Hello. I’m Carlos Delgado, All-Star first baseman for the New York Mets. And I’d like to talk to you today about lying.

By now, we shouldn’t be surprised when the Bush administration tries to backtrack and cover up their nefarious attempts to break the law with half-truths and smokescreens, well-worn trademarks of the trenchant and unrepentant conservative. But when I read this op ed piece by WorldNetDaily columnist Doug Powers, I was besides myself with shame and confusion. This Alberto Gonzalez brouhaha – the latest stain on the presidency of George Walker Bush – has once again brought out the worst in those pundits that side with our Commander In Chief.

As my good friend and renowned journalist Josh Marshall notes here (thanks for the well wishes in your last text message, JM!), the dismissal of the US Attorneys at the start of the Clinton term of office, and this dismissal, coming on the back end of the inglorious Bush reign of terror, are totally different things. Ha ha – perhaps Mr. Powers should name his next book “Because That’s The Way Bush Decided To Do It! – A Conservative Lackey Fields Confusing Questions From His Inquisitive Kids About A Diseased and Troubled Political Party.” Try smoking that in your pipe!

But it’s not even so much the fact that they lied about what’s happened, but the fact that they continue to lie, and will not come clean about their lies, that is so upsetting. Last week, I had some cappucino with my good friend Arianna Huffington as we took a break from serving the disenfrachised at a Port St. Lucie soup kitchen, and we talked shop. I expressed my dismay at the state of our government.

“Carlos,” she said in that alluring unplacable accent of hers, “we are nearly out of the woods. There is a Congress in place that will start the work that a Democratic president will finish with great success. Do not let this worry you. Also, you are starting to pull off pitches again. Remember to keep your shoulder in and go to the opposite field. You are not a two-sixty hitter, Carlos, so stop hitting like you are.” I thanked her for her encouragement, and we went back inside to try and make a difference.

I guess the reason this is bothering me so is that I once had a manager that openly lied. In 1998, despite fielding regulars like Craig Grebeck and Ed Sprague, we won 88 games under the watch of first-time manager Tim Johnson. We finished a distant third, but being bested by a record-setting Yankees team and the always competitive Boston Red Sox is nothing to be ashamed of.

A lot of our success that year was attributed to Mr. Johnson’s inspirational stories about his service time in Vietnam, though I never gave much mind to his stories. Thinking about what the United States did to themselves and its children by participating in Vietnam upset me too much, so I distracted myself by studying hitting charts and videotape. But when it was revealed that he had actually lied about going to Vietnam, I actually cried. I cried for those teammates of mine that bought his malarkey hook, line, and sinker, and worried about the damage this could do to them, and to the city. Indeed, Toronto hasn’t won 88 games since, and has been beset by despicable men like Buck Martinez and Shea Hillenbrand.

What was worst about this shameful incident is that Mr. Johnson would not resign. He felt that his dishonesty had no impact on his ability to manage a ballclub, and forced the Blue Jays to actually fire him. Despite the President’s hollow bluster regarding the cooperation of top aides in this investigation, I am hoping that Mr. Gonzalez sees the error of his ways, and does the right thing. After all, when your pants are on fire, the honorable thing to do is to take them off before someone else gets burned.

I’m Carlos Delgado, and I approve this message.