Q: Why is Specter relentlessly pursuing a Spygate probe?
A: Spygate is to Specter sort of what Jodie Foster once was to a guy named John Hinckley -- an unhealthy obsession destined to end unhappily.
Q: What trigged that obsession?
A: Information on the Center for Responsive Politics Web site might provide a few clues.
Here's one: Comcast's political action committee, company employees and their family members have donated $154,000 to Specter since 1989.
Q: Would that be the same Comcast engaged in a lengthy and increasingly bitter fight with the NFL over the NFL Network's placement on the cable conglomerate's system?
A: Now that you mention it ...
Q: Not to stray too far off topic. But did Specter ever call for an independent inquiry into how Gov. Ed Rendell managed to get the world's largest cable company $43 million in public aid for its new Philadelphia headquarters several years ago?
A: No. But the giveaway of tens of millions of dollars to a company that makes several billion in profits each year isn't nearly as important as whether an NFL team might have repeatedly broken the rules.
Q: Can you provide some perspective on the Comcast donations?
A: Comcast ranks third in the amount of contributions to Specter since 1989. Coming in first is the Philadelphia law firm Blank Rome, whose PAC and employees have ponied up $363,000 for the Arlenizer. Blank Rome can afford to be so generous partly because Comcast has paid the firm $900,000 since 2004 to be one of its congressional lobbyists.
Q: Let me get this straight. Specter has spent months turning up the heat on the NFL, which just happens to be embroiled in a long-running battle with Comcast. And the cable company just happens to be one of Specter's top donors and a major client of Blank Rome, Specter's most generous financial benefactor over the past two decades?
A: A remarkable coincidence, I agree.
Q: Isn't that an obvious conflict of interest?
A: The pursuit of good sportsmanship recognizes no such thing.
