The United States Postal Service has joined Floyd Landis as a party in a qui tam lawsuit against Lance Armstrong and Johan Bruyneel. A qui tam action is defined by law.com as:
qui tam action
: (kwee tam) n. from Latin for "who as well," a lawsuit brought by a private citizen (popularly called a "whistle blower") against a person or company who is believed to have violated the law in the performance of a contract with the government or in violation of a government regulation, when there is a statute which provides for a penalty for such violations. Qui tam suits are brought for "the government as well as the plaintiff." In a qui tam action the plaintiff (the person bringing the suit) will be entitled to a percentage of the recovery of the penalty (which may include large amounts for breach of contract) as a reward for exposing the wrongdoing and recovering funds for the government. Sometimes the federal or state government will intervene and become a party to the suit in order to guarantee success and be part of any negotiations and conduct of the case. This type of action is generally based on significant violations which involve fraudulent or criminal acts, and not technical violations and/or errors.
The transcript of the legal filing appears here, if someone is insane enough to wade through all of that crap. The bottom line of all this rot is the greed of whistle blower Floyd Landis who wants a certain percentage of what could amount to one a hundred and twenty million dollar penalty! Half of Lance Armstrong's estimated wealth. Given to a dope addict who was schooled by uber dope doctor Michele Ferrari who trained his disciples on the techniques of how to cheat and never be detected, and who "knowingly" used these methods to "unjustly enrich" themselves not only when riding with the United States Postal Service Professional Cycling Team, but afterwards with varying degrees of sophistication until caught by improved testing methodology. But, so what, Floyd Landis also defrauded many of his supporters in a bogus attempt to prove his innocence by soliciting money via the Floyd Fairness Fund, a fact that has been forgiven due to the cooperative nature of the deceiver.
What, didn't Frankie Andreu and his wife Betsy want any qui tam action? Just revenge for calling Betsy an "ugly old cow" by a stupid brute clown tyrant Lance Armstrong who thought he could dictate terms via threats and intimidation. There is nothing more vicious than a woman scorned and nothing sweeter than spending a man's money whom you despise. But nevertheless why rehash old allegations that seemingly have been proven true by an unchallenged prosecution summary of events? More important than old axes to be ground is establishing in a legal sense the damage done and who suffered from these actions, Floyd Landis and the U.S. Postal Service? These facts will be stipulated in a jury trial if Lance Armstrong and Johan Bruyneel do not settle the dispute; however, it has been speculated that the U.S. Postal Service reaped millions of dollars in advertising profits as a direct result of the sponsorship of Lance Armstrong and the uncanny success of the U.S. Postal Service Professional Cycling Team. And Floyd Landis would have suffered no monetary damage at all if he would have employed his pea size brain after the bonk. Very difficult to establish harm by any definition and the only true and just result from a jury would be one dollar in compensation in damages as a symbolic gesture, the share awarded to Floyd Landis for his whistle blowing prowess, one thin dime.
The U.S. Postal Service has no excuse, they knew of the doping accusations against Lance Armstrong and the team, yet they continued to sponsor the team until the letter carriers objected because they thought Lance Armstrong was being paid an inordinate salary. So greed outweighed common sense in the face of accumulating evidence that Lance Armstrong's most strident competitors were testing positive for performance enhancing drugs on and off the bike. The French government also spent two years conducting an investigation into the U.S. Postal Professional Cycling Team after traces of actovegin was found in some medical waste discarded by a team car and recovered by a French television station. This investigation was internationally known and commented upon by the press world wide and must have come to the attention of the U.S. Postal Service. Nevertheless, all of these warning signs were ignored and did not seem to serve as sufficient motivation for the U. S. Postal Service to drop the sponsorship of the team.
Ad nauseum. Let this be a lesson to everyone. Government stay the hell out of cycling. Government loves to take money from the golden goose for as long as possible, but when the goose runs out of golden eggs, then it is time to fleece the golden feathers. Government loves to inflict suffering upon people who no longer produce as a bizarre form of social Darwinism; retirees or ex-cyclists with million dollar bank accounts who were unlucky enough not to be perceptive enough to offshore their money in tax shelters. A man works his heart out and government is not satisfied with the contribution made, government expects further sacrifices in the name of the unborn. Government is never satisfied with the pain that it inflicts upon others as a motivating factor; bums must be subjected to hunger and exposure in order to compel them to seek work or become self sufficient, food stamps must be withheld from needy families as an incentive to seek better jobs or to reproduce less (even though the food stamp program is the best small business subsidy ever invented.) The corporate barons don't care where or how you eat as long as you show up ready to work. But, starving workers like starving students are non-productive and generate revolutions-circa 1789. Mythological propaganda, as long as tyrants flourish.
Government, stay the hell out of cycling! To quote the Raven: forevermore!
