Thursday, July 11, 2013

David Walsh = Edward Snowden?

David Walsh is an Irish sporting journalist who has been dogging Armstrong with accusations of doping since he first won the Tour de France in 1999. He has been vilified, marginalized, and sued as a result and finally vindicated only in 2012 when Armstrong finally admitted to a lifetime of doping and cheating.

In his book, Seven Deadly Sins, Mr. Walsh details how he and a handful of other brave journalists suffered because they would not happy clap Armstrong and the UCI as they hijacked the sport we love. They were accused of damaging the sport of cycling.

Let's get this clear - Mr. Walsh, etc. did not do the damage. Armstrong and all the other dopers in the peleton did the damage. The UCI and others did the damage by deliberately turning a blind eye to the doping. Mr. Walsh attempted to save cycling, to create an environment in which the winners could be worthy of our adulation once again. Who was the last clean winner of the Tour, who beat all the others Pan y Agua? We will probably never know. We don't even know what 'clean' is anymore.

In my innocence I purchased a copy of Armstrong's 'Its not about the bike'. We all know what the subtitle should have been - 'It's all about the drugs'. I've never been to a book burning, but I might have my own private one soon.

Edward Snowden is a whistleblower just like David Walsh. But the big difference is that the NSA didn't break the rules - at least not any US laws. But they stepped over the line just as clearly as the dopers did. They gathered private information but promised not to look at it without a court order. Right. I totally believe them. I also think Elvis is still alive and the Earth is flat.

Snowden didn't cause the problem. The NSA caused the problem. Don't blame the messenger.

P.S. I just read that Khalid Sheik Mohammed asked his CIA captors for permission to design a vacuum cleaner. It struck me that 'NSA' would be a great name for a vacuum cleaner.

Introducing the new 'NSA' vacuum cleaner. Now with a 5 zettabyte dustbag!

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