McQuaid thinks about truth and reconciliation without understanding it

[Mrs John Murphy]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sport...30840e-f928-11e1-a93b-7185e3f88849_story.html

McQuaid seems to be confusing a Spanish style amnesty and amnesia for a truth and reconciliation. It smacks to me of McQuaid trying to throw the riders under the bus (while not losing any of the big names to bans) and also saving his own skin.

A couple of key features of T & R that he seems to have not grasped.

Firstly, all T & R has followed a regime change. Now, I don't see McQuaid offering to step down, and he seems to think that the UCI in all its compromised glory could operate such a system.

Amnesty or reduced punishments come in return for full admissions, but the point is that those responsible for the worst crimes are still punished. The idea is that you punish the trigger man, but also the person who gave the order. Eugene de Kock, Videla and others have all been punished for their actions after T & R. T & R does not mean that everyone confesses and nothing then happens.

Admission is about uncovering what is not known - in many of the T & R cases (South Africa, Latin America) its been about finding the 'disappeared'. A cycling T & R has to not just be 'I doped' but also 'the how'.

The best illustration of the next two problems are:

What McQuaid wants is effectively a public show of remorse and then everyone goes back to normal. This is all about the veneer of reform without the substance of reform.

 

[the big ring]

Fully agreed. Full T&R would give riders the chance to testify against UCI. That's bad juju for McQuaid right there.

When the Festina affair happened, people went to jail, but there was a lot of dirty laundry aired. Everyone called it a pivotal moment. There was a tiny window to change things for the better.

Then the UCI covered up for Lance - installation of the new white hope.



This time around USADA vs LA is tantamount to Festina. Tyler's book. Airing the dirty laundry. Noone has to go to jail though, which is better.

But the great white hope has already been installed - Bradley Wiggins / Sky.

And the UCI (and this time around ASO) are complicit once again in the coverup.

We've missed that window (I believe) to clean up the sport, as the heir is already on the throne.

 

[Mrs John Murphy]

I think the only real hope is that the material that comes out of the USADA case is enough to force McQuaid and the UCI. McQuaid is hanging on for dear life.

I think it is touch and go.

The point about T & R is that reconciliation can only follow from truth.

I can't decide if Sky at the TDF and the Vuelta are the last dance before the balloon goes up, or the start of a new doping arms race.

 

[roundabout]

Looks like Fat is afraid of more surprises from riders turning to WADA, USADA and all the other evil ADAs who want to do things their own way.

 

[MarkvW]

The only good amnesty is where the riders give up the dealers and docs.

Anybody think that's ever going to happen?

 

[Mrs John Murphy]

As someone who works on TJ my concern is that the cycling media and others are going to mistakenly think that what McQuaid claims in Truth and Reconciliation is T & R.

I'm all for T & R but it needs to be in line with T & R in places like South Africa and Latin America. Not a bogus sham effort to make it look like the sport is 'doing something' as we got after Festina.

This another case where the cycling media needs to call McQuaid to account and not allow him to subvert the process into protecting and safe guarding him and his cronies.

 

[PosterBill]

"It does seem slightly unusual," McQuaid told Associated Press reporters of the delay in receiving USADA's file. "Our only thoughts on it would be that maybe they didn't have a full file or they don't have a full file. ... We are assuming they do have a full file because they have already announced a life ban on Lance Armstrong."

This guy.....WTF

 

[MacRoadie]

Let's be honest here: Pat talks about a lot of things he clearly has no understanding of...

 

[Big Doopie]

however, this struck me as a way to get armstrong off.

they'll just give him amnesty.

 

[TylerDurden1]

Mcquaid is crazy. Amnesty is not the answer

 

[benzwire]

Jesus, can we just get this guy out of there? I don't care how many pros confess, unless that Fat idiot is removed from pro cycling, the sport will not progress. Clean house. Start over.

 

[hfer07]

Wtf????


the so called "amnesty" only comes to play when Armstrong's legacy is at the verge of completely abolition-yet that resource was never considered for Contador, Valverde, Pellizotti, etc.....
before I get misunderstood on the above-the mentioned riders(Not LA) were "punished" & and completed their santions. How come this "unthinkable yet riduculous idea" is even to be considered at all?


the sport is so fvcked as long as McQuaid & his UCI setup is doing this kind of sh!t to the sport.

 

[ggusta]

I am not quite sure where to put this and loath to start yet ANOTHER thread, as if each article deserves a thread.

This is a reuters story from today.

If an admin wants to relocate this then have at it.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/07/us-cycling-armstrong-mcquaid-idUSBRE88611Z20120907

 

[simo1733]

What sort of message does it send if McQuaid goes after JV,VDV and Danielson whilst those who keep quiet are untouched.

 

[JMBeaushrimp]

This was a tweet from me on 2Sep after JV had mentioned a T&R for cycling:

@Vaughters @nyvelocity @uci_overlord Truth has its own merit. Reconciliation is based upon those in power giving that power up. Good luck.

I agree with Mrs. Murphy. NOTHING can happen along this route until the UCI is gutted.

They're so corrupt and complicit that nothing is going to change until the UCI gets out of testing altogether, and the upper echelon is replaced with the likes of Schenk and Gripper.

 

[luckyboy]

Yeah this is never going to work, as if it will even happen.

Only thing to do is get some new blood in and implement retesting. Plus keep working on plasticisers/full body haemoglobin tests.

 

[reginagold]

The message is pretty clear - don't mess with Lance and his
Belgian Mafia. USADA might have carved LA from the herd but for including Johann. Museeuw calling for amnesty at this moment can't be anything but Omerta protecting Johann by new tactics. LA will get "saved" too, though he's really just an outsider used happily by the mafia. They are in the end simple, purposeful, if you just open your eyes fully. Really the only hope is that other sports wanting more medal options push the IOC to create the UCI again from scratch. It might happen, but only if the current sponsors flee so there's no money left to fight over. Then all the ex dopers, "retired" from the peleton but still getting paid from the sport, would accept they needed to find a new racket.

 

[AcademyCC]

If anyone has seen the new film Lawless - I'd like Pat McQuaid to be left in a room with Forest Bondurant for an evening. That would inject a bit of sense into him.

 

[Bratam]

We all know there needs to be a thorough investigation into the alleged corrupt practices at the UCI. The question I have is who will initiate such an investigation and who will pay for it ?

 

[Tinman]

Concept of T&R is great. But current UCI leadership has no credibility at all. Pat's latest media swipe at JV demanding Usada data on Garmin says it all. The guy can't be trusted. He will turn it into a 1. Save myself & use this as opportunity to cement my leadership 2. Save UCI doping control ownership 3. Do best for Lance (everyone was doing it) 4. Screw The whistleblowers (TH, JV, etc) 5. position new teams/riders (eg Sky)

Problem is that a T&R can really only be run by UCI. And MJM is totally correct that it would need a regime change first.

I think the next step is a very strong stance by sponsors, riders and media corps. Yes to a T&R, but UCI leadership change first, and doping testing/control ownership to the specialist national anti doping organizations. Possibility for conflict of interest is just way too great within UCI, as we've seen during the past 20 years.

And a tightening up on the UCI/national organizations statutes/code of conduct describing/providing full transparency on relationships/donations from riders/teams/sponsors. There are plenty of code of conducts for various industries that can be considered, eg drug company relations with medical professionals. Riders relationships with the medical profession and/or drug companies must also be more tightly regulated. The new UCI has an opportunity to become the leading sports organization in formulating such sports code of conduct's for their athletes if they wanted to. This would also re-build the public's trust...

Riders could also do with stronger representation, some kind of union. They are getting screwed over, really a no win. Ride clean and struggle to perform/survive knowing you are one of the few (look at Cadel, Sastre's careers, and what about all the ones who didn't make it), dope and forever live with the lie or be made an example of if you are unlucky and manage the fall out. The potential money and fame pay off is just too tempting for many talented kids not to have a go in the current environment. And the bio passport only encourages a regular routine doping approach from very early in one's career...

So yes an opportunity for change, but it needs a clear step wise framework. And not just a "trust Pat" media release.

 

[TourOfSardinia]

Lance Amnesty?

 

[PosterBill]

I see why USADA was so concerned with witness protection. Not only would they have had to worry about Armstrong but also the UCI. I am guessing the UCI has zero oversight or else something would have been set in motion by now.

 

[dadane]

Brilliant inspirational idea!

Well it is if you have a vested interest in protecting the status quo.

Hopefully it gets ridiculed for the sham that it is. BTW, did you know the world is going to end this year?

 

[Oldman]

We all know there needs to be a thorough investigation into the alleged corrupt practices at the UCI. The question I have is who will initiate such an investigation and who will pay for it ?

Very good questions. This seems to be the Wizard of Oz moment for the UCI where we're not supposed to look behind the curtain.
If USADA's final disclosures provide enough evidence to call the UCI's stewardship into question on a fatal level the IOC will need to respond. They have had the UCi on "probation" while Hein managed to move up into their coven...they will have to let that witch burn to save themselves. If that happens it's up to the major event promoters to hastily cobble a coalition that maintains their credible races. Whether the AIGP could have the forsight to recognize a major opportunity to clean up the sport and actually have a rider's union in cooperation with event promoters is a complicated fantasy but in the end: the promoters better take some interest as they are the first and biggest losers if the sport gets a public beating.

 

[Morbius]

Pat uses the word "amnesty" rather than the phrase "Truth and Reconciliation". One of the ponts of T&R was that there were open hearings where the criminals met the victims or relatives of the victims.

This amnesty sounds more like a gun or tax amnesty - where you can admit to crimes in secret in return for reduced or no penalty. People who miss the opportunity are likely to receive full sentances if found guilty later. The thing to push for in this 'amnesty' process is that the admission has to be fully public, and ideally done in a way that can be questioned by outsiders.