Back off Barry

Yes, Barry Bonds has probably injected more steroids than the Chinese National Swim Team, and yes, he's about as amicable as a voice mail from Alec Baldwin, but he isn't quite deserving of the derision he routinely receives outside the Bay Area. That is, not unless we're all willing to take a little heat for dishonesty in our own lives. Unfortunately for us, Barry Bonds hasn't been the only American to break the rules.

Finding examples isn't difficult. The highly competitive American economy, having already produced the likes of Ken Lay, can look forward to its next group of cheating leaders from Duke's Fuqua School of Business. Elsewhere in the economy, concern grows steadily as more and more loans resulting from predatory lending practices begin to default and homes are foreclosed. While the students from Duke faced disciplinary charges and Chapter 11 hasn't had this much buzz since MC Hammer bobble-head night, nobody is picketing, and soon enough our short attention spans will turn in some other direction.

We may also turn our eyes to politics, where unlike the boys on Mark Foley's buddy list, scandal has been alive long since 1990. Whether through selective firing of non-party line judges or simply fabricating pretenses for war, the Bush administration has done enough to raise questions about its ethics. How about David Vitter, family values pounding Senator from Louisiana, recently exposed as a client of the DC Madam? And while we're at it, let's be fair; depravity extends into both aisles. Despite what many a bumper sticker has quipped, the truth remains that Clinton in fact lied, even if nobody died.

Not even religion, a notion aimed solely at bolstering moral fiber and developing ethical living habits, can always be seen as a beacon of morality. Indeed, in the wake of a recent $660 million settlement for sexual abuse in Los Angeles, it seems like MySpace might be a safer haven for kids than Sunday School.

No matter how much we talk about an honest work ethic or family values, recent history has shown that it's too often just that - talk. Like Barry Bonds, our politicians, business leaders, and spiritual guides aren't providing a good enough example. The difference is that Barry Bonds can't lower taxes, give out jobs, or promise spiritual fulfillment, and in turn we've made him a scapegoat for society's transgressions. So sure, Barry often hasn't been kind, and the likelihood of foul play seems only to grow with his surging hat size and home run totals, but Barry Lemar Bonds is undeniably a man of his times. Rather than project our disgust on Bonds we ought heed the words of a little known blogger from the Middle East and "let he who is without sin cast the first stone".