Arlen Specter needs to chill.
So I know this blog is supposed to be about baseball, and I know that it’s been incredibly inactive. I intended to make an entry regarding an overlooked rationale in the Johan Santana trade, and I still might after my grad school apps are completed this weekend. However, I was distracted from this by Arlen Specter getting involved in Spygate.
Firstly, let me say as an unabashed ultra-liberal, I think Specter is a relatively decent Senator, especially for a Republican. He has generally pushed back at the Bush administration in their attempts to railroad Congress, and pushed back especially hard at Alberto Gonzalez. He’s anti-torture and anti-domestic spying, and pro stem cell research. Seems like a generally fair-minded individual. But there is no legitimate reason for him to grandstand over the destruction of the Patriots tapes involved in Spygate.
He is not acting as a Senator, concerned about preserving the public trust. The NFL is an association of businesses who have agreed to work together for joint profits, and formed a separate corporation (the NFL itself) to handle disputes that may arise between the teams. The head of this organization, Roger Goodell, looked at the evidence of one entity spying on another entity, and took action that he deemed appropriate to both punish the offenders and deter others from pursuing the same practices. He would have the same jurisdiction if there were deemed to be employee tampering, or other intra-league offenses. There is no reason, other than a media lacking creativity, for this story to continue further. Specter is not acting as a concerned legislator, but as an Philadelphia Eagles fan, as he represents Pennsylvania. It’s clear as day in the letters he sent to Goodell.
In his letter, he asks only in relation to the Eagles losing the Super Bowl to the Patriots in 2005. That is his sole care. Furthermore, he waits until Noevember 15th to send his letter to Goodell. This was two months after Goodell meted out his justice on the Patriots. If this were truly a pressing concern, Specter should have queried Goodell immediately. But to ask him two months later, after the issue was a closed book, is just unnecessary. And to use his office as a method of bullying around others is just irresponsible. Considering the nation is on the verge of economic collapse, the CIA destroyed tapes that they had been order to preserve regarding torture, and the budget deficit is growing every year, I would imagine that someone on two of the most important Senate committees (judiciary and appropriations, as Specter’s own letterhead reminds us) has a few more pressing issues than holding a press conference days before the Super Bowl.
That should be it for football on this blog. Maybe I’ll touch on Clemens et al. in Congress in a couple weeks hence. But with the Hot Stove winding down and Spring Training soon to start, I promise to post more regularly for my three readers.
Tags: Arlen Specter, New England Patriots, Philadelphia Eagles, Roger Goodell, Spygate, Super Bowl
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