PHOENIX -- Considering that the economy is on the brink of recession, the subprime mortgage market is a mess, and American soldiers are dying every day in Iraq and Afghanistan, it would seem that Arlen Specter, the Republican senator from Pennsylvania who's chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, would have much more important things to worry about than why NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell destroyed the videotapes the Patriots sent to the league office as part of the "Spygate" investigation.

It's no coincidence that Specter is raising the question this week. It's obvious that he's seeking publicity, as much as he's seeking to find out the not-exactly-pressing question of what happened to the tapes.