My answer to the headline question if I were a United States Senator would be, “I’m the defender of the masses. I am here to stand with my constituents, including all those less advantaged or ill equipped to represent and defend themselves, I’m here to represent their legitimate interests in life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, regardless of the ramifications to me personally. In short, I’m here to serve the best interests of our country and her citizens.” That being stated I’m afraid the honest answer Pennsylvania’s senior U.S. Senator, Arlen Specter, if he could absolutely be forced to give it, would go something like this; “My primary purpose in this role is to insure my re-election. I can make this happen by best representing the interests of those that are capable of making large donations to my re-election fund. Secondarily, I’m also very interested in representing those that are capable of growing my personal fortune.” With this in mind, it becomes very easy to follow Senator Specter’s rise to positions of power within the U.S. Senate since these positions are based upon seniority. In other words, a Senator doesn’t become the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee without tenure and Specter is the most re-elected U.S. Senator in the history of Pennsylvania having now served 28 years in this capacity. He started his professional career as a Philadelphia lawyer. Initially a Democrat then switching his party affiliation to the Republican side, his career has been marked by one quest for political office after another. He finally reached his level of ineptitude in 1980 when first elected to the U.S. Senate after the Republican incumbent, Richard Schweiker, announced his retirement. Specter then worked hard to follow his job description as he championed every cause that would add contributors to his re-election fund. The funding then led to successful re-election campaigns in every succeeding election up to the latest in 2004. Way to go Arlen, you make us all proud. Characterized as “Republican in name only” it’s my opinion that independent U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman from Connecticut is actually much more conservative than Specter. You see, sitting on the fence allows you to jump off on either side of an issue. It’s just a question of where the funding might be greater!
So how has this discussion found it’s way onto a sports blog in the Fox Sports blogging community? Well, let me tell you. Senator Specter has taken the NFL and it’s Commissioner Roger Goodell to task over it’s handling of the “Spygate” issue. An issue that accused the New England Patriots’ coaching staff of filming their competitors and trying to figure out their coach’s hand signals sent to defensive players on the field. The New York Jets’ head coach, Eric Mangini, a former coach with the Pats made the accusations. Using the moralistic high ground of the effects of cheating on America’s youth, the good Senator publicly questioned Commissioner Goodell when it appeared Goodell, who investigated the accusation and eventually doled out penalties to the Patriots and their head coach Bill Belichick, had adequately addressed the problem and was ready to move on. Specter’s insistence that the NFL continue to probe the issue led him to question the Patriots’ close Super Bowl and playoff victories putting the NFL on notice that this investigation must carry on. The revelations about a person who formerly worked for the Patriots as a cameraman having videos of other teams, rekindled Specter’s interest and more calls for NFL action were forthcoming. Commissioner Goodell was forced to spend his time trying to appease the Senator and finally the NFL was forced to interview the cameraman. This happened earlier this week with the Commissioner stating that nothing new was learned through this process and hoping that the case might finally be put to rest. But Senator Specter had to continue his grandstanding efforts talking to the cameraman himself. This interview brought new calls for further investigation on the NFL’s part, although Specter had to admit he didn’t foresee the Senate becoming involved in an investigation of their own…
Why, you might ask yourself, is this Senator from Pennsylvania so interested? Is he simply the Champion of Youth in America and concerned that they may perceive cheating to be a common and accepted practice? Please remember the job description I believe Senator Specter would give if forced to be honest.
So where’s the money, Arlen? As all you avid NFL fans know, the NFL has started their own cable television channel (the NFL Network) and they have busily been positioning this revenue generating venture on the various cable networks around the country. One of the largest cable television networks, Comcast Cable, has been embroiled in an ongoing dispute with the NFL over the rights to distribute the NFL Network. Like any modern American corporation when things don’t go the way they believe it should, they turn to the good old boys in our government to get the ball rolling their way. Enter Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter… I swear these corporate CEO’s have a rolodex heading “Influence Peddlers” and the first name in that category is the senior Senator from Pennsylvania. It has come to our attention that Comcast is the second largest contributor to Senator Specter’s campaign fund. Who is the largest? Well that would be the law firm that represents Comcast Cable. If you tally up all the various types of contributions made by these two entities, their employees, their Political Action Committees, and their family members, the total would be over $500,000. Now that will keep the good Senator on the NFL’s case for quite some time. The campaign contributions will then be used to keep the wool pulled over the eyes of the citizens of the great state of Pennsylvania!
Isn’t it great?
You don’t get pictures of yourself like this for no reason…
I'm a sports fanatic living on the west coast of Florida. I'm a rare bird that moved here from the left coast a couple of years ago. I advocate an even playing field in all of life's endeavors.
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would go something like this; “My primary purpose in this role is to insure my re-election. I can make this happen by best representing the interests of those that are capable of making large donations to my re-election fund. Secondarily, I’m also very interested in representing those that are capable of growing my personal fortune.” With this in mind, it becomes very easy to follow Senator Specter’s rise to positions of power within the U.S. Senate since these positions are based upon seniority. In other words, a Senator doesn’t become the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee without tenure and Specter is the most re-elected U.S. Senator in the history of Pennsylvania having now served 28 years in this capacity. He started his professional career as a Philadelphia lawyer. Initially a Democrat then switching his party affiliation to the Republican side, his career has been marked by one quest for political office after another. He finally reached his level of ineptitude in 1980 when first elected to the U.S. Senate after the Republican incumbent, Richard Schweiker, announced his retirement. Specter then worked hard to follow his job description as he championed every cause that would add contributors to his re-election fund. The funding then led to successful re-election campaigns in every succeeding election up to the latest in 2004. Way to go Arlen, you make us all proud. Characterized as “Republican in name only” it’s my opinion that independent U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman from Connecticut is actually much more conservative than Specter. You see, sitting on the fence allows you to jump off on either side of an issue. It’s just a question of where the funding might be greater!
handling of the “Spygate” issue. An issue that accused the New England Patriots’ coaching staff of filming their competitors and trying to figure out their coach’s hand signals sent to defensive players on the field. The New York Jets’ head coach, Eric Mangini, a former coach with the Pats made the accusations. Using the moralistic high ground of the effects of cheating on America’s youth, the good Senator publicly questioned Commissioner Goodell when it appeared Goodell, who investigated the accusation and eventually doled out penalties to the Patriots and their head coach Bill Belichick, had adequately addressed the problem and was ready to move on. Specter’s insistence that the NFL continue to probe the issue led him to question the Patriots’ close Super Bowl and playoff victories putting the NFL on notice that this investigation must carry on. The revelations about a person who formerly worked for the Patriots as a cameraman having videos of other teams, rekindled Specter’s interest and more calls for NFL action were forthcoming. Commissioner Goodell was forced to spend his time trying to appease the Senator and finally the NFL was forced to interview the cameraman. This happened earlier this week with the Commissioner stating that nothing new was learned through this process and hoping that the case might finally be put to rest. But Senator Specter had to continue his grandstanding efforts talking to the cameraman himself. This interview brought new calls for further investigation on the NFL’s part, although Specter had to admit he didn’t foresee the Senate becoming involved in an investigation of their own…
ongoing dispute with the NFL over the rights to distribute the NFL Network. Like any modern American corporation when things don’t go the way they believe it should, they turn to the good old boys in our government to get the ball rolling their way. Enter Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter… I swear these corporate CEO’s have a rolodex heading “Influence Peddlers” and the first name in that category is the senior Senator from Pennsylvania. It has come to our attention that Comcast is the second largest contributor to Senator Specter’s campaign fund. Who is the largest? 
Well that would be the law firm that represents Comcast Cable. If you tally up all the various types of contributions made by these two entities, their employees, their Political Action Committees, and their family members, the total would be over $500,000. Now that will keep the good Senator on the NFL’s case for quite some time. The campaign contributions will then be used to keep the wool pulled over the eyes of the citizens of the great state of Pennsylvania!
