ALG Editor’s Note: Being consistent in one’s beliefs and actions is nearly impossible. And for elected officials, the same is true with regards to the core principle of limited government. For, if the American people are ever to regain control over their rogue government, everyone must insist that words and deeds match up—we are past the time when we can accept pledges of devotion to liberty, we must demand actions in the cause of liberty. The Charleston Post & Courier has a prime example of why watching what a politician does is far more important than listening to what he or she says:
Hatch wanders out of bounds
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Early this year, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, told colleagues, “Our liberty depends on limited government.” Lately, he’s applied that worthy concept to timely alarms about a virtual federal takeover of health care.
Then on Tuesday, he rashly benched his “limited government” pitch during an all-out blitz against college football’s Bowl Championship Series.
Sen. Hatch, fortunately the only lawmaker present during much of a wasted two-hour Judiciary Committee hearing, expressed severe frustration over the exclusion of the Utah Utes — unbeaten champions of the Mountain West Conference — from last season’s BCS national-title game: “Frankly there is an arrogance about the BCS that just drives me nuts.”
Sen. Hatch touted “a fairly strong antitrust case” against the BCS for operating an “illegal monopoly” of six conferences to the detriment of other leagues, including the Mountain West. University of Utah President Michael Young, in testimony Tuesday, echoed Sen. Hatch, declaring: “Championships should be decided by competition, not conspiracy.”
OK, so many sports fans, including President Barack Obama, detect flaws in the BCS. That doesn’t mean the fixes for it should come from Washington — or a federal court.
Anyway, the plucky Utes’ upset victory over Alabama in last season’s Sugar Bowl doesn’t prove that they could have gone unbeaten in a BCS league. Despite ample investments of financial resources and fervent rooting, our own Clemson Tigers (in the BCS member Atlantic Coast Conference) and South Carolina Gamecocks (in the BCS member Southeastern Conference) have combined for a mediocre 24-24 record in league play over the last three seasons.
BCS injustice doesn’t merit Justice Department intervention. Sen. Hatch, by trying to call college football’s plays, is fumbling the “limited government” ball.
