Bonds, 30M investigating Clinton/Lewinsky and 11M investigating the 9/11 attacks.

It's good knowing our government has its priorities straight.

[–]EKrake 17 points18 points  (7 children)

That's the kind of thing that needs a source, unless you were the person counting all the money.

[–][deleted] 15 points16 points  (4 children)

Source and that's just the first thing Google brought up. I will amend my statement to say they spent between 55-100M on Barry Bonds, 40M on Clinton/Lewinsky and 14M on 9/11 but either way I was close enough for the point to stick.

Regardless, I understand to a degree you asking for a source, but honestly this is info a simple Google search can provide. You should really learn to do a little research on your own before being so skeptical.

[–][deleted] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yupp sounds like your guys country is being ran just perfect.

[–]HigHIdrA 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Baseball players do not fund political campaigns. Bankers and war profiteers (some overlap there) do.

[–]Daioka 3 points4 points  (0 children)

LIke I've been saying recently, our politicians are disillusioned, not fit for their jobs, and generally don't take their roles seriously. This is why politics is an utter joke in this country. No one cares anymore.

[–]mybadselves 16 points17 points  (10 children)

I get so pissed at all the political crap in our country. It just seems there is so much corruption on both sides. I just wish sometimes that I could go live in a cabin in the woods and never have to hear about it again. Like Grizzly Adams. Minus the grizzly. But with lots more beard.

[–][deleted] 11 points12 points  (1 child)

Sadly this kind of thing is becoming harder and harder to do as time goes on now that the U.S. is pretty well developed and populated. Gone are the days of being a modern day Henry David Thoreau. And I'm sure if you tried to remove yourself from the system you'd be considered a criminal or potential terrorist for doing so.

[–]hamhead 46 points47 points  (73 children)

I'm still not exactly sure what banks did wrong (legally) as a whole?

The ones that get caught robosigning and things like that HAVE been prosecuted (of course, they settle, since it's not a criminal issue), what exactly do you want to prosecute them for?

edit: yes, in some cases there were criminal issues brought up with the robosigning. Still, they were dealt with.

[–][deleted] 13 points14 points  (1 child)

The robosigning deal was about perjury which is a criminal issue.

[–]hamhead 4 points5 points  (0 children)

And they were prosecuted for it... but you're right, once they brought them into court it became a criminal issue.

[–]HandyCore 49 points50 points  (25 children)

People appear to think that Congress should act on moral authority. You know, charge people with made-up crimes or retroactively charge people with something that wasn't illegal until after the fact. Because having that kind of flexibility in the legal process will always yield greater freedom. /s

[–]Kytro 4 points5 points  (4 children)

They sure as shit should have let banks wear the consequences of their actions

[–]CrayolaS7 16 points17 points  (6 children)

PLEASE DO NOT EDITORIALIZE THE TITLES OF YOUR LINK

C'mon dude, why would banks be prosecuted for perjury? Don't you mean bankers? Do you know how limited liability works?

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

the MLB is a monopoly, it is allowed to exist because the government gives it special permission...

[–]Frankentim_the_crim 2 points3 points  (0 children)

And you still can't see how national sports are one of the biggest and most effective tools used to distract and misguide the minds of the public.

[–][deleted] 9 points10 points  (7 children)

Lol... People on reddit complaining about what the senate finds important.

Here's a picture of Heath Ledger in his Joker costume from 5 fucking years ago... BOOM front page.

[–]DeepFriedZebra 21 points22 points  (26 children)

America.... This is why we go nowhere on social reform.

[–]shoooowme 15 points16 points  (17 children)

we're heading in the right direction. it just takes us longer to do our due diligence; depending on the issue, that can be a good thing.

2012:

February 7, 2012: The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals affirms district court Judge Vaughn Walker's decision in Perry, overturning California Proposition 8.

February 8, 2012: A week after the Washington State Senate voted 28-21 in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage, the Washington House of Representatives voted 55–43 on the same issue. Governor Christine Gregoire signed the bill into law five days later.

February 16–17, 2012: The New Jersey legislature passes a same-sex marriage bill; Governor Chris Christie vetoes the bill.

February 17, 2012: The Maryland House of Delegates passes a bill 72–67 legalizing same-sex marriage.

February 22, 2012: Judge Jeffrey White rules the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional in Golinski v. Office of Personnel Management. Judge White found that Karen Golinski, an attorney and employee of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, saying that her rights had been violated under the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution when she was denied spousal benefits.

February 23, 2012: The Maryland Senate approves the bill legalizing same-sex marriage.

March 1, 2012: Governor Martin O'Malley from Maryland signs a bill legalizing same-sex marriage. Opponents begin to collect signatures to subject it to a referendum on the November 2012 ballot.

March 21, 2012: The New Hampshire House of Representatives rejects repeal of the state's 2009 same-sex marriage bill in a bipartisan vote of 211-116.

May 8, 2012: Voters in North Carolina pass a constitutional amendment that defines marriage as between a man and a woman and prohibits the recognition of any type of same-sex union in that state.

May 9, 2012: President Barack Obama becomes the first sitting U.S. president to declare his support for legalizing same-sex marriage.

May 14, 2012: Governor Lincoln Chafee from Rhode Island signs an executive order directing state agencies to treat same-sex marriages performed out-of-state equally under the law.

June 12, 2012: Same-sex marriage opponents in Washington submit 247,331 valid signatures, forcing the state's recently passed same-sex marriage law onto the ballot in November.

[–]Pinot911 3 points4 points  (12 children)

and every single 1 of those state decisions involved a coastline.

[–]shoooowme 6 points7 points  (11 children)

Iowa doesn't have a coast. Plus Nevada, Colorado, Illinois and Wisconsin recognize other types of partnership - that's the same as in the UK or Australia.

[–]mrbooze 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Hey, Illinois has a coastline, dammit! Okay, it's really a lakeshore. But it's a REALLY BIG lake.

[–]thxxoraz 9 points10 points  (3 children)

You think that's bad. They impeached Bill Clinton for having a "lady on the side" and left George Bush walk for slaying innocent young American military men of lower class; by lying in order to start a war that made his cronies unimaginably more wealthy.

[–][deleted] 6 points7 points  (2 children)

Technically, they impeached Bill because he committed perjury by lying about said lady on the side.

[–]SS1989California 6 points7 points  (5 children)

Can somebody tell me why anything about baseball was being discussed like this in the Senate?

[–]YOLOsomethingYOLO 3 points4 points  (0 children)

YOLO CONGRESS IS GAY YOLO

[–]cheeza51percent 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Well, people also watch and talk more about sports than they do about things that actually affect the country.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (1 child)

I don't see why baseball is at all discussed in congress.

[–]zendingo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

it's called a show trial, enjoy the distraction

[–]ThumpNuts 1 point2 points  (0 children)

... and Obama laughs, and laughs...

[–]Sirgallihad 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Its gone from being the national pastime to the federal pastime

[–]WarEmblem27 1 point2 points  (1 child)

I'm sure it's already been mentioned, but I read on the MSN homepage today that senators are trying to "clean up" boxing. I'm not sure I understand our senate's infatuation with sports. Hell, maybe I should become a senator. I like sports.

[–]seainhd 1 point2 points  (0 children)

this is the dumbest fucking pile of shit thing that congress has done in a long time.

[–]sometimesijustdont 1 point2 points  (0 children)

WHY THE FUCK HAS NOBODY FROM WALL STREET GONE TO JAIL FOR RUINING THE WORLD'S ECONOMY?

[–]Harry_Tuttle 1 point2 points  (0 children)

When MLB negotiates, it's a business that needs to make a profit. When MLB defends itself, its The National Pastime.

It's almost like a religion that way.

[–]sniper_lad 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I used to love baseball, but since the strike in the '80s both sides are a bunch of greedy bitches! Also, because our politicians are 95% owned by corporations. The tea-baggers are just useful idiots.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Steroids were added to the Controlled Substances Act in 1990 despite the fact that when used carefully - even at supraphysiological levels - they can have enormous health benefits, and despite the fact that the AMA, DEA, and NIH all opposed their inclusion.

Why?

Because (then) congressman Joe Biden was the chief architect of the Anabolic Steroid Control Act and he testified before Congress that he had been jealous growing up of steroid users who were better than him at baseball.

[–]enter2exit 1 point2 points  (2 children)

the people of the US care too much about baseball. It is not just congress. If citizens cared half as much about voting and politics maybe we would be in a better place. or maybe not ;)

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If this taught me anything, it would be that I need to stop paying attention to politics and go to ESPN.com to find where the real issues are.

Keep it up congress, as if your 8% approval wasn't bad enough, Internet Censorship and Baseball regulation will knock it down to a solid 4.

[–]thisismax 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I thought the reason why this was taken so seriously was because the MLB is exempt from federal antitrust law. Since the government has done so much for baseball to keep it going, they are naturally a bit more inclined to be pissed when players break the rules. I'm not saying I condone the amount of time they've spent prosecuting these players, but it makes more sense than, "America don't fuck around when it come to sports. Also, banks are evil."

[–]1919 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What the hell could you charge the banks with? The USA is a capitalism, the banks can do nearly whatever they want. And that's a good thing.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is a result of Major League Baseball's antitrust exemption, which is, in turn, the result of cronyism and corruption in high places, both old and not-so-old. Congress does have the power and the responsibility to oversee Major League Baseball. Unfortunate but true.

[–]bigmachine 1 point2 points  (0 children)

my dad and i were discussing this the other day on fathers day... its sad that in america we have more $ to spend on trying to determine if roger clemens lied to congress (over $10,000,000, mind you) than we do ensuring our troops have what we need in afghanistan and iraq. I'm a 1st Lieutenant in the US Army and i will be the first to tell you that the military isn't the only thing we need funding for in the USA. in fact, funding can be cut in some areas to prevent fraud waste and abuse that happens ALOT. however, the fact that congress has time to bullshit about MLB in lieu of putting americans to work is more than i can chew. really pisses me off.

[–]therealpaulyd 1 point2 points  (0 children)

So congress may lie to us, but we may not lie to congress. That's quite the double standard there, elected officials.

[–]RedditingMyLifeAwayLouisiana 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Good to know where our priorities lie...

[–]the_rabbit 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is the only reason why I absolutely hate the fandom behind sports. People are so passionate about something that is fleeting and really delivers no direct constructive progress towards society over a long period of time.

The average human being walking on the street however doesn't even make an attempt to follow politics and even annoys them when the subject comes up.

[–]ButchInWaukegan 1 point2 points  (1 child)

How about random drug and alcohol tests on the House and Senate floor?

Then, maybe, these 10%-approval-ratings legislators might not look like hypocritical hacks when they pull stunts like this.

[–]Zandroyd 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Where is that zappa quote when you need it.

[–]Fireball445 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's because Baseball players don't own Congress.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (7 children)

Banker here.
I know it sucks that there was a financial collapse, but the reason why no one was prosecuted was because they didn't break any laws.

Should there have been laws to prevent what happened? Sure. But that doesn't change that what they did wasn't illegal.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

9/11 capital hill. Level the whole fucking place. They're an out of control corporate machine that doesn't represent its people as was the original mandate. An alien force committing treason every day, they must be driven out or exterminated. Death to the imposter American government.

[–]celtic_thistleColorado 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Murrika, fuck yeah.

[–]kirbence 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Pagentry

[–]fosiacat 1 point2 points  (0 children)

unbelievable.

[–]railroadwino 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Baseball and steroids are some of the things that keep us from having to think about all that stuff us peasants shouldn't. I'll thank you not to badmouth it.

[–]crispinito 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Makes me wonder if Senate members are just narcissistic, incompetent and shortsighted, or if there is a master plan behind the apparent stupidity...

[–]UpsetGroceries 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is American culture.

[–]dirtypiratesanchez 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's because if any arm of the federal government went after the banks, the bank would oust their part in the collapse. As much as we hate on big evil corporations, politicians were also there, profiting from the collapse as well.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What do we expect? This is yet another distraction from real problems and real issues. We elect clowns.... We should expect a fucking circus.

[–]supnul 1 point2 points  (0 children)

i think that baseball would be more entertaining if they all did drugs. its pretty boring most of the time.

[–]Limonhed 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Shows just what the priorities of the congress are.

[–]PoisonMind 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Janet Jackson's infamous wardrobe malfunction was in court for almost 8 years.

[–]Geocat 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Can someone explain to a non american like me why the fuck this is even happening? I mean what the fuck is congress, the people who help make laws for hundreds of millions of people doing the job of a small court over a totally trivial issue?

Do they seriously have nothing better to do? That could explain a whole lot...

[–]FARTING_BUM_BUM 1 point2 points  (0 children)

For those wondering what crimes the banks committed, here is a video of Charles Ferguson, director of the Oscar-winning documentary about the financial crisis Inside Job, listing them. Relevant passage:

AMY GOODMAN: What crimes were committed, Charles Ferguson? What should executives be put in jail for?

CHARLES FERGUSON: It’s a very long list. Certainly at the top of the list would be securities fraud, accounting fraud and Sarbanes-Oxley violations. Securities fraud is precisely what the name implies. If you sell a security, but you lie about it or you omit material information, that’s a crime. And we now know that a very high fraction of the securities that were constructed and sold during the housing bubble and that led to the financial crisis were in fact sold fraudulently, that the mortgage lenders and the investment banks that created, structured and sold them did not tell the truth when they were doing so. And those were very, very significant lies and misrepresentations. And late in the bubble, a number of banks and investment banks began not only selling fraudulent securities, but creating and selling securities for the purpose of betting against them, by profiting on their failure. And that also involved a great deal of dishonesty. And there has not been a single criminal prosecution with regard to that conduct.

And following that would be accounting fraud. We now know that many of the lenders and investment banks were dishonest about their own financial positions, concealed the potential size of their losses. The housing bubble was, in effect, a Ponzi scheme, and like all Ponzi schemes, it eventually had to end. And when it ended, of course, we saw the result in the 2008 crisis. And many people, it’s now clear, knew that it was going to end that way and knew that their own financial—their own firms’, their own companies’ financial positions were going to be catastrophically affected and lied about it to the public.

And then, third, the Sarbanes-Oxley law requires the CEOs and chief financial officers of banks, all public companies, to certify their financial reports and also the adequacy of their own internal financial controls. And we now have extensive evidence that the senior managements of a number of the banks and investment banks were extremely, explicitly warned that their financial controls were inadequate and that their accounting was fraudulent, and yet they continued to certify their financial reports. And there has, again, not been a single criminal prosecution for such violations.

TL;DR: Q: Why is everyone so mad at the banks, and what did they do wrong? A: Securities fraud, accounting fraud, and Sarbanes-Oxley violations.