In this week's Edge of Sports column, Dave Zirin draws interesting parallels between the McCarthy-ism of the 1950's and this week's subpoenas of major league baseball players to testify about steroid use.
A congressional committee, already preening for the nearest cameras, has been tasked with "getting steroids out of Major League Baseball." Current and former players..... have all been subpoenaed to testify under oath. Major League Baseball and the Players Association have pledged to fight the subpoenas, taking the unprecedented step to unite under one attorney, Mr. Stanley Brand. Brand is arguing all over TV land that this congressional committee has no jurisdiction, is violating the player's first amendment privacy rights with no purpose but to "satisfy their prurient interest into who may and may not have engaged in this activity."
The legal basis for the subpoenas is questionable and the players union and Major League Baseball have banded together to prevent their players from testifying, but Zirin goes on to point out that the issue goes far beyond legal jurisdiction.
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