The news this week is not dominated by the war in Iraq or the signing of CAFTA or the Space Shuttle repairs or the death of King Fahd or even Harry Potter. Nope. The news this week is about the fact that Oriole’s first baseman Rafael Palmeiro got caught by baseball’s steroid testing. He got caught cheating. Now plenty will say that the baseball steroid scandals are a convenient distraction in a world in which terrorism and war seem to dominate the conversations at water coolers and neighborhood bars. But I would contend that it’s a perfect opportunity to re-teach ourselves about honesty and fair play.

Mike Schmidt, the Hall of Fame 3rd baseman for the Phillie's opined in this morning’s Washington Post that, were he playing today, he thinks that in order to compete he probably would find it impossible to resist the temptation to use steroids himself. Sounds suspiciously like the advice given to small farmers these days, “Better get big or better get out!”

In our never-ending addiction to growth we’re willing to take risks we know to be harmful to our well-being and our reputations. And we’re willing to sacrifice anything…everything…for it.

Bill Clinton said, “I did not have sex with that woman.” Rafael Palmeiro said “I have never used steroids. Period.” Karl Rove assured the President and the nation that he was “never involved” in the outing of Valerie Plame. There was “slam dunk” proof of WMD’s in Iraq. All these admission were made while knowing otherwise. At a certain point in the upward arc of one’s career you’re convinced you’re bulletproof. And then the old kryptonite of the Truth comes out. Slam dunk.

But growth is not limited to personal gain. We know Wal-Marts hurt locally-owned businesses but the prices are just too cheap to resist. Or are they?

Wal-Mart stores have collected well over $1billion in state and local government subsidies during its decades-long expansion from a regional discount chain to the world’s largest retailer. California’s state health care programs pony up an estimated $32milllion per year to cover employees (“associates,” actually) not adequately covered by Wal-Mart’s health care offering.

That’s money that Wal-Mart claims as profits and we claim as tax bills. Private business eating at the public trough. Add that tax burden to the prices and maybe it doesn’t seem so cheap to shop there anymore. And it hardly seems honest or fair.

Now don’t get me wrong. There are plenty of small businesses that cheat and there are corporations that act in and are worthy of the public trust. But if we can force ballplayers to piss into a cup to prove they’re clean enough to play a game, we ought to be able to expect business and government to withstand the scrutiny of an invested and vulnerable citizenry. And they ought to be ready to accept responsibility and pay the price if they’re caught being anything less than honest. It’s only fair, don’t you think?

For more of John's thoughts, check out The News.