You can tell it is an election year when politicians start nosing around things that have no bearing on reality.  You know, those subjects which no one can really refute from a moral and ethical standpoint that get their names in the paper and resonate with voters.

Such is the case of the Honorable Henry Waxman (D California) who is calling for an investigation of the Carolina Panthers.  Never mind that Waxman is from California, he wants to continue to investigate charges of rampant steroid use by the 2003 Super Bowl squad.

Waxman, the ranking Democrat on the House Committee on Government Reform,  told the Charlotte Observer that the NFL needs to aggressively investigate this case and find out why players weren't caught by the NFL drug testing program.  He also called on the NFL to changes in their testing so "cheaters aren't flaunting the system,"

Excuse me Congressman, exactly what dog do you have in this hunt?  A bunch of football players from Carolina cheated and it effects you and your constituents how exactly? Did you heavily bet the Panthers against the Patriots and lose a bundle?  Perhaps a jilted Eagles fan annoyed with the Panthers victory in the NFC Championship Game.  I'm sure the outrage in San Bernardino and El Centro lingers and is a key issue in this year's election.

With gas over $3 a gallon, a questionable war raging in Iraq,  the potential of Iran and North Korea firing up nuclear weapons, New Orleans still in shambles a year after Katrina, this is all you could come up with?  A bunch of football players who cheated?  Osama Bin Laden is still out there, but you are more concerned about the NFL.  The US has a deficit of almost $9 trillion and you are worried about a few crooked football players?  Hundreds of immigrants stream undetected over the border into your state on a daily basis and you focus on something that happened three years ago?

If I was a registered voter in California, I would throw Henry Waxman out on his ass in November.  He either doesn't have enough to do or has a terrible time with priorities.  What goes on in a privately funded, privately operated sports league has no business in the halls of congress, even if steroids are involved.  I would much rather Mr. Waxman figure out how to reduce my taxes or how to bring our soldiers home safely from Iraq than how to reduce cheating in football.

It just goes to show you how out of touch voters are.  If they weren't, Henry Waxman would be facing certain defeat in November.