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The Well-Mannered Politics Thread
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JO_75
Hall of Famer
Wow......... ESPN's death can not come soon enough. In a continued effort to bring politics into Sports, ESPN has decided to pull announcer from Virginia football game due to his name. The name? Robert Lee. Yes because he has the confederate leader's name, ESPN said that due to the events in Charlottesville, VA that because of the "coincedence" of his name the moment "felt right". Full Statement Below:
“We collectively made the decision with Robert to switch games as the tragic events in Charlottesville were unfolding, simply because of the coincidence of his name. In that moment it felt right to all parties. It's a shame that this is even a topic of conversation and we regret that who calls play-by-play for a football game has become an issue.”
It never was an issue you stupid idiots! It was made an issue when you pulled him from the broadcast, you made it an issue. The sickening efoort to put politics into sports says Trump is not the issue. It wouldn't matter who the president is, they wouldn't have been the issue. The issue is the further dive into political correctness our country is taken. If people stopped over reacting to the littlest things, we would be in a better place.
https://www.outkickthecoverage.com/...bert-lee-off-uva-game-avoid-offending-idiots/
“We collectively made the decision with Robert to switch games as the tragic events in Charlottesville were unfolding, simply because of the coincidence of his name. In that moment it felt right to all parties. It's a shame that this is even a topic of conversation and we regret that who calls play-by-play for a football game has become an issue.”
It never was an issue you stupid idiots! It was made an issue when you pulled him from the broadcast, you made it an issue. The sickening efoort to put politics into sports says Trump is not the issue. It wouldn't matter who the president is, they wouldn't have been the issue. The issue is the further dive into political correctness our country is taken. If people stopped over reacting to the littlest things, we would be in a better place.
https://www.outkickthecoverage.com/...bert-lee-off-uva-game-avoid-offending-idiots/
Inqui
Pro Bowler
The movement to sterilise history can be a little ridiculous and all, but I honestly don't see the big deal with this move. All the ESPN statement says is that it's putting him on a different game because of the unfortunate look of a Robert Lee announcing a Virginia game shortly after the Charlottesville events - which I'd say is comparable to teams not signing Kaepernick because they felt he's not worth the circus he'd cause (both of which I think are reasonable), a step down in significance if anything because he's already been hired and everything.
If he were actually losing his job or getting passed up for a promotion or something, that'd be a different story and I'd agree ESPN is overstepping. But reshuffling a low-level announcer for presumably a limited period "to not offend idiots" seems like a non-story aside from the coincidence being slightly amusing/unfortunate (and I'll admit that I laughed when I saw the name of the guy) - it's not like a big broadcaster moving commentators around is anything new. If I were an editor placing this story on a newspaper page, it'd be a good filler for the middle of the sports section - in the ball park of the stories about people who call the cops when their weed stash gets stolen - but that's about it.
Inqui
Pro Bowler
It's also worth mentioning that the president's role in the economy is generally overstated. It seems to be a popular habit to simply equate the state of the economy (often through fairly generalised metrics) with the sitting president at the time. Aside from how recognition, implementation and impact lags mean the effects of something a president or congress does tend to take at least a year for any impact to show up (much less the full effects), it's a little generous to give Clinton credit for the dotcom boom in the same way it's unfair to blame Carter for the clusterfuck of economic theory that had been carried out in the decades before his term or Bush for the GFC and Obama for the fallout. When rating presidents, it should be done through the lens of what they actually do or could/should have done (so any discussion about Obama's economic impact should involve whether the stimulus aimed at the auto industry was a good thing - which it was but you get the idea) rather than pointing to basic indicators.
A person who has a bigger impact on the US and world economies (and imo is the most influential individual in the economic world) is the Fed chair. For all the talk of tepid growth in recent years a lot of that falls to Janet Yellen, who by keeping interest rates low has kept the borrowing market fairly stagnant (so rather than people buying bonds, their safe haven assets have been defensive stocks that aren't tied to interest rates - such as banks, big tech firms and infrastructure companies. What a coincidence that those have continued to be the biggest risers in the stock market). When people credit Reagan for bringing down inflation and helping unemployment drop in the more stable environment, more credit belongs to Fed chair Paul Volcker, who clipped inflation by continually raising interest rates. Who the president picks to be Fed chair belongs on their resume (and that makes Carter look fairly underrated all of a sudden), but to simply say "[random number] of jobs have been created, so [sitting president] [is/was] the best ever" puts too much credit and blame on the POTUS.
And on that note, since I've probably bored everyone senseless already, a recent survey of economists has Gary Cohn as the comfortable favourite to be the next Fed chair. And no one knows how to feel about that because the guy hasn't had any experience in any macroeconomic roles. I suspect Trump wants his long-term legacy to be as a business-friendly guy and a low-rates guy, so I wouldn't be surprised if he picked someone who he thought would keep the rates low. Which is a dangerous game in the current environment given the stage of recovery the world is in and the severe inflationary risks given the Fed's build-up of money supply (that Yellen's now been tapering off so shit doesn't hit the fan too badly down the line).
Anyway, my apologies for derailing this thread about neo-Nazis. As you were.
JO_75
Hall of Famer
So.... Trump took time off from Tweeting and did a speech in Alabama. He discussed the kneeling by NFL players......
“We’re proud of our country. We respect our flag,” Trump said to loud applause at a campaign event in Alabama. “Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now’? He’s fired! He’s fired!”
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...ayers-who-dont-stand-for-the-national-anthem/
Thoughts?
“We’re proud of our country. We respect our flag,” Trump said to loud applause at a campaign event in Alabama. “Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now’? He’s fired! He’s fired!”
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...ayers-who-dont-stand-for-the-national-anthem/
Thoughts?
allblackraven
Hall of Famer
Yep - he still fails to surprise me. Exactly what you can expect from such an idiot.
I wish all players, together with team owners sit the next one, preferably carrying signs "Fuck you, wanker!"
Or something on those lines...
BloodRaven
Pro Bowler
I can ignore Nazis walking the streets and being on the brink of nuclear war, but now hes fucking with my football?? Hes gone too far
Inqui
Pro Bowler
Yeah, Trump saying something to wind up one of his rallies is nothing new.
Though on the bigger stories, did you end up voting today? It's looking like we'll have a four-term government for the first time.
allblackraven
Hall of Famer
No, I helped break the early voters record - went to library last weekend to return some books and put my ticks in.
I'm glad National is getting the 4th term. It usually takes 2.75 cycles to fix what Labour screwed previously. Finally Nats get a chance to actually enjoy the results of their past hard work.
Still pissed at John Key though. Could have waited few more months to avoid coalition with either of these 2 parties. Then again, who could have predicted back then Labour will get such a jump and total Maori party failure.
Inqui
Pro Bowler
I didn't vote until this week but I was the same.
I'll disagree that the previous Labour screwed the country up or anything, but I'm not bothered by National taking a fourth term. More disappointed by the strength of Bill's likely coalition partner (sigh) and the demise of the smaller parties - all of which add something imo irrespective of what I think of the parties themselves. I wouldn't be opposed to cutting the threshold to 3%, but I actually went with Gareth's pet project so maybe I'm more biased than I'd like to admit.
I wanted to like Labour this time around - I think they had the right focus on kids in lower-income families, healthcare spending in the regions and on rail options - but all they had to do was explain where they were getting their proposed spending from and all they could come up with was vague rhetoric, and the economic nationalism bent they took in the past couple of weeks pissed me off no end. Leave that shit to the Steve Bannon wing, hardcore Brexiters and Pauline Hanson types.
allblackraven
Hall of Famer
That's the thing with Labour - they always promise stuff they can't deliver. It works to an extent in the beginning, while there are still reserves built up by National. Once that's spent, not the least of it on 1000's of phantom, non-productive jobs, they continue the same, only through building debt.I didn't vote until this week but I was the same.
I'll disagree that the previous Labour screwed the country up or anything, but I'm not bothered by National taking a fourth term. More disappointed by the strength of Bill's likely coalition partner (sigh) and the demise of the smaller parties - all of which add something imo irrespective of what I think of the parties themselves. I wouldn't be opposed to cutting the threshold to 3%, but I actually went with Gareth's pet project so maybe I'm more biased than I'd like to admit.
I wanted to like Labour this time around - I think they had the right focus on kids in lower-income families, healthcare spending in the regions and on rail options - but all they had to do was explain where they were getting their proposed spending from and all they could come up with was vague rhetoric, and the economic nationalism bent they took in the past couple of weeks pissed me off no end. Leave that shit to the Steve Bannon wing, hardcore Brexiters and Pauline Hanson types.
BTW, I can't stand Morgan, he wants to kill all the cats.
Inqui
Pro Bowler
Yeah, Gareth's a blowhard but I do like the policies he put forward. I'd like to see Geoff Simmons continue to carry the flag (though my gut feeling is that the party would flame out with him at the helm) or see some of his proposals taken on by other parties next time. I'd have been a loser with the housing equity tax but in the bigger picture I think it was a sound idea. Likewise (and this point applies to every developed country imo) the UBI was the best solution I've yet to see from anyone anywhere for the continued rise of automation. I'd have preferred it if someone less full of themselves had been plugging that stuff
I don't mind tax and spend or borrow and spend as long as it's spent well. Our national debt to GDP has gone from 5% to 25% under this government and tbh I don't have a problem with that because a lot of it went into upgrading the roads and infrastructure and they were all smart projects that were well overdue. And I thought the healthcare stimulus Labour proposed would have been money well spent (especially here in the regions) but I just wanted to see where it was coming from, if they were planning to borrow or jack up my income tax by XXX amount I could have lived with that or at least made up my mind on whether it was worth the cost. All they had to do was tell me.
Trump telling owners that they should cut players for not standing for the flag is so misguided and that is being nice. Part of why this country is so great is our ability as citizens or residents to have freedom of speech. I may not have been a fan of players not standing for the anthem, but this statement is just wrong.
BloodRaven
Pro Bowler
I've stayed away from political discussions for months and it's been awesome but this is too much. Trump is a sociopathic racist moron, and I'm sure theres worse yet to come. I wish he would just stay in his fucking lane and not mess with football.
JO_75
Hall of Famer
Funny thing is owners are now coming out majing statements against Trump, except only coming off as hypocrites. Basically coming out defending the players for kneeling and how they like that the players are using the NFL platform to bring awareness to the situation.
Yet.... not ONE Owner has signed Colin Kaepernick to a contract.
BloodRaven
Pro Bowler
If I remember correctly some of them donated to Trumps campaign. I guess everyone has a limit.
allblackraven
Hall of Famer
Yeah and I know who were his best friends during the campaign. Wish they can play Kareem Hunt every week.
If anyone hasn't seen it yet, go look at Jed York's statements on Trump.
And then look at Steve Kerr's from a few months ago.
And then look at Steve Kerr's from a few months ago.
Willbacker
Ravens Ring of Honor
Racist. The most over fuckin used term there is. That's what causes divide.
Willbacker
Ravens Ring of Honor
So what do you think of Steve Bisciotti and the Ravens? They don't kneel.
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