Sunday, May 17, 2015

Perspective: Deflategate


Much, in this case the term much is an understatement, has already been written about the New England Patriot’s star quarterback, Tom Brady, and the Patriot organization deflating game footballs to get an illegal edge. This is the news of the day, but it is not the real story.

The undeniable fact is that the American culture is morally bankrupt. From sport stars to politicians to celebrities, to the Main Stream Media, the American character of high standards, integrity, God, Country, and the Green Bay Packers, no longer exists. Lying and deceit at the highest level of government have replaced honesty and doing the right thing. Accountability and responsibility are dead. Farce and incompetence are rewarded. Obscenity is applauded. Excuses, straw men, and Aunt Sally are the preferred methods of discourse of today’s progressive political class.

You are not going to find a "smoking gun," to prove Brady's quilt. You will not find video evidence of Brady deflating the footballs. But you do have the "stained blue dress," manifested in Brady's email(s).

Clark Judge, a NFL Hall of Fame Journalist wrote recently: "when he (Brady) had a chance to tell us exactly what happened … he didn’t, and don’t ask me why. But when someone doesn’t respond to inquiries, the presumption is that he’s hiding something." Indeed, Brady stonewalled the investigation, providing some information, but withholding other possible evidence.

This should be clear; this is not just an issue of one man's character. It is a reflection of the Patriot's organizational culture, beginning with the owner, Robert Kraft, and Head Coach, Bill Belichick.

Do you remember the Patriot’s clearing snow off the field of play during a timeout so their kicker would have a better chance to make a game winning field goal against the Oakland Raiders, in the January 19, 2002, infamous "tuck rule" game? And, do you remember in 2007 there was “Spygate, where the Patriots videotaped the opposing team’s defensive coaches in violation of NFL rules? Now, we have “Deflategate,” another violation of NFL rules. This doesn't happen unless an organization's culture condones such behavior. You might say Brady and the Patriots have a few skeletons in their closets.

Yet, there needs to be some perspective here. This is sport -- and players and coaches from the beginning of competitive sport have always looked for an edge. Deflating a football does not rise to the level of Armageddon.

Moreover, the NFL shares an equal portion of responsibility. Allowing teams to handle the footballs used in a game is just foolish and amateurish.

Tom Brady, like Hillary Clinton and her emails, will never tell the truth, because Brady like Hillary will not admit that they did something wrong or illegal. Both are guilty as hell. For both of them, the ends justify the means. Brady wanted a Championship and Super Bowl, and Clinton wants to be President.

Like Brady and the Patriots, Clinton also carries considerable baggage to stain her character. Here’s a reminder: Whitewater (fraudulent real estate, improper campaign contributions, political favors); Cattle-Futures (a $1,000.00 investment netted $100,000.00 in ten months); Chinagate (Clinton – Gore campaign in 1996 took bribes from Chinese banks); Travelgate (White House fired career travel office employees and replaced with Arkansas friends); Vince Foster (death of Clinton colleague and friend apparently of suicide); Filegate (Clinton aide improperly accessed FBI files on individual citizens Hillary viewed as Republican political adversaries); Monica Lewinsky (perjury and that right wing conspiracy); Lootergate (Clintons ship White House furniture to their private home in Chappaqua, NY); White House Pardons (140 pardons on January 20, 2001 for Marc Rich, Clinton’s brother Roger and Whitewater criminal Susan McDougal, Puerto Rican FALN terrorists, and drug dealers); Political Favors (Norman Yung Yuen Hsu for fraud and manipulating the political process); Benghazi (see below); Destruction of Government Property (Emails); and the Clinton Foundation (still to be investigated).

Hillary Clinton doesn’t just have a skeleton in her closet – she has a whole cemetery.

Still, there is at least one huge difference between Brady and Clinton. Brady deflated a football, in a professional sporting event. Clinton got Americans killed.

Clinton was directly responsible for Islamic terrorists murdering the United States Ambassador to Libya and three other Americans, in Benghazi Libya, on September 11, 2012. Clinton put Americans in harm's way and left them to die; when it interfered with her political agenda. Clinton deep-six requests for military support to save the life of her Ambassador and the men who tried to save him, and then lied and destroyed evidence to cover up her acts.

What Clinton did was illegal (destroying government property), despicable (not authorizing military intervention to save the lives of Americans, and then lying to the families about it), unethical (“what difference does it make”), and a cover up (blaming the cause of the attack on the US Consulate office in Benghazi on a YouTube video).

What Brady did was to violate the rules of the game (deflate footballs) and then lied about it (cover up).

It’s that perspective thing again.

I can live with Brady.

I cannot abide by Clinton.

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