If you've ever watched a baseball game on TV, you might have noticed that before every pitch, a right-handed catcher will shield his right hand with his catcher's mitt while signaling something to the pitcher with one, two, three, or four fingers. The signal is what kind of pitch to throw -- fastball, curve, change-up, slider, etc. I was taught this in little league baseball in the 1960s, where I proudly earned the nickname of "fireball" Dilorenzo because at age 12 I could throw a 75 mph fastball.
Spying on the other team's signals and strategies has been a part of American sports as long as there have been organized sports.
But now, since the economy is humming along as smooth as silk, and no one is dying anymore in any of our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the government is strictly obeying the Constitution, Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania (I'm ashamed to say that he's from my home state)is calling for an "independent" (a.k.a., government hatchet job) investigation of "spygate" -- the alleged videotaping by the New England Patriots of what goes on on the sidelines of its opponents.
The only good thing to say about this is that it will divert THE GREATEST DELIBERATIVE BODY ON EARTH for a few hours from raising our taxes, getting us into more unjust wars, and finishing off what's left of the Constitution.
