"Finally, is politics all you two talk about? What happened to all the other topics from the first post? Just a thought"

Good point. And there is still lots to talk about concerning immigration (This afternoon, I ran through a crowd of what news reports said was more than 100, 000 protesters on the National Mall), transparency in goverment, Curt Weldon, Villanovans For Life, and other pressing issues. And trust me, we will say it. But JD's right. We should, in the Dialogue, respect not only the diversity of opinions, but also the diversity of topics, which we all care about, so I have one that I've been arguing about with people for months and have yet to find anyone to agree with me. Here is what I think:

THROW THE BOOK AT BARRY BONDS! I want him out. Out of baseball, out of the record books, out of every magazine, ESPN article or TV show, and most of all, I want him out of the national psyche. Wasn't there a movie a few years ago where somebody's identity was erased? (Eraser?) Let's do that with him. I want to pull out next year's baseball encylcopedia and see a big gaping whole in the 1992 Pittsburgh Pirates line-up. That's how much and how profoundly, I want him out.

Before you even think it, this is not cruel and unusual. This is merely a punishment that does all the things a punishment is supposed to do - it a. protects those whom this person may harm. b. allows this person to pay back to society in porportion to their crime and c. prevents them from recommiting the crime. Also, it fits with precedent set by previous punishments doled out by the only instances which we can compare this to.

The man broke the rules in the worst may imaginable. Doing so, he harmed everone involved in the game - players who count on its legitamcy for thier livelyhoods, fans who put their faith in the competition and sport, and all the silent moneymakers who, for all their stupidty and mis-spent power over the years, are the ones responsible for putting this product on the field for us to consume. The argument for kicking Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe out of the game was that gambling compromises the game's very integrity and existence. Without protecting it from the hands of gamblers, it might as well be pro-wrestiling. Well....what is that you think you saw in the "steroid era?" That's right, pro wrestling with bats and balls and cheaters like Barry Bonds are the reason why.

The only way we can deal with people like this is to eradicate them from the record books they imperiled. "The books" are not hallowed for silly reasons, keep in mind. This isn't about being a purist and never liking records to be broken. You should all know that I am a big Joe DiMaggio fan, but I was trully rooting for Jimmy Rollins to make a run at him and I hope to someday see a .400 hitter (Ichiro someday soon?) and, when I was younger, I was certain Ken Griffey Jr. was going to break all the home run records anyway. But you know what? He didn't! J Roll got an 0-for the first week of the season and as for a .400 season, it is anybody's guess if that will ever happen. BECAUSE IT'S HARD! It's supposed to be hard! It was hard for Hank Aaron! It was hard for Babe Ruth! It was hard for Roger Maris! For men like Aaron and Willie Mays, it was incredibly hard, let's not forget, because they had to grow up in an era in which they weren't even allowed in the big leagues! Do we go back and count their Nego league totals....or take out Babe Ruth's because he played in a white's only era? No. Because, those are the rules. Right or wrong, awful or injust, the record books reflect the game of baseball played at the Major League level by men following the rules as they were set before them....excpet for Barry Bonds.

I'm worked up now and it's one in the morning. I invite you all to comment, but I have to leave this post as a to be continued.
PS. Anyone watch the West Wing? Santos!? Come on. Feel free to disagree with that as well.