Pardon me while I fall down laughing at U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter and his demands that the NFL has to explain why it let evidence of the New England Patriots spy tactics be destroyed.
Let’s start with the obvious: the U.S. government should have more important things to worry about other than Patriots’ coach Bill Belichick having some club employee video recording opposing coaches and the NFL then trashing the tape. There is still a war going on, after all. Not to mention an economy that is performing like the 1-15 Miami Dolphins.
Besides, isn’t the U.S. government already busy enough chasing down alleged steroid/HGH abuser Roger Clemens?
But here’s the rich part: Arlen Specter, for those of you too young to recall, was a member of the Warren Commission, which investigated the 1963 assassination of president John F. Kennedy.
It was Specter who produced what was later dubbed the magic bullet theory. According to Specter, one bullet hit Kennedy and Texas governor John Connally, passed through 15 layers of clothing, seven layers of skin and tissue, struck a tie knot, removed several millimeters of a rib bone, shattered a radius bone and was found on a stretcher in Parkland Memorial Hospital in near perfect condition.
That was Specter’s account of how there were three shots fired, two hits and one president left dead in a limo.
Without reigniting the whole Who Killed JFK? controversy, the point here is that Sen. Specter ignored those who asked to see all the information the Warren Commission gathered then scoffed at anyone who suggested evidence had been altered or destroyed.
And yet, Specter said the NFL destroying the Spy-gate video tape is “analogous to the CIA destruction of tapes. Or any time you have records destroyed.” He then added: “I do believe that this is a matter of importance. It’s not going to displace the stimulus package or the Iraq war but I think the integrity of football is very important …”
Oh, brother.
There hasn’t been a farce this good since Richard Nixon was president and diagrammed a play for the Washington Redskins. It was a reverse to the wide receiver. Washington coach George Allen ran it; the receiver lost 13 yards.
Politics and sports, always a hilarious mix.
