Hey Dick - Go Pound Wood

How many times does World Anti-Doping Agency chief Dick Pound have to make accusatory statements based on his opinions and suspicions - lacking supporting evidence - before that agency does something to muzzle him?

His leadership of this agency, and the agency itself didn't hit my radar screen until he accused up to one third of NHL players of being on performance enhancing substances back in November of 2005. Back then of course there was strong reaction from the NHL, the NHLPA and the players themselves. Not to mention the cold reaction of hockey fans in general. NHL deputy commissioner Bill Day had this to say :

"I would respectfully suggest that Mr. Pound's comments have absolutely no basis in fact," Daly told The Canadian Press. "I find it troubling, to say the least, that he would find it necessary to comment on something he has absolutely no knowledge of."

Executive Director of the NHL Players' Association Ted Saskin followed with :

"Dick Pound's comments are incredibly irresponsible and have no basis in fact," said Saskin. "He has no knowledge of our sport and our players and frankly has no business making such comments."

Some prominent players added their thoughts :

Jarome Iginla of the Calgary Flames - "I think it's unfair."

Ryan Smyth of the Edmonton Oilers - "We don't have any troubles here. I don't know what goes on around the league, but I talked to a few players and by and large I think this is false information."

Matthius Ohlund of the Vancouver Canucks - "I've played for eight years and I haven't see anything around our team," said Vancouver Canucks defenceman Mattias Ohlund. "I'm sure there will be some out of 700 who are taking something but to say that there's one-third is obviously ridiculous."

Now ol' Dick is at it again after some cross-country skiers were found to have high levels of hemoglobin just days prior to the Olympics. The International Ski Federation(FIS) has listed 12 skiers as having the higher levels, and has stated that the higher than normal levels of hemoglobin were most likely caused by high altitude training.

Dick Pound, obviously a previously unknown expert on how altitude affects the human system says :

"This is not a particularly high altitude. If you went to Machu Picchu (in Peru) for nine months you might get it..."

and :

"They (FIS) might be afraid that they are not able to prove that they were drugged."

Perhaps he went through the same 'diplo-speak' training as the Bush Administration....make an accusation which isn't supported by evidence, and then use the fact that the accused cannot prove the accusation false as proof you are right.

This is like me saying that you killed your neighbors cat, and you must have done it unless you can show me your neighbors cat alive. Of course I made the accusation knowing full well that your neighbor doesn't have a cat and never did.

This type of blame/negative-proof game has worked fairly well for the Bushistas - take Iraq having to prove they didn't have WMD's. Let's see how it works for Dick.

For a world body which obviously would like to be taken seriously, they certainly don't seem to understand that they risk becoming 'a boy who cried wolf' too many times to be taken seriously if they don't ensure they have proof to back up their public accusations.

Bush Admin Lies Openly. Will They Get Called On It?

The Bush administration just never stops amazing me with their nonsense. Here they are now trying to block the release in the U.S. of more images of torture from the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, which of course they were/are trying to pass off as the work of a few 'bad apples'. Their reasoning is that their publication could provoke antagonism towards the U.S.

If you can't figure it out, they are saying that allowing Americans to see these previously unpublished photographs will cause antagonism towards Americans. Huh?!?

Obviously they are not worried about outrage being directed at America from abroad, they are worried about how the American people will react when they see that their military is ripe with the kind of people who will commit torture, and that the leadership lied and tried to cover up how widespread the torture was.

So who is going to call them on it? My guess is many bloggers and some alternative press, but you certainly will not see Wolf Blitzer or Anderson Cooper asking them to clarify it.

America - a shining light of freedom/truth/justice - we've heard them all before. Now that the curtains are being pulled back on the U.S., the world is finding out that 'America the beautiful' is actually just a really nice cover. Like the saying goes - don't judge a book by its cover.