On March 17th, 2005, a time of unprecedented peace and prosperity in the United States, Congress took action against a serious problem plaguing our nation. Adults using prescription medications to enhance athletic performance. Determined to get to the bottom of this insidious threat, heroic members of Congress took decisive action. Professional baseball players were summoned to Washington to answer allegations that they used so-called Performance-Enhancing Drugs (PEDs). Henry Waxman, previously best-known for being the Bush administration's laughingstock, played a particularly prominent role in Congress' investigation, a giant exercise in grandstanding that to this day, symbolizes the utter incompetence and half-assery of Democratic opposition to the Bush agenda. Fast forward eight and a half years, and Congress appears to be wading back into the business of collective-bargaining and the evils of PEDs. This time, the target is the NFLPA, and their reluctance to roll-over to the demands of the league's owners on the issue of Human Growth Hormone (HGH) testing.
On Friday, ESPN published a report that Elijah Cummings (D-MD) was fed-up with what he termed as "hostage-taking" by the NFL Player's Association (NFLPA) on the issue of HGH testing, and that Congress might be "forced" to intervene:
In his statement, Cummings pointed to "extraordinary concessions from the NFL, numerous meetings with Members of Congress, and a parade of experts verifying the validity of HGH testing." He said: "After two years of negotiations, the NFLPA is now holding HGH testing hostage because of matters wholly unrelated to testing."
The NFLPA's stated issue with HGH testing is that the appeals process will continue to be run through the office of NFL Commissioner, Roger Goodell. Esentially, the league's complaint is that Goodell serves as judge, jury and executioner, and players have no ability to challenge the commissioner's ruling. The NFL's drug policy is also hilariously regressive and paternalistic, with players subject to forfeiture of significant chunks of their salary (how convenient for billionaire owners) for the evil crimes of smoking some pot, or doing a little blow. As anyone who has followed the NFL during Goodell's time as commissioner, this should not come as a surprise. Goodell's reputation as the owner's representative has been that he is arbitrary, petty and greedy. Recently, we learned that ESPN (a major business partner of the NFL) was
pressured by the league to drop their participation in a PBS Frontline documentary on concussions in football, "League of Denial," with the assumption being that Frontline would expose the league's attempts to cover-up the potential brain trauma caused by repeated and/or severe concussions. The NFL has a history of playing dumb on this issue, and the NFLPA has had serious issues with the league's practice of using doctors on employed by teams to diagnose injuries and issue recommendations on when it was safe to return to play. This obvious conflict-of-interest has led to accusations from players that team doctors might be pressured by management to clear a player who might be better served taking extra time off. So, basically, there is a complete lack of trust between the NFL and the NFLPA. I'll leave it to you to decide whether this is well-founded or not, but I certainly understand the NFLPA's hesitation to hand over even more power to the commissioner.
While I would expect the NFL to look out for their own interests, it's a bit discouraging to see how many members of the football media act as stooges for management. When we see those same attitudes from Democratic members of Congress, it's even more alarming.
During the congressional hearings on PEDs in baseball, legislators, in the process of their grandstanding, held athletes to a much higher standard than any Bush administration official. In a follow-up hearing after the release of the Mitchell Report, Roger Clemens was referred for prosecution by members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in a letter from Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Tom Davis (R-VA). An important thing to remember is that during this time, the Bush administration was openly defying congressional subpoenas from Waxman and others. Clemens was subsequently indicted, and then acquitted on charges of lying to congress and obstruction of justice. It was an incredible waste of time and taxpayer resources, and had congress or the DOJ any shame, it should have been a source of humiliation and self-reflection.
During their previous adventures in ginning up a good, old-fashioned drug panic regarding PEDs, legislators displayed a stunning level of ignorance regarding the drugs themselves. Evidence that steroid or HGH use poses significant and life-threatening health risks is generally non-existent. While there are clearly side-effects associated with use, these substances are frequently used by medical professionals to treat a wide range of medical problems. Testosterone and HGH are also commonly used by anti-aging clinics. Many users of these drugs claim that they're beneficial and increase quality of life. While many claims were made regarding the dangers of using their drugs, it is important to note that there was a serious deficiency of scientific evidence supporting those claims. A common theme in the hearings, and one that is a near-constant in drug panics, is reliance on the use of anecdotal horror stories and "won't someone think of the children" rhetoric. In reality, there is a serious dearth of peer-reviewed scientific research that backs the claims of the anti-drug, moral crusaders. This is worth remembering not just on the issue of PEDs, but for all hysterical drug panics, whether it was the dangerous Negroes gone crazy on marijuana in the 1930s, or the more recent tales of people using MDPV (bath salts) and turning into cannibal zombies.
This is not to suggest that the use of HGH and other PEDs are harmless. There are side-effects and dangers. There are good arguments in favor of testing, namely that players may feel the need to use drugs they would prefer not to in order to compete with users.
That said, this is primarily a labor issue between the NFL and the NFLPA. For members of Congress like Cummings, Waxman and Davis, their involvement in the issue has been an incredible waste of time and taxpayer resources. There are many important issue facing our country, which means there is a significant opportunity cost to congress involving themselves in this issue. It is the ultimate congressional jerk-off, a chance to grandstand, and look tough on an issue that has little effect on the lives of average Americans. Nobody is voting for their representatives out of concern over PED issues. So my suggestion to any members of congress who think this is a good use of their time would be simple: DO YOUR DAMN JOBS AND LEAVE THE PED ISSUE TO THE LAWYERS!
Oh, and Go Raiders!