Here's an issue where I agree with Washington Post columnist and best-selling author Sally Jenkins: We both believe Marion Jones got a raw deal in the Balco investigation. Here's where I take issue with her: Jenkins has written a column that ignores key facts while somehow managing to conflate Jones with the Mitchell investigation, which, in case this isn't obvious, has nothing to do with track and field. I would recommend Jenkins' column for any journalism teacher looking for an example of how a writer can simply ignore facts that aren't convenient to his or her hypothesis. Jenkins believes the fact that Jones is facing prison time for the Balco case shows a racial double standard: Whites who did the same thing Jones did aren't facing prison time, that's Jenkins' basic point.
So what does Jenkins have to say about the fact that the three people who have gone to prison for Balco are white? Nothing. She simply ignores that fact. Read the whole column, and notice the names "Victor Conte," "Patrick Arnold" and "Greg Anderson" don't appear anywhere. I guess it could have damaged her thesis that the Balco investigation is fueled by racism if she had bothered to mention Conte, Arnold and Anderson.
I feel badly for Marion Jones. I'd prefer not to have my tax dollars going toward investigating and imprisoning her. But I'm not going to claim that she's been treated worse than white people in the same situation, because she hasn't.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-08-2008 @ 10:09AM
Thaddeus Buttmunch said...
The whole pro/olympic and even NCAA jock thing is a bunch of BS and everyone KNOWS it-or SHOULD know it. They ALL use performance enhancers not to mention the wrestlers the "gladiators" and Stallone and Shwarzanegger.
Even the "gender gap" is mostly testosterone. A juicing woman could beat a man from a hundred years ago. Super performance in humans is no more natural than in Indy or NASCAR vehicles. Wake up and smell the D-Bol people!
Reply
12-21-2007 @ 8:33AM
Caleb Page said...
The difference is that these guys are not athletes. No white Athletes have been punished to date
Reply
12-21-2007 @ 10:14AM
McBride said...
Beat me to it, Caleb. MDS is missing the point a little bit and trying to compare apples to oranges.
Jenkins' column compares apples to apples
Reply
12-21-2007 @ 12:03PM
joe said...
1. Well, the CUBAN who got caught lying before congress wasn't punished either!! Remember Raffy? I guess Cubans are on the white side in this double standard huh?
2. The vast majority of athletes haven't been criminally punished..only this brain surgeon who lied under oath and was dumb enough to get caught doing it and they trying to get barry bonds..which of course is a witch hunt and smells but this one doesnt it
3 she is quoting the Mitchell report where the vast marioty of it could never see the inside of a court room
4 she works for the Washington post..nuff said
5 You want to prove a double standard? get smoking gun proof that a white guy lied under oath cause thats what shes in jail for not roids..the mitchell report wasnt under oath and also find out why they didnt charge the friggin CUBAN!!
Reply
12-21-2007 @ 7:28PM
Phil G said...
How do you cross the street and survive?
You just make up stuff. The "white" people you mentioned were jailed for their involvement in illegal drug operations and distributions. Miss Jones' problems arise from not telling the truth about her drug usage to a grand jury under a cloak of immunity.
Miss Jenkins was referring to the treatment that Jones and Bonds have been subjected to by the media, the public, and law enforcement. Whereas those recently exposed in the Mitchel report will never faced the condemnation or legal woes Jones and Bonds will and have gone through.
One thing in particular she states is that when the feds finally turned over their evidence to Mitchel it signaled they were over and done with it. Mitchel's own conculsion in his report to baseball was to not persue punitive actions against the players named.
What's been missing has been the groundswell of self-rightious indignation and condemnation from the media against those named like that what Jones and Bonds have suffered through and it is left to be seen how they'll be received when baseball starts up again.
Instead we've heard excuses from some of them as to why they HAD to use the drugs and apologies only after they've been outed of course. Up until that time their consicous didn't bother them enough to come forward and admit their illegal usage or volunteer to speak openly about their usage to Mitchel.
Where's the media? Sitting on their hands. They've taken a wait and see policy, don't want to jump to any conclusions unjustly now do we?
Reply
1-11-2008 @ 9:19PM
David Johnson said...
Ms. Jones did get a raw deal, and we need to come out to support her. She understand she did wrong, and she is willing to pay for it, but jail, thats going to far. How about the others that are in the same boat are they going to do jail time?.
Its very sad to see how the system has not changed.
David/Boston
Reply