Sport for the sportsmen
On the day of the big Iran-USA World Cup match, I have a few things to say about the politicization of sports.
Yes, it's true that the world objects to the way Iran is treating its people. It killed 300 of them. I object too. I have left my Twitter profile green for what, nine years, in support of the Iranian people.
But those guys out there playing soccer are basically athletes who have done their best to perfect their skills over many years, and they have a right to be proud of their country, no matter what its faults are, same as our guys have a right to be proud of ours. I admit that nationalism is not always a great thing, and in this case, causes them to be nationalistic for a government that is less than ideal. But the same can be said for all of us. To me, this is the only kind of nationalism that is acceptable - pure sports fans wanting to win a match.
On a world scale, soccer talent starts at birth, but then is developed by constant playing and practising. In this regard Brazil and the African countries have an advantage, because their kids are out there in the street playing 24/7 while ours have more mundane concerns like video games. You have to admire that kind of skill, though, perfected over many hours of hard practice. I think it's a matter of respect to their devotion and intense practice that we back off on the political concerns and just let them play, let them show us how good they are at this particular skill. It's not about repression, or how a government handles dissent. It's about sports, and we should let it stay that way.
I object to the flags
Go ahead and run for president. Any criminal can get up there in front of cameras and tell the world you plan on running for president. I don't deny you your moment under the lights and camera.
But I object to the flags lined up near you. Wrapping yourself in the flag implies that it's a patriotic thing, good for the country, it's all about the United States. It's not. It's about you.
There is nothing patriotic about denying a free election and pressuring your entire party to go along with you. You are trying your hardest to tear apart the fabric of democracy that got you where you are. And you are doing it all in your own narcissistic self-interest.
Shame on you. Take down those flags.
vote the bast-ds out
True conservatives are in a very difficult position, I grant you. If they say the truth, plain and clear, that Trump lost, they lose the support of Trump and his supporters. If they claim that he won, they are sniveling liars and we all know it. If they just waffle, as quite a few have done, or change their minds, then they look bad. They're wafflers and mind-changers.
But it doesn't matter, I say vote them out anyway. Vote them out unless they are in the first category and you are truly conservative.
What I want from them is a commitment to the democratic process. I shouldn't have to say this, but we have a free country here, where the person who gets the most votes wins. Ballots are counted fairly and we trust our election boards. We try to put people of both parties on there and they watch each other and we are proud of the non-partisanship of the process.
So when some jerk-wad comes along and attacks the process like it's unfair because we didn't vote for him, the only problem is when the whole rest of the party does his bidding. Right now, it appears to me that anyone in the Republican Party can be suspected of having to obey their superiors, at the risk of our losing the democratic process. What happens when he tells them to find a few thousand votes? What will they do when his phone call ends up in their court? Sorry, I'm not going to vote for anyone who would undermine that process. And enough of them have already proven their willingness to undermine it.
Until there is a purge, and they get certain stinking rotting losers out of there, I say don't vote for anyone with an R by their name.
