Hypocrisy abounds with the NFL

Colin Kaepernick, a proven talented quarterback, cannot get a job in the National Football League (NFL). Even non-football fans know the reason is he chooses to exercise his First Amendment rights and kneel in protest during the playing of the national anthem. Kaepernick does this as he feels blacks are not getting fair treatment in the US and too many are being needlessly killed.

Yet, this protesting prevents NFL football teams from hiring him since his release from his previous team. You would think the man is radioactive. Many fans are stridently against him given a bent to jingoistic behavior. But, before you decide to do the same, let’s speak of three hypocrisies in the NFL leadership ranks.

First, the NFL likes to portray a patriotic theme, with heavy military showmanship. Looking under the covers, your tax dollars pay for that show. Our military pays the NFL for the privilege to advertise their service for employment recruiting purposes. I am not saying we should not be patriotic, but this payment for jingoistic advertising may be the key reason he is not being hired.

Second, Kaepernick is exercising his rights to free speech, which is preventing his being hired. That is more representative of our freedom than a national anthem. But, digging deeper, the NFL has little problem with employing convicted or suspended players who have committed crimes such as domestic violence, drug possession, drug distribution, theft or steroid use. Advocating for Black Lives Matter is perceived to be worse than these crimes.

Finally, it would be well within the rights of Kaepernick to protest the NFL for its role in hiding their concussion problem that led to brain injuries that may not appear until after the players stopped playing. This active and prolonged obfuscation of the truth caused even more players to get concussions and be exposed to brain injury. The NFL eventually settled the law suit against them for $1 Billion which went to impacted players. While this is a major step, the league still tries to avoid some painful truths.

When I see commentators and fans denigrate Kaepernick for exercising his rights, I think of these hypocrisies. The answer for his problem rests with the other players. Unless more than a few kneel out of respect for his rights and his legitimate protests,  Kaepernick will not play again in the NFL. In the meantime, we fans need to understand why he is protesting and support his right to do so.

 

 

 

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Do complete that survey

Since I live in the suburbs and am an Independent voter, I receive all kinds of surveys, usually quite biased in nature. This afternoon I received one on the Trump Agenda from the Republican National Conmmittee.

I did what I have done previously, filling it out and making comments in the margins. For example, the top priorities are listed and I was asked to rank them, with only one place for an “other.” Frankly, several things are included which should not be done at all or greatly over-simplify a complex issue. And, other needs are not even mentioned, a problem I remedied with several “other issues.”

But, what I also did was what I would encourage others to do, if given the chance. I wrote that Congress needs to censure this President for his recent remarks on white supremacists and neo-Nazis and actions unbecoming the office. I also mentioned that Congress may need to consider impeachment if the Russian investigation reveals what I fear.

Use these vehicles to communicate. My guess is I am not the only one who did this. Right now, the incumbent in the White House has diminished and defamed to office. We need to share our voice to say we demand honor, morality and leadership from our President, none of which we are getting from this man.

Boys with Toys

In the James Bond movie “Goldeneye,” Polish born actress Izabella Scorupca played my favorite Bond female character Natalya Simonova. She gave Bond the devil for his penchant for using violence with any weapon or machinery around. “What is it with you boys with toys,” she admonished him.

I think of this line as two separate countries are led by a man-child who are both acting like “boys with toys.” The scary part is the toys include nuclear weapons and both are beating on their chest like apes ready to do battle.

I have written a parable about the younger of the two leaders called “A Monkey with a Hand Grenade.” Since the hand grenade is a substitute for a nuclear weapon, we must be careful, judicious and diligent in our actions and words. Just a few days ago, our Secretary of State said the right things about “not advocating for regime change” while being stern, serious and sober. This tone reminds us that President Eisenhower became reassuringly calmer as the USSR’s Khrushchev became more blustery in the 1950s.

However, our monkey with a hand grenade did not follow the Eisenhower calm and started beating on his chest. Our man-child bragged about his deployment of an arsenal that would bring “fire and fury” the likes of which the world has not seen. He basically said to ignore what the Secretary of State said.

Two supposedly grown men are acting like the men-children they are. Boys with toys. Let’s hope the adults surrounding them will seek an intervention and tell them to stop acting like children. We need them to. At least the older man should emulate Eisenhower. The world will rest a little easier as a result.

 

Rainy Days and Mondays

One of the sweetest voices came out of Karen Carpenter, especially as she sang “rainy days and Monday’s always get me down.” The Mooch is feeling pretty down on this Monday and even Karen’s voice cannot make him feel better.

You may have heard that the President’s “gotta have” strategic communication director, Anthony Scaramucci, has left the building after only ten days of tumult and profanity. General Kelly, the new Chief of Staff, must have rightfully had a condition of his acceptance to get rid of this grossly negligent hiring mistake.

Not that I am a fan of Sean Spicer, but in a Shakespearean plot twist, Spicer was asked to prepare the communication for Scaramucci’s departure. So, the plot has come full circle in such a short time.

The irony of all this is the cause of all of this chaos and incompetence remains. Everyone is saying the White House needs more discipline, but the person who needs it most is the one at the top. Kelly will do what he can and has already made a necessary move, but his mission is difficult.

The President just completed the worst week of his Presidency. But, to be truthful many weeks before have been given that title only to see the President sink lower.

Now, the President wants to defund insurance companies of the ACA subsidies not fully realizing that he is hurting Americans in need. Or, maybe he does know and just doesn’t care.

Folks, it is well past the bewitching hour on this President. He won’t resign as his ego won’t let him, but he desperately needs to for the good of the country. Because as Scarlett O’Hara used to say, “Tomorrow is another day,” and under this President seven tomorrow’s make a new worst week in his Presidency.

Are you sure you want to double down on fossil fuels?

The United Kingdom just announced it will ban sales of combustible engine cars in 2040. Australia announced the same week the planned development of a super highway for electric cars, complete with charging stations.

These announcements come a month after France made a similar decision to the more recent UK one to ban combustible cars and Volvo said they would no longer make combustible cars after 2019. And, not to be outdone, several cities like Paris, Mexico City, Madrid et al, want to ban combustible cars much sooner by 2025.

In fact, as reported in the book “Climate of Hope” by former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former Sierra Club ED Carl Pope, cities around the world are leading the way on the climate change fight. They are making huge strides in making buildings more green, improving the time for taxis and cars to move across the city which produces less exhaust, developing more pedestrian and bike areas that improve safety and Eco footprint and migrating to hybrid and electric vehicles among other things. Bloomberg cites large buildings as a huge impact on carbon emissions, so improvements like NYC made with the 1931 built Empire State Building pays dividends.

Lastly, the shareholders of three energy companies – ExxonMobil, Occidental Petroleum and PPL – voted in May to require management to report their climate change impact and plans to reduce such impact to the shareholders. It is not ironic that ExxonMobil is being investigated by three state attorney generals for alleged past misrepresentation to shareholders of the impact of climate change on its business, which would be a securities crime.

So, back to my question in the title which is addressed to the US President, EPA Director and DOE Director, are you sure you want to double down on fossil fuels? Or, would you rather acknowledge the significant movement toward renewable energy and conservation in your own country and invest in the true growth industries and our environment?

A Beleaguered President

In his public attacks on Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the incumbent has given us the perfect word to define his Presidency. Beleaguered.

The beleaguered President has done more to undermine his own veracity than anyone else could possibly muster. His worst enemy is the man-child that looks back at him from the mirror when he shaves. And, man-child is the appropriate description.

The beleaguered President spoke to a large gathering of Boy Scouts. Yet, the key messaging of the key-note speaker was not one of honor, trustworthiness and service, it was one of lying, cheating, name-calling. It also included a healthy dose of braggadocio. The far more honorable part of the equation was in the audience, not behind the dais.

This man-child has a multitude of reasons why he should have never been elected. Those reasons continue as President. This is even before we see what he has done as President to make the US a less trustworthy country and what he is likely to have done with Russian influences to get elected.

Yet, two items should stick out which are examples of his character. He fired James Comey and announced to news sources before telling Comey was fired. That is extremely poor form.

The second is how he is bad mouthing Sessions in public. Mind you, Sessions is no day at the beach in my view, but he is being bullied into resigning. The adage of praise in public and criticize in private is lost on this man-child. The President asks for loyalty, but offers known in return. Per an attorney who worked for him, this is modus operandi. And, make no mistake, if his son or son-in-law become a liability, he will jettison them.

My hope is Robert Mueller will complete his work and find the trail of money, which makes the beleaguered President nervous. And, it should not be lost on anyone that the Senate and House have passed bills with only single digit dissent to sanction Russia and restrict the President’s ability to change them. That says loudly and clearly, “we do not trust you.” Neither should we.

Sunday sermon-ettes, the sequel

Good Sunday morning all and enjoy the day. A few tidbits have been bouncing around in my head, so I will commit them to writing for your review and critique. The tidbits are light on religious tone.

Guns and butter: For some reason, in the US we spend more time discussing protecting the right to own a 34th assault weapon than feeding 34 people. We have far too many food deserts in our country where the closest food is a convenience store. Far too many in our country are undernourished. Yet, pick up any local paper on any day of the week, and you will find multiple gun killing stories. Better gun governance is essential, but it is a nonstarter with the NRA who is more interested in gun sales. I think our priorities are off.

Kicking poor people in the teeth: Along those same lines, our President is pushing the Republicans in the Senate to vote on whether to kick 22 million Americans in the teeth or 34 million, many of whom are in poverty or near poverty. It should be noted the President said he would not touch Medicaid. I guess that detail escapes him in his desire to have a photo op of him signing something.

Brexit is a hard pill to swallow: The word Brexit sounds like one of those new fangled drugs to cure something you did not know you should worry about. I think voters were not told the whole story and many are wishing they had a do over. As foretold, the financial companies who based their EU regional business in London, are making definitive plans to move. Bank of America just announced a move to Dublin, Citigroup is moving folks to Frankfurt and other places, and Japanese banks are doing likewise. While I  understand the desire to fully govern your future, the UK is harming its future growth. That is not just my opinion, but that of financial experts.

Shrinking to greatness is not a good strategy: Speaking of financial growth, limiting relationships with other countries is not conducive to growth. And, a venture capitalist noted that what creates jobs is customers. Plus, when we discuss global trade, we need to reflect the whole picture and that is the foreign owned companies who make things here with American workers. Why? Selling big durable products is more cost effective and less risky if they are not shipped from abroad. Just ask BMW, Toyota, Husqvarna, Michelin, Mercedes, Volvo, Mitsibishi, etc. about their plants here in the US.

The bible says many things: There is a minister who upsets a few applecarts by preaching that the bible should not be cherry-picked to support points of view. His obvious example is in Genesis where God tells Adam and Eve to go forth and multiply and then gets mad at them when they like being naked with each other. The question is how did they know how to go forth and multiply? The minister’s premise is we should take away the overarching messages that are taught therein and remember the context of when the bible was written.

So, on that note, go enjoy your day, whether you choose to practice your multiplication tables or not.