PHINALLY!!! Philly's Main Paper Takes on Specter

[PatsFanSince74]

I was wondering exactly HOW powerful Comcast was in it's hometown in squashing the Philadelphia Inquirer from taking on Specter and mentioning his "Comcastic Connection" in an official editorial.

Answer: About 6 days.
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http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/20080209_Editorial__Sen__Specter_and_the_Patriot_Tapes.html

........Surely, Specter's outrage has nothing to do with his backing of the cable industry, and his big donors at Comcast, who are in a fight with the football league concerning the NFL Network.

Or perhaps the NFL didn't get Specter's chief of staff good enough seats to the Super Bowl. Specter says he wasn't aware of the request and that the staffer would pay for the seats, which cost $700 each.

That's fine. But what does it say about arrogance and influence-peddling that a Senate staffer would even pick up the phone and request a couple of Super Bowl tickets? Perhaps, Specter should start a hotline so constituents can call him next time they need tickets to a big game or concert.

Specter is a smart, distinguished senator. If he wants to play games, he should stick to his beloved squash courts.

Thanks for drawing our attention to the Editorial. For what it's worth, I sent the following e-mail to the editor of the Opinion Page of the Philadelphia Inquirer:

"To Whom It May Concern:

"The $700 Super Bowl ticket for Senator Specter’s staff member was interesting, but I was surprised that you didn’t also point out that the esteemed Senator’s two largest contributors since 1989 are Comcast at $153,600 and Blank Rome LLP at $358,483 for a comfy total just north of half a million dollars. To verify, please use link: http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/allcontrib.asp?CID=N00001604

"Why are the Blank Rome contributions of interest? According to the US Senate, the firm has represented Comcast in Washington since 2004. To verify, please use link: http://sopr.senate.gov/cgi-win/m_opr_viewer.exe?DoFn=3&CLI=COMCAST CORP&CLIQUAL==

"Since 2004, Comcast has paid Blank Rome $720,000 in lobbying fees (see Opensecrets.org).

"Follow the Money!

"Respectfully,"

 

[Bella*chick]

Well said, and a good point. It is about semantics.

I guess what I react to is when people overreact to other's use of the word, saying we didn't cheat, as if we didn't do anything wrong at all. We did - but as I said, it shouldn't be considered a federal offense. Literally and figuratively. It might not be the best choice of words.

You are right, Bella. To the average fan (or non-fan, for that matter), all they hear is "the Patriots cheated". And that is as far as their analytical thought process goes. They assume that what happened went far beyond the pale, the ordinary gamesmanship that goes on as a matter of business-as-usual in every professional sport. For that matter, you can't really say that the media has done a good job of putting things in perspective. They are only interested in flashy headlines. What irks me the most is that some former players whose teams actually did cheat on the salary cap to win Super Bowls (in my view a much more serious level of cheating) are the same individuals who have been most holier-than-thou when it comes to Spygate. I am referring in particular to Steve Young and Terrell Davis, both of whom received under-the-table payments from their teams in order to circumvent the cap, during their Super Bowl winning years.

I wish someone....anyone....would call them out on camera with that stuff. I would be terribly interested in their reactions. It's not as if it is irrelevant to the conversation....it is entirely relevant when discussing teams winning multiple championships and the way they maintain their edge.