I didn't like to mention the C-word because the mere mention of it is likely to bring a whole load of pubescent teenagers and nationalists with a victimisation complex into the thread.
I don't think Ricco is the only knuckledragger in the peloton, Ricco isn't the only rider who flaunts his doping. But he does make a good punching bag to distract people from the real problems of the sport. He's a bit like Vino in that sense, when Vino won at the Olympics there were all the comments about how disgraceful that a doper was allowed to ride and win - ignoring of course the likes of David Millar, or all the dopers now involved with British cycling. Or the time Harmon was cheering on Piti and Cuddles to beat Vino. Making Vino, Ricco into these uber-bad guys means no one ever looks too closely at everyone else involved.