Very perceptive and well-written post. I don't think your use of the word "fascist" is too far-fetched. Here's how I've thought about what you describe. And, let me say at the outset that I'm not trying to say that the Patriots didn't do some things for which they might reasonably be very strongly criticized by thoughtful fans and observers of the sport. Like you, I'm just trying to explain the astounding level of vitriolic venom that has been directed at the Patriots in the wake of spygate. (I'm also not trying to explain the power politics of Arlen Specter, who is working for Comcast and whose agenda has little to do with football.)
Before they were caught breaking the taping rule, the Patriots had broken a much bigger rule. They had done what no team was supposed to do in the cap and FA era; they had not only fielded consistently excellent teams but they had won three SB's and gone to four AFCCG's in six years. The problem is that the management and owners of most NFL teams had convinced their fan bases that it was impossible to do something like that after 1993 (the Aikman Cowboys straddled the no-Cap and Cap eras). They had told their rabid, frustrated partisans that they should learn to expect consistently mediocre play, punctuated by the occasional foray into the Playoffs and a trip to the SB every 15 years or so. So, there was a whole lot of resentment towards the Pats already festering under the surface.
In addition, the Pats are led by a QB who doesn't fit the mold of "tough guy" players. He would beat his opponents brains in on the field, win two SB MVP's and then nurture a "metro" image off the field (the picture with the lamb sure didn't help), leading to the baseless but widely-spread and believed rumors that he was gay. He was continually contrasted with the "real guy," Peyton Manning. (Please note that I don't "buy" any of this. It's just that this was the image that people chose to believe and we're trying to explain some irrational behavior here.)
Add to that the fact that the team is from "Massachusetts," perceived as a hotbed of educational and cultural elitism, whose major ambassadors in the eyes of the vast stretches of Middle America are Michael Tankman Dukakis, John Windsurfer Kerry and Teddy Too Liberal Kennedy.
Finally, the magnificent and wonderful Kraft family is visibly and proudly Jewish. I'm not saying that this was a major driver of the "venom" you describe and, of course, everyone will deny it in a heartbeat, but when you put the whole package together, there was plenty for narrow-minded, frustrated, bigoted people to hate. You had a consistently dominant team, that was led by a QB who didn't fit a stereotypical mold, that came from Taxachusetts and was owned by a member of a religious minority.
