In times that now seem almost quaint — before we stared Wednesday into the abyss to see what an American collapse looks like when the federal government is in the hands of a gangster — the NFL was pulled into a national political controversy.
In September 2017, President Trump, in a speech in Alabama, savaged players who followed the lead of Colin Kaepernick in 2016 and knelt during the national anthem. They offered protest over police brutality and racial injustice: No words, no histrionics, only silent dissent, a right many Americans gave their lives to preserve.
If that racist dog-whistle seems a century ago, here’s a refresher on what he said:
Predictably, outrage among athletes ensued, especially among the Seahawks and their coach, Pete Carroll, who makes an effort to encourage his players to speak up and out while engaging in the real world. The NFL is a mostly Black sport, and the players understood who Trump meant.
No response was more thoughtful than WR Doug Baldwin:
Statement from Seahawks wide receiver Doug Baldwin. Maybe my favorite response thus far. pic.twitter.com/MpH2Y1dC44
— Dave Zirin (@EdgeofSports) September 23, 2017
The Seahawks were en route to Tennessee that Friday, and Carroll and team leaders made a decision to skip the Saturday walk-through and instead engaged in hours of intense meetings to formulate a response for game day on Sunday.
Carroll later said the tumult created distractions and emotions that contributed to the Seahawks’ 33-27 loss to the Titans. The football result is a trifle. But the disruptions in the NFL and other sports from Trump’s fire-the-SOB episode reached across 3½ years to help illuminate the events of Wednesday.
It exposes to Trump supporters among sports fans that his disrespect-the-flag trope was one of a series of deceits masquerading as patriotism that Trump sprayed for four years over the fruited plain to rot democracy.
As we have come to learn, he has no respect for the flag, the Constitution, civil law or even the health and welfare of his own base, allowing a disproportionate number of them to die in a fetid stew of their own ignorance, his lies and nature’s COVID-19.
Any lingering facade fell away Wednesday when, in a speech at the Ellipse, he incited the next phase of his assault. Knowing the date that the senators and representatives would be in the U.S. Capitol to certify the election of Joe Biden as president, Trump invited via social media his followers to a same-day rally, where he exhorted them to “fight” to stop “the steal.”
“After this, we’re going to walk down — and I’ll be there with you — we’re going to walk down, we’re going to walk down to the Capitol,” he said Wednesday morning. “We’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women, and we’re probably not going to be cheering so much for some of them.”
The trap was sprung.
It didn’t take long for the domestic terrorists to create an insurrection when they poured into the mysteriously under-defended chambers and halted the certification vote. The 535 terrified legislators escaped to secure locations as vandals looted and defaced some of America’s revered symbols of the most successful attempt at democracy in human history.
Trump’s response? A video in which he told the seditionists politely to go home, with a smiling farewell: “We love you. We think you’re special.”
The five hours of an attempted coup gave Vladimir Putin and all other despots, authoritarians and political bullies around the world the video they craved — proof that democracy doesn’t work.
Except democracy did work.
Despite the appalling shock of thug violence in the national heart, the shaken legislators returned to the Capitol and early this morning completed the election certification for Biden’s presidency.
The moment also completed what we in the sports world call an oh-fer.
Because of Trump, the Republicans lost their House majority in 2018. He lost the presidency in November. Tuesday night in Georgia, he helped lose two runoff races to give Democrats the majority in the Senate.
He lost all legal challenges at the state level.
He lost all legal challenges at the federal level, including the Supreme Court.
And he lost his final challenge in Congress.
What does a gangster do when he’s out of lawyers and procedural options? He sends his minions into the streets.
The Wednesday riot, which will end up near Dec. 7, 1941 as days that live in infamy, was Trump’s final systems play. It will leave a decades-long scar and caused the deaths of four people and injuries to many more, including police. But the anarchists failed.
If you don’t think Trump is a gangster, listen to the recording of the phone call he made to Georgia’s secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger. Trump was attempting to intimidate him into finding votes in his state’s completed and certified presidential election to flip the state from Biden.
If you can, imagine the Trump’s words in the voice of Don Vito Corleone, although the Godfather don was more concise, articulate and direct. All that’s missing is, “Some day, and that day may never come, I will call upon you to do a service for me . . . ”
After the certification prevailed over Trump’s incitement sedition, there remains the hell of Trump’s final 13 days in office. Seattle-area native Adam Smith, who chairs the House Armed Services Committee as Washington’s Democratic representative from the 9th District, offered up a blunt summary of the problem during an interview on CNN Wednesday night.
“Let’s be honest,” he said. “He’s a narcissistic psychopath who doesn’t understand that the rule of law matters.”
Which brings us back to the NFL.
Remember that Trump rant quoted at the top about firing players who protested? In it, he says, “(The owners) are friends of mine, many of them.”
Whether that was true then or now, certainly one among them (hi, Robert Kraft) still has his number. America needs their help by creating a phone tree to occupy his remaining days in office. Because he’s always wanted to be an NFL owner, he’ll take the calls.
Play him along by telling him that he can buy the New York Jets and turn them into winners by firing everyone. Then he could be the most popular person in the country. Again. Until he’s fired Jan. 20.
62 Comments
Adam Smith is exactly right.
Through the last four years though Trump has got exactly what he wanted; media attention. Front page mention of every issue of the New York Times and Washington Post for the last four years, the singular focus of every nightly monologue of Seth Meyers and Stephen Colbert, local media, Twitter, first mention on national nightly news . . . on and on. Trump doesn’t care. He doesn’t care about anything other than himself (see Adam Smith, above). He doesn’t care that Republicans lost the House, Senate, and White House on his watch. The guy is completely unqualified to hold office. ANY office. He just wants attention, and boy did the American media do a great job of keeping him front and center of every conversation for four years.
Point is, I don’t have an issue with Trump per se. Guy only needs to open his mouth for 30 seconds for a normal functioning adult to recognize what a narcissist he is. Trump is predictably Trump. I have a HUGE issue with 70 million voting Americans not recognizing that. The ‘person’ analysis the last four years the media should have focused on wasn’t Trump, it was the Trump voter. It has taken WAY too long to unearth and talk about the underlying motivations of said voter and I suspect many in media knew that and didn’t want to go there. They saw the racism. They saw the strong evangelical connection. They saw the poor education. They saw the lack of critical thinking/reasoning skills. They saw how even a shallow dive investigation of the often connected identity of the above was going to lead to a “How the hell did America get here?” and were too chicken to call a spade a spade. Now we have armed white nationalists (don’t glaze past the white part) storming the Capitol building (with little police resistance) and people are shocked?? Please.
This really is a country with a huge number of white Christians who take offense at anyone who isn’t white or Christian, and the U.S. is starting to get into a war about it.
Mr. Coop
Many thanks for a thoughtful post and I have only 1 disagreement.
A huge % of them are not Christians. They are Pseudochristians. They believe and do very little of what their book says to believe and do.
QED.
I’m not smart enough to discern pseudo Christians. Or pseudo Muslims or pseudo Jews. I kind if think that’s why the founders separated church and state.
THIS!
Trump’s decision to pursue overturning Roe v. Wade cemented support from a lot of Christians. Nothing horrible Trump can do will dissuade them from supporting him, solely because of his anti-abortion stance.
I forgot about the single-issue voter. Good point.
Single-voter issues, especially on morality/culture stuff, cripple the effective function of government.
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Trump WAS qualified to hold office. Any office. Because he has a LOT of $$$. That is all it takes. A lot of Americans didn’t know what they were getting with their vote. A lot did and that was NOT HILLARY!!! I don’t believe the Clintons are any better than Trump. In fact I think far more corrupt. Trump is just Trump. The Clintons were what this country didn’t want. They were politicians. (EGAD!!!) Americans (And I’m pretty much talking blue collar, working class) are tired of the political system that threw them out decades ago. You see where America is now. But the path here started long ago. You have to realize that its all about $$$. Big $$$ owns our government. Big $$$ also owns the media. At least what you see on TV. Big $$$ also controls science. And we can’t trust any of those things because truth is NOT on their agenda. Don’t blame us Blue collar Americans. We have no choice to vote for that represents us. We can’t afford to pay for a place at the political table.
The loss of blue-collar jobs was an inevitability of the capitalist marketplace, with each development in technology. Been that way for our 240 years. The difference now is the intense acceleration of change (Moore’s Law) has outstripped the body politic’s ability to keep up.
To cite a current example, I’m willing to bet that 99 percent of the 535 electeds in Congress cannot offer a coherent explanation of the consequences of the massive Russian cyberattack on our government and large businesses.
The events of the past week, as well as numerous other instances the past four years, have proven that he ISN’T qualified. A president should unify not divide. The events of yesterday in some ways was worse that 9-11 or Pearl Harbor. It pitted American against American. And the ones who invaded the Capital attempted to undermine and intimidate the governmental process that Americans have worked for, built up and died for. The FBI and CIA are on record that Russia, Iran and Iraq meddled in the 2016 election. It’s my belief that for the higher offices in the US a candidate needs to serve at least one full term in public office. The American people deserve an experienced candidate.
It’s hard to put a qualifier like that on the office, given the principles of democracy that have worked for so long. I agree that this is a greater tragedy because it came from within, not without.
With real scientists, the only thing that controls science is science. Science done right leads, scientists follow. Don’t make false judgements on what you don’t understand.
The only (so-called) science that is controlled by “$$$” is pseudo-science which is generally constructed and construed to contradict actual science, and are specifically designed to confuse the under-educated.
Science is mostly now done to prove what “CAN” happen. Not what does. Paid for by those with an agenda to have a certain outcome pre determined. Ever hear of Climate Models? Those Al Gore models done 20 years ago showing how we all should be under water by now. The same info the greeners base climate change / global warming on. They can’t be trusted. Nobody wants a polluted world. But we should be able to get fair, unbiased real science. Without an agenda for a certain outcome that twists info in to get certain info out. Oh,, and those “REAL” scientists,,,,, They need funding too. Possibly look into the economics of science.
Because some forecasts are off doesn’t invalidate the intrinsic worthiness of the work. Are you going to stop paying attention to snow forecasts just because a storm missed your house?
Art,
I don’t see “Some” forecasts being off. I wish it was that and I was wrong. I have been looking at it for a decade now and I see mostly agenda driven “Science”. Not truth driven science. They look for “May” and “Could” happen. Not what really will. It’s all about $$$. What isn’t?? It’s why I can’t dredge for gold on my claim in California. “Green Science”. Not Real Science.
Coop, the presidency, regardless of occupant, demands and gets out-sized media attention because of how much power is invested in a single person. I can go for days on how we got here, but the point is it’s dangerous for the world, not just us, when someone unfit is elected.
Regarding the Trump voter, I’ve found numerous stories profiling those people and their motivations. To me, many spades were called. But I’m a news guy invested in information, and maybe you’re right about readers of less volume. The evangelical Christian crowd is often driven by fear of otherness. They are willing to forgive so many of Trump’s sins as long as they think he will make go away what they think are icky people. But nativism has been prevalent throughout human history in empires that have risen and fallen long before America was invented.
It was clear to many this country elected a bumbling incompetent around Feb. 2017, which became the daily media focus. “Let me tell you what the clown did/said/Tweeted today!” President or not, is that news? Andrea Mitchell is still shocked at what the guy says. The primary media outlets of this country have slid far from the ethical, professional, competent Murrow standard and shouldn’t get a free pass when history analyzes this decade. When the Nightly News lead some years ago was the Lance Armstrong/Oprah interview I gave up. The news organizations focused on the Trump clown show because it was easy (lazy?). Seemed like much shoulder shrugging on explaining how he got to be President though. Too much work.
I get it. They are not supposed to be the opinion page, or the gatekeepers of information, but they don’t have to be a gossip rag either. Media gave Trump respect he didn’t earn. It took them two years to stop dancing around a term and call him a liar.
I don’t disagree with a single point of your response. I was raised by an apocalypse-wishing evangelical and have spent 30 years exploring what drives the Adventist type. I know them well. I don’t mind stating that generally they are not America’s best.
I have to give Trump credit for one thing though – didn’t Wilde say “alcohol and money don’t change you; they unmask you.” There was a whole lot of ‘Real’ that came out in the last four years. He emboldened many to be exactly who they are. Maybe we can continue with the unmasking and call the Republican party what it is; the Christian Nationalist party. Doesn’t the honesty feel good!
How did someone so unfit become president?
Give thanks to the Constitution. It allowed someone like him to become President. Whilst growing up I always heard that anyone could become President. Donald J. Trump proved the saying true.
Yes, I don’t want to see another hagiography praising the founding fathers as geniuses given the anti-democratic debacle known as the “electoral college”, where minority rule without popular mandate from an electoral college victory is considered entirely legal and constitutional.
The electoral college made more sense in 1789, when the pre-industrial nation was a thinly spread, mostly agrarian population. It has outlived its usefulness.
No one has ever said it was a perfect document. Did you know it’s been amended 27 times?
I suggest it could use a bit more amending.
I understand your point about amplifying every tweet, every day. In hindsight, it looks bad. But in daily reporting you often can’t know in real time whether something is irrelevant, or significant. So all get broadcast. If a media outlet doesn’t record it, and it turns out to be significant, the outlet will be seen as negligent or turning a blind eye.
I do think the industry will have to have a reckoning. The guardrails were insufficient to serve the public in the face of relentless daily deceit, prevarication and mendacity. Even though Orwell told us the big lie told often and loudly is the way to control the masses.
“I do think the industry will have to have a reckoning.”
It really can’t come soon enough. When there are talking heads blaming antifa for the insurrectionist attacks and disingenuous members of congress repeating the same lie the accountability has to start somewhere or we are fucked. Unfortunately, it’s hard to see the titans of media deciding to police themselves.
No, I believe that was Joseph Goebbels who said that, but Goebbels was the model so Orwell may have stolen it. As to when the media went off the rails was when one lie was not considered a scandal. Two. Then three. No consequences from the GOP. The media took until now to unequivacably call a lie a lie, and not indulge always giving the Republicans a chance to respond with more lies or to hijack an interview into a campaign event – which both sides do participate in, but the media just let them do it. I’ve been saying for quite a while that the media’s failure to police their own industry and disqualify Fox to exist as a legitimate platform is one of the larger roots of our problems. Unfortunately, we have learned a hard lesson that a healthy press is necessary for a healthy democracy, and we have neither.
I did enjoy your take, and agreed with it.
Thank you Art, as always, for your clear point of view. I appreciate you along with many other sports writers who have a conscience and a platform to stand for their beliefs along with their opinions. The only people who are able to stand quietly by are supporters of this attempt to take over the government by white supremacists. The next few days demonstrate a clear statement of where everyone stands.
I appreciate the kind words, Paul. I probably pay too much attention to politics as well as sports. But I may as well put it to use.
Art. Actually you don’t pay too much attention to politics. I think your mix is right on the money.
Here is a quote from Martha Gelhorn that is appropriate:
“People often say, with pride, ‘I’m not interested in politics.’ They might as well say, ‘I’m not interested in my standard of living, my health, my job, my rights, my freedoms, my future or any future.’… If we mean to keep any control over our world and lives, we must be interested in politics.”
I submit if more people did what Gelhorn suggests, in the decades leading up to 2016, Trump would have never set foot in the White House.
Thanks for sharing Gelhorn’s thoughts. I hadn’t read, but agree. I’ve always told people who say they don’t pay attention to politics is that it is like not paying attention to high blood pressure. It’s a fact of living that will ruin or end your life if you don’t give it attention.
Art Thiel is one of America’s great sports writers, and one of Amerca’s great commentators. This piece deserves widespread reading beyond his traditional audience.
Thanks, William.
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Another great piece, Art. Unlike some of the scolds around here, I love it when you mix politics and sports. There’s a great line in an obscure running movie called “On the Edge” (Bruce Dern plays the protagonist) about how you can’t separate the two. I’d quote it to you if I could, but it’s long lost to history. Anyway, thank you for keeping a laser focus on the things that matter.
Well said Art. If you haven’t already, read Chris Hedges’s book, “America: The Farewell Tour” which explains exactly how we got to this point in history. In short, his thesis is that Trump comes from the bowels of an already decaying society, one where, paraphrasing Dr. King, necessities are taken from the masses to give luxuries to the classes. That perfectly sums up the shared anger on both the left and the right. However, BLM protesters get brutalized by the police whereas the far right protesters in DC yesterday were treated much less severely by the police in what amounted to an attempted coup. Finally, all of the NFL’s platitudes about justice, equality, etc. don’t change the fact that Colin Kaepernick still doesn’t have a job in the NFL. Though what gives me encouragement going forward is that Kaepernick may one day be equated with the likes of Rosa Parks while history will not look kindly upon Trump nor the NFL for that matter.
As I watched the happenings yesterday, I couldn’t help but feel a little bit that the 27 years of my life I spent on Active Duty, Reserve, ROTC, and back on Active Duty was not worth it. My final deployment in 2018 to Baghdad had me as a member of the logistics team planning the movement of cargo and personnel into Syria. To see less than a year after I left, us just leave everything behind to include our allies in the area, was the moment I knew I had made the correct decision to retire instead of still being commanded by that buffoon. I told people as I left there was a fight coming and as much as I hope yesterday was the beginning and end of it, I’m not sure it was.
I do believe that yesterday was the final nail in the coffin of any legitimate chance trump had running as the Republican candidate in 2024. I would like to thank all of the athletes who spoke out, spoke up and convinced people to go out and register to vote. Every elected official in DC who let that moron go unchecked for 4 years should be ashamed and I hope the next time they are up for re-election, someone with more sense of honor and country over party bests them out.
Thanks for sharing, SP (have you thought about a different commenter handle)?
I appreciate the perspective of a veteran who has skin in the game. Regarding ’24, the main virtue now of a successful impeachment is that it will deny him any future elective office.
Truth over Trump.
If you check out Mike Pence’s Twitter profile his cover photo is of President Elect Biden and VP Elect Harris. He is also no longer following POTUS. A harbinger of things to come? Will he evoke the 25th Amendement? Already two of his cabinet have resigned, one of whom is Betsy DeVos, and the remaining ones are being asked to stay. A majority of the cabinet in agreement is needed to evoke the amendment.
To think one athlete taking a knee may have kicked off a series of events that have lead to yesterday’s anarchy. Props to Kap for sticking by his beliefs despite the tweetstorms that POTUS rained down on him. That same attitude inspired white supremacists and Nationalists, Neo-Nazis, Proud Boys and others to wave the Confederate flag while storming the Capital building. And POTUS egging them on. During the Trump presidency athletes who became champions began to decline a White House invitation in record numbers. Evidently pizza and Big Macs couldn’t entice them to go. I am in agreement with what Adam Smith said but it reminds me of a Tweet that Sen. Lindsay Graham posted in 2016 that’s getting the rounds lately. It said “If we nominate Trump we will be destroyed. And we will deserve it.” Interesting words from one of POTUS’s regular golf partners. It may take the entire Biden presidency to simply undo the damage that’s happened the past four years. It won’t give him the opportunity to put his own footprint on his presidency but if he can bring the US back to where it was four years ago and keep that progress moving forward that will be more than enough.
I think you’re being far too optimistic in assessing the damage of trump can be undone in one presidency. In my opinion the carnage he’s wrought our democratic institutions and public trust will take decades to repair, if even that. The fracturing of the information eco-sphere certainly predated Trump, but he is the amplifier-in-chief who gave “alternative facts” legitimacy to half the country. Wander over to the right wing eco-sphere and it’s truly terrifying how that world is so completely un-moored from empirical reality. How does Biden undo that?
Then there’s the stacking of the Supreme Court. That’s lasting damage that will certainly last generations which Biden doesn’t have the power to undo. All progressive legislation going forward will now be tempered with the very real likelihood it could be overturned. The number of conservative challenges are certain to go through the roof and it remains an open question whether Obamacare or Roe v Wade will even survive. Who can be said to even be the “swing” vote on the SC now that it’s not Roberts? Take your pick … Gorsuch, Alito, Thomas, Kavanaugh, Barrett. Not even a slightly more moderate justice among that arch-conservative 5.
Oh, I’m not saying Biden will undo everything Trump has done. Only that his entire term in office may be taken up with trying to undo it all. I also agree that there’s concerns about the Supreme Court being stacked with conservatives but that also on Sen. McConnell as much as it is on POTUS. However there’s many rules and bylaws in place to ensure that they follow the letter to the law than just blindly approving craziness. That’s why the Supreme Court never addressed the “fraudulent election.” Roe Vs. Wade won’t be overturned, at least in our lifetime. It would be political suicide for any politician to go down that road.
I certainly hope that the Biden presidency will be able to find its voice the way Barack Obama did with Obamacare, Ronald Reagan for Reaganomics or LBJ for the Civil Rights Act. Not just cleaning up after it’s predecessor.
https://t.co/MDMnMouDNO?lbOSrA
If for nothing else, his absolute lack of attention to the pandemic that left a third of a million Americans — and counting — dead justifies his losing his job. Trump’s inaction on that may supplant James Buchanan’s hands-off approach to the oncoming Civil War as the greatest shirking of responsibility by a president.
A timely, courageous, and enlightening piece, Art. Thank you. I’ll never forget this one. While it’s shocking to behold the lack of security present at this moment, the desecration of our nation’s capital, and and the gentle police treatment these terrorists were afforded by police (not to mention the fact that almost all were allowed to walk away), it’s really not shocking that Trump’s end game was what it was.
We must never ever forget the faces and the names of those that supported and enabled Trump in his quest to destroy democracy and become a dictator. This also indisputably demonstrates the double standard present in how protesters are treated based on the color of their skin. If these were Native or Black protestors storming the capital, we know it would have been an absolute blood bath. Oh, and I want to know the name of the cop that was posing for a selfie with one of the terrorists.
Go Hawks!
Thanks Art! Your voice on all matters is so appreciated – that’s why I will always thank you, for many years as being “The Voice of Reason”. Thanks for addressing this subject.
Trump has had an unusual amount of significant opportunities to make positive impacts on this nation and the world, yet always chooses to act in the worst possible way, rather than being positive or doing nothing at all. He has not one nurturing atom in his body – and too much of the alternative. The sooner he goes away the better. We’ve got some serious healing to do.
Art, never let anyone tell you that you are just a sports writer. This is the most insightful commentary I have seen from anyone in the last two days after what happened on January 6, 2021. I am also very grateful and encouraged for the comments I have seen generated by your thoughts. Peace and knowledge of what is true and right be with you and all of us.
Mr. Fred
Many thanks for the post.
I am lucky enough to have been an old Seattle Post-Intelligencer reader since the ’60s and Mr. Art was one of their writers. I have often lamented our loss of the P-I on this forum. There is an internet version but it is nothing like the old P-I.
Imagine an old newspaper LOADED with fine writers like Mr. Art—-now you know why I used to read the P-I.
Crazy and uneven as the joint was, it was a thrill to keep company with some remarkable scriveners, shooters and artists.
I am 68, grew up in Moses Lake but my mom was from Seattle. We received the PI for about the first 16-18 years of my life. So I grew up with Royal Brougham and others. I have enjoyed Mr. Thiel for decades.
Thanks, TJF. America has a grievous wound. We are obliged to treat it as best we can.
Art, you are SUCH A PHONY, a total Dem , left tool!
Do I condemn this (1) one riot? Yes.
BUT, where have you and you ilk been for the past 9 months of incessant riots across America??? NYC, Detroit, Kenosha, Portland, Seattle, LA, to name only a few.
HUNDREDS of riots by the Dem Left, their Antifa pawns, tens of MILLIONS in destruction of businesses, many of them owned by minorities.
So PULEEZE, don’t get all pro-justice on us – given your silence, and that of ALL the Dems, including Biden, Harris (who led funding for arrested protesters bail), Pelosi, Schumer, the Squad, etc
Since you didn’t come clean about these riots, you have zero standing to suddenly take umbrage to this ONE riot.
Oh, and BTW, 25 people were killed during this years “peaceful” as Harris kept lying about, protests. Where you you Art?
So stick to what you actually have a talent for, reporting and commenting on sports.
Oh, and BTW, As you have done consistently with Trump, I will take license to continually SCORCH Biden whenever he screws up, and Dead Man Walking Biden is a big target.
You really need to stop cutting your Prozac in half.
Typical, and expected, double-standard Left, Dem, Intolerant comment.
Mr. Guy
Please explain the “intolerant” part. I don’t get that one.
The rest of the rant I can follow (mostly) but intolerant is ______.
signed
Archangelo Spumoni, probable “Antifa pawn”
“Kill Dems? Now that’s actually intelligent! Start with the hag in Congress!”” One Cool Guy
Sure you condemn the riot one cool guy. Sure you do. Except for that quote of yours a few months back: “Kill Dems? Now that’s actually intelligent! Start with the hag in Congress!”
Typical minimization, deflection, and false equivalency….It’s just “one riot” for Chrissakes. Come on everyone, get over it.
It wasn’t a riot. It was an attack.
I know. The word riot itself minimizes the significance.
Needed humor at the end. Thanks. I wonder if this is a column you could/would have written back when you were at the PI. But the freedom our free enterprise allows individuals to try out new ideas when old ones have run their coarse.
I think you understand very well and weave into your writing the intersection between “The Sports World” and everything else. Another benefit of our democratic society is the flow of energy and ideas that have led to the level of excellence that all of the sports world enjoys because we have led the way.
We are not out of the woods with this Trump situation we have, however the likelihood that we will make it out is enhanced by not only by insightful reporting by writers like you, but the humor that you usewhich happens most often in societies that value liberty.