You gotta wonder about the priorities of the Obama Administration.Obama has said a thousand times that he inherited a mess and was forced by "Bush" to bail out the world, while trying to fix a "shattered" economy. So what does he do? He goes for the progressive "brass ring" of a massive health care reform bill that raises taxes and adds trillions of dollars to the crippling deficit, all the while trying to package it as a "jobs saving" effort.
As we saw in the recent MA election results and ObamaCare's spiraling poll numbers, the people are smarter than the left gives them credit for being. They can see through the specious arguments that it would "fix the economy" and "cut the deficit". And they've been similarly skeptical of the massive "cap and tax" climate bill that would increase the cost of energy, the huge stimulus bill that has been anything but "stimulating" (unless you are a government worker.) The public seems to "get it" now. But can the same be said for Obama, Pelosi, Frank and Reid?
Well, just when you thought the President might get the message that the public is not as "progressive" as the Democrat majority thinks it is, comes a new initiative by the Obama White House: Fixing college football's BCS (Bowl Championship Series). That's right, the Holder Justice Department is looking into forcing college football to abandon the BCS in favor of a playoff system. As SI.com reports:
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Obama administration is considering several steps that would review the legality of the controversial Bowl Championship Series, the Justice Department said in a letter Friday to a senator who had asked for an antitrust review.
In the letter to Sen. Orrin Hatch, obtained by The Associated Press, Assistant Attorney General Ronald Weich wrote that the Justice Department is reviewing Hatch's request and other materials to determine whether to open an investigation into whether the BCS violates antitrust laws.
"Importantly, and in addition, the administration also is exploring other options that might be available to address concerns with the college football postseason," Weich wrote, including asking the Federal Trade Commission to review the legality of the BCS under consumer protection laws.
Several lawmakers and many critics want the BCS to switch to a playoff system, rather than the ratings system it uses to determine the teams that play in the championship game.
"The administration shares your belief that the current lack of a college football national championship playoff with respect to the highest division of college football ... raises important questions affecting millions of fans, colleges and universities, players and other interested parties," Weich wrote.
Weich made note of the fact that President Barack Obama, before he was sworn in, had stated his preference for a playoff system. In 2008, Obama said he was going to "to throw my weight around a little bit" to nudge college football toward a playoff system, a point that Hatch stressed when he urged Obama last fall to ask the department to investigate the BCS.
Weich said that other options include encouraging the NCAA to take control of the college football postseason; asking a governmental or non-governmental commission to review the costs, benefits and feasibility of a playoff system; and legislative efforts aimed at prompting a switch to a playoff system.
Weich noted that several undefeated teams have not had a chance to play for the national championship, including TCU and Boise State this year and Utah last year.
So, let's see: we have the Justice Department completely screwing up on the Christmas Day bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's incarceration and interrogation -- cutting off a flow of valuable information by reading him his Miranda rights like a common criminal. We have Eric Holder making the inexplicable decision to try the 9/11 mastermind Khalil Sheik Muhammed in NYC, giving him a bully pulpit to lecture the United States at a cost (to taxpayers) of $200 million a year in security. You have the Justice Department sending Guantanamo detainees back to Saudi Arabia and Yemen, where they are taking up arms against us AGAIN. And now they are focusing on the lack of a college football playoff system.
Don't you feel safer now that Obama and Holder are in charge?
Beyond the shear ridiculousness of the priority set, the intervention into the market of college football is also stunning. In a true statist view of the world, Obama apparently feels that he "should throw his weight around" and dictate to a privately run and financed association how it should crown its national champion. Well, why not? Why shouldn't the "anointed" one decree how football should be played? Maybe he'll also decree that a touchdown should be 10 points, and that any team more than 20 points behind in the fourth quarter should get an extra man (we don't want to hurt any of the player's self esteem, after all.)
I guess nothing should surprise us. After all, I'm sure that Abdulmutallab, KSM and the other terrorists who will be ensconced in some "Club Fed" somewhere will be getting ESPN piped in to their cells (err...lounges) in full HD. I'm sure they'll love a college football playoff, too!


