Your Government at Work: Saving us from the Perils of Spygate

This just in: the New England Patriots are big fat cheats. No, seriously, they're really big fat cheats. Cause, apparently, this fetish they have for taping other teams signals wasn't limited to the Jets, or only this season. They've been up to their shenanigans since the turn of this century.

Now, clearly, if the baseball/steroids mess has taught us anything it's that when a minority of grown men are caught cheating in professional sports the government has a responsibility to drop whatever its doing and get involved.

Spygate, meet Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter.

On Wednesday Specter met with NFL Commish Roger Goodell to read chapters one and two of the Riot Act. The abridged version goes like this: if the NFL doesn't step up its investigation into the Pats, there's a real possibility the Senate Judiciary Committee -- which Specter is the ranking member of -- may open its own investigation into the matter.

As an aside, Specter compared Goodells destruction of the Pats tapes of the Jets to the CIA destroying tapes of Camp X-Ray detainees being waterboarded. What a shame Senator Specter isn't given to hyperbole.

Now, nobody likes the New England Patriots. That's just a fact. Even New England Patriots fans wish they lived somewhere else so they could back a good team. But is there really a need for government get involved in Spygate? Shouldn't investigating the NFL fall somewhere slightly behind rebuilding New Orleans and handling the sub-prime mess?

Oh, and it would be nice if they finally got around to nailing Osama.

Like my mother used to say: After you eat your vegetables you can have desert. Same with the government. After you end poverty in America and shelter all the homeless, then you can go after the NFL.

But ending poverty and sheltering the homeless is hard. Grabbing headlines by going after star athletes... Easy peasy nice and cheesy.

Enough Federal men! You've already had a good year. You got Michael Vick, you got Marion Jones. Other than that, the spin of the pro-sport universe has a way of self-correcting.

A serious fine against the Pats from the NFL would be nice. But having the Giants hand them their backside at the Super Bowl...? Priceless.

Comments

[vet64]

The reason Britney, Paris, Clemmons, Bonds, and other worthless drivel is on the news is the Neo Con owned News Media and Communicatiions Conglomerates are in Collusion with the Neo Con Parasites infesting the Executive Branch, to lie, tell half truths, obfuscate the truth, and to manipulate the evidence, in order to cover up news that's contrary to the policies, idealogies, and actions of the Treasonous and odious administration of King Pinocchio and Shotgun Cheney.
The Ethically, Morally, and Legally bankrupt as well as Conflict of Interest, Republican, Democratic, and Independent Legislators have, and are passing laws, and regulations, deregulating their Corporate benefactors so the lawmakers and their corporate pimps can pig out at the United States Treasury Trough.
2 trillion American Taxpayer dollars, in direct and radiating and rippling effect costs, wasted in a country with absolutely no connections to 9/11.
10 trillion American Taxpayer dollars of deficits. King Pinocchio went and more than doubled the deficit, is not paying on it, but instead is just another Republican Scumbag President leaving it for a Democrat to pay up on. After making sure loopholes and laws are in place to benefit the Neo Cons and their Cronies.
It'll take a revolution to rid ourselves of every Neo Con Parasite including the Conflict of Interest and Collusion challenged Neo Con challenged United States Supreme Court Justices.

[patriotscholar]

Our media leaders have declared that they must deflect negative headlines away from governmental business and highlight things such as baseball, football, Britney and other celebrities, etcetera.

Heaven forbid that bad things be told. Sen. Specter is jumping on the bandwagon the media has provided. They assume most people are ignorant and can't see things going on. They are wrong, of course, but they will persist because they don't know that they are the real ignorant ones.

[angryoldman]

Shiny objects, jingling keys and empty rhetorical platitudes...all proven methods of trickery that are like KRYPTONITE is to superman! WO IS WE!

[knowhelpnow]

Congress is wasting it's time on things like this and I'm completely tired of it. We really do have more important things to work out in this country. I say let the commission work this out or forget about it. If these men/women want to kill themselves to be the best they can be join the Army or let them.

[OrleansCatalan]

They are free to concentrate on these issues because the "Sanctity of Marriage" has been established and Terri Schiavo is dead.

[lastams]

"Now, clearly, if the baseball/steroids mess has taught us anything it's that when a minority of grown men are caught cheating in professional sports the government has a responsibility to drop whatever its doing and get involved."

I think the comment went over the heads of most people posting on this string.

Here"s a quote from Noam Chomksy that may put it into perspective.

" When I'm driving, I sometimes turn on the radio and I find very often that what I'm listening to is a discussion of sports. These are telephone conversations. People call in and have long and intricate discussions, and it's plain that quite a high degree of thought and analysis is going into that. People know a tremendous amount. They know all sorts of complicated details and enter into far-reaching discussion about whether the coach made the right decision yesterday and so on. These are ordinary people, not professionals, who are applying their intelligence and analytic skills in these areas and accumulating quite a lot of knowledge and, for all I know, understanding. On the other hand, when I hear people talk about, say, international affairs or domestic problems, it's at a level of superficiality that's beyond belief."

In the past year, Bush administration officials have been caught in lie after lie after lie, 6 million e-mails are missing, the CIA has destroyed evidence requested by a congressional committee, there have been DOCUMENTED violations of FISA, the Hatch Act, the Presidential Records act, there has been election fraud and war profiteering and our president pardoned a convicted felon to cover up the outing of a CIA agent.
And through all this not a single action has been taken by this Congress until Pilosi finally, under pressure, allowed contempt charges to go forward against Myers and Bolton.
But bring in a baseball player who may or may not have lied about taking Steroids ¦ well, now THERE"S something to get excited about!

[lastams]

On yesterday"s NBC nightly news, no mention was made of the fact that Congress was pursuing contempt charges against two members of the Bush administration. No mention was made of the fact that the charges would most likely be handled by the Courts as the Department of Justice has become the puppet of the Bush Whitehouse.
No mention was made of FISA or the fact that the President is willing to sacrifice our security (his own words) for the sake of granting immunity for the telecom giants.
No mention was made of the economy, our continuing healthcare disaster, and not one single mention was made of the war in Iraq, the situation in Pakistan, or unrest in Palestine.
No mention was made, or has been made, of 600 billion dollar spending bills, or the continuation of fast-tracked trade deals in the current Congress.
When this is what passes for news in this country is it any wonder that those living in the Bush bubble can complacently parrot the Whitehouse spin?
Is it any wonder that Fox news can tell the bubbleheads what to think when the main stream media has forgotten what it means to report the news?

[BillLumbergh]

Holy crap!!
Ridley (almost) wrote a piece that wasn't about (supposed) racism.
***shocked***

[The Hedonistic Pleasureseeker]

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!

Mark my words: Any time a Congressional sideshow, or an incident that's covered 24/7 for no good reason, comes out of the Government and/or the mainstream media (what's the difference again?) it's because they're trying to hide the bodies.

No joke. "Wag the dog?" Or, if you're old enough to remember: "Look! Skylab!"

[The Hedonistic Pleasureseeker]

Wait. Is that big dead satellite ("thank you China") a modern day Skylab?

[CalliDem]

This was about MONEY for the NFL
Keeping a cheating coach for MONEY
Keeping a WINNING team ... Mo MONEY
Destroying tapes so the public couln't ever see the cheating MONEY MONEY MONEY
Godall doesn't want the American people to see the truth so tore up the evidence and slapped him on the wrist to protect the NFL so they could get ...MORE MONEY

If this would have been Tony Dungy he would have been stripped of his titled and FIRED. Why not the Pat's? They were WINNING and bringing in BIG MONEY. Arlen should continue this investagation. Since when do we live in a world that say's.. "oh well, go ahead and cheat reguardless of the situation?
We don't and Alren is going to do the ETHICAL thing and tell the NFL "It's not about winning;
it's about how you play the game

[anons]

I concur...but first, can we nail "good ol boy" Clemens' ass to a cross, so every athlete crucified recently isn't a black one- especially if it puts the brakes on the MLB Barry Bonds scapegoating show?

[BNAUGHTY]

JR-
Every single post you have ever written I have been in violent disagreement with.... however, you are right on here.... from the Pats to Roger Clemens ass... doesn't our government have better things to do instead?
Cheers and Bravo to you sir!

[Kungfublood]

There you go just give the homeless some o that MSM sports marketing money and that ends poverty.

[realpolitic]

Well, I am glad that John Ridley is a fan of strict government oversight, excluding professional sports. I hope that these oversight committees will catch Bush in at least some of his illegalities with regard to the manipulation of evidence leading to the war, torture, the assistant attorney general firings scandal, the wire tapping of American citizen's phone calls abroad, etc., etc., etc.

[RogerHWerner]

I stopped caring about sports when it became obvious that owners and players were overpaid whiners who don't care about fans or the cities within which they play.

Congress is investigating more then steroid use and interteam spying. People pay money for tickets with the expectation that games are played fairly. I realize we live in a society where rules are discarded as an inconvenience but in sports that's not supposed to happen. A fan should know that when his team plays an opponent, the game will be played fairly.

Today, the NFL and MLB, have milquetoast commissioners who are the bought dogs of owners who care about making money. If players and fans are screwed that's acceptable. Players aren't much better. If the leagues cared about fairness, they'd have investigated and resolved these issues. If the baseball commissioner had cajones, he'd have nullified Bonds home run record before it was attained. The commissioner elected to do nothing.

Fans pay a fortune to games of skill. When Bonds or Clements cheat and get away with it fans gets screwed, which is why Congress stepped into the steroid issue. Keep in mind we're talking about billion dollar industries here not mere sports and baseball has a Congressionally mandated monopoly.

Congress shouldn't have to investigate sports but when leagues present themselves to fans one way and then act rather differently, it rather strikes me as a public fraud. All teams and players in all leagues must play by the same rules if for no other reason then to protect the integrity of sports, which is what provides fans with the incentive to pay for tickets. If one team or player cheats and gets away with it, that may constitute fraud, which hurts fans who are also taxpayers and voters; hence, the reason Congress is involved.