September 14, 2007
Posted: September 14th, 2007 04:09 PM ET

Richardson, who attended high school and college in the Boston area, is a fan of Boston's sports teams.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – At first blush it's not particularly easy to connect the New England Patriots' spying flap to President Bush, but Democratic presidential hopeful Bill Richardson found a way to do it Friday.

"The president has been allowed to spy on Americans without a warrant, and our U.S. Senate is letting it continue," said the New Mexico governor in a statement. "You know something is wrong when the New England Patriots face stiffer penalties for spying on innocent Americans than Dick Cheney and George Bush."

Richardson attended high school and college in the Boston area.

After the NFL determined the Patriots secretly videotaped the New York Jets' defensive signals during last week’s game, Commissioner Roger Goodell fined head coach Bill Belichick $500,000 and the Patriot's organization $250,000. The Patriots will also have to give up next year's first-round draft choice if they reach the playoffs. They will forfeit their second and third round draft picks if they do not reach the postseason.

– CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney

Filed under: Bill Richardson • New Hampshire


Peter, Albuquerque, New Mexico   September 24th, 2007 4:36 pm ET

Wow, how out of touch with reality can "conservatives" get? "therealist" thinks that everyone that the NSA was spying on was terrorists, and "freedomfighter" seems to think that New Mexico is located in the New England region... and who's the idiot here?

Carly, San Franciso CA   September 18th, 2007 6:47 pm ET

What a measly stretch of your pitiful imagination, George Lopez-I mean Bill Richardson. Next time try burglarizing your own office (like Chris Dodd and Mitt Romney did) for an more press exposure to save your ailing, amazingly irrelevant campaign. Slob.

Rodney, Hayama, Japan   September 17th, 2007 9:21 pm ET

Mike: You "Republicans" who support domestic spying crack me up. The party is for smaller government, get it? Smaller, not bigger government. I can't wait to see your responses when we get a Democratic president and they do things like this. I bet it will become real unnecessary real fast. Have fun!

Mike has not done his homework. "Smaller government" refers not to defense, which is one of the legitimate functions of the federal government that most Conservatives strongly support, but to the socialistic nanny features of "big government" which Democrats use to attract votes from voters hooked on the entitlements these socialistic schemes provide.

The Patriot Act is government-in-action; entitlement programs are big-government socialism-in-action. Get it?

Rodney, Hayama, Japan   September 17th, 2007 9:05 pm ET

Terry Now when the governor from New Mexico tries to make an analogy between politics and football, sports fans are upset that someone somewhere has said something critical about pro-sports.

Analogies between sports and the Bush administration are nothing new. Pundits do it on the sports pages every day. Richardson's absure attempt to draw one, though, has nothing to do with either sports or the Patriot Act. It's just a futile attempt to validate his hopeless political ambitions.

bprossersme   September 15th, 2007 5:46 pm ET

He needs to look closer to his own camp. Hillary is planning to bring America into ONE WORLD ORDER. Destroy the military and sell us out. Do your homework Richardson, the Clinton's have been planning this for decades.

Mike, Voorhees NJ   September 15th, 2007 8:52 am ET

You "Republicans" who support domestic spying crack me up. The party is for smaller government, get it? Smaller, not bigger government. I can't wait to see your responses when we get a Democratic president and they do things like this. I bet it will become real unnecessary real fast. Have fun!

Terry, El Paso, TX   September 15th, 2007 8:47 am ET

First, it should be obvious to everyone by now that football is crooked and I think most games are rigged anyway. Its nothing but drug scandals hushed up by big money, sports millionaires who would be washing cars if pro-sports didn't exist, designer performance enhancing drugs, franchising and branding, and showing America's kids that sportsmanship is for losers. Cheating is rampant. The saying is, "If you ain't cheating, you ain't trying."

The bizarre thing to me is that grown men actually care which sports corporation wins the most games and sells the most overpriced, tradmarked junk to them. No woman has ever been more foolish about her soap operas than are sports fans about their football, baseball, and basketball games. No teenager has ever gushed over her favorite singer like sports nuts will gush over their favorite team's players.

The corporations that run the teams show utter contempt for their fans, wanting only to extort money from them. As one famous coach commented some years ago, "The purpose of the Dallas Cowboys is not to win football games. The purpose of the Dallas Cowboys is to make money."

There is absolutely nothing happening on the playing fields of America to admire, except that the cheerleaders seem to be hard working girls who give a great performance to the crowd. An analogy between crooked sports and crooked politics seems quite apt to me.

Now when the governor from New Mexico tries to make an analogy between politics and football, sports fans are upset that someone somewhere has said something critical about pro-sports.

J. Francisco   September 15th, 2007 3:33 am ET

Sour tuts! Not a great analogy, but as a politician he's raising a valid point of contention, you five are decidedly too partisan. You happen not to like his politics, yet politics is an arena of ideas and critical thinking, not all are able to process and analyize with proficency.

He's the Governor of New Mexico of the U.S.A. like W.J. Clinton, Regan and G.W. Bush were governors before achieving the presidency. At least he's not a Democratic Senator running for president. And yes numnuts I firmly believe he's looking out for all USAers not "just a small group", mental midget and psychotic sociopath.

anna, Appleton, WI   September 14th, 2007 11:54 pm ET

Richarson is a loser, plain and simple. He doesn't need to be compared to anyone to know he is a loser!

Andrew, San Diego, CA   September 14th, 2007 8:56 pm ET

The Bush Admin. spied on U.S. citizens in violation of FISA. The Democratic-controlled congress then voted to make the illegal spying legal! This is not a good precedent for our democracy, and is bad for everyone regardless of whether they identify themselves as Democrat, Republican, Green, or whatever. Not that facts like these matter in U.S. political discourse. Just keep repeating the same lies over and over and they will become the truth. For example: global warming is a conspiracy by EVERY PUBLISHING CLIMATE SCIENTIST IN THE WORLD to earn more grant money. Good thing oil, coal, and automobile companies pointed that out to us (they don't have a conflict of interest). I feel better; now where did I put the keys to my hummer?

Pete, Chicago, IL   September 14th, 2007 4:43 pm ET

Considering that Bill's the one who's touted his great relationship with North Korea, and now we're finding out that North Korea is selling nuke material to Syria, I'm not sure Bill's opinion really matters, any more.

Thanks for playing, Bill .. Maddie Albreight has some nice parting gifts for you.

sean hampton nh   September 14th, 2007 4:40 pm ET

this is the same guy that said before a redsox-yanks series he was a sox AND a yanks fan...you really can't have that one both ways. so i'm not so sure you should listen to anything he tries to justify

freedomfighter   September 14th, 2007 4:37 pm ET

Look! Its Rocky!! No, its Superman!! Oh never mind.., its just another liberal New Englander looking to make America less safe.

S. Britchky   September 14th, 2007 4:34 pm ET

Bill Richardson gets the logic wrong. His analogy doesn't work unless the NFL gave the New England Patriots official permission to "spy" but, nevertheless, penalized them for doing so. The president has acted in a fishbowl with advance knowledge by the Congress, as well as FISA. His goal, whether the activities eventually prove to be illegal or not, is the advancement of the entire country, not just one small group. That's so easy to understand that Governor Richardson comes across as merely auditioning to be Hillary's lap dog, I mean attack dog.

therealist   September 14th, 2007 4:34 pm ET

Only demorats can't see the difference between spying on football plays and spying on terrorists.

Wallace, Chicago IL   September 14th, 2007 4:25 pm ET

"The president has been allowed to spy on Americans without a warrant, and our U.S. Senate is letting it continue," said the New Mexico governor in a statement. "You know something is wrong when the New England Patriots face stiffer penalties for spying on innocent Americans than Dick Cheney and George Bush."

Not a Bush fan, but what, huh? Not sure I follow Governor.

Wallace

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