Innocent until proven guilty. Its a basic constitutional right among all of us here in America and should be considered the top right for anyone in the world. People should have the presumption of innocence always until or unless proven otherwise. But that is just a myth. We are not a society that upholds this basic human right. Instead, we pronounce somebody guilty without any substantive evidence at all. All it takes is for someone, no matter who, to point their finger at you and say you did something. Whether you did or didn't is irrelevant. Once they've pointed that accusatory finger, its over. You are convicted in the court of public opinion. It doesn't matter if you actually are, somebody somewhere sometime said it so it must be so. Take the recent news about Lance Armstrong. He has been bashed, berated, labeled a fraud and cheat, dismissed, and his reputation has been sullied into the ground by people who say he is guilty based on nothing else other than they "know" it to be true. No need for a trial or evidence to be presented proving their case. He's guilty because we say so. Is it because he has been so successful and has inspired so many people with his story? Is it sheer bilious envy that causes people to be so skeptical of his achievements? Is it resentment of his unmatched, unparrelled and unbelievable success? What is it inside of people that makes them so cynical of anyone reaching a high level of success? Why is the initial reaction to incredible success one of doubt? Why must it be this way? They tell me that this is simply human nature but why is doubting people the first instinct? Why is that our nature as humans? I just don't understand that way of thinking. To me, when somebody finds success like Lance Armstrong I celebrate it. I become inspired by it. I use that story to build myself up. But it seems to me I am in the small minority of people who feel this way. For some reason, it appears that the majority want to build people up only to tear them down. They kiss their cheek, stroke their backs, tell them they can achieve great heights and only to turn around to stab them in the back at the first opportunity. It's quite perverse and sadistic. It's as if we have the same mentality as those back in the days of Christ. They couldn't bear that a man was so good hearted, such a wonderful humanitarian, and was a voice of peace amongst many. So they began to falsely accuse him and label him many things, blasphemer and heretic among them. And what did they end up doing to the only perfect man to ever walk this earth? They crucified him. They were so sure of his guilt that even though they had no evidence to corrobarate their vicious claims, the majority "knowing" was enough to nail him to the cross. And it has happened again and again throughout history. Galileo was imprisoned and called a false god for his belief based upon his research that the earth revolved around the sun. Joan of Arc was burnt at the stake for her unwavering faith of God. Muhammad Ali was torn down by many for his unparalled success in the boxing rink. Michael Jackson was an incredible humanitarian, an unbelievable entertainer with the all time greatest selling album, a warm soul who wanted to heal the world, and they tore him down with vicious, false allegations of the worst kind without any shred of substantive proof of his guilt. People just "knew" he was guilty, lack of evidence be damned. And the public labeled him disgusting things even though he was never found guilty of any wrongdoing. And now they are doing the same thing to Lance Armstrong. Smearing him. Besmirching him. Dragging his name through the mud. And for what reason? Because he is the greatest cyclist of all time. For his record seven Tour De France titles. For his unbelievable success in cancer research. For his ability to inspire millions of people in the same way Michael Jackson did. And Muhammad Ali did. And Joan of Arc did. And people want to say he must be guilty because he has dropped the fight. If he was innocent, he'd keep fighting to prove his innocence. But two things wrong with this idea: firstly, I understand why he would give up the fight. Why bother when they are determined he was guilty and will make the evidence fit that agenda and secondly, it's not up to Lance to prove his innocence. It's up to his detractors to prove his guilt. He has never had a failed drug test, either blood or urine. And if they had any documentation of a failed test, we would have already known that because they would have leaked it to the media and shouted it from the roof tops. They have nothing but a few "eyewitnesses" saying they saw him inject. Well, forgive me for being cynical of this but I don't put much stock in eyewitness testimony in cases like this because people lie. For all sorts of reasons, people will say they saw things they didn't see. Let's look at the recent case of Roger Clemens where witnesses after being sworn in under the penalty of perjury couldn't say for sure what they saw or heard. People get it wrong and they can be motivated by greed, jealousy, resentment or they can be bullied into saying things against somebody if that mob of witch hunters puts enough pressure on. It happened in the Michael Jackson case. People were berated over and over again by investigators wanting something incriminating against him so they co-erced, harassed, bullied people into saying something incriminating or at least trying their damndest to. Witnesses can be manipulated. Give me something else or shut up about it. They also gave these witnesses immunity to testify against Lance. What does that tell you? It automatically makes me suspicious of their statements. They are basically telling the story they are told to say in order to get out of any type of trouble. That again is not nearly enough for me to condemn somebody who deserves much more respect and more benefit of the doubt than that. I am not willing to disregard the massive amounts of success Lance Armstrong has achieved based solely on the words of a few people who alledgedly saw things illegal. I need more. And I won't be a part of the lynch mob on this issue. I believe in a person's right to be considered innocent until proven guilty way more than that. Lance Armstrong to me is still the greatest cyclist that this world has ever seen and is still a huge inspiration for me. I am still backing him and standing behind him. And as for the lynch mob who is ready to crucify him and publically decry him as a cheat, in the words of Christ at the Crucifixion, "forgive them Father for they know not what they do".
Until next time
Mel
