It has all the trappings of the guys in the write hats winning,
perhaps. I have my doubts, first that they are the good guys, second
that we know the bad guys, and third, that business interests and well
executed PR are fully capable of eviscerating basic human values,
rights, ideals.
First, the fact underlying the TdF's aggressive move to force
disqualification of riders and teams puts it a league or two ahead of
the UCI, which appears intractably slow. If you recall that ASO is
making every effort to disjoin the Pro Tour from the shows put on by
itself and the other two Grand Tour organizations, you can see that it
is striking a big blow on the monopoly of the UCI, and at the same time
presenting itself as the only arbiter of justice. It is bound, one
could think, by the TAS decision of yesterday, yet it makes clear that
it will not abide by that ruling. Here's some hard work for some good
lawyers this very day. So, I call into question ASO's motives, deplore
the passivity of the UCI, and start wondering about the next players -
The Guardia civil and the press.
The Guardia civil is not the _judge_ of the matter, it is the organ of
prosecution. Try to think if they may want to present the strongest
case they can - well, of course ! The publicity of this case will far
outweigh (I predict - and call me on it later) the level of success they
eventually may have after court proceedings are complete. Try to recall
the ineffective but loud intrusion the Carabinieri had in the Giro, with
virtually no conviction results to crow about. The Guardia civil is
doing what it can to get the matter settled without actual proceedings,
and I find it hard to imagine that the culminated investigation was not
disclosed - there was no effort in /El Pais/ obtaining the information.
Without a proper (substantively and procedurally) court determination of
the guilt or innocence of the individuals whose names have been
published, they are not the bad guys. People will believe something bad
about a person if they wish to, using thin or no evidence to support
that belief, and ignoring the contrary. Until a finder of fact has
examined everything presented, we will only have rumormongers and
ideologues of all camps to listen to. Not to mention, again, the press,
which earn its living by publishing, not by nicely respecting the civil
rights, the humane treatment, of those whose careers they put in jeopardy.
Finally, it is this collection of rights : rights to a presumption of
innocence ; right to fair and free access to justice ; right to
contradict the organs of state - these rights are being dismembered. By
the press, the state, the ASO and UCI.
BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY - by the members of the public *especially in this
forum* who think they have the moral qualifications to intuit truth,
form judgments, castigate others, all without having enough knowledge to
tie their own shoelaces.
This is turning into an event of mobocracy, with all kinds of actors of
all spheres.
My opinion - the dopers (whoever they are) have done less damage to
cycling that have all the above. Yeah - I suppose lots of you plan to
burn the witches.
--
Sandy
Ce n'est pas que j'ai peur de la mort.
Je veux seulement ne pas être là quand elle arrivera.