What an embarrassment:
Curry had already said he wasn’t going to the championship celebration at the White House, so Trump’s rescinding the invitation was especially stupid and petty. That didn’t escape the notice of LeBron James:
Gonna have to bust out the aloe for that burn. But the shitgibbon keeps right on digging:
Even NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and the NFL ownership group, possibly the most loathesome assemblage of douchebags outside death row or a Trump administration cabinet meeting, politely told Trump to go fuck himself.
The irony is that Trump campaigned on contempt for “political correctness,” but he’s willing to wipe his fat ass on the U.S. Constitution to establish a safe space for himself and the “fuck your feelings” crowd.
Fuck him and every single shithead who voted for him.
Open thread.
Hal
raven
This draft dodging motherfucker can kiss ma ass.
Baud
Going to the White House was considered a great honor for a championship team.
Then somebody decided to emphasize the White in White House.
Trentrunner
Trump is the massy apotheosis of White Male Privilege. Both in his espoused views and in his very existence and prominence.
Imagine Obama or Hillary doing ANYTHING like this.
Yeah, you see what I mean.
Also, millions of Americans are devastated and at-risk RIGHT NOW in Puerto Rico, so kudos to Trump for staying on top of it. (76% chance Trump thinks Puerto Ricans should have to apply for citizenship.)
the Conster
Yeah, what an utter disgrace. I just went on FB to once again let everyone I know who voted for him that they’re racist scumbags and SUCK SUCK SUCK, and will have nothing to do with them, ever.
Major Major Major Major
I’m going to my SIL’s birthday tomorrow. Her husband’s family are ‘extremely embarrassed’ Trump supporters, A-OK with racism if it gets them tax cuts, rich medium-old money. The party is at a country club in Los Altos Hills and I’m not allowed to wear jeans, which by my standards as a youngish San Francisco programmer makes it white tie. Fuck these people.
She’s cool though. Can’t choose your husband’s sister’s husband’s family.
Corner Stone
U bum.
That’s a keeper for the ages, right there!
Corner Stone
What a great gif for the times we are living in.
Eric K
Worth noting, Trump has now spent infinitely more time ranting at NFL and NBA players than he has talked about 3.5 million Americans whose home was destroyed by a Hurricane.
Corner Stone
@Eric K: He’s talking about black people shutting up and knowing their place. If the brown people on PR start piping up I am sure he will tell them to shut up and go away also.
Roger Moore
@Hal:
FTFY. People have always complained about athletes of every color getting paid well, at least as far back as people whining about Babe Ruth getting paid more than the President*. I’m sure a major contributing factor has been the willingness of sports reporters to carry water for the owners.
*Though Ruth’s retort that he had a better year than Hoover was at least as sharp as LeBron James’s.
debbie
Is anything in support of Kaepernick going on at college-level football?
Major Major Major Major
Braintrust: You ever sleep a bunch and have the black bags under your eyes get darker?
Betty Cracker
@Eric K: True. He’s also spent a lot more time condemning black athletes engaging in peaceful protest than Nazis and white supremacists who have killed people. Also, didn’t Tom Brady skip the championship visit?
the Conster
@debbie:
At the high school level.
HeleninEire
LOL. I love that anyone with brains hates him. This whole thing is gonna end so badly. Let’s all hope that it ends badly only for the bad actors. I have no trust in that. But let’s hope.
The beauty of Ireland, and why I moved here is that we are a little country on a little island just minding our own business. I got tired of being an American and being responsible for everything. Both good and bad.
Come visit!
debbie
@the Conster:
Your link isn’t working for me, but I’m glad it’s gotten local.
Tilda Swintons Bald Cap
So many knees are going to be taken. It will be the new way to protest Trump, just watch.
Barbara
What does it mean for Steph Curry to have the “privilege” of playing for the GSW? As if he (and most professional athletes) weren’t one of the most supremely talented and hard working people to don a uniform, and the owners could have hired anyone to do what he does. I know Trump has zero redeeming qualities, but it still amazes me how many ways he has managed to prove the point.
SFBayAreaGal
@Roger Moore: Wow Roger way to go by lessening what people of color go through. The quote did not need to be fixed.
Trentrunner
Here’s Obama one year ago on Kaepernick:
FUCK Jill Stein and Susan Sarandon and everyone in favor of “heightening the contradictions.”
Eric K
@Betty Cracker: Keith Olberman noted that whenever a few players didn’t meet with him Obama never made a big deal about it and graciously met whoever did come.
No Drought No More
I’ll assume the invitation to the White House that I haven’t received has been rescinded, too.
JDM
@Hal:
Also interesting is how often, in descriptions of athletic ability, natural talent is more often invoked in the case of black atheletes while white atheletes more often have hard work invoked.
eclare
President Bonespur….
Teddys Person
@Barbara:
True dat.
Steve in the ATL
@Major Major Major Major:
Sadly, no.
khead
Yeah, as noted by Betty, Deadspin has been all over this shit.
The “former Gawker media” needs some respeck right about now.
the Conster
@debbie:
Seattle high schooi football team all take a knee.
Major Major Major Major
@Trentrunner: But boy have they been heightened! The glorious revolution is just around the corner, right after Republicans take away (at least) 10% of the country’s healthcare because they promised.
debbie
@Trentrunner:
No greater contrast than that quote.
fuckwit
Patriotic correctness uber allies. Like Nazi Germany, soviet union, or north korea
oldgold
Trump is elevating the symbols of freedom over the freedoms they represent.
SFAW
@No Drought No More:
Lying Littledick will make sure one goes out to you, just so he can rescind it
germy
Trumpsters seek out Rocket Man, only to be confused or enraged by a pro-refugee video
Felony Govt (formerly Old Broad in California)
Not very smart of Shitgibbon to antagonize a number of articulate, popular athletes and their fans.
Ruckus
Needs to be repeated often and loudly.
Everyday till he’s gone.
He is a cancer upon the public. And you know what I say about that.
FUCK Fucking Cancer.
SFAW
@Betty Cracker:
Many sides, Betty. Many sides.
Schlemazel
Years ago I was stuck on a plane, across the aisle from this large asshole who was bloviating how HE was not going to the White House with the rest of the GB Packers because Bill Clinton was a rapist!!
The assholes name Mark Chmura. If that name is not familiar it because his career was shortened when he sexually assaulted the teen-aged friend of his daughter.
Teddys Person
@the Conster: Thanks for that link. I have mad respect for all those kids. They organized their community to make their voices heard. Kinda like a former president. Hey Dolt45, that’s what leadership looks like.
smintheus
@Eric K: Tim Thomas refused to meet with Obama, and he made some extremely petty comments about the tyrant in the WH. Not many fans had known that Thomas was a Teatard, and the schism he created in the Bruins’ locker room caused his career to melt down. It was delicious to watch unfolding.
Ruckus
@raven:
He can’t kiss my ass. I don’t want him near any part of my anatomy.
Republican, racist grifter, asshole cooties doncha know.
debbie
@the Conster:
Nice!
Barbara
@Schlemazel: It’s all projection all the time for many people, especially when it comes to sexual activity.
debbie
Isn’t today the Rapture? How could NPR not be covering it!
raven
@debbie: They don’t have the teams on the field for the anthem at Georgia.
Baud
@debbie: Maybe today is the rapture. Bodes well for the midterms.
Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady)
@HeleninEire: Shortly before Trump started palling around with Chuck and Nancy, I read that he realized people hate him. I wonder how that finally penetrated his bubble. I’m guessing he’s dumped it down the memory hole by now.
Teddys Person
@Felony Govt (formerly Old Broad in California): I have a friend who doesn’t like Trump but also thought Hilz was just as bad (just look at all the times the Clintons have been investigated). She’s also one of those white people who think racism isn’t that bad in this county. I tried to open her eyes about the media’s relentless, multi-decade crusade against the Clintons and educate her about the persistent systemic racism in the country but don’t think she got it. I suspect she either voted Clinton or didn’t vote.
However, she is a huge 49ers fan, and I think the Kaepernick Kerfluffle made some of the scales finally fall from her eyes.
(edited for typo)
JanieM
@Betty Cracker:
Too lazy to google, but IIRC he went to two with Bush, skipped Obama, and skipped Trump.
Ruckus
@Major Major Major Major:
I’ve been invited by a friend to a country club dinner for Thanksgiving. Told her I only have Levi’s to wear. Levi’s and sneakers. And a long sleeve shirt with a collar and everything! Don’t own any long pants that aren’t Levi jeans. If I’m not welcome dressed like that, fuck them. Snooty motherfuckers. They think fancy clothes make them better people? drumpf wears a suit. Of course it looks like he had a wino pick it out at the 99 Cent, All Day, Every Day store.
Ben Cisco
Quite possibly the greatest sentence Cole’s ever written.
And yes, Herr Littlefingers has been getting dragged around the entire internet, as well he should.
I LOVE that he’s making it plain that he and anyone who supported him and still does are absolute garbage human beings. I don’t care how many fawning articles the FTFNYT pumps out, how many times Tweety gets all huffy about those fucking lunchpails, how many times Chuckles Toddler pretends not to get it, guess what, douchebags? No hiding place.
Baud
@Teddys Person:
Kaepernick was a Hillary for prison person himself, so I don’t have much sympathy for him. But in any contest between him and Trump, I’m on his side.
Baud
@Ben Cisco:
And he didn’t even write it!
Schlemazel
The first I remember this ‘champions to the White House’ bullshit was when Richard Milestone Dickxon was Prez & his popularity was tanking. He called up the winning SB team on live TV to congratulate them. It was a stupid waste of time then & it only got worse as the years have passed. It really needs to end
Barbara
@JanieM: Brady went to at least one hosted by Bush and has skipped everything since. I am sure it’s hard to be in the public eye all the time, but Brady seems to have difficulty explaining himself on things like this.
Major Major Major Major
@Ruckus: I always wear long sleeves around them because they think my tattoo is gauche. If I were a slightly different person, and they were actually close to me, my reaction to such a thing would be to say fuck you! and get more tattoos, but I’m not and they aren’t and it’s easier without all the side-eye.
Ruckus
@HeleninEire:
I have Scotch/Irish ancestors. Would that do anything for me being able to retire in Ireland?
Of course I also have Sicilian blood so that may cancel out the above. Maybe the Sicilian’s would take me.
But there’s also been more than one generation of American blood so that may negate the entire idea.
eclare
@Baud: I remember that too, he’s really happy the current POS calls him a son of a bitch? He still thinks there was no difference?
Baud
Tweet gif via Reddit.
https://mobile.twitter.com/RW726/status/911621824710094849
MattF
Curry has immense talent, spent years learning a complex and difficult craft. He’s at the top of his game, literally and figuratively. Comparisons present themselves.
Teddys Person
@Baud: I didn’t know that (was he a Bernie dude?). Until his kneeling for the anthem, I had no idea who he was since I don’t follow pro football. I agree though and will take any ally against Dolt45 that I can get.
Baud
@eclare: I don’t know if he’s learned anything in the interim. Many still have not.
JanieM
@Ruckus:
Did you steal my wardrobe?
Oh wait, mine are Lees.
Baud
@Teddys Person: I assume so. I don’t recall specifically.
NorthLeft12
@Hal: Yes, I think the light bulb just came on for me regarding why so many fans are full of resentment towards sportsball players and the money they make. Yeah, most [more than their share of the population] of the hardcore fans are white males….and a higher share of the players in these sports are AA/Latino.
BTW, is there a similar amount of rage over the money NASCAR drivers make? Just asking.
“IT’S ONLY A GAME!!11!” they scream whenever a new contract is signed. Yeah, a game that these “fans” seem to live and die by, and design a lot of their life around. But it’s only a game.
raven
@Baud: Exactly, he’s dumb fuck but that doesn’t mean he can’t run his mouth. . .or whatever.
JMG
Due to the shortness of NFL careers, the players have never been unified enough to pull off a strike, so their union is the weakest in pro sports. They gave millons to Trump and indeed are awful folks, but the last thing NFL owners want is somebody butting in and inspiring their players to acts of solidarity.
Barbara
@Schlemazel: At least by 1968 Olympic medalists visited the White House. IIRC, in the early 60s nearly the entire Winter Olympic team was killed in a plane crash such that there was only one US medalist in 1968, Peggy Fleming, and I recall seeing pictures of her visiting Lyndon Johnson. It’s a cheap trick to invite athletes to the WH, I agree.
raven
@JMG:
What are you, 12 years old?
Barbara
@JMG:
They especially do not want this now that they have discovered that football ratings can go down and many people are already predisposed to move beyond football because of CTE.
Baud
@JMG: The union gave to Trump or the owners, or both?
raven
JanieM
@Ruckus:
Check out the Italian side here. I have two grandparents who were born in Italy, but it doesn’t work out for me because of the date intricacies. I’d rather have Irish citizenship anyhow, but there’s no ancestral pathway to that for me.
NotMax
Just finished watching an indie-produced low budget (but not low quality) gentle time travel film, 41, which had downloaded from YouTube a while back. Nice stuff.
Should you find yourself with the odd 90 minutes to fill, there are certainly less enjoyable ways to do so.
albertZ
Tweet from Buffalo Bill Lesean McCoy –
https://twitter.com/CutonDime25/status/911601178219249664
Running backs no a hole when they see it.
Ruckus
@Trentrunner:
@oldgold:
One of the reasons that I enlisted in 1969 rather than go to Canada was that I’m fully in agreement with President Obama’s quote. It may not have been the biggest reason, but it was in the mix. I didn’t support the war in any way, but I do think this country has the right idea. It’s been beaten up a number of times, run over by bigots a lot, but the concept is still sound. We need to remind not only ourselves but those that have no idea what we are supposed to stand for of those ideals and keep working to make them stronger and more real for everyone.
MattF
@Ruckus: And socks! Good socks!
NorthLeft12
@Barbara:
Barbara, if you ever happen to wander onto a hardcore NFL related thread, you would be surprised how many of these fans still hold on to the fantasy that they could somehow do what the real players do, and they would do it for one-quarter of the money!
I can’t speak for the other sports, but I was amazed at how many of these guys believe that they could play at this level for more than five minutes before being carried off the field crying for their Mothers. Delusional.
Baud
@NorthLeft12:
Kind of like people on political blogs talking about Democrats.
Baud
Trump was a actually enjoying a slight bump in the polls because his response to the hurricane wasn’t fully 100% bullshit. But then Trumpcare III happened and now this…
Spaniel
Hypocrisy on Trump’s part. Critizing someone for disrespecting the flag and the nation by not standing of the national anthem, but here is a guy 50-years ago blantantly chose five medical deferements before defending this nation in a time of war (almost the ultimate disrespect into the flag and this great nation). He never went to Vietnam.
Trump needs to pull the log out of his eye before critizing others for their sins!
Ohio Mom
“YOU’RE FIRED. Find something else to do!”
He really has a six year old’s understanding of the scope of the presidency’s powers: “When I grow up, I’m going to be president and make a law that no one is allowed to eat vegetables and you can stay up as late as you want.”
Remember the Woody Allen joke, “I’m not afraid of death, I just don’t want to be there when it happens”? I don’t want to be there when this presidency falls, just want to skip ahead to whatever is next. It is going to be very ugly, everything to do with Trump is uglier and uglier.
vtr
Shut the fk up Donny. Contemplate the obvious fact that there is nothing on the face of the earth you can do as well as Curry plays basketball. Nothing. Unlike too many political office holders, professional athletes are chosen by expert judges of talent.
Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant)
@Ruckus:
Comedy gold!!
Spaniel
I wonder if he is also getting a dig on the NFL owners because they would not let him have a team. IIRC, he sued the NFL.
NorthLeft12
@JDM:
And intelligence. You always here about these “smart” players and more often than not they are white guys. The sports media has their narratives and stereotypes of different groups of players and they continue to cling to them…..along with their guns and bibles.
Uncle Ebeneezer
@JDM: And “intelligence” and “playing the RIGHT way.” The racism of how people usually describe athletes is pretty obvious.
lamh36
@debbie: Late, but UNC basketball is also NOT going to WH
Smiling Mortician
@Felony Govt (formerly Old Broad in California): I rather like that the giant orange fart-cloud is doing his best to unite SportsWorld and ArtWorld against him (not to mention ScienceWorld and, basically, ThinkingPeopleWorld).
HeleninEire
@Ruckus: Here it depends how many generations you go back. You can go back for sure to your parents. If one of your parents was born here you are an Irish citizen. Gets a little hazy with your Grandparents. But prolly the same. Just more paperwork.
Italians, you say? Yeah they are the only other Europeans who do that, but I have no real info on that.
Good luck!
Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant)
@Baud: Damn, my apologies Betty. Your game’s strong. You and Cole have a similar level of badassery.
lamh36
@Betty Cracker: 2x I believe?
NotMax
@Ohio Mom
Expect stories to filter out of Dolt 45 going full-on Travis Bickle at the TV screens he’s addicted to in the interim.
Ruckus
@MattF:
Comfortable socks.
I don’t give a fuck what they look like. White sport socks seem to be the best. So that’s what I wear.
You may notice that I’m no clothes horse. I may once in a while verge towards horse’s ass but still, no clothes horse. Once had a job where I couldn’t wear denim to the office or shirts without a collar and sneakers were frowned upon. On my way there I had to stop and buy another wardrobe. Then we got a new co president and he said screw the wardrobe rules. The best, and only intelligent thing he said or did in his one year there.
NorthLeft12
@Trentrunner:
President Obama
I respect the hell out of President Obama, but since when did the US national anthem become about/owned by the military? This ongoing glorification of the armed forces is one of the greatest threats to your country and way of life, IMO.
Felonius Monk
And also those that like him, but were too lazy to vote for him.
Kathleen
@debbie: There was talk that Bengals might pick him up. Haven’t heard anything lately.
Baud
@NorthLeft12: I agree. Maybe when we had temporary wars it made sense. But not in our current state.
Ohio Mom
@NotMax: This is somewhat wasted on me because I don’t know who Travis Bickle is. I will
have to ask Ohio Dad about this. But I believe you. He is going to get to full melt-down.
I want to add, Trump probably is aware he can’t really fire a football player but he probably thinks he should be able to.
ETA: D’Oh Taxi Driver. No wonder the name sounded familiar!
lamh36
lamh36
@abell
BREAKING: Now it’s the @UNC basketball championship team not visiting @realdonaldtrump White House
May or may NOT have to do with Chump’s stupidity, but I suspect a team w/majority players of color is more likely to have enough votes to say we don’t want to go
NotMax
@SpanielAnother stunning Dolt 45 success story, the United States Football League.
Even then, touting generals.
lamh36
Trump was good picking on the NFL, cause the NFL and white owners keep tight leash on ALOT of players…the NBA players don’t play that mess.
Ruckus
@NorthLeft12:
I worked in professional sports, my comment at #95 was that job. The number of fans who thought that they could perform at the level of the top of the heap was amazing. And I was told once by an extremely talented participant that he could not understand how one of the other participants did what he did. This other participant was just supremely talented. He sure wasn’t a hard worker, just a hard partier, he was busted for drug use less than a year later. When even a fellow participant doesn’t understand how you are so good and regular people think they can play the game as well or better than them, you know that a lot of spectators have no idea what is required.
The Pale Scot
@Ruckus: Irish Citizenship through Grandparents
And, if you get citizenship, you get an EU passport.
Something to think about
Kathleen
@SFBayAreaGal: @debbie: Think of all the Trump voters they could interview.
debbie
@lamh36:
“With all disrespect.” Nice!
Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady)
Because my father was Canadian when I was born, I could apply for Canadian birth citizenship and be a dual citizen. My son is in the process of obtaining top secret security clearance for his job, and one of the questions he was asked was whether anyone in his family was a dual citizen. That is apparently a potential problem.
rk
I really really really hate this man! On a beautiful day filled with sunshine, the president of the United States supposedly the most powerful man in the world is quarreling with sportsmen and calling them vulgar names on twitter. I want everyone who voted for this abomination to burn in hell, after they lose everything here on earth.
UGH!
NotMax
@Ohio Mom
Senator Curry has a nice ring to it.
zhena gogolia
@vtr:
Well said!
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@NorthLeft12:
Definitely agreed. I could understand where he was coming from, but why should anybody assume that kneeling for the Natl. Anthem means that you’re an unAmerican demon who hates the Troops?
The whole concept of the military defending American Freedoms (what freedoms need defending? The closest that was ever the case at the latest was WW2) and therefore should never be criticized. It’s whack. The military is a necessary evil and, yes, should be better taken care of, but they’re not all Rambo. Most members haven’t even seen active combat. Don’t call them all heroes. Many hate being call that too.
Major Major Major Major
@NotMax: I feel like we could maybe pick somebody with more relevant experience.
Ruckus
@Spaniel:
A lot of people never went to Vietnam. I served but was sent somewhere else. I have a friend who answered the draft and was sent to Army language school in CO. He was so good they kept him as an instructor for his entire tour.
I don’t care that someone didn’t go to Vietnam, the number I’ve heard is about 5% of the population served and not all of those were sent there. I do care about people who never served in any capacity, including the Peace Corp or such, yet they act like they are the most patriotic people because they can send others or wave a flag. I don’t mind war protestors, it was a horrible, unnecessary war. As are the two GWB sent people to, which we are still paying horribly for and people are still dying for.
drumpf is horrible because he’s an asshole deluxe, a bigoted, grifting, lying fucking asshole deluxe. He doesn’t understand patriotism any more than most of his supporters. He doesn’t understand this country any more than most of his supporters.
He is an asshole deluxe. Always has been, always will be.
NotMax
@Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady)
The rules may have changed, but at least at one time I was (technically) eligible to become President yet ineligible to join the F.B.I. because one parent was born outside the U.S. as a citizen of another country.
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@Ruckus:
I’m willing to give people who dodged the draft because of their principles a pass too; I can understand not wanting to die in a pointless war that was lost before it even began.
schrodingers_cat
@Hal: Similar to the resentment by Teeps (T’s peeps) directed at immigrants/temporary workers etc not their employers.
NotMax
@Major Major Major Major
Tongue in cheek.
OTOH, Bill Bradley worked out darn well.
Major Major Major Major
@NotMax: Well, in some states, a Democrat whose main qualification is being a famous athlete would be your best shot, not so in California.
Ruckus
@HeleninEire:
My sister checked upon the family history because she was interested and went to the UK in the 60s to find out more info and to see her roots. However I know it went back farther than grandparents to at least great grandparents so……
And everyone else that might be able to tell me anything is gone now so I’m not hopeful on the Scotch or Irish side.
@The Pale Scot:
Something to think about. That’s why I was thinking about it. But documentation would be a massive problem, that I don’t see a way around.
raven
@Spaniel: He didn’t just not got to Vietnam. The chickenshit motherfucker used his money and status to get a bullshit deferment.
Ruckus
@NotMax:
And losing money hand over fist.
Major Major Major Major
Vox has a piece on two big state bills, bail reform in New Jersey and my state senator’s housing streamlining in California https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/9/22/16345092/california-new-jersey-state-legislature-advances
Felonius Monk
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?:
Because that is the mentality of the Real ‘Merican Arm-chair Patriots.
NotMax
@Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe)
Nobody even halfway rational wants to die in any war. The principles were derived from not supporting the war – its rationale, its escalation, its existence.
Lyrebird
The NFL leadership speaking up was essential.
I also like Colin K’s mom’s retort. (raw story)
Anyone have a good YouTube link to the Bamz playing hoops with the troops or with friends? I think I need to watch it over and over…
Lyrebird
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: At least one veteran’s group came forward from the first and said (iirc) heck, we fought for the freedom of speech, let the guy use it already!
Ruckus
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?:
Yes. I didn’t include that but you are right. That is part of the concept of this country. You can be different, you can complain, you can resist. I know of people who burned their draft cards and were ready to go to jail. I didn’t think less of them for that, I respected them more than you might imagine. That wasn’t the route for me, I had things I wanted to accomplish and jail was a real possibility for not answering the draft. Jail would have been an obstacle for me. Of course none of those things came about but that’s an entirely different story.
lgerard
But waving the confederate flag is……………..
Duane
@a href=”#comment-6565671″>SFAW: Trump went to Alabama and delivered a bona fide statement confirming his ingrained racism.
He doesn’t care how these black athletes think, or even if they get needlessly injured.His attitude is shut up and entertain me, you son of a bitch.
I did not think I could loathe Trump more.I was wrong.
Baud
@lgerard: That’s different. That’s heritage.
Lyrebird
@Duane:
Nicely put.
About some not-so-nice truths.
Layer on top his complete disregard for the power of his words to inspire crazies… I mean if Some Random Rich White Dude said this it’d be bad enough!
Was it Doug! saying that “heighten the contradictions” means “other people besides me are gonna get hurt” (roughly)? He (Trump not Doug) does not care in the slightest.
debbie
@raven:
Don’t leave out bone spurs!
NotMax
@Ruckus
Still don’t grok it to this day.
My local draft board was destroyed by a fire. (Not arson or anything like that, a grease fire from the restaurant downstairs gutted the building.)
They set up temporary digs in the next town – inside a Quaker meeting house outbuilding.
NotMax
@NotMax
Neglected to mention this took place during the late sixties.
divF
Just got an email from the Univ. Calif. PD. There is a protest march on the south side of campus. Meanwhile there is the Cal / USC football game being played a few blocks from there (halftime, score tied 13-13).
This is not going to go well.
Felonius Monk
@debbie:
Those were probably implants.
HeleninEire
@Ruckus: @Baud: Too bad. Good luck. Course I’m looking to marry Baud 2020. He’s my boyfriend. He just keeps pretending that he’s not.
trollhattan
@raven:
When was the referee lockout and scab refs that ended right after the fail Mary (of which I heartily approved)?
sukabi
@Trentrunner: Puerto Rico could actually face the largest disaster in this country’s history (dams about to fail). And they’re having trouble alerting folks due to lack of power / cell service, and all this gaping asshole can do is wipe his ass on the constitution.
NotMax
@HeleninEire
Sure and Baudgorra!
;)
catclub
@Baud:
well, if the just and merciful get raptured, not so much. Plenty of assholes will still be around down here.
Ruckus
@NotMax:
First, I’m an atheist. But I’ve known and been related to a number of Quakers. My sister’s service was a Quaker circle. I’ve been to Quaker meetings. Quakers believe in being your own person. They believe in peace. They believe in the right to resist. They believe that each person has to answer the call in their own way. They believe that there are things that they don’t like or understand in the world. They believe that there are things one might have to do which is not supported by their beliefs. They believe in forgiveness. They believe that you can be a good person and not be a Quaker. They believe in a system that allows all of that and a lot that I’ve not covered.
I can see them opening their doors to the draft board, as difficult as it is to look at the Quaker religion and understand. And after all there is a conscientious objector section of the draft law.
NorthLeft12
@Ruckus: I think Dunning-Krueger has an effect for that.
BTW these are the same guys who watch the game on TV with a football in their hands, as if they will get a magic call to show up to take over for the overpaid QB…..and yeah, bring your ball.
Uncle Cosmo
@Baud: I was kinda hoping for the Crapture – when the fundamentally faithful are en masse lifted up bodily & deposited in the nearest septic tank. Ah well….
lamh36
the fine print “…but my players bettta NOT #TakeAKnee”
Is it just me, or has ALL the NFL responses so far been tepid at best…
I’m guessin’ the Commish and the PR teams decided on the same type of statements…
Speaking of the NFL…the Cowboys for example… I know Jerry Jones has “dem boyz” on a tight leash, but ya mean to tell me, if big talent on Cowboys team takes a knee…what is ole dude gon do? Get rid of the biggest talent…??? I mean would ANY of the team management really do anything to big talent other than fine…MAYBE?
JPL
It wouldn’t bother me if players knelt, if the had MAGA hats.
Raven
Great to get a mild vertigo attack as I leave to sit in the 2nd row of the upper deck. At least I got moved from the 1st last year!
NotMax
@Ruckus
Not related to your comment directly but wanted to mention the high school I attended (during Viet Nam war times) had a teacher* who doubled as an official on-staff Draft Counselor.
*Memory from those times increasingly fuzzy but 99% sure he was also a self-avowed and vocal pacifist.
Felonius Monk
@Raven:
Maybe you better start wearing a parachute. :)
Go Dawgs.
HeleninEire
@NotMax: Good. Very good.
lamh36
Ya damn right!
NotMax
@Ruckus
Also recall being lambasted and repeatedly threatened with all manner of horribleness because I showed up to register after the appointed deadline.
“Gee, ya think maybe I’m late because the draft office I was supposed to report at burned down and you have only just re-opened here?”
Bunch of officious shites, they.
WaterGirl
@Barbara:
That is so awesome. I just wanted to see it in print one more time.
Ruckus
@Ruckus:
There are many ways to serve your country, to be a patriot. Not everyone has to carry arms and be in a war zone to serve. Think about the medics in Vietnam who were conscientious objectors and didn’t carry a gun, war zone, no killing. Think about those members of the Peace Corp, which still exists to this day, 56 yrs later.
OTOH, I know of a fella I went to HS with who got a deferment for being highly allergic to bee stings. I’ve written here before that my draft physical was one in name only. The blood and urine samples were put in racks, unlabeled. Because of that I assumed they were also untested. You had 4 limbs and 2 eyes, you were 1A. People that had deferments had to ask for and fight for them. Raven is absolutely correct, fuck LBJ for that war and the cost to the citizens that it didn’t just touch but beat severely about the head. Many of whom, if it didn’t kill outright it broke them but good. And fuck drumpf for being such a shitstain he doesn’t get any of this. At least LBJ had some redeeming qualities. Shitstain has no redeeming qualities, none, nada, zip, zero.
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@Ruckus:
And I completely understand that; you having things you wanted to accomplish.
What do you think of the whole “thank you for your service” routine a lot of veterans and active duty personnel have to go through?
schrodingers_cat
@Ruckus: The various rationales given for Vietnam never really made much sense to me.
lamh36
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@schrodingers_cat:
Including the Domino theory? Hindsight is 20/20. American foreign policy from roughly the end of WW2 was all about containing communism and that was where the US was operating from. I think America’s primary problem going into Vietnam was thinking that WW2/Korean War doctrines and tactics were going to work in Vietnam. IOW, the US was overconfident and arrogant and thought Superior firepower and tech was all that was needed to “win” in Vietnam.
pattonbt
It will be interesting to see if this has any impacts on more athletes taking a knee during the anthem or not. One way to sink Trump is to get him to have “own goals” – goad him into stupid rhetoric like this. The man cannot help himself.
When you think how far the office of the president has been debased in less than a year, it’s horrific.
Ruckus
@NotMax:
Ever hear of the American Friends Service Committee? Founded in 1917. They offered counseling about being a conscientious objector during Vietnam. They may still do that to this day. Their are a Quaker organization that promotes lasting peace with justice, as a practical expression of faith in action. Something we could all use. Even if you aren’t their faith.
NotMax
@Ruckus
Oh yes. Worked closely with them several times.
Ruckus
@NotMax:
They had a difficult job, figuring out who to risk being killed in uniform, without harming the rich, famous and connected.
lamh36
@pattonbt: Right…I know that some of NFL owners keep a tight leash, but if ALL the Black players were like..naw, I’m gon take a knee…what…they gon suspend ALL the Black players? Who gone play fam? The owners may be 100% white, but the Black players are 70% of the league?
debbie
@lamh36:
I’m very glad to see owners speaking up. It’d be nice if some of the ones who support Trump would say something, but I might as well wish for unicorns.
Ruckus
@pattonbt:
Especially when you think how far it was debased in the first 8 yrs of this century.
lamh36
NotMax
@Ruckus
Ought to be fair and say my ire was not directed at the throng of blue-haired ladies who worked there but at the uniformed personnel who were, in toto, intent on being strutting asses.
satby
@HeleninEire: Hands off, Baud is mine ??
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@pattonbt:
How I always view it: The Office is bigger than the person occupying it. The Office of POTUS has a lot of built up prestige that has been accumulated by past POTUSs. That can’t be that easily wiped away. Not even by Trumpenstein.
Ruckus
@NotMax:
Do tell!
If I was at all religious I’d be a Quaker. Meetings were not sermons, not at all. You wanted to know about what’s in the bible, you had to read it. You had to form your own mind. I went to meetings out of respect of people I was related to, not for any religious guidance, but I never saw that I would have gotten any in a meeting anyway.
lamh36
lamh36
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
Major Major Major Major
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: if we had really wanted to prevent communism in Vietnam we would’ve pressured France to withdraw and agitate for peaceful Vietnamese independence. We didn’t do that, so they allied with the available anti-colonialists (many in the Vietnamese leadership also had Marxist leanings but it wasn’t their raison d’etre).
ETA and then after it was preventable we decided to try and prevent it.
satby
Just went to use my Netflix as it was 95° inside at the farmer’s market today and I’m too wiped out to even eat. My Netflix screen was all in German, and evidently that’s where my account has been used for the last two months (I seldom watch it).
I changed my email, password and checked sign out of all devices to try to throw the usurpers off; should I do anything else?
NotMax
@Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe)
Picture the office as a nicely varnished length of fine lumber.
Now picture Dolt 45 pounding as many nails into it as he can fit.
Next picture future presidents removing those nails.
There will still be thousands of holes left scarring (and weakening) the wood.
Major Major Major Major
@NotMax: good metaphor.
NotMax
@satby
Call up the company of the credit card to which your Netflix is billed and let them know, right now. Might want to shoot an e-mail to Netflix customer service informing them as well.
rikyrah
Betsy DeVos directs schools to let accused rapists interrogate their victims
By Matthew Chapman | September 22, 2017
Betsy DeVos’s Department of Education just rescinded Title IX guidelines to protect survivors of campus sexual assault, in a letter that gets even the basic facts about federal policy dead wrong.
https://shareblue.com/betsy-devos-directs-schools-to-let-accused-rapists-interrogate-their-victims/
Ruckus
@NotMax:
We called them lifers. Insufferable assholes. And don’t get me wrong there were 3 camps of enlisted people trying to make their 30 yrs.
1. Motherfucking douchebag assholes. Sounds like the type you met. Maybe 70%.
2. Indifferent people who worked normally and just wanted their 30 to go by as peacefully as possible. Maybe 20%.
3. People you’d follow anywhere, at any risk, because they were good people who could tell the difference between bluster/bullshit and real leadership. Somewhere about 10%. And you would find them when you least expected to. I worked for a Marine staff sargent for 3 weeks or so in the shore patrol while on temp duty in 1973. He easily fit into this group. A no nonsense Marine’s Marine, I’d have run into machine gun fire for him. Can’t tell you exactly why I would have, other than just plain respect.
schrodingers_cat
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: The Domino theory is/was bullshit, it didn’t work in Vietnam and the Iraq example is fresh too.
The United States after WWII stepped into the shoes of the previous colonizers (Britain and France) one can hardly blame the Vietnamese for wanting their own independence.
jeffreyw
@satby: Check your account profile, look at the language preferance.
NotMax
@Ruckus
Presume being assigned to push papers at a rinky-dink local draft office is not high on the totem pole, career advancement-wise.
schrodingers_cat
@NotMax: Its worse than that, by going back on the treaties signed, by deporting people previously promised a fast track to citizenship (military recruits) by pulling stunts like the travel ban T is destroying the reputation of the United States. I would not be totally surprised to see a move away from $ as the reserve currency.
Zach
“If [Lebron James] wants the privilege of making millions of dollars in the NBA, he or she should not be allowed to disrespect…….[Donald Trump]. If not, YOU’RE FIRED. Find something else to do!”
CLEARLY what T meant, but he’s too much a coward to write it.
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@NotMax:
Isn’t that what wood filler is for :P
But seriously, I believe that is up to all of us to decide. It wasn’t until recently that I’ve come to believe that the Presidency has too much power, anyway. It’s great when your side is in charge. Not so much when the shoe is on the other foot. If the GOP were closer to the center it wouldn’t be so bad, but that isn’t true right now of course.
Felony Govt (formerly Old Broad in California)
@Smiling Mortician: As well as many in the business community who don’t want to alienate the people who actually buy things.
It’s remarkable how much the built-in respect a Predifent would ordinarily get has withered in these 8 or so months- all due to the actions of the (illegitimate) occupant of the office.
NotMax
@schrodingers_cat
All generalizations break down, including this one.
;)
PST
@Major Major Major Major:
Yes, after an eight-hour flight when fluid has pooled a little in my legs. During a long night of deep sleep it redistributes itself, including engorgement of the bags under my eyes. I can’t say they were darker, exactly, but definitely puffier.
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@Major Major Major Major:
Yeah, I think I’ve read that the North Vietnamese were primarily anti-colonialist than communist. That nuance was lost on the West however. They were too concerned about losing yet another Asian nation to communism, like China a decade and a half earlier.
Major Major Major Major
@schrodingers_cat: I don’t think domino theory was a fake rationale though, just a sincerely held wrong one.
TS
@Eric K:
This is how a real President behaves. You never know how good it is – until it is gone.
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@Zach:
“If [Lebron James] wants the privilege of making millions of dollars in the NBA, he or she should not be allowed to disrespect…….[Donald Trump]. If not,
YOU’RE FIREDYOU’RE DEAD.Find something else to do!”This is the same guy who has a hard-on for Putin, remember.
satby
@NotMax: it’s PayPal, and nothing extra has been charged. I cancelled Netflix for the time being too.
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
debbie
No name calling, so Dotard must respect Goodell:
satby
@jeffreyw: thanks, switched it back.
Edited to add: before I cancelled it.
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@schrodingers_cat:
No, one can’t. But the US was too scared of losing more ground in Asia to what they perceived as communism. The domino theory was wrong, but, like M×4 says, it was sincerely believed.
ETA: Don’t take this as an apology for American foreign policy, mid-century onward.
BC in Illinois
@Ruckus:
While I ran into my percentage of category #1 – – asshole lifers – – I found that the percentage of absolutely admirable Chief Petty Officers in the Hospital Corps was very high. Can’t speak for the other ratings. (This was during the Nixon administration.)
HeleninEire
@satby: Oh stop that, sweetie. I can beat you in a thumb fight!!!
debbie
How long till he lashes out because she’s taking away attention from him?
debbie
Trump’s tweet count so far today is 13. Is that a record?
NotMax
@satby
Sounds as if you’re all good. Didn’t mean to sound ominous.
You can take the time before you reinstate it to become fluent in German. :)
Kathleen
@Teddys Person: I read that he said he didn’t care for Hillary or Trump – didn’t see a difference sort of thing.
Major Major Major Major
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: in the fight for Vietnamese independence we actively sided with France, the oppressor.
Duane
@lamh36: I sincerely hope every player in the NFL takes a knee this week.
debbie
I love Andy Borowitz.
Ruckus
@NotMax:
I’d bet not.
Probably a real career end. But there are also posts where you might think that but the military doesn’t think the way civilians do and it maybe one where you are taking one for the “betterment.” If you aren’t on the inside it sometimes just escapes you what the thinking is. I’ve been told by some I put in my third group that they are pretty sure that sometimes there is no thinking going on at all. I can’t find fault with that professional opinion.
NotMax
@debbie
Didn’t look at picture, however that she feels is necessary or clever or whatever to sport that idiotic cap advertising who she is makes me gag.
debbie
.
Kathleen
@satby: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61IeTPSQHL8
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@debbie:
“Hail Trump! They stand for the National anthem or they can be deported!”
People I know actually think this way. It’s crazy and completely ignores the context of WHY they’re not standing. Protest is meant to be uncomfortable to the masses and elites alike. It’s meant to draw attention to a specific issue. Those players are using their positions as a platform. If fans don’t like that, too fucking bad. Demand better from your police and political leaders if you want to watch 200 pound men slam into each other over a ball shaped like an egg without disruption.
And showing disrespect is a right guaranteed to us by the Constitution; that falls under the First Amendment. If the NFL were to decide on their own to sanction these players that’s one thing. The POTUS has no business getting involved in ordering a private business to violate a citizen’s rights.
Doug R
@debbie: I’m sure a CFL team would take him. Smaller salary, but he’d get to play.
Kathleen
@HeleninEire: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61IeTPSQHL8
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@Major Major Major Major:
I’m aware. That was an injustice.
lamh36
Really Cilizza…really
debbie
@NotMax:
No, it’s of her trip to Canada today. She’s sitting and chatting with Prince Harry. Check out the body language. She’s so happy to be away from that husband of hers.
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@lamh36:
When even Chinchilla has finally figured it out, you know everybody else can see it too.
Gin & Tonic
@TS: I’m afraid we won’t be able to have a normal president again in my lifetime.
satby
@NotMax: where’s Amir when I need him?
lamh36
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: smh…I sincerely thought Mark Halperin was the most hackish reporter ever…but Cilizza has made a play for Halperin’s crown…smh
Major Major Major Major
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: simply a representation of our priorities.
Ruckus
@BC in Illinois:
A lot of the issue was I believe caused by the war and the draft. A lot of people who didn’t want to be there and who hadn’t made that sacrifice willingly. Second a lot of those were not unwilling to show their disgust with being there unwillingly. Third I do believe the hospital rates were different than many others. They had a job that wasn’t really working on or delivering weapons systems, at least directly. People like me in the navy were there to do exactly that. My job was maintaining and working on the electronic navigation systems of the ship, to allow it to get to and remain on battle stations to deliver the missiles and gun rounds to the enemy. Take me off a ship and put me in temp duty and instantly I was just a guy in a uniform.
NotMax
@debbie
Regardless, the FLOTUS-emblazoned cap is still and forever a Terrible Idea.
Picture (have to actually work hard to make the image congeal and even then it is beyond laughable) Eleanor, or Jackie, or Nancy, or any first lady for that matter, similarly accoutered.
jl
@TS: And Curry is being more of a stand up honest sort of person about it than, I think Brady. Curry is honestly, politely and respectfully, and intelligently, discussing what the problem is with a WH visit. I think Brady alwasy had some BS excuse. Had to wash his hair or clean the cat box or some such BS.
lamh36
Shannon Sharpe checks fools on twitter daily!
satby
@Kathleen: @HeleninEire: See? Now we both have to battle Kathleen for Baud.
And you can only beat me because you’re younger and in better shape.
lamh36
smh…and this is in reaction to those tepid azz statements Goodell et al gave….smh
Mnemosyne
Since I am not a sportsball fan, I had no idea who Steph Curry was until I saw him on Carpool Karaoke, but he seems to be pretty beloved by his fellow players and fans alike.
IIRC, it was during the Bill Clinton years that some conservative athletes decided to make a “statement” about their personal feelings by staying home, so the Trumpistas don’t get to whine about it now. Fucking hypocrites.
JPL
@debbie: Have you ever seen her smile, when she’s with him?
I have no idea what’s going on with him. Something big must be coming from Mueller’s office, because the guy has totally flipped.
NotMax
@debbie
Guessing Harry was not wearing his all in good fun, boys will be boys Nazi attire.
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@Mnemosyne:
Yeah, but they’re ignorant fucks who Don’t even remember what they had for breakfast two days ago, let alone what some athletes from 20 years ago who no one remembers the names of did.
Shalimar
@Kathleen: Well, Clinton has never called anyone’s mom a bitch, so I’m guessing he sees a difference now.
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@NotMax:
Must have gotten that from Edward Vlll
JPL
Not sure if this was mentioned above, but the Falcons owner issued a statement. He was a big fundraiser for Trump
Major Major Major Major
@JPL: the trump supporter lost me in sentence one with the talk about unity and dialogue.
debbie
@JPL:
No, just those quick, fake smiles. Like what I find myself doing at work.
Redshift
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?:
He still just can’t understand why Trump doesn’t want to get to the bottom of this Russia thing, though. And responds to anyone who suggests it’s obvious with “do you have proof of collusion?”
That’s apparently how journalism works in Chinchilla’s mind; you have to have proof first, and then you can investigate or express an opinion.
Ruckus
@debbie:
I do have to add that as a vet I am glad that the shitstain in charge did not serve. The military has a hard enough time with out doucebags like him. How much of a mess do you think he would have made? He would have probably been like that Marine recruit played by Vincent D’Onofrio, (Gomer Pyle) in Full Metal Jacket. Or possibly like the guy I served under, Ensign Parker. We called him that in that he was a dead ringer for Tim Conway in McHale’s Navy, pretty close in looks and spot on in stupidity. But because he was then and is now an asshole deluxe, I’d bet that someone would have taken the time to adjust his breathing down to zero and he never would have been able to inflict himself upon us now. The militaries gain is our loss.
Elizabelle
King James has a new nation of fans.
Very pleased to hear of all of this.
ETA: I kneel with Colin. And LeBron.
mike in dc
“Donald Trump is a white supremacist”. “Donald Trump is a racist”. “Donald Trump panders to racists.”
Three sentences you won’t hear or see in right wing or mainstream media. Short of the Apprentice outtakes coming out, there’s really no more evidence needed to establish this as fact. Even if the outtakes came out and had him using the N-word in casual conversation in 2014, there’d still be toadies in the media(and his own party and cabinet) making excuses for him and rushing to forget the whole thing as soon as possible.
Elizabelle
Haven’t read this thread, but watch how everyone will have an opinion on the sports related stuff, where Graham-Cassidy draws a big “really?” or “you’re overreacting”.
Redshift
@JPL:
I know it’s fun to speculate, but I honestly wouldn’t read too much into that. She’s Eastern European, big smiles are not so much of a thing in those cultures.
Ruckus
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?:
I thought that by the time Chinchilla figured it out, everyone else on the planet had done so at least a week prior.
NotMax
Just a saunter down the more soiled bits of memory lane re: Dolt 45 and team owners, even rabidly Republican ones..
Trump: Cubs’ owners ‘better be careful’
Felonius Monk
@debbie:
Depends on the category. I’ll take “Stupid shit said by the Great Orange Fuck-Knuckle for $200”, Alex.
Redshift
@Elizabelle:
Er, from who?
Ruckus
@lamh36:
In military parlance that’s what’s known as a direct hit.
Elizabelle
@Redshift: Oh, sorry. Not here. I meant among our unwoke family, friends, and colleagues.
BJuice is woke.
Hope you are feeling spiffy this lovely first weekend of fall.
Felonius Monk
@Redshift:
Assumes facts not in evidence.
NotMax
@Redshift
Yup. Can’t remember health care, or health insurance, or the G-C bill ever being mentioned on this here blog, can you?
Redshift
Speaking of Graham-Cassidy, they’re going to have a hearing about it before the Senate Finance Committee tomorrow, perhaps in the hope that a farcical imitation of “regular order” will get McCain back on board. Mark Warner posted a call for people to submit testimony about the bill by emailing to [email protected] before 9am Eastern on Monday.
rikyrah
Lesean McCoyVerified account @CutonDime25
It’s really sad man … our president is a asshole
7:40 AM – 23 Sep 2017
rikyrah
Samuel Sinyangwe
✔
@samswey
Trump is referencing the power of white supremacy. The power of white owners over black players. Of white politician over black population.
8:53 PM – Sep 22, 2017
J R in WV
@Ruckus:
My shop implemented a “no blue jeans” rule… like no one ever heard of tan/brown/green denim. Also shirts – polo shirts have a collar, and they sold polo shirts with the agency logo on them, almost like a uniform, only completely not. I did dress up for presentations, esp. to folks outside our agency, but usually brown jeans and a polo shirt.
Mnemosyne
@Redshift:
Here’s my cynical response to that: it’s because Cilizza knows that all do the accusations flung against Hillary (and Bill) Clinton were 100 percent bullshit, so he’s assuming that the allegations against Trump must also be bullshit. Don’t the plebes know that all of this “politics” stuff is just a game where the Kool Kids pick the winners and losers?
The media picked Trump to be the winner, so obviously any allegations against him are false, because they’re not part of the game. QED.
Redshift
@Elizabelle: Yeah, it’s frustrating, but there are always going to be people who stay engaged and those who don’t. If sportsball gets more people into the conversation, that’s good, maybe, even if they should have been paying attention to more life-and-death matters.
I’m doing okay, other than having to learn that “chemo hiccups” are a thing.
fuckwit
I QUIT!
YOU CAN’T QUIT, BECAUSE YOU’RE FIRED!
It’s like something out of a bad 1950s sitcom.
BC in Illinois
@Ruckus:
Yeah, and being a Corpsman who spent all his time in Bethesda, I was even more removed from the costs and tensions of conflict. (It was my brother who went to Vietnam, and who didn’t want me anywhere near there.)
Which brings me to a side-realization that came up in a discussion about “taking a knee.” I was so insulated–spending 3 1/2 years at the Nat’l Naval Medical Center–that I could even (out of uniform) attend protests in DC. My wife and I went to an anti-war rally on the Capitol steps. Judy Collins sang. Chuck Colson organized a counter-rally.
So when people talk about NFL players taking a stand, and get all “I didn’t serve my country so that those SOB’s could take a stand that I disagree with” . . . my answer is, “Yes, that’s PRECISELY what I want my service to this country to mean.” They kneel / stand / march / speak — as Americans — to make this country more of what it should be. That’s the freedom I wanted, and took advantage of, for myself.
(Not to mention going to an “anti-inaugural concert” on Jan 19, 1972 at the Nat’l Cathedral. Haydn’s “Mass in Time of War.” Leonard Bernstein conducted. Dona Nobis Pacem and all that.)
lamh36
@JPL: the phrasing in this statement is the SAME in all the statements releases so far. I’m thinking the NFL had a quick phone conference and gave the owners some talking points…
satby
@Redshift: Hey, I’m seldom on for more than a couple of minutes at night, so saw the newsabout your illness and chemo too late to wish you well so you’d see it. Just glad that it seems things are going pretty well and that one chemo treatment sounds like all you’ll have to deal with. Best wishes for a speedy recovery!
Barbara
@Elizabelle: Huh? What blog are you reading? Most of the posts on C-G are from David, who has been posting at least two or three times a day and telling everyone to call the Senate. As I have read through comments I have come across great links (just today, from the Toronto Star), which I post on Facebook and also tell people to call senators.
Mike G
It’s never ‘political correctness’ when they’re the ones prissily demanding speech conformity. Like throwing a tantrum every year because they can’t force everyone to use the same holiday greeting.
Corner Stone
@Elizabelle:
Among news TV I really only watch MSNBC and skim CNN. But so far, both are blasting G-C health bill and covering Jimmy Kimmel and McCain’s “No” statement pretty thoroughly.
Do you mean other venues?
Corner Stone
@lamh36: They are (mainly) very cautious rich white guys who don’t want to alienate any white people – as those are the majority of people all the advertisers are trying to sell to.
But you knew this, I am sure. Expecting courage from a rich white guy….
fuckwit
@lamh36: Money talks, bullshit walks. To these guys, politics is bullshit. They only care about making stacks. They are not going to fire the stars who make them rich, as long as they keep making them rich.
rikyrah
David FrumVerified account @davidfrum
A great way to show respect for the flag is to refuse offers of clandestine election assistance from hostile foreign espionage agencies
9:41 AM – 23 Sep 2017
Ruckus
@J R in WV:
Our rule said no denim. I did wear polo shirts in summer but in winter a long sleeve shirt was pretty normal in central OH. I once went to a funeral for a woman who worked with her husband for me at events. In central PA or as I believe many call it Pensultucky. Only three of us wore anything better than work clothes. And I mean blue collar work. The husband, the funeral home guy and me. We wore suits. I also owned my own tux to wear as needed at awards banquets. I just saw no need to dress up and work in an office that no one ever visited. It was pretentious at best. At events I had to wear black or blue pants and a shirt that weighed twice as much due to the embroidery. Professional sports was fun!. I said that for 11 years, trying to make myself believe it. Between the travel, the work inbetween events, the politics of the whole thing, the not so great pay, it didn’t work.
J R in WV
@raven:
Good friend of mine paid a shrink to tell his draft board he wasn’t fit for service in the military.
Now, 45 years later, no telling how many lives he saved as an ER doc at a major hospital’s Trauma One ER for 30+ years. We went to anti-war demonstrations together a lot. When I got up against my draft status, my parents told me they knew people in Canada, I could enroll in school there, get a job there.
I enlisted in the US Navy, instead. Didn’t really contribute to the Vietnam war effort at all, was assigned to the Navy’s last diesel sub squadron, in Key West. Horrible story. Did spend a miserable year in MS on the gulf coast. Ships launched across the coastal highway into the woods by Camille were still obvious when we were down there. Visited NOLA some too. But the Gulf Coast in summer, working 10-12 hour shifts of hard physical labor, that nearly ruined me. Summer is still hard on me, these 40+ years later on.
I hope lots of those guys kneel, to me that’s as American as apple pie, which I don’t really care for that much. And Colin deserves to be starting for one of these teams that can’t win a game with the dead armed QB they have now. And Trump sucks. ‘nough said!
Elizabelle
@Corner Stone: That is heartening to know, about the cable channels. I don’t watch them much, but have noticed them talking about Kimmel when channel surfing.
You guys have reassured me that I might be overgeneralizing from my own small IRL contingent.
Redshift
@satby: Thanks!
Mnemosyne
Cheryl Rofer posted a link to the statement from the Golden State Warriors in Betty’s morning thread — I didn’t realize that THE WHOLE TEAM is now refusing to meet with Trump.
That’s what I call good sportsmanship!
Ruckus
@BC in Illinois:
Perfect.
The only problem is that those who complain that we complain don’t want there to be positive change. They want us to go away. They’ve been told repeatedly and forcefully that the world should be white, that it should be women seen and not heard, that everything that has happened since FDR and Truman integrated the military and that traitor Lee lost the war of independence is what has caused all their problems. They fail to realize that their problems are internal, and couldn’t admit it if they did realize it. I don’t know what they are but they really aren’t Americans. They have to wave the flag and talk about punishing people for actually reading and understanding the documents that forms our goals as a country. But they really are traitors to those goals that were laid out over 200 yrs ago.
J R in WV
@NotMax:
That’s good. Mine had a pipeline to the draft board.
My boss when I retired in 2008 was a member of the county draft board. It’s still out there, just in case someone attacks us, or Trump starts a couple more wars than we can afford. They keep a low profile since about 1975.
schrodingers_cat
@Ruckus: Well I do wear other types of clothes, but among jeans Levis are my favorites. Can’t go wrong with a classic.
J R in WV
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?:
Every so often someone learns that I am a vet, and says “thank you for your service”. I usually just say “Well, you’re welcome.” but what I always want to do is go off on a rant about draft boards and phony wars.
Like Iraq, invading the country in the mid-east that had the least to do with 9/11, how chicken-shit was that? And a million people dead, wars still all over that part of the world. You’re welcome, though. I volunteered at the point of a gun, really, like so many boys. And the inductees that day, mostly being drafted, we were way outnumbered by trained combat marines, just in case.
Ruckus
@Mnemosyne:
Read the comments if you want to be disappointed. I particularly liked the one from the guy who said everyone should have to serve two years in the military. This from a very young guy too big to fit in any military uniform I’ve ever seen. And I don’t mean too tall.
NorthLeft12
@lamh36: Shannon Sharpe’s response to an idiot on Twitter impressed the hell out of me;
Reminds me of people who become big fans of actors based on the roles that they play, and somehow convince themselves that these actors are just like the characters they play. Kudos to Mr. Sharpe for recognizing the difference.
mainmata
@Betty Cracker: I read that his wife severely objected to his going to Trump’s WH even though he himself is a big time Trumper. Think there’s a family disagreement.
NorthLeft12
@Ruckus:
THIS^^^. But unfortunately, they will never understand that, or be told that by the leaders that they follow.
Ruckus
@J R in WV:
I’ve been told that and I almost always ask if they served. Never had a positive response. I’ve thought of thanking them for not serving but that seems a bit, I don’t know. I have told people they didn’t need to thank me, I got paid to serve and that them thanking me 40+ yrs late seems to be less than genuine. Or that continuing to send people off to shit stupid wars in the name of something, something doesn’t really give me a warm and fuzzy feeling.
Ruckus
@NorthLeft12:
Did you mean their traitorous leaders?
mainmata
@Gin & Tonic: That’s what I worry about. Trump is incompetent, lazy and stupid. Someone on the right who’s a lot smarter is going to learn the necessary lessons to becoming a true autocrat. It’s just a question of whether there are enough people of good judgment to prevent that from happening.
delk
To Donald Trump by Leland Melvin, former NASA Astronaut and NFL Player
J R in WV
@Redshift:
I think you can be sure that nearly everyone here a B-J is with you on your illness and treatment. Hang in there, best of luck from WV!
Just One More Canuck
@NotMax: I know a little German
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iI5vrVmJO0Q
Ruckus
@delk:
Nice.
Gretchen
@HeleninEire: My grandfather was born in Ireland but before independence so he was a British subject. I have his citizenship papers renouncing his allegiance to Queen Victoria. So I don’t think I qualify.
Corner Stone
@Just One More Canuck: One of the most criminally underrated comedies of modern times.
J R in WV
@Ruckus:
Yes, all that you say. I think we could have a drink together without coming to blows. Even argue politics politely, perhaps. ;-)
PaulWartenberg
trump is still bemoaning the fact that his attempt to bully the NFL into merging his USFL team into their league back in the 1980s didn’t pan out… during which he killed off the entire USFL in the process.
I can’t believe even one sports owner wants anything to do with this guy, personally or politically. they’ve seen the damage he can do.
Citizen Alan
@Major Major Major Major:
Hell, in the fight for Haitian Independence back in 1804, we sided with the French oppressors. Ain’t nothing new about America being a nation of raging hypocrites where the freedoms of non-whites are concerned.
Steve in the ATL
@PaulWartenberg:
(1) They are assholes, and (2) they want their tax cuts
Ruckus
@J R in WV:
I’m sure we could, although mine would be a soft drink. Hope you wouldn’t be offended at that.
Ruckus
@Steve in the ATL:
I’m sure you are correct about their character and their desire for more money, more money…….
But they know how much drumpf can cost people with his stupidity, bluster and bullshit. Look at anyone who has done business with him before. They all regret it, usually sooner than later.
Tissue Thin Pseudonym
@lamh36:
That’s a misrepresentation of what Dolphins’ owner Stephen Ross said.
Matt McIrvin
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?:
On some level I kind of hope he has permanently damaged the prestige of the office. We could do with a little less monarchy in this country, a little less respect for the Maximum Leader. Maybe having a total ass in the office embarrassing the whole country is a way to do it. The possibility that was worrying me was that the aura surrounding the presidency would rub off on Trump and make people respect him by default no matter what he did.
Duane
@Redshift:Thank you for Warner’s email link.
J R in WV
@Ruckus:
NO, no, not at all. Pretty easygoing, really. No Trump boosters, that’s about all.
GeoHayduke
@NorthLeft12:
Obama was saying (paraphrasing) “think about how others might Feel”
Captain C
@Spaniel: and then he went on Howard Stern and declared that dating in NYC in the ’70s was his “personal Vieynam.”
different-church-lady
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch:
Man enough, no. But crazy enough?
Ruckus
@J R in WV:
The only drumpf booster I’d like to see is a Saturn V to the sun. That would give him a very needed boost.
Xenos
@HeleninEire: Ireland has been guilty of some tax shenanigans that have been caused, er, negative externalities for rest of Europe and the US.
As someone in working in the financial services in Luxembourg I am perhaps lacking in moral authority to criticise Ireland, but lets not get too proud here. Still, living in a society that has a basic social commitment to all its residents is very nice. Here a lot of it arises from a specifically Catholic ideology of social solidarity — the Irish may follow a similar doctrine, or sentiment, at least.
Kathleen
@satby: I’m old and slow, but cagey.
LanceThruster
Heckuva job, DNC.