Up front, I have to admit to being a fan of professional football ... not so much baseball, although that is the ‘national sport’, according to some. It is not a matter of anything other than personal preference for the level of movement, action.
Okay, both sports have their followers, and both are very much in the forefront of the national sporting psyche. But in the end, I think it is a measure of sanity to admit that both are simply what they are... sports!
Is the conflagration in Iraq going to turn on the outcome of the Superbowl, or on the outcome of the World Series? How about FISA and proposed changes to it? Or maybe the ‘stimulus package’ or the next budget, or investigation of politicization in the executive branch, especially in supposedly independent agencies of government, or the budget itself, or presidential signing statements effectively disavowing the control of Congress over spending, or any one of a thousand other things?
I have to ask, ‘What the Hell is Congress doing investigating professional baseball and football?’ Mind you, there may well be investigations merited (in the future), but it seems to me that there are far more pressing problems that need attention, little problems such as the rule of law and whether it will be observed, executive overreach, impeachable offenses on the part of the president and vice president, civil liberties, foreign policy, constitutional issues such as separation of church and state, executive powers vs prerogatives reserved to the legislative and/or judicial branches, etc.
Yet, here is where we find ‘ourselves’ – the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is investigating steroid use in professional baseball (and has been doing since 2005), and the Senate Judiciary Committee is pressing questions on the alleged incidents of spying between professional football teams, presumably to learn plays, strategies, etc.
I don’t know about you, but that is not why I vote for candidates for the Congress. Especially right now, at this point in time, since I believe the nation to be faced with problems that are of such magnitude as to boggle the mind. Yes, Iraq is one – but only one. There is the question of the standing of the US in the world, and there is the possibility of an impending economic meltdown. There is the climate change issue. There are issues of civil liberties, and constitutional issues that span a broad spectrum, including the balance of powers in government, and issues of international law, and issues of separation of church and state, and literally hundreds of others.
Yet, in spite of all the issues facing us, dare I say critical issues to our nation, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the Senate Judiciary Committee have time to worry about steroids in sports or spying between sporting teams! Is there something wrong with this picture?
What do you think? Should our Congressmen and Senators who pledged to support and defend the Constitution be devoting time to the issues of steroids or spying in professional sports? Are there more productive ways for them to discharge their duties, both to the citizenry at large and the Constitution, like ensuring that each and every citizen can cast a vote, and that every vote counts?
I just wonder if I am the only one who sees something I believe to be fundamentally wrong and perverse in all of this. You know my thoughts... what say you?