Short Takes – A Debate or a Free For all?
Opinion September 30, 2020
Written and Submitted by: George McClellan
To start off with, I couldn’t tell if I was watching a found copy of a lost Marx Brothers film or a cartoon rerun of Elmer Fudd chasing that wascally wabbit! With that, I’ll admit I’m totally for Donald Trump. I’ve witnessed the miracle of his take no prisoners leadership of Americas prosperity and economic growth; how he handles foreign policy to Americas favor, his restoration of our military and his savvy business approach to management of the dysfunctional corrupt government he inherited and the efforts of elements of that corrupt government to pull him down. That includes Joe Biden. The first debate was really on trivial matters already in the public domain. It was in fact, a waste of time.
Having said that, a couple of points also need to be made. First, I wondered why Trump even bothered to debate Joe Biden because Joe’s history of gaffs, misstatements, false innuendos political failures, self-enrichment and outright lies, as he so cunningly demonstrated in last nights debate, should have rendered any such debate mute and not worth sparing over. We all already know what the issues are and the position of both candidates on them. The best advice ever given to me was never to argue with an idiot because idiot will bring you down to his level and beat you to death with his experience. Didn’t happen last night though.
The Leftist media will give Joe high marks for standing up to and “trashing” Donald Trump, and claim that Trump was still lying. Well, that might have worked once but most folks today have caught on to the MSM and don’t believe ’em anymore. Besides, every possible issue that could be debated was spit out onto that stage last night.
The Left hates Donald Trump because he’s ruined their gig! Joe hotly claimed he was “the Democrat Party,” not Bernie Sanders or AOC, and even raised his voice to emphasize the point, He denied that he supported AOC and her Green New Deal, when he’s on record for doing exactly that. Leave it to good ol’ Joe to bring mediocrity to a new low level of mendacity.
What did surprise me was that Joe even consented to debate but on issues only important to the Left! Nobody cares about global warming or the US rejoining the Paris Climate Accords because everybody now knows that the Paris Accords were nothing more that a New World Order scam to fleece Western countries, especially the US, out of trillions of dollars to support, you guessed it, the new world order.
Speaking of global warming, Trump was correct when he said the US is the cleanest country in the world for low carbon emissions, pointing out China, India and other countries were major contributors of green house gas emissions. I was disappointed that Trump did not include the four hundred, more or less, active volcanos around the world spewing their toxic poisons into the atmosphere every minute, and dismissing outright the whole concept of human accountability as unscientific nonsense.
Of course the timing of Trumps latest Supreme Court pick took some fire but that didn’t last long because, as Trump said, he was President and, to quote a recent past President, Barak Obama: “Elections count. I won, you lost.” Biden’s response was that the American People should have a voice in a SCOTUS nomination. Well, they did, in 2016! End of story.
I was especially amused when Joe tried to capture Trumps economic miracle as his own by claiming the Obama-Biden administration left a thriving economy for Donald Trump when we all know the Obama-Biden economy was moribund with slow to nearly non-existent growth, high black and Latino unemployment and lost jobs going abroad.
Other issues of importance to the Left were Trumps Tax returns. He’s under audit all the time and pay’s taxes in the millions. For me, I’m not worried about a billionaire becoming President, I worry about how a mere politician enters Congress and becomes a millionaire. Nobody asked Joe if the paid his taxes on his Ukraine investment or on Hunter Biden’s billions from China. Joe got right defensive over Trump bringing up the matter of his corrupt kid, but, it had to be asked.
Trump also started the revitalization of the military including cancelling out Obama’s scheme to re-educate white Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and Airman about the unhealthy effect of their racism because of their white privilege. OMG!
In short, Joe Biden rarely answered a direct question but framed his answers in the tedious talking points we hear daily. Remarkably Joe would not utter the words Law and Order. If he did, AOC would cast a spell on him causing his tongue to shrivel up and fall out.
Well, it was a good show I suppose. The suave Mr. Chris Wallace of Fox News, managed to maintain some control but not decorum. Trump isn’t a decorum man. Hit him and he hits back! Lie about him and he’ll correct the offender then and there. It was a Marx Brothers or the Three Stooges show, but it was entertaining. Take your pick!
Remember, freedom is the goal, the Constitution is the way. Now, go get ’em! (29Sep20)
Sports talk Thursday with Lauren Hunter-Politics in sports?
Sports July 12, 2019
The U.S. Women’s National Team has been making headlines recently for victories as a team, and as individuals for political statements.
Last week, the team won their second back-to-back World Cup. Shortly after the game, player Allie Long was seen dropping an American flag during the post-game celebration. Her teammate Kelley O’Hara recognized the significance of a flag being dropped on the ground, and immediately scooped it up.
One report from The Daily Wire explained that Long dropped the flag to participate in a celebratory dance with teammate Megan Rapinoe. But the video quickly went viral and comments poured in criticizing Long for her carelessness and thanking O’Hara for stepping in.
It’s very possible that Long meant no disrespect, but just got caught up in the moment and didn’t know that an American flag is NEVER supposed to touch the ground. Nonetheless, millions of viewers were not happy.
If you watch the video, it doesn’t appear that Long is trying to make any sort of political statement by dropping the flag. However teammate Megan Rapinoe has CERTAINLY been making headlines recently for her statements.
Megan Rapinoe (far right) is a great soccer player, but her political statements anger some. Credit: The New York Times
Although Rapinoe is mainly known for being a phenomenal soccer player (she won both the Golden Ball and Golden Boot awards this year), her progressive ideals have, let’s just say…raised eyebrows. Rapinoe is very outspoken about her homosexuality and dislike of President Donald Trump. She has followed the example of former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick by refusing to sing or put her hand over her heart during the National Anthem. The pose she makes after scoring a goal of standing with her arms outstretched is supposed to be a symbol of fighting for equal pay, race relations and issues at the United States/Mexican border.
For years athletes have used the attention given them for their athletic success as a means to shed light on their social platforms. There’s nothing wrong with that if they’re promoting awareness for a disease or a foundation that supports children with special needs. But should we as a society draw a line when it comes to political issues?
Some would say there’s no problem- depending on what they do to make the statement. Certainly being a famous athlete gives one more media attention than the average person. Like I mentioned in my last column post, there’s no difference in an athlete and an actor or actress, and they supply their endorsement all the time!
When Colin Kaepernick first kneeled during the National Anthem in 2016, many Americans were outraged. Not necessarily because of his protest of police brutality, but because he chose to do so in a way that many Americans found disrespectful to those who have served in the military. I was, and still am, one of those people. In my opinion Kaepernick and now Rapinoe are missing the mark. Kneeling or not showing respect during the National Anthem is to turn a blind eye to those who have sacrificed everything to give you the freedom to play your sport. It doesn’t have anything to do with first responders.
Nowadays there’s a gray area between sports segments and political talk shows. The two intersect on a daily basis. Just the other day on our live sports show, Instant Replay, my co-host Dave Garner and I had an entire segment dedicated to Nike’s decision to pull the sneakers with a design of the American flag sewn by Betsy Ross on the back. This decision was made after Kaepernick insisted that the flag had a racial history.
I thought Colin Kaepernick was out of the spotlight, but he found a way back in.
I suppose the whole reason this gray area exists is because of the technological advancements of the media. Celebrities who want use their status as a means to promote a certain viewpoint can do so more quickly because of how easy it is to post to Twitter. And in a society that demands news at every moment, something has to take up time in a sports show!
So back to the original question- should there be a line, and if so, where?
Here’s my opinion- sports is sports and politics is politics. Part of the reason I watch a football game or a baseball game is because I want to watch a football game or a baseball game. We are living in a time where politics are more divisive than ever before. One reasons sports are as big as they are today is because of the communities they create. Why should we mix something that causes so many problems to interfere with something that is supposed to help solve them?
When I turn on ESPN, I don’t want to listen to people debate over what is considered disrespectful to the National Anthem. And the next time I watch Fox News, I DARN sure don’t want to hear the name Colin Kaepernick.