Keller @ Large: DeflateGate's Jealousy Jihad Failed
BOSTON (CBS) - It wasn't an anniversary anyone would want to remember, so it's no wonder that Monday's first anniversary of the start of the DeflateGate controversy passed mostly unnoticed.
But we should take note of it, because the entire pathetic affair put the spotlight on an unfortunate aspect of human nature that is far more important to our daily lives than it should be - jealousy.
Some executives and coaches of NFL teams that have enjoyed considerably less success than the New England Patriots over the past 15 years saw an opportunity to express their bitter jealousy by smearing Tom Brady, and they took it.
One year later, there is not a shred of direct evidence of wrongdoing by Brady or the team, something the jealous mob still can't admit.
Jealousy, and its evil twin, envy, have been around forever; there's a reason why envy is one of the seven deadly sins. But the internet has exposed just how deeply imbedded it is in the public psyche. Jealous of a competitor's success? It's so easy to go online and smear them.
And politicians of both parties keep busy trying to exploit jealousy of the wealthy, figuring it's an easy way to extract support from the less-well-off. But there's hope in the fact that this tactic has its limits.
According to the most recent poll on the subject I could find, most people thing wealth is the result of effort, education, hard work and smart decisions, not the product of dumb luck or inheritance.
A year later, we can see that the jealousy jihad of DeflateGate failed; perhaps a year from now we'll find that the worst of the political class warfare did too.
