US prosecutors drop case against Armstrong/USPS

[Yeahright]

Lance has cleared a grove of trees but he's not out of the woods. The GJ dropped the USPS criminal case but there's USADA, the IRS and a some potentially expensive civil action that could come from them. I still feel strongly that this investigation is more about the sources of counterfeit/illegal drugs and their international distribution networks than about Lance.

The satisfaction of having his true character and past being exposed by former teammates can console some but true justice would never occur until USAC is forced to come to terms. Weisel and Co escaping consequences would be truly wrong. Lance was and still is their Tool.

The problem here Oldman is that you are still believing in your own hype. Go back over the past couple of years and then tell me why this latest rant should be given any credence at all. Quit while you'e behind. Millions of tax payer dollars frittered away. On the upside, Jeff did get a few funded trips to Europe to do the sites.

Any damage to the LA reputation will be reverse within a week as the fickle US media swing in behind him. By next week he will be seen by the masses as the victim in all of this. As for USADA, they are would be better off investing their money in Facebook rather than bending over for what will be a spanking.

 

[LarryBudMelman]

The problem here Oldman is that you are still believing in your own hype. Go back over the past couple of years and then tell me why this latest rant should be given any credence at all. Quit while you'e behind. Millions of tax payer dollars frittered away. On the upside, Jeff did get a few funded trips to Europe to do the sites.

Any damage to the LA reputation will be reverse within a week as the fickle US media swing in behind him. By next week he will be seen by the masses as the victim in all of this. As for USADA, they are would be better off investing their money in Facebook rather than bending over for what will be a spanking.

Lance is a scumbag...That is all....

 

[Maxiton]

Pretty impressive, you gotta admit. I didn't think even Houdini could get out of this one.

You have to hand it to the legal team, too. They looked like they had it all stacked against them, but in the end they not only got their client off - or, better still, prevented his indictment - they actually managed to have a whole day of the week abolished! We will never see Tuesday again.

 

[Yeahright]

No hate clown. Why do all the fan boys mention getting on the bike? Believe me, even when I'm 90 I'd drop you.....

~edited by mod~

 

[Yeahright]

Pretty impressive, you gotta admit. I didn't think even Houdini could get out of this one.

You have to hand it to the legal team, too. They looked like they had it all stacked against them, but in the end they not only got their client off - or, better still, prevented his indictment - they actually managed to have a whole day of the week abolished! We will never see Tuesday again.

Great cartoon!! By the way, his team did not "get him off" as there was nothing to get him off from because no charges were laid. In fact if you believe his team, they had very little input into the GJ process which is what you would expect given it is almost totally prosecution driven.

What they did do well is keep him in the limelight and ensure that any leaks from Novitsky's office were given maximum exposure. The leak tactic, which he has used in the past really backfired on Novitsky. I also personally, have no doubt that given the obvious inherent character weaknesses of the key prosecution witnesses, the AG's office realised that they were on a hiding to nothing. But even with that, there obviously just wasn't the hard evidence to support charging which means that whatever came out of Novitsky's trips to France just didn't stack up.

 

[Yeahright]

Lance is a scumbag...That is all....

Yeah but Larry..being a scumbag is not a crime

 

[Maxiton]

Great cartoon!! By the way, his team did not "get him off" as there was nothing to get him off from because no charges were laid. In fact if you believe his team, they had very little input into the GJ process which is what you would expect given it is almost totally prosecution driven.

What they did do well is keep him in the limelight and ensure that any leaks from Novitsky's office were given maximum exposure. The leak tactic, which he has used in the past really backfired on Novitsky. I also personally, have no doubt that given the obvious inherent character weaknesses of the key prosecution witnesses, the AG's office realised that they were on a hiding to nothing. But even with that, there obviously just wasn't the hard evidence to support charging which means that whatever came out of Novitsky's trips to France just didn't stack up.

Maybe, maybe not. They clearly had plenty of damning evidence. What they needed was an airtight case. In the absence of one, the politics of such a prosecution apparently didn't permit proceeding. And doubtlessly there were intense pressures behind the scenes that we know nothing of.

But in any case the bottom line is that they didn't indict, Lance walks, and, as you said, will now be rehabilitated in the press. The Mister Miracle comic definitely applies.

I wonder if Mister Miracle is on PEDs? Sorry. Had to ask.

 

[peterst6906]

“When men wish to construct or support a theory, how they torture facts into their service!”
—John Mackay, Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds , 1852

And it continues, unfortunately.

There seem to be many questions left unanswered and hopefully some of those will be addressed over the next few days.

What seems unfortunate at least to me, is that diversion, obfuscation and apologies have started switching to the other side.

The posters who in the past have claimed to have insider knowledge or who have been vigorous in their mockery are the ones now using these strategies, despite being fully shown up as emperors without clothes.

Ah well, life goes on.

 

[frenchfry]

I still hope Ullrich tells all.

This release reinforces how I need to tell my children 'that life can be so very unfair and they need to deal with confusing and bizarre outcomes. That there are sad, really sad, people in the world and some of the them are very powerful."

What a missed opportunity. What a insult to justice.

I wonder if CN can interview the top 20 GT contenders and ask for their comments on this decision?

NW

Realistic take on the situation. Often when confronted with perverted, narcissic individuals others say "their time will come". Unfortunately, in the self-interested world dominated by corporatism that we live in, the bad guys often continue their destructive ways because they are protected by those who also have self-interest as a motivator.

I am surprised and not surprised at the same time by this decision. Ultimately it will result in the status quo, the haters will remain haters and the fanboys will remain fanboys. As for opinion among the general population - there has been some doubt cast on Armstrong's myth but in the end most people don't care about the details, or the truth for that matter.

The unfortunate thing is there is no closure for now. We are almost under some kind of moral commitment to continue the debate, knowing that it is a monumental waste of time and energy.

 

[TourOfSardinia]

I was wrong, money was enough to buy his way out of this. Money wins again. Yeah Money!

Dirty cash perhaps

 

[Stingray34]

Not sure how to take your post. What did you mean by the part I highlighted? The Battle of the Bulge (if your talking about the Battle of the Bulge in WWII) was won by the allies who then went on to win WWII. Your comment makes it appear that Germany had won the Battle of the Bulge.

Ah OK, I thought Germany won the Bulge...maybe I was thinking of another battle they won as they were being pushed back?

Kinda risky using that WWII analogy, anyway...what's that principle called, when you cite Nazis and lose the argument?

But yes, my point was that Armstrong is home clear. It's not a battle he's won, it's the war itself. I think we may hear a few things in the near future, some rumblings, but it's pretty much done. He can now say the Feds found nothing, which isn't true, but they didn't do anything about them either, which amounts to the same thing.

For sure, he's taken some hits and it's cost him a stack of money, but it must finally be gratifying to know no one can touch him now. He can also now portray himself as an innocent victim of Government largesse and interference...which would be a perfect springboard as a star of the Right side of politics.

 

[ChrisE]

If this is true, for any case not just LA, I think it stinks. I can understand reducing or possibly even eliminating a sentence because of good works. But what does founding a charity have to do with the question of whether someone is guilty or innocent of some crime? I suppose an argument can be made for expediency. If the investigators thought they had enough evidence to make their case, but thought the case was not damning enough to persuade others that it outweighed the good works. But it still seems like justice not flying blind here.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/cycl...nce-enhancing-investigation-closed/52951474/1

Part of the process here is taking things all the way they think they have a good chance of winning. This is not about right and wrong.

 

[ChrisE]

Foxxy,

Americans have a recent past where all alcohol was illegal. Having an open beer in public is left over, from that brief era. The government institutions are VERY afraid of recreational drugs (lumping a beer in there) even though they are literally everywhere, out of plain sight. Similarly, there are ordinary people defending all sorts of scumbags and their actions until they are caught. No, it makes no sense but that's what it's like sometimes.

This is all a bunch of BS. You can drink alcohol out in the open in the US.

 

[FoxxyBrown1111]

Ah OK, I thought Germany won the Bulge...maybe I was thinking of another battle they won as they were being pushed back?

Kinda risky using that WWII analogy, anyway...what's that principle called, when you cite Nazis and lose the argument?

But yes, my point was that Armstrong is home clear. It's not a battle he's won, it's the war itself. I think we may hear a few things in the near future, some rumblings, but it's pretty much done. He can now say the Feds found nothing, which isn't true, but they didn't do anything about them either, which amounts to the same thing.

For sure, he's taken some hits and it's cost him a stack of money, but it must finally be gratifying to know no one can touch him now. He can also now portray himself as an innocent victim of Government largesse and interference...which would be a perfect springboard as a star of the Right side of politics.

Stingray you are way to pesimistic.

It may will take some time, but in the end Armstrong will fall.

Look, Germany doped at halftime in 1954. It took 50 years to come out. But the punishment started earlier when many players died or struggled with hepatitis from poisened syringes.

There is so much evidence against Armstrong that his "story" will not survive. He might be dead before the full truth comes out (because of drug related illness), but it will.

 

[TourOfSardinia]

Macavity, Macavity, there's no one like Macavity,

He's broken every human law, he breaks the law of gravity.

His powers of levitation would make a fakir stare,

And when you reach the scene of crime--Macavity's not there!

You may seek him in the basement, you may look up in the air--

But I tell you once and once again, Macavity's not there!


the bold is for the climber

 

[FoxxyBrown1111]

This is all a bunch of BS. You can drink alcohol out in the open in the US.

You might not have been in NYC in 1997. I don´t know where you live, but obviously not in a bigger city. Hell, i wasn´t even allowed to drink outside in Bakersfield. Oh boy, where are you living? Or did they change the law in favour of freedom, under GWB? I highly doubt!

 

[joe_papp]

$$$$$$

I was wrong, money was enough to buy his way out of this. Money wins again. Yeah Money!

Perhaps an appropriate moment to read Glenn Greenwald's new book, "With Liberty and Justice for Some: How the Law Is Used to Destroy Equality and Protect the Powerful "

From the Amazon product page:

"From "the most important voice to have entered the political discourse in years" (Bill Moyers), a scathing critique of the two-tiered system of justice that has emerged in America

From the nation's beginnings, the law was to be the great equalizer in American life, the guarantor of a common set of rules for all. But over the past four decades, the principle of equality before the law has been effectively abolished. Instead, a two-tiered system of justice ensures that the country's political and financial class is virtually immune from prosecution, licensed to act without restraint, while the politically powerless are imprisoned with greater ease and in greater numbers than in any other country in the world.

Starting with Watergate, continuing on through the Iran-Contra scandal, and culminating with Obama's shielding of Bush-era officials from prosecution, Glenn Greenwald lays bare the mechanisms that have come to shield the elite from accountability. He shows how the media, both political parties, and the courts have abetted a process that has produced torture, war crimes, domestic spying, and financial fraud.

Cogent, sharp, and urgent, this is a no-holds-barred indictment of a profoundly un-American system that sanctions immunity at the top and mercilessness for everyone else."

http://www.amazon.com/Liberty-Justi...2056/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1328346713&sr=8-1

 

[Stingray34]

Stingray you are way to pesimistic.

It may will take some time, but in the end Armstrong will fall.

Look, Germany doped at halftime in 1954. It took 50 years to come out. But the punishment started earlier when many players died or struggled with hepatitis from poisened syringes.

There is so much evidence against Armstrong that his "story" will not survive. He might be dead before the full truth comes out (because of drug related illness), but it will.

Pessimism is closer to realism than optimism, and the only ism that's any good is jism.

I find optimism tends to lead to disappointment. Maybe I'm just a born loser. Which is a very un-American thing to say. Good thing I'm not American.

 

[ChrisE]

You might not have been in NYC in 1997. I don´t know where you live, but obviously not in a bigger city. Hell, i wasn´t even allowed to drink outside in Bakersfield. Oh boy, where are you living? Or did they change the law in favour of freedom, under GWB? I highly doubt!

It must vary by jurisdiction. I repeat, you can drink alcohol in public. I do it all the time, and have done so in many states.

 

[ChrisE]

Perhaps an appropriate moment to read Glenn Greenwald's new book, "With Liberty and Justice for Some: How the Law Is Used to Destroy Equality and Protect the Powerful "

From the Amazon product page:

"From "the most important voice to have entered the political discourse in years" (Bill Moyers), a scathing critique of the two-tiered system of justice that has emerged in America

From the nation's beginnings, the law was to be the great equalizer in American life, the guarantor of a common set of rules for all. But over the past four decades, the principle of equality before the law has been effectively abolished. Instead, a two-tiered system of justice ensures that the country's political and financial class is virtually immune from prosecution, licensed to act without restraint, while the politically powerless are imprisoned with greater ease and in greater numbers than in any other country in the world.

Starting with Watergate, continuing on through the Iran-Contra scandal, and culminating with Obama's shielding of Bush-era officials from prosecution, Glenn Greenwald lays bare the mechanisms that have come to shield the elite from accountability. He shows how the media, both political parties, and the courts have abetted a process that has produced torture, war crimes, domestic spying, and financial fraud.

Cogent, sharp, and urgent, this is a no-holds-barred indictment of a profoundly un-American system that sanctions immunity at the top and mercilessness for everyone else."

http://www.amazon.com/Liberty-Justi...2056/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1328346713&sr=8-1

GG is talking about something different. Not pursuing corrupt officials because of the good old boys club is not the same as not pursuing somebody because they can't get a conviction. Nice try.

 

[andy1234]

Well, I am amazed at this.
Who would have thought, Polish called it right all along.
I need a sit down.

A bit of spin and the general public are going to love Armstrong even more than before, the clinic even less.

 

[Stingray34]

Perhaps an appropriate moment to read Glenn Greenwald's new book, "With Liberty and Justice for Some: How the Law Is Used to Destroy Equality and Protect the Powerful "

From the Amazon product page:

"From "the most important voice to have entered the political discourse in years" (Bill Moyers), a scathing critique of the two-tiered system of justice that has emerged in America

From the nation's beginnings, the law was to be the great equalizer in American life, the guarantor of a common set of rules for all. But over the past four decades, the principle of equality before the law has been effectively abolished. Instead, a two-tiered system of justice ensures that the country's political and financial class is virtually immune from prosecution, licensed to act without restraint, while the politically powerless are imprisoned with greater ease and in greater numbers than in any other country in the world.

Starting with Watergate, continuing on through the Iran-Contra scandal, and culminating with Obama's shielding of Bush-era officials from prosecution, Glenn Greenwald lays bare the mechanisms that have come to shield the elite from accountability. He shows how the media, both political parties, and the courts have abetted a process that has produced torture, war crimes, domestic spying, and financial fraud.

Cogent, sharp, and urgent, this is a no-holds-barred indictment of a profoundly un-American system that sanctions immunity at the top and mercilessness for everyone else."

http://www.amazon.com/Liberty-Justi...2056/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1328346713&sr=8-1

When I go to the city/I see all the men in suits/and wonder what they look like/with their heads on stakes

 

[meat puppet]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWjVffR5EdM

read the news today oh boy indeed. nothing to add really.

 

[frenchfry]

Is there any chance the USADA and the US prosecutor arranged for a subtle transfer of the case, figuring that a doping conviction would be infinitely easier to obtain and more penalising for Armstrong than anything the US justice system could hope for. Thus the joint statements.

 

[Stingray34]

Is there any chance the USADA and the US prosecutor arranged for a subtle transfer of the case, figuring that a doping conviction would be infinitely easier to obtain and more penalising for Armstrong than anything the US justice system could hope for. Thus the joint statements.

Maybe, but I doubt Novitzky and co care much about USADA and their little sanctions. He's bombed and his star has fallen. That's what this game is all about for these dudes.