"we"--the community of children, later teenagers, later young adults with whom i grew up and competed against (personally, born and bred united states citizen, not a european). simply trying to illustrate that we were fools even then for believing that hard work and following the rules would be a reward in itself. and we learned then that not all our wishes for athletic or financial success would be rewarded. we learned to accept defeat as a necessary part of competition. (and let's not side track on "good for you" medals for everybody. i'm against that silliness.)
never implied that america has a monopoly on cheats. never implied we started any trends for cheating. if anything, lance can be shown to have been associated with one well versed in that discipline- m. ferrari (very european). not saying we in the united states have a monopoly on the "persecution" whine. contador has acquitted himself quite well on that front.
as for the last point, i agree. let the usada case take its course. those who agree with armstrong are trying to short circuit the process with baseless accusations of over reaching authorities, or personal jealousies or whatever else armstrong and his followers whine about. whatever the outcome, if anyone is attempting to have this case tried in the press, it is armstrong's side.
in fine, i believe that lance is not being persecuted (basso, contador, ullrich, et. al who have had their day before the panel).
in fine, i believe that lance will not suffer immeasurably in his quality of life. he will still be rich and famous/infamous. he may, however, have to get a real job instead of dining out on the seven times winner meal ticket for the rest of his life.
in fine, i find it ironic that lance can be dismissive of those who take their jobs as seriously enough to have pursued an investigation of a seven times victor as he took to winning those seven titles. should they, perhaps, tank the effort to preserve his reputation?
in fine, if lance has nothing to hide, he has nothing to fear. it is just another of those baseless attacks he has suffered. he should be inured to it by now. if, however, the weight of the evidence is something to fear, then perhaps he should just find the courage to take his stripes.