Recently, as a lonely American at a friend’s birthday party in Montreal, I found myself the object of pointed conversation:  “How do you feel about focus shifting away from the U.S. and back to Canada for moral leadership?”  As I informed my Canadian friends, the pending shift is not only away from U.S. to other countries for responsibility and leadership, but also within the U.S. to cities and states — which is not such a bad thing.  It returns us toward the Founders’ vision and the meaning of federalism.   The progressive left will and should increasingly embrace state rights.

I then asked them how they felt — and they said “a bit uncertain, but in the end it, too might be a good thing.”  So let’s not decry it.  Instead, let’s celebrate this return to moral and local self-reliance which hopefully will complement greater economic and yes, military as well as political responsibility.

Conventional wisdom has Deflategate ending as of today, with the 2nd Circuit Court rejecting an appeal and the U.S. Supreme Court highly unlikely to hear the case. If only the Players’ Association would accurately characterize the NFL’s entire Deflategate investigation for what it was: biased and fraudulent, they might then invoke the leading U.S. Supreme Court case, Misco. The Supreme Court clearly held that federal courts should almost never second guess the Arbitrator’s decision unless that decision showed evident partiality, bias, or fraud. In spite of overwhelming proof of all three, the Players’ Association shown no signs they’re willing to call it like it is. Unless they do and thereby demonstrate how the 2nd Circuit failed to apply U.S. Supreme Court precedent, then Brady’s suspension seems certain.

Robert Blecker, New York Law School Professor writes on cheating, scandal and sport.

Blecker has been cited extensively regarding the faulty use of science and the application of the law in Deflatgate. He filed the first amicus brief before the 2nd Circuit Court in this case.