Did Saints General Manager Eavesdrop? ... Is That a Crime?

ESPN report accuses Saints' Loomis of eavesdropping on opposing coaches ... Saints general manager Mickey Loomis has been accused of once having an electronic device in his Superdome suite that allowed him to eavesdrop on visiting coaching staffs, according to a report on ESPN's "Outside The Lines." The report said Loomis eavesdropped on opposing coaching staffs on game days from the 2002 through the 2004 seasons. Loomis has denied the allegations through a Saints spokesman. The report is another headache for the Saints during an offseason that has been loaded with trouble. If proven true, the allegations would be a violation of NFL rules and potentially a federal crime. – AOL Sporting News

Dominant Social Theme: What a shocker. Who'd a thunk?

Free-Market Analysis: This drives to the heart of what we've argued regarding regulation and criminality. There are plenty of ways to eavesdrop on people now and these methods will surely be used as time goes on. But people feel relatively secure because eavesdropping is a federal crime and thus often do not take precautions.

People are lulled by the idea that because something has been declared illegal, it won't happen. Unfortunately, this is not the way life works. As technology advances, tools that are developed – illegal or not – will tend to be used.

In this case, Loomis has denied the allegations most strongly. Given his insistence, it would seem that ESPN may have to "climb down" at some point. Here's some more from the article above:

"This is 1,000 percent false. This is 1,000 percent inaccurate," Saints vice president of communications Greg Bensel told ESPN on behalf of Loomis and the Saints. Loomis himself issued a denial to Fox Sports' Jay Glazer.

"This report on ESPN is absolutely false. I have a monitor in front of me in my booth that provides the league issued stats for the game. I have a small tv with the network broadcast and I have an earpiece to listen to the WWL-AM radio game broadcast," Loomis wrote, according to Glazer.

"To think I am sitting in there listening and actually and or doing something with the offensive and defensive play calls of the opposing teams makes this story and the unnamed sources that provided the false information that much more less credible...it just didn't happen."

Loomis has already been suspended by the NFL for his role in the Saints' bounty scandal, in which players were paid to injure those on the opposing team.

While Loomis's actions may seem shocking, our larger reaction to these new allegations is one of frustration that people don't understand the power of these technologies or how widely they are already in use.

It is the US government and Western military and Intel that are the biggest offenders. Wiretapping – or data collection – is pervasive throughout the West both for intelligence and criminal-political reasons.

The powers that be are terrified of what we call the Internet Reformation. As more people begin to understand that the elites' goal is world government, the paranoia level among conspirators rises as well. And additional eavesdropping technology is deployed.

ESPN has accused Loomis of eavesdropping – which is a federal crime in the US. But the larger – and more important issue is the pervasive and often illegal wiretapping that is being done throughout the West by the same facilities that are supposedly designed to "protect and serve."

This is the larger issue – and it is a considerable one indeed.

ESPN is a sports broadcaster but obviously what is needed in this day and age is less sports news (which in this case may be inaccurate) and more reporting of substance.

Here's a video regarding the Loomis news. Think of the critical issues of the day while you listen to it.

(Video from WDSUtv's YouTube user channel.)