Political influence to protect dopers

[Race Radio]

Wonderboy said he was going to move on, no longer dedicate time to this witch hunt. This was a lie. he is aggressively fighting behind the scenes to destroy USADA.

Livestrong made many friends when they lobbied in California for the Cigarette Tax Increase. They called in a favor from those friends.
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/cycling/story/2012-09-04/Lance-Armstrong-doping-USADA/57593548/1

Here is the letter

http://sd16.senate.ca.gov/sites/sd16.senate.ca.gov/files/USADA Letter to Boxer-Feinstein.pdf

it appears these lawmakers are unaware that a Federal Judge ruled that the WADA code gives Armstrong ample due process. Instead of addressing the overwhelming evidence of Armstrong's guilt they focus on USADA's funding. Smart deflection.

Over the next few weeks it will become clear that Lance thinks the rules to not apply to him. Political connections helped with the Federal case but I think USADA is too far along for the same dirty games too work here.

 

[LauraLyn]

edited by mod

MOD NOTE: Please leave the moderating to the mods. Thank you.

 

[Race Radio]

This has already been posted and discussed on the Armstrong thread a half day ago.

Starting a new thread loses much of the discussion, and confuses people as to the origin of the discussion.

The discussion starts here: http://forum.cyclingnews.com/member.php?u=23698 Gooner brought this point to our attention. Perhaps first read the discussion and if you want to start a new thread on it, bring the related posts first and indicate correctly your sources.

Nope. This is just the tip of the iceberg, there will be much more to come on the various political moves lance has made over the last 2 years. It deserves it's own thread.

 

[Microchip]

Thanks for this info RR.

 

[Stingray34]

Ad now for the big question: how far is this ship going to sail?

We already have a decision from the bench. Rule of law and all that.

Is this just stepping up the PR campaign? Oooo senators, yep you can trust those guys to do the right thing.

 

[CharacterFirst]

Nope. This is just the tip of the iceberg, there will be much more to come on the various political moves lance has made over the last 2 years. It deserves it's own thread.

I know its your style RR, but don't hold back. Lets have it. Even if LL doesn't want to hear it, we do.

 

[LauraLyn]

Thanks for this info RR.

Not information from RaceRadio. Just copied and pasted from http://forum.cyclingnews.com/member.php?u=23698

 

[Race Radio]

It is interesting that this was sent to Boxer and Feinstein.

Given the help they gave him on the Federal case you would think they would be distancing themselves from the mess.

 

[LauraLyn]

Nope. This is just the tip of the iceberg, there will be much more to come on the various political moves lance has made over the last 2 years. It deserves it's own thread.

Fine. But the conversation should be kept together and you should be clear about your sources. I believe the moderators just asked to keep the Lance threads together.

 

[CharacterFirst]

Hey RR, you better do as Miss Lyn says, or you might be picking up paper at lunchtime with the yard duty teacher.

 

[Race Radio]

I know its your style RR, but don't hold back. Lets have it. Even if LL doesn't want to hear it, we do.

Feel free to follow me on twitter, I do not see the value of posting here any more

https://twitter.com/TheRaceRadio

 

[Briant_Gumble]

I'd like to see Sheryl on Oprah or something ASAP, I have to think this move is stemming from as much ignorance as corruption if they knew the strength of the evidence against Armstrong I'm not sure they'd be doing this.

Didn't Sparks makes lots of comments along the lines of 'whatever the will of congress', I think he was alluding to some of this stuff going on in the background.

 

[CharacterFirst]

Feel free to follow me on twitter, I do not see the value of posting here any more

https://twitter.com/TheRaceRadio

Keep posting mate. Don't let the omerta shut you down as well.

 

[thehog]

Feel free to follow me on twitter, I do not see the value of posting here any more

https://twitter.com/TheRaceRadio

I wrote this on the other thread but it's now clogged.


I too might leave here soon.

None the less I see it as pure posturing. Let them shutdown USADA or cut their funding or get rid of Tygart. They can't overturn the ban.

---
These types of letters are written all the time demanding a review by congress. What they’re asking for is a review of the process within USADA. The 23 senators can’t simply pass a motion and shut down USADA or change a decision that has already been made. I hope they get their review. I hope they open the books on the case and find out that it didn’t even go to arbitration and I hope all of the evidence comes out with this review.

It’s a pointless futile act with the letter released on the same day as Tyler’s book.

What will become more worrying for the public at large in the coming days as more evidence comes to light is why has it been so easy to influence the judiciary and senators in the state of California for all things Lance Armstrong?

 

[Microchip]

Keep posting mate. Don't let the omerta shut you down as well.

Yes! Some of us will go into information-separation-anxiety.

 

[Bala Verde]

It is interesting that this was sent to Boxer and Feinstein.

Given the help they gave him on the Federal case you would think they would be distancing themselves from the mess.

Perhaps, but also not since the undersigned are CA state legislators. The best way for them to address a federal issue is to escalate it to the people who work at and wield the most power at the federal level; in this case two CA senators.

USADA is (partially ?) funded by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP)? Boxer is on the Senate drug caucus, so she certainly has good relations with White House drug czar(s).

http://drugcaucus.senate.gov/

Feinstein is on the appropriations committee; subjects including Energy and Water Development (Chairman), Interior, Agriculture and Rural Development, Commerce, Justice, Science, Defense, Transportation/HUD.

So even if she does not directly have jurisdiction over USADA funding sources, one of her close colleagues might. She wields the power of the purse and defunding could be(come) a legitimate threat.

Best way to address this is to express your concern (in big numbers) about this move to your respective (state) representative and senator(s).

 

[Raul Ramaya]

Fine. But the conversation should be kept together and you should be clear about your sources. I believe the moderators just asked to keep the Lance threads together.

Hey LL - what's your deal? That was just a bizarre series of comments...

 

[Page Mill Masochist]

It's hard to see how the U.S. Congress and Senate can move fast enough to stop the USADA process. They are preoccupied with an election. Then they'll be preoccupied with the post-election jockeying, regardless of who wins. Come January it will be Obama II or Romney, and all of Washington will be preoccupied with that.

Meanwhile ...

1. USADA will release its reasoned decision by mid-month.
2. UCI will have three weeks to respond. Guessing they reluctantly accept USADA's bans.
3. ASO will officially strip LA of his titles.

I could be wrong, but I don't see a Senate or Congressional led inquisition into USADA happening for many months, if at all. During which time, the evidence against Lance will continue to see daylight.

Three other thoughts:

1. As long as the New York Times and Wall Street Journal continue to cover the Lance scandal, Congressional Democrats who read the NYT and Congressional Republicans who read the WSJ, won't be as ignorant of the evidence as Lance's lobbyists might hope.

2. Travis Tygart is a very credible spokesman. Don't underestimate him.

3. It's time for some of America's athletic heroes and anti-drug spokesmen to stand up. I nominate two: Edwin Moses, the four-time Olympic gold medalist who is on USADA's board, and Frank Shorter, the Olympic gold medal marathoner who was robbed of his second gold by a drug cheat in 1976.

 

[131313]

They hitched the horse to the wrong wagon on this one. If they really wanted to have political pull on this one, they've have gone to the other side of the aisle and played the "patriotism" card and "witch hunt against a true American Hero" thing. Now, with Conyers and (potentially) Boxer behind it, they'll get pushback from those most likely to offer support. Seems like a really bad move to me.

This should also open the floodgates into the questions about Livestrong spending money to lobby on behalf of Armstrong...because politics is vengeful that way, those on the other side are naturally going to start asking those questions. And as to the point above, I don't see anyone touching this until the middle of next year.

 

[mikkemus23]

More BS from team LA.

Much more disturbing IMHO is Race Radio leaving this forum. That would be very sad and make the forum lose it`s without a doubt most knowledgeable poster. Say it ain`t so, RR!! Twitter won`t be the same.

 

[Mishrak]

Fine. But the conversation should be kept together and you should be clear about your sources. I believe the moderators just asked to keep the Lance threads together.

Right, the moderators. You're not a moderator, so stop trying to be one please. If they want to move RR's thread, let them sort that out.

On topic, I find it a bit laughable that they really went through the effort of appealing to the state of California (not Texas, gee I wonder why) to investigate USADA. This just screams to me that Lance is panicking a bit. The avalanche of evidence (see Pelotoon) is in motion and there's very little he can to do to slow it down. He certainly can't stop it, and every day it just gets worse and worse for the LA PR machine as another point of defense gets torn apart.

I wish he'd stop trying to use the "Never failed a drug test" as a defense. Not only has he tested positive, but even if he hadn't, it's just no longer a valid argument. In fact, when that's used as a defense, it just points to the ignorance (or blatant disregard of the facts) of the person making the statement.

 

[LauraLyn]

. . . . I wish he'd stop trying to use the "Never failed a drug test" as a defense. Not only has he tested positive, but even if he hadn't, it's just no longer a valid argument. In fact, when that's used as a defense, it just points to the ignorance (or blatant disregard of the facts) of the person making the statement.

But this could play out well for USADA. They will be able to show that he failed a test.

My view was simply that it is helpful to keep the discussion on Lance Armstrong and, particularly on specific topics together. And one should also have integrity with regard to their sources. After all, the discussion on doping is about integrity in sports. And I think we can discuss these matters, as posters often do when a new thread is open. But surely if enough people feel that a new thread is needed for a discussion on Lance Armstrong and the moderators agree, then this is fine with me.

 

[BroDeal]

As far as I am concerned, this letter is a good thing. The USADA will be forced to bury Armstrong with the evidence, and sooner rather than later. It needs to stop the snowball from gathering speed and mass.

I have been worried the USADA will write a thin document explaining Armstrong's ban that will be mostly conclusions. Armstrong's PR campaign and some foolish legislators buying into it will force the USADA's hand. They will have to provide more than conclusions.

One of the more surprising things is that Armstrong is going down this route, especially at this time. He should have waited a while and stuck with the unfair/unconstitutional system argument until the USADA process played out. Then he could attack whatever evidence came to light. By going with the "there is no evidence" line, he is forcing the USADA to release more information than they might have and release it quicker.

 

[AcademyCC]

California senator Michael J Rubio has a Livestrong banner on his twitter photo. Unreal.

 

[nvpacchi]

California senator Michael J Rubio has a Livestrong banner on his twitter photo. Unreal.

He did say that it was to honor his mother tho.

However I wouldn't hesitate to call his bluff