[Red State] If one were to look for a cause for the anger and bitterness in American politics right now...other than sore-loserness on the part of Democrats and Never Trump people that rivals anything we saw in the aftermath of the 2000 election of George W. Bush...it would have to be the perpetual investigation of the Trump administration for alleged "collusion" with Russia. And that investigation is driven not by some bullsh** alcohol-fueled conversation between a minor campaign hanger-on, George Papadopoulos, and an Australian diplomat, but by a piece of opposition research paid for by the Hillary Clinton campaign.
I’ve previously posted on how this document got into play. Basically, it had been kicking around Washington for a few months. Several news organizations and BuzzFeed had copies but all were afraid to do anything with it because there was zero verification of the allegations. At some point in December 2016, DNI director James Clapper suggested that James Comey brief president-elect Trump on the dossier. That briefing took place on January 6, 2017, at Trump Tower.
The meeting was notable for three things. First, Trump was only briefed on the "salacious" parts of the dossier. If you’ve read the dossier you know that those parts are only a small fraction of what Steele reported to his paymasters. Second, Reince Priebus specifically asked Comey if there was anything else the administration should be aware of (like, maybe, allegations that they were pawns of Russia) and Comey said no. Third, James Comey told Trump that the media had the document and were looking for a news hook to justify publishing it. Oh, and fourth, Comey did not tell Trump that the dossier was paid oppo from the Hillary campaign. It is hard to paint this in any other way other than Comey trying to wind Trump up and get him looking in one direction while the real attack came from a different direction.
Shortly after Comey’s briefing, CNN reported on the existence of the dossier. What did they use as a news hook?
Posted by: Fred ||
04/30/2018 00:00 ||
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#1
Hate speech only applies to any one but the MSM. The correspondents loved it while in attendance but of course denounced the festivities profusely afterwards. Sarah showed tremendous class while being verbally assaulted to the extreme.
#6
Trump should go next year.....along with a projector and a bunch of folders. He'll go through each journalist by name, detailing whatever dirt surveillance by private detectives has dug up. If they committed crimes, he'll have lots of police there to escort them out in cuffs. The rest he can simply make fun of, just like they do. And when they whine and cry about it, he can just smile and say, "Awwwww, did I hurt your feelings? Go eat a sh*t sandwich and get over it."
[RedState] The saga continues for Missouri Governor Eric Greitens (and the citizens of Missouri.) As we reported previously, the attorney for the ex-husband of Greitens’ mistress acknowledged earlier this week that he received $100,000 from a "mystery donor," in January.
...Watkins confirmed to reporters that he did receive the payment, but said he didn’t even know the source of the money. He told the Associated Press a courier delivered two payment of $50,000 to his suburban St. Louis office in early January. Sounds like something from the Sopranos
[PJMedia] It hasn't been a banner year for the NFL. In fact, it's been a bad year for Roger Goodell and company. This past October, league officials, players, and owners met to discuss the growing problems within the league, specifically players kneeling during the National Anthem. An audio recording of that meeting obtained by the New York Times reveals that the mounting pressure put on the NFL by President Donald Trump has had an effect.
At the start of the meeting, NFL Commissioner Goodell implored everyone in attendance to keep the contents of the meeting a secret. In the technology age, he was tilting at windmills. Of course, the meeting was recorded and the tape leaked.
The NYT explains that as the meeting began,
The players sounded aggrieved. After discussing a proposal to finance nonprofit groups to address player concerns, they wanted to talk about why Colin Kaepernick, the quarterback who started the anthem protests to highlight social injustice and police brutality against African-Americans, was, they believed, being blackballed by the owners. The owners sounded panicked about their business under attack, and wanted to focus on damage control.
With slumping TV ratings, the owners realized what the players have the luxury of ignoring -- all of the protesting and the connection to SJW causes was killing the goose that had laid everyone in that room's golden egg. Owner of the New England Patriots Robert Kraft put his finger on the problem as he spoke about the players kneeling during the National Anthem, "[W]e have a president who will use that as fodder to do his mission."
Kraft was speaking for the owners as a group, because as the NYT points out,
The owners were intent on finding a way to avoid Trump’s continued criticism. The president’s persistent jabs on Twitter had turned many fans against the league. Lurie, who called Trump’s presidency "disastrous," cautioned against players getting drawn into the president’s tactics.
"We’ve got to be careful not to be baited by Trump or whomever else," Lurie said. "We have to find a way to not be divided and not get baited."
The Buffalo Bills owner Terry Pegula sounded anguished over the uncertainty of when Trump would take another shot at the league. "All Donald needs to do is to start to do this again," Pegula said. "We need some kind of immediate plan because of what’s going on in society. All of us now, we need to put a Band-Aid on what’s going on in the country."
Throughout the meeting the NFL owners kept reiterating the need to protect the bottom line and that the protests were hurting attendance and TV ratings. Boycotts and angry sponsors were new headaches for the owners. President Trump's tweeting about the NFL had stirred up his base and was threatening the growth of the NFL.
After the meeting was over, the players and owners released a joint statement insisting that the meeting was productive and that everything was fine with the NFL. Except the recording reveals a group of players oblivious to the damage their virtue signaling was doing to the league and a group of owners all too aware of the damage being done to their bottom line by President Trump. Too little, too late. Red America, the place where the vast majority of your viewers are have seen your character, and they don't like it. Younger people are not watching the NFL like they used to, so when you have fully pissed off the 30-60 crowd you will be left with few viewers and empty stadiums (more than what you have now) and no one willing to give you tax breaks for new stadiums.
Enjoy the bed of bankruptcy you have made for yourselves.
#1
Kaepernick killed the NFL for me. The first year, even before his protest was copied by all the other players. It was a big "FUCK YOU" to fans like me, and I got the message loud and clear. You hate us. You hold us responsible for all your problems, and you will happily divide us into warring camps who can't even agree on things like "We are all Americans here". So be it.
Now I'm just someone who used to watch football. And I'm OK with that.
Posted by: Herb McCoy ||
04/30/2018 0:58 Comments ||
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#4
Too much color commentary. Too many, Way, way, WAY too many commercial breaks. Too many spoiled athletes, some should be in jail but aren't, and the sportscasters seem to hate the normal ones...
It's getting harder and harder to care enough to watch.
#5
Yeah, speaking of the commentary, I wonder how much Bob Costas' nattering can be traced back as a precursor of the whole kneeling thing. The players, and now - in damage control mode - the league, are saying "our thing is a bigger deal than yours." Not so much, actually, they are now finding out...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
04/30/2018 5:05 Comments ||
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#6
What's funny about all of this - all Goodell had to do to nip this in the bud was instruct the owners to tell the players - 'You want to protest? Do it on your own time, not ours.'
#8
Goody Goodell and his trained seals are afraid of the wrong thing. The fact that he was booed by fans at the Draft as long as he was on stage even though he was with two FB stars ought to be what has them all concerned.
#10
I wouldn't hire Steven A-hole Smith to scoop manure with his tongue, even though that is his stock-in-trade already...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
04/30/2018 9:30 Comments ||
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#11
Color Commentary about the Inner Urban Poor, Gun Violence, Spousal Abuse, Global Warming, or even If Public Schools should have Sodas or Not... I. Don't. Care. I am here to watch Football, not be bombarded by some twit's latest cause du jour. As far as I am concerned they are stealing the one thing that we all can't spare: my personal time.
#12
All these people should be told "If you want to sermonize, go get ordained. Then get a congregation. Then give your sermon to them. Leave me clean out of the loop."
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
04/30/2018 9:53 Comments ||
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#13
It'll be interesting to see what happens the next time a team tries to get a city to pay for their new stadium.
#14
rjshwarz, what I would like is that the city paying for the new stadium with public funds, from the taxpayer's pockets, require that the Team Owners sign over the Team Name and Logos. If the Baltimore Colts want to move, for example, then "Fine, it's a free country, but you have to change your name, logos, uniform, the works...How does the Indy Ink-Spots grab you?"
#15
Any city that milks its taxpayers to give money to billionaire owners should cede all rights to have their voters eligible in all state and national elections. You can't vote to send middle class money to billionaires one minute and then vote for Marxists to run the country the next. Yeah, like they'll go for that...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
04/30/2018 10:43 Comments ||
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#16
M. Murcek
Neo Marxism is ALL about doing EXACTLY that.
#17
Yeah, I get that. A fellow can dream, at any rate...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
04/30/2018 11:00 Comments ||
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#18
BTW, it wasn't Trump's tweets that made me stop watching football. It was Colin Kapernick and Marshawn Lynch. Trump only tweeted what I already thought.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
04/30/2018 11:03 Comments ||
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#19
How many NFL stars would last a month in Sierra Leone or Chad?
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
04/30/2018 11:31 Comments ||
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#20
Along the lines of what Bright Pebbles said, I'd like to see the Congress look into the NFL's special tax status.
#21
I haven't watched pro football in a long time. Got tired of the end zone dances, the look-at-me-after a good catch. It wasn't fun any more. I still like to watch college.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
04/30/2018 14:42 Comments ||
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#22
Couple of points:
The Kaepernick crap started while Obama was in office. Owners could if addressed before it got out of hand. That is a mistake that Trump highlighted.
The SJW have taken their message to sports fans because that is where the audience was. Only the converted watch the main stream media. The SJW elite decided to send their message to sports fans and they would rather not watch. Again a mistake in the owners and elites.
The owners even resigned the commissioner at 50 mil a year. Yet another mistake.
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[PJMedia] It hasn't been a banner year for the NFL. In fact, it's been a bad year for Roger Goodell and company. This past October, league officials, players, and owners met to discuss the growing problems within the league, specifically players kneeling during the National Anthem. An audio recording of that meeting obtained by the New York Times reveals that the mounting pressure put on the NFL by President Donald Trump has had an effect.
