Sympathy for Barry Bonds

Barry Bonds, he of the steroid-fueled home-run stats, may be a complete shitheel, but does this justify the federal government's exceptionally nasty efforts to prosecute him?

In one of the best op-ed pieces I've read in weeks, Buzz Bissinger, a New York Times sports columnist, argues that Bonds' crime -- lying to Congress -- hardly merits the feds' attempts to blackmail a witness into testifying against him by threatening the witness's family members.

Being an arrogant jerk, Bissinger points out, isn't a crime. But that's really why the feds want to make an example of him.

When scores -- perhaps hundreds -- of fellow ballplayers who didn't tell the truth about their juicing to enhance their performances are getting off scot-free while one man is railroaded as Dr. Evil, justice is not being served. It is being sodomized.