So, ESPN has joined the NFL hierarchy and taken the coward’s way out. Or maybe not. Maybe the fading sports broadcast network is doing exactly what they want to do.
It was reported that now, because of the controversy that continues this year by a certain group of spoiled and pampered NFL players, who will once again beg for attention this year and kneel during our National Anthem, that ESPN will no longer show the Anthem being played during Monday Night Football games. This is, according to one spokesperson there, an effort to put to rest an issue that is infuriating millions of fans. And yet, knowing full well and proven by countless surveys, that the overwhelming number of fans don’t like it when the players kneel, wouldn’t it make more sense to show the Anthem being sung and the flag waving in the breeze and just not show the kneeling players? Yes, it would. But judging by ESPN’s recent statements and actions, I’d say doing it that way would be too pro-American/too patriotic for those in charge of the network.
Let’s be clear, it’s not all the players out there making asses of themselves. It’s now just a small percentage. But let’s also be clear on this point as well. The protestors’ defenders and apologists are just spewing bull when they insist that the kneelers are not really disrespecting the flag, the military, the Anthem, the police and the country in general. Yes, that is exactly what they are doing. That is the message they want to send. It’s why they are doing it and everyone knows it. They are not demonstrating against ‘social injustice’ and ‘oppression’ and these overpaid and over sized children are certainly not oppressed.
Roger Goodell and the rest of those who control the NFL said they would ban and fine the kneelers. But a little pushback from the news media and liberal activists sent them scurrying for cover and they backed right down. I repeat, they are cowards. But it seems to be much more than that now. Something else is going on in the opinion of a growing number of the NFL’s deserting fans. There seems to be an organized effort, by slow attrition, to phase out the pro-American and patriotic traditions that have always been associated with professional football. And by ESPN’s recent announcement that they will no longer show the Anthem prior to kickoff, these two once mighty and highly respected organizations appear to be working hand in hand in the effort.
Gazing over at the West Coast, called now by many as the ‘Left Coast’, I like focusing in on the latest screwball laws to be proposed in California, because it brings a bit of comfort to know that Massachusetts isn’t the only state with whacky politicians always looking for new ways to chip away at the individual rights of its citizens. It must be tough to own or operate a restaurant in California these days. Last week, it was announced that in some locations, the government will pass out clean hypodermic needles to make it easier to shoot heroin, but you could be looking at jail time if you supply plastic straws to sip on a milk shake. Well, apparently in an effort to outdo itself every week, the state legislature there, with the blessing of Governor Jerry ‘Moonbeam’ Brown, who is just itching to sign yet a new nutty proposal into law, if a family brings their children into a restaurant, they will only be allowed to be served water or unflavored milk. No soda, no fruit juice, no lemonade and no punch. Just water or unflavored milk. Is there anything ‘progressive’ politicians won’t try to control? Now, they will have the right to tell parents what their kids can and cannot drink while dining out. Liberal California politicians are on a fast track towards total domination of the personal lives of the public. Adolph Hitler would be envious. It’s just one reason Californians are moving out by the hundreds of thousands. They want to live in a free America and California no longer qualifies and hasn’t for quite a while.
