Father 'drugged child tennis rivals'Sacré bleu! Zee Franch 'ave balls, aprés tout!
By Pierre Sauvey in Mont-de-Marsan
Published: 02 March 2006
A retired soldier has gone on trial in south-west France for allegedly drugging his children's tennis rivals to worsen their game, leading to the death of one player.
Christophe Fauviau, 46, appeared in court in the town of Mont-de-Marsan on charges of unintentionally causing a death by administering toxic substances.
M. Fauviau, whose 15-year-old daughter, Valentine, is considered a rising star of French tennis, is accused of drugging his children's opponents 27 times in tournaments across France from 2000 to 2003.
Prosecutors point to evidence they say shows that M. Fauviau drugged 21 opponents of Valentine and six others faced by his son, Maxime - at times using the anti-anxiety drug Temesta, which can cause drowsiness.
In the investigation, all of those opponents complained of various ills during the matches: weak knees, dizziness, nausea or fainting. Several were hospitalised.
In July 2003, Maxime Fauviau defeated 25-year-old Alexandre Lagardère, a local primary school teacher. M. Lagardère complained of fatigue after the match and slept for two hours. While driving home, he crashed his car and died. Police believe he fell asleep at the wheel. Toxicology tests showed traces of Temesta in his system - allegedly delivered by M. Fauviau.
In all seriousness, that one has to cheat to have one's child win tennis matches does neither the sport, nor your child, any good. Poor Maxime, thinking he was at the top of his game, when it turns out he had help of a very sinister kind. Imagine how much better his tennis could have gotten if his father had let him learn the game the hard way. And eventually, he's been found out, and so now what?
Hell, imagine how much better Alexandre Lagardère could play tennis!
Likewise, in winning elections by cheating, what have you accomplished? Have you made a statement about the country? Have you improved the political dialogue? Have you let the voice of the people ring true?
Or have you merely started a time-bomb ticking, in which people will stop trusting government? Have you merely exposed your fear of truth, that your agenda hurts people?
Yes, short term, you get to put your agenda forward, and guess what? The apathy, as George Orwell pointed out, works to your advantage as ultimately your power is about warring on your own people, not on others. It's easy to war on people who aren't fighting back.
But eventually, you'll be sussed out, and the time will come when the bills come due. And that distrust of government...YOUR government, will mean that you will never hold power again.
Ultimately, what the Bush administration (and the neo-cons) has done is brought us to the brink of tyranny over our own people, if not by the Bushies themselves, then by the Democrats. Neither scenario seems particularly palatable to a patriot like myself.
See, I'm not afraid of the Bush administration. I see them for the gutless cowards they are. But I am afraid of the next guy who will have better nerves.
snarkasm, snarcasm, snarky
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