Arlen Specter Scoffed in New England, But He Has a Point
Posted on February 2nd, 2008 by Bassett
So Senator Arlen Specter is trying to make an inquiry to the NFL regarding SpyGate … ah this story just won’t die.
People in New England (just check the audio vault on WEEI.com) are taking personally Arlen Specter’s inquiries to Roger Goodell on the destruction of the SpyGate tapes, saying he’s grandstanding and just being an NFL fanboy — he calls into Philly sports’ shows apparently — and might have felt slighted that FredEx and the boys didn’t get it done a few years back.
I don’t know much about Specter, and he very well might be doing just that, but when you look at what Committee he sits on in the Senate, he does have a point.
- The NFL has an Antitrust exemption
- Antitrust is run through the Department of Justice
- Specter sits on the Judiciary Committee
- The committee had broad jurisdiction over antitrust laws
- What better time to make his point?
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I don’t know about Specter’s credentials or his planned next steps, but I have felt that Goodell’s actions at the time were a knee jerk reaction to sweeping a bigger problem under the rug.
Call it speculation, call it sour grapes, call it whatever you want, but Goodell owed it to the league, owners and players to perform a deeper level of due dilligence by assigning NFL security to further investigate and report, as to validate whether or not there was more wrongdoings. Not just destroy evidence and issue a penalty.
I will say this about Goodell, he is smart for covering it up as quickly as he did, as he did what was in his best interest…preserve the integrity of the game with the least amount of damage done…it might be a question in the back of people’s mind, but by destroying the tapes, the public did not see endless excerpts played over and over for years to come.
In my eyes, no matter how many super bowls he wins and how great everyone things he is, Bilichek will always be in the same category as Mark McGwire.
I dont think the NFL has an antitrust exemption. Baseball has one, but thats an anomoly.
I come at this from two points of view, both political (you’ve been warned).
First, if Specter is genuine in his concern about the destruction of evidence in the context of a sports league, shouldn’t he be on the bandwagon for those alarmed about the destruction of evidence in the CIA tapes issue as well as the thousands of “missing” white house emails? I’d hope so.
Second, could Specter be focusing on this topic as a means to trivialize the destruction of evidence in the more serious cases involving national security by associating it with the relatively trivial facts of the spygate drama.
In either case, I’d hope that at some point, hopefully in our lifetimes, the truth about the current administration comes out to help restore our moral standing in the world as well as the integrity of the constitution.
Go Jets!
You may scoff or call it knee jerk but read this story first, http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/football/patriots/view.bg?articleid=1070762
Frankly, no reasonable person gave credence to Goodell’s justifications for the destruction any more than they do about the missing Zapruder prints. Do you really believe if Goodell had just securely filed the videos that finding another one would not have constituted proof things had been withheld?
Mostly, it indicates what many Jet fans suspected at the time. The league did not want to open Pandora’s box, create a witch hunt that might bag others, or discredit one or more SB champions. So it stuck its collective head in the sand.
I wonder if Arlen will have the guts to subpoena the guy referred to in the story or if he is just grandstanding too.
harlan
The Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee is not Arlen Specter.
The Chairman of the Judiciary Committe is Patrick Leahy.
Patrick Leahy is the Senator from VERMONT.
This is going nowhere.
Just another such story which is another indication of the league’s attempt to bury rather than investigate the situation:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/playoffs07/news/story?id=3227245
As for JP’s comments, I would bash this administration and their abuses in a second, but I’d just end up getting myself more pissed off. Yes, the CIA tapes and missing e-mails are a problem but until evidence emerges showing these abuses to be intentional (which they almost certainly were) nothing can really be done.
i say let it go already…what was done has happened and r.goodell is protecting his friend b.kraft…that is why he burned the evidence…but since they were exposed they will always be looked at as cheaters by other teams…they will never play another game without the thought of cheating going through the minds of players and fans alike…at least most that is…just my thoughts…
JP, I’m with you all the way. If Specter wants to get to the bottom of a real problem — let him investigate the corrupt White House. Another Republican who has got his priorities mixed up. Big surprise.