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Introduction

AP - ‘”What is necessary is an objective investigation,” Specter said at a news conference in the Capitol. “And this one has not been objective.”
The Pennsylvania Republican was unforgiving of his criticism of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, saying that Goodell has made “ridiculous” assertions that wouldn’t fly “in kindergarten.” The Senator said Goodell was caught in an “apparent conflict of interest” because the NFL doesn’t want the public to lose confidence in the league’s integrity.
“They are enormous role models for everybody,” Specter said. “If you can cheat in the NFL, you can cheat in college, you can cheat in high school, you can cheat on your grade-school math test. There’s no limit as to what you can do. I think they owe the public a lot more candor and a lot more credibility.”‘

A few months ago when this all broke lose I wrote a post about where it was all headed. The link to the full text is here but below I will post some of the latter part of the article.

I Told You So

From my post entitled “Big Brother is Watching” dated February 14th, 2008:

It was Only a Matter of Time

Well, now they have gone farther. First, they used the excuse that steroids are illegal drugs to begin the investigation, then they said they were lied to so they needed to go farther, then they said they needed to protect kids so they went farther (sound familiar? Weapons of Mass Destruction, Liberating the Iraqi People, Spreading Democracy).

Now, they are going after football. This has nothing to do with the use of illegal substances, this has nothing to do with perjury, this has only to do with our “right to honest football games.”

So now we have arrived at the stage where the Federal Government is preparing to directly intervene in the affairs of a major sports league in order to ensure our “right to honest football games.” The only question now is, how will they do it? What are their plans to make sure football stays honest?

Well, here’s how I think the process is going to go.

Congressional Hearings

This is the logic next step. Congress will call before them Roger Goddell and company to testify about the integrity of the game, the extent to which teams are cheating, and possible collusion between teams and the NFL front office.

They’ll even threaten to end the NFL’s Anti-Trust exemption. Then what? Will they really break up the NFL? Separate it back into the AFL and NFL? Destroy the Super Bowl? Crush America’s largest major sport and a billion dollar generator for the cities lucky enough to land a Super Bowl?

This will drag out for a while, wasting millions of our dollars, and distracting from real issues our government was designed to confront.

Commission to Investigate the Integrity of the National Football League

Shortly after these hearing wind down I’m pretty sure that Congress will “conclude” that it is in the “best interests of the American people” to establish a commission designed to investigate the integrity of the game. They will poke and prod and examine everything that every NFL team does on and off the field.

Maybe they will even have representatives at every team meeting and every practice just to assure ethics are being maintained. All at the cost of millions to the taxpaying public.

Bureau of Fairness in Sports

After that it’s only a matter of time before the Federal net gets cast wider to include other sports. The NBA, NHL, MLB, NASCAR, NFL, all of them will be subject to the judgment of Federal authorities charged with ensuring they maintain integrity. That they do not cheat and play the game the right way.

Additional millions and billions will be spent by the Federal government to ensure that athletes compete fairly. That they don’t cheat, that they obey the rules set out to the letter. Who knows, maybe they’ll even make those rules into laws. Punishable by fine or imprisonment by the Federal Government.

Maybe they will take over punishment from the leagues so that if you violate the rules of the game you will be punished by a public entity rather than a private organization. Maybe they will integrate the major leagues into the greater apparatus of the Federal Government so they can watch it more closely.

Conclusion

We let this happen and by the time somebody steps up to stop it the government’s intervention in major sports will be seen as “necessary.” After all, they are just trying to protect the children.

The fact that someone who say was have a right!!!!!!! to “honest football” is ridiculous. That’s not a right I’m particular concerned with losing. In fact, I’m pretty sure it’s not a “right” most people care about. Did you stop watching the Patriots after you found out they cheated? Me neither.

Instead of worrying about our “right to honest football” why doesn’t Congress worry about our right to a transparent government? Why don’t they worry about our economy and the various wars in which we’re embroiled? Why don’t they worry actually trying to do the things for which governments are established?

…That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it… (Declaration of Independence)

I don’t believe the Founders were talking about our “right honest football.” I don’t think they would be applauding Congress’ actions now. In fact, I think they may encourage us to enact our final right described above, before it’s too late.

No doubt many who read this will think I’m being ridiculous. I wonder, a year ago if someone told you a Senator would be concerning himself (as a legal matter) with cheating in the NFL you would’ve said it was ridiculous.

Well, now they are and we must begin to seriously discuss what they will do next.

Conclusion (Part Deux)

And so it has come to pass. This all began benignly enough. We have charged Congress to protect us, to preserve us, to care for us, and to tell us what is right and wrong. We have enabled the government to step in and spend money and time on things like the NFL when half a world away citizens are sent to die in a sandbox for an unknown cause.

When responsibility is handed over to government and our sense of entitlement increases the growth of State power is inevitable. We believe that it is the government’s job to secure our entitlements and to use any means necessary to do so. We can’t be expected to raise our own children, handle our own finances, manage our own health, defend ourselves and our families, or even oversee our own pass times.

And so the government reins in society to raise “good Americans,” steals our money in order to provide us “Social Security,” regulate our personal habits to ensure our health, invade foreign nations to protect us (while leaving our border completely undefended), and investigate our sports organizations to provide us “honest football.”

Some people are happy that Congress is investigating this situation because they hate the Patriots. These people mystify me but they also explain to me how we got here. People are naive enough to believe that if they hand over their power to government it will act only on their behalf and never against them. Well, when the popular claim that “every” NFL team does this is proven true I wonder if they will be surprised when Congress goes after their team?

This is what happens when “rights” become “entitlements.” Rights are something to be protected, entitlements are things to be given. But for everything that is given something must be taken: and in this game what is taken is freedom.

I’m sorry to say but “I told you so…”

See this post in Stunning HD!

Introduction

Last week I wrote a couple of posts about how Congress was banning the Patriots from the Super Bowl because they cheated and then that the President was going to support the move in his State of the Union.

Some people took it the wrong way, as Patriot basing, which I freely admit I am guilty of. However, my point was criticizing Congress and their meddling in sports. There are more important things for Congress to be worrying about than cheating in sports: a chaotic war, a sluggish economy, a declining dollar, and many more.

I was being tongue-in-cheek last week; then I wake up today and find out that Senator Arlen Specter (R - PA) is calling NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell before him to explain why they destroyed the Patriots’ tapes of the Jets’ signals.

Integrity of the Game

It all started with Congress taking baseball to task over steroids. That was a move applauded by many observers. They were sick of suspected cheaters succeeding and claiming for themselves some of the most sacred titles in the game. When baseball did nothing, the government stepped in and spent millions of taxpayer dollars investigating the state of Major League Baseball.

Most supporters were simply glad that these players weren’t going to get away with cheating. But Congress had a grander vision, they would ensure that cheaters wouldn’t succeed so that children wouldn’t grow up thinking cheating is the key to success.

When discussing the matter with the New York Times Senator Spector said, “The American people are entitled to be sure about the integrity of the game. It’s analogous to the CIA destruction of tapes. Or any time you have records destroyed.”

Congress and the Constitution

I would love for anyone to point out where exactly in the Constitution it outlines Congress’ role in protecting the “integrity of the game?” Is this really what we want our government doing? They are all ready discussing making it a requirement that public highschool athletes be subject to random drug tests, maybe next they will have a government representative on the sidelines, in the meetings, and in NFL board rooms to make sure they are doing things with “integrity.” Sounds almost like what the Soviet Union used to do. Correction, it’s exactly what the Soviet Union used to do.

This is no place for government. When Congress began investigating steroids many people, myself included, said this set a dangerous precedent. Those who wanted to see those mighty and corrupt baseball players brought low said we were making a ridiculous “slippery slope” argument.

It appears, that we were all too right. What’s next? What sport will be left untouched? There will always be accusations of (and actually instances of) cheating in pro sports so where does Congress stop?

The Bed We Made

As much as I blame Congress for this horrible misuse of my tax money, I also blame all of those who cheered their actions in the steroids issue. There is an old saying that I always apply to any new power we grant to our government officials, “give ‘em an inch, and they’ll take a mile.”

Now, they are taking the first step of that mile. Who knows what new regulations they will impose on the NFL but I’m sure some will be coming. Perhaps there will be a new integrity clause or maybe teams will have to report to a new government bureau to ensure they are doing things “the right way.”

Conclusion

I was joking last week, but now, I’m really not surprised. Once we gave to Congress the responsibility of monitoring pro sports it was only a matter of time before they stepped in to the NFL. Now, we just have to hope the damage is limited. That the cost of Congress’ new venture isn’t too great; that the regulations they hope to impose won’t impact the game too much.

This is our bed, though, and now we’ve got to lie in it.