Is anyone besides me sick to death of anonymous accusations? Read this. Someone who is too cowardly to identify himself is accusing Alex Rodriguez of using performance-enhancing substances while with the New York Yankees. It's not just a matter of cowardice. How are we to assess the credibility of the accuser, and therefore make a judgment as to the truth of what is being said, if we don't know who it is? How do we know it isn't someone who has a grudge against A-Rod, or who stands to benefit in some way from the accusation? In criminal courts, defendants have a right (conferred by the Sixth Amendment) to face (and to cross-examine) their accusers. Why is the standard any different in cases such as this, where an athlete's livelihood is at stake? Anyone who has read this blog for any length of time knows that I'm no fan of A-Rod or his team, the Yankees. This has nothing to do with that dislike. It's about decency and fairness. The world is full of cowards. I, for one, am sick of it. Are you?
Addendum: It's worse than I made it out to be. By refusing to disclose his identity, the accuser, who is said to be a teammate of A-Rod's, is making everyone on the team suspect. Is the accuser Derek Jeter? Jorge Posada? Johnny Damon? Mariano Rivera? If I were a member of the Yankees, I'd be livid to be brought under suspicion by this coward. Don't even get me started about the ethics of journalists who grant anonymity to their sources in exchange for information.
Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D. 