Ouch x2

Justin's guest blogger Tom offers some harsh words about the recent Rafael Palmeiro controversy.

So MLB needed to target a superstar and Palmeiro was Selig’s patsy. No name recognition or records like Sosa or Bonds, not as white as Piazza, even obvious scapegoats like Sheffield were spared because they’re American. With Raffi you got a Cuban with hall of fame stats, but no team loyalty, no records.

Ouch! I can't say I disagree with ol' Tom. Steroids in baseball is the elephant in the room, or whatever the hell the metaphor is. All I can say is when the Texas Rangers were close to their greatest in the 1990s, every single player, including Palmeiro, looked gargantuan.

Tom also has nothing great to say about Nightline guest host Chris Cuomo.

Instead of putting drug companies or politicians on the pressure cooker, Cuomo lines up to tell us whose boobs were done and which line and lure the President uses to catch a crappie.

Ouch! I'll probably save much of this for another blog entry, but Peter Jennings' death followed by Ted Koppel's departure marks the death of old school journalism. Cuomo is the future of popular television journalism, which will be far uglier than Cuomo. Forget that windmill Liberal Media Conspiracy Limbaugh and Hannity tilt at each and every weekday. The real problem is the Stupid Media Conspiracy. Despite the current geopolitical realties, American culture is consumed with navel-gazing or celebrity-gazing, and the mainstream media is either feeding it or feeding off it -- probably both.

My beef with Cuomo was his attempt at an expose of Donald Trump more than a year ago when The Apprentice was keeping NBC above pre-Lost, pre-Desperate Housewives ABC. Cuomo's report attempted to discredit Trump, but it fell flat on its face. Only toward the end did Cuomo bother to mention that his family has an uncomfortable history with Trump, essentially discrediting his investigation and editorialization. Cuomo and ABC News produced a non-story. I'm sure it earned ratings, but it was a colossal waste of time, much like ABC's recent attempt to dethrone American Idol.

Again, where this diatribe is headed is another blog entry. Stay tuned.