Bush & Steroids

Boy, does George Bush pick his sports friends. First, Rafael Palmeiro and now Lance Armstrong.

There's as least one Slate writer who wondered aloud about whether President Bush was on steroids last year, which might explain his relationship with professional athletes and the use of performance enhancers. Bruce Reed speculates that the President's weight loss this year is the result of coming off the juice.

Bush's sharp, sudden weight loss since the election raises a far more disturbing paranoid theory: Was the president using steroids?

Mark McGwire's congressional testimony showed the world what someone who allegedly used steroids looks like after they allegedly stop—a lot thinner. Bush bulked up during a campaign that was based entirely on showing voters he was stronger than his opponent. This season, like many baseball players afraid of baseball's new random steroid testing, he shows up suddenly looking a lot thinner.

Okay, some tongue in cheek comments, but in his 2004 State of the Union address the President discussed the need for professional sportsmen to set a good example for children.

To help children make right choices, they need good examples. Athletics play such an important role in our society, but, unfortunately, some in professional sports are not setting much of an example. The use of performance-enhancing drugs like steroids in baseball, football, and other sports is dangerous, and it sends the wrong message -- that there are shortcuts to accomplishment, and that performance is more important than character. So tonight I call on team owners, union representatives, coaches, and players to take the lead, to send the right signal, to get tough, and to get rid of steroids now.

Is defending one man who's been caught and another about whom serious allegations have been circulating for years helping lead in this effort? Now, it's entirely possible that Armstrong is being stitched up and is innocent of all the charges against him. However, my own sense is that presidents generally steer clear of anything that might look bad down the road. I can't understand Bush's willingness to get together with Armstrong in light of the accusations.