Congress Weighs In on Baseball! Here's the Top 5 Most Pointless Congressional Hearings

Take a break from the World Series and watch Congress go up against Major League Baseball.

Originally posted April 6, 2015:

Congress has no authority over Major League Baseball, but that hasn't stopped them from holding dozens of hearings on the national pastime over the years. Federal legislators have relished the opportunity to show off their populist appeal in front of national TV cameras by talking "inside baseball" jargon, acting as moral scolds, and generally probing in places they don't belong.

To celebrate Opening Day of the 2015 MLB season, Reason TV presents the Top 5 Pointless Congressional Hearings on Baseball!

Featuring Rafael Palmeiro's infamous fingerwag, George Will's defense of socialism in baseball, Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) threatening to "hold hearings on all sports," a totally TMI investigation of Roger Clemens' bloody dress pants, Sen. Howell Heflin's (D-AL) concern about the rising costs of "basekaball" tickets, and Gov. Jesse Ventura's (I-MN) shocking star turn as the voice of sober and rational government.  

About 5 minutes.

Produced by Anthony L. Fisher.

Music: "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Comments

[Mayes]

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[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

I make $97 an hour at Walmart.

[Almanian's Rusty Woodchipper]

Biesbal been berry good to me.

[Almanian's Rusty Woodchipper]

Is baseball finally over? Jesus Christ, let's watch some football now, huh?

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Cal's shitting the bed again. Just like every year. Good thing I like beer.

[DEG]

Latest and probably last beer of the night. Yes, "last beer of the night", I intend to get up early, squat, then work a bit in the yard before I go to work.

[Notorious UGCC]

An aphrodisiac beer, eh? Well, apropos of nothing at all,

MACDUFF

What three things does drink especially provoke?

Porter

Marry, sir, nose-painting, sleep, and
urine. Lechery, sir, it provokes, and unprovokes;
it provokes the desire, but it takes
away the performance: therefore, much drink
may be said to be an equivocator with lechery:
it makes him, and it mars him; it sets
him on, and it takes him off; it persuades him,
and disheartens him; makes him stand to, and
not stand to; in conclusion, equivocates him
in a sleep, and, giving him the lie, leaves him.

[DEG]

I like that Shakespeare inserted that bit of comic relief into MacBeth.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

93? That's very respectable.

[Quincy.]

What your beer says about you.

[Sevo]

Pl?ya Manhattan.|11.1.15 @ 5:59PM|#
"Cal's shitting the bed again."

There might be an 'experienced' QB available soon, but it'll take some work on his eligibility.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

I'm happy with the one we have now. If only he had better protection.

[Hyperion]

Fucking Raiders, seriously, destroyed the Jets defense. By not showing up much, Amari Cooper is one badass.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Political grandstanding for cameras is as American as football and apple pie.

[robc]

Proposed: Ventura was one of the 10 best governors in us history.

[Quincy.]

Why?

[Notorious UGCC]

Because we can't think of 10 governors better than Ventura? Governors *qua* governors, not undistinguished governors who had other-wise distinguished careers (eg, Thomas Jeferson)

So we got Grover Cleveland in New York, and Slater in Georgia (the guy who ruined his career in trying to save Leo Frank's life), Sam Houston (for standing up to the secessionists as governor), well, maybe if I thought longer I could get to 10.

[Rhywun]

Just a guess, but if he didn't have the usual political machine backing him, he probably wasn't able to do much damage.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

He was a good governor. Now, he's a fucking kook.

[AlmightyJB]

And a douchnozzle. He's always been that though.

[Sevo]

CA gets a rotten governor and a fucking kook and a douchnozzle.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

I'm not sure when that happened. He's been a truther for a while, though.

[Sevo]

Like politicians, wrestlers are paid for popularity, not brains.

[Quincy.]

Proposed: Seveneves is a sexist book. Everything seems to be going on not-quite-terribly until a female politician shows up? then disaster. This obviously anti-Hillary propaganda can not stand!

[Crusty Juggler]

Question: is Anathem worth putting the effort into?

[Rhywun]

Absolutely. The only one of his I like better is Diamond Age. After all the drawn-out historical stuff I wasn't expecting it at all but was hugely delighted.

[Rhywun]

PS. I haven't read Seveneves yet.

[Quincy.]

Do it. Take a week off between reading parts 2 and 3.

[Rhywun]

Huh OK.

I should add I haven't read Mongoliad or Reamde either.

[Quincy.]

Everybody complains about "5000 years later". Take a break, enjoy what you read, then after proper time has passed, dive in again.

[Rhywun]

I read a lot of space operas so the concept of "5000 years later" doesn't bother me at all.

[Quincy.]

It's a difficult read. A major plot point involves poop. So, maybe?

[Crusty Juggler]

I know it is difficult, but if Rhy says it is worth it I will give it a shot.

The only Stephenson I have read is Reamde, which I liked well enough.

[Rhywun]

The concept is based around a monastery where the "monks" spend either 10, 100, or 1000 years isolated from society. And clocks. And some outer space stuff. You won't be disappointed.

[Rhywun]

*narrows gaze*

Compared to his previous 4,000 pages, it's an easy read.

[Quincy.]

The Deliverator belongs to an elite order, a hallowed subcategory.

That is something that sucks you in the world, no?

[Rhywun]

Oh, Snow Crash is my #3. It's awesome. The difficulty comes with Cryptonomicon (which I did enjoy) and the Baroque Cycle (which I haven't read).

[AlmightyJB]

I bought Quicksilver for my mom for her birthday one year but I've never read him.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

My new favorite steak: The Flat Iron.
Man, I'm tired of winning.

[AlmightyJB]

I'm partial to skirt

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

I used to make skirt a lot. But people keep trying to pass off flap meat as skirt. It's not the same thing at all.

[AlmightyJB]

Huh, I hadn't seen that. Yeah, that's my go to for taco nights.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Flap meat is a good value. It's just not skirt steak.

Flap Meat.
Skirt Steak

[Teenage Girl]

Eewww!!

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

I like meat curtains.

[Crusty Juggler]

Conor McGregor gives you a blueprint for how to defeat Warty. Jab and move, jab and move, and also be a top MMA fighter.

[AlmightyJB]

Or...

https://youtu.be/4DzcOCyHDqc

[Rhywun]

Also, out-tatt your opponent.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Warty has been focusing on the bagpipes lately.

[Sevo]

OT.
Art Agnos was a life-time politico who happened to be mayor of SF when the '89 quake hit. He has since ridden on the laurels of being there (thanks, Chauncey) and not allowing SF fall into a sink hole; you could have done as well. Or probably better (not you, commie-kid).
He also ran the city as if bums were not a problem, they were to be welcomed! The largest encampment was right across the street from City Hall, so he could see and no doubt smell them (he made no provisions for sanitation).
Amazingly, he was too 'liberal' for SF; one term and on to retirement.
So now, he's got ticker problems, and since he really didn't have anyone shot or sent to the camps, he can have a bit of my sympathy. But not a lot, since he's recently been very active in telling people what they can do with their property.
Anyhow, he's headed off to Cleveland, where it seems they have a good C/V hospital, and some are griping he should use local services.
Well, a commenter got his number:
"@snelson123
The Cleveland Clinic cardiac program is one of the best, if not the best cardiac center in the world.<<br /
No doubt. Progressives never let inequality trump self-interest.
Best of luck to Mr. Agnos."
My sarc meter is twitching over the last sentence...

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Are there actually people saying that he should stay local?

[Sevo]

Sorry, here's the link:
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/.....604343.php
But yes:
"sfwinddummy Rank 2053
Interesting choice of Agnos to have the surgery at the Cleveland Clinic. No faith in the local hospitals/doctors?"

And the local Kaiser has one of the best C/V units in the nation also, but that prolly isn't covered by his (SF supplied) health insurance.
Kaiser runs an interesting operation. They sell the back-office services to recruit talented MDs who have no interest in a private practice (and with O-care, fewer do all the time). And then they sell that talent on the med market at top dollar to keep the subscriber rates as low as they can.
I got gripes with them, but not many.

[Sevo]

Annnnnnnnnnnnnd, Uber BAD!
"Police: Uber driver traded ride for oral sex"
http://www.sfgate.com/crime/ar.....600996.php
OK, the guy should have gotten the 25-buck fare, paid the taxes on it, and then gotten and paid for the BJ, so SHE could pay the taxes on it, right?

[Cytotoxic]

He should have given Uber it's cut.

[Cytotoxic]

Fred Thompson has died.

[Cloudbuster]

OT: A very progressive webcomic artist whose comic I read just posted "There will be some filler strips or missed updates this week. I have to go back to the US and get a CT scan of my head because I have a cholesteatoma in one ear (if you don't know what that is, don't google image search it, they're gross) and some other damage in the other. I am looking at at least two surgeries, possibly more, and that is what we are trying to figure out this week. So for once the comic can't be my first priority. Sorry about that. Everything will probably be fine. "

He just recently moved to Canada. Everyone is always telling me how wonderful Canadian socialized healthcare is. Whatever could he be returning to the US for?

[UnCivilServant]

He just recently moved to Canada. Everyone is always telling me how wonderful Canadian socialized healthcare is. Whatever could he be returning to the US for?

No waiting.

[Cloudbuster]

Indeed. "Free" healthcare isn't much good when you've got a spreading, infectious cyst destroying your middle ear, but you're on a months-long waiting list. Ain't socialized healthcare grand?