The IOC has learnt about Marion Jones’s intention to plead guilty to lying to federal agents about her use of performance-enhancing substances during her career.

Since 2004, the IOC has had an open file on the BALCO case – it set up a Disciplinary Commission with a view to investigating how the case might have affected Olympic Games' competitions. Progress to date has been slow due to difficulties in gathering findings. The information that Marion Jones might provide later today may prove to be key in moving this case forward.

( from: http://www.olympic.org/uk/games/torino2006/home/full_story_u k.asp?id=2335 )

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Ok, this is a bit more than just your run-of-the-mill story about a sports star on dope. If you want something like that, check out Barry Bonds and his asterisked baseball.

No, Ms. Jones not only took "performance-enhancing drugs", she then won five medals from the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, then when allegations surfaced about BALCO and a substance she received called "the clear", she lied about it for the next seven years!

Ms. Jones asid that hse had not taken any drugs, and chalked her performance up to God-given abilities. I am sorry, but God is probably looking down at Ms. Jones and saying: "I didn't make that!"

Once again, this is not about atheletes doping themselves up...once again, Exhibit A, see Barry... The problem with Ms. Jones is the almost mystifying stupidity that she displayed both in hiding behind her so-called God-given abilities, and as if that weren't enough, in her confession, she apologized to the "sport she loved".

And at that point, I could not help but think in a calm and rational manner: "THIS IS THE SAME SPORT THAT YOU LIED ABOUT AND SABOTAGED!"

So Congrats, Ms. Jones, you are officially STOOPID!

And while we are on the subject of sports, here is or next "winner"...

Floyd Landis -- former Tour de France winner

The sport of professional bicycling has been in trouble for years, even before the allegations of doping that were lodged against seven-time champ Lance Armstrong...in fact, Wikipedia states that doping in the Tour de France has been a problem almost since its beginning in 1903. In ther case of Armstrong, even comedians had the right answer: "It's CHEMO, you *bleeps*!" (Robin WIlliams)

Armstrong doesn't have that excuse however, and once again, this is not your normal story about a steroid marinated superstar, once again, see Barry...

The problem with Armstrong is that the tests are in, he's been found to have basically soaked himself in a sauna of testosterone, and HE'S APPEALING THE DECISION!

Of course, Armstrong is entited to appeal the decision of the US sporting higher-ups who apparently don't know a damn thing about the sports they make decisions about, and he can certainly make that appeal to the highest sports court in the world...which is basically the same group of people as the lower group of higher-ups...only in other countries. Apparently according to Landis, you, me, and two chimps could make better decisions about the sport of bicycling.

The problem here is does Armstrong think there are going to be OTHER tests that prove his innocence? "Excuse me, the Alpha and Beta tests were screwed up, here's the Gamma, the Delta, and the Epsilon tests and these PROVE I didn't do it!" Well, unless Landis pulls a clean test out from somewhere, and let's not discuss from where.. ...the only thing the world-wide group of sporting higher-ups will be able to do is look at Landis and go: "Gee, these US-guys didn't screw anything up, you're hosed, pal."

So, for wasting our time, Mr. Landis, you are officially STOOPID!

Now, we step away from sports for our next  two brainiacs, both in need of a lobotomy!

Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez -- former commander of US forces in Iraq

&

Jimmy Carter -- former US President

I really hate to pair two people up like this because it's such a waste of good material, but in this case, these two idiots are being laughed at in this post for the same exact thing. See, in both cases, the word FORMER in describing their jobs also defines the problem. Let's take them one by one...

Former President Carter is a Democrat, and a Liberalista, and he's free to be both, an I have no problems with that. However, when he puts himself out there as a serious talker, a "talking head" about issues both foreign and domestic, any thinking American should feel free to examine his past...especially when we are talking about a former US President.

And what one finds when we take even a cursory look at President Carter is HE DOESN'T KNOW WHAT HE IS TALKING ABOUT!

Ok, so Mr. Carter is going to lecture the Bush Administration about how bad the Bush tax cuts have been...this coming from a man how ran the country when both inflation and interest rates were in double digits! This was the guy who said America was in a malaise. This was the guy who gave us the "misery index". Excuse me, but my reaction to anything this guy says about the national economy is to do the EXACT OPPOSITE!

Then there's the esteemed Mr. Carter, saying that we should be negotiating with Iran on a host of issues, ranging from nuclear weapons to the situation in Iraq. Ths from the guy who did next to nothing while this same Iran held American hostages for 444 days! The only thing Carter did was set up a failed rescue attempt that killed eight US servicemen. Getting away from Iran for a moment, you might think that Carter perhaps earned some foreign policy gravitas by being a Cold War warrior...and you would be WRONG! Carter was the guy in charge when the Soviets invaded Afghanistan, and all we did was boycott the Moscow Olympics and stop sending wheat to the Soviet Union...such very strong statements indeed! Punish American farmers, American atheletes, and the peasants in the USSR, but do NOTHING to deal with the actual situation.

But you might say, John, what about Camp David, and what about the Nobel Prize. Well, about the Nobel Prize, if Algore can win it, it can't be that special. As for Camp David, you have to look at what the participants did before and after that signing, and in the case of Yasser Arafat, you have a person who for 360 days that year was a terrorist, and for the other five, he pretended to want peace. Actually, Arafat wanted a piece of Isreal, namely pretty much any piece of Israel that could be seen from orbit. Arafta never saw a terrorist he didn't like and financially support, and he showed that once he was back in the Middle East. Jimmy Carter getting the Nobel Prize was like Bill Clinton getting an award for celibacy.

Alrighty, on to Mr. Sanchez, the Benedict Arnold of today's military. See, Benedict Arnold was a fairly good leader of the colonial forces standing up to the British military...until he gained command of the fort at West Point and plotted to surrender it to the British. Since then, he has become well-known as a way of frying eggs... "eggs Benedict..." ...okay, I digress...

Mr. Sanchez commanded US forces in Iraq from June of 2003 to June of 2004, and has become a vocal critic of the Bush administration since he was replaced. Once again, I don't have a beef with critics of the Bush administration...it's a free country, and Mr. Sanchez served in the US military...a froce that does all it can to protect the freedoms of all of us. I get to write this blog because of the US military, and Mr. Sanchez gets his right to free speech because the US military is out there protecting him and me, and all of us, day in and day out.

To all of our men and women in the US Armed Forces: THANK YOU!

However, when Mr. Sanchez then comes back and unfairly ciritcized the Bush administration, the senior military leadership in Iraq, and the strategy that is currently in place. He whines about Abu-Ghraib as the reason he retired, saying he was not offered a three or four-star position elsewhere. He says of the surge strategy in Iraq that: "The best we can do with this flawed approach is to stave off defeat", and he portrays our national leaders as incompetant, saying "There is no question that America is living a nightmare with no end in sight."

It is my belief that Mr. Sanchez is simply whining because he is no longer in charge in Iraq. He intentionally ignores the events in Iraq since he left, saying he knew the mission in Iraq was going downhill since the day he assumed command of US forces there. He ignores the reports of General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker, who have stated that while there are some setbacks and places that success could be greater, that overall, the surge is working.

Please note, both Petraeus and Crocker are *currently* serving in posts in Iraq. They are not sitting on the sidelines in the US throwing worthless allegations.

But Joh, you might say, how do you know these are worthless allegations. I would answer by pointing to some facts...

- Both US military and Iraqi casualty deaths are down to near record lows.

- The Sunni province of Al Anbar, once thought to be "lost" to Al Qaeda, is largely secure with the help of SUnni tribes who have turned against the terrorist insurgents.

- Shia tribal chiefs in Baghdad are also switching sides, and are now helping the US military bring better security to their neighborhoods.

- The British have pulled out of three of the four provinces they controlled in southern Iraq, and those provinces are quiet.

And therre are other items that could be mentioned. The point made by a number of the talking-head shows is that Mr. Sanchez is a whining loser has-been. He's a distraction, and someone who should be ignored. The reason he is in the Square of the Village Idiot is because his comments attacked the very people he once commanded, and in doing so, he endangers them, and us.

Mr. Sanchez, and Mr. Carter, you are both officially STOOPID!

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John B.
Blogger Guy