Today's Miscellaneous Thoughts

Today I have just a few short comments about some of the current news.

Sports and Politics

               Ms. Rapinoe and her team are outstanding soccer players.  They should be proud of their abilities.  But, when you are playing on the world stage you represent more than just yourself and your ego.  You represent your country.  That means showing respect for that country and its flag.  You don’t throw the flag on the ground to do a personal and pre-planned victory dance.  You don’t trash your country and its leader.  You save your personal and political grievances for another time.

               Ms. Rapinoe’s statements against the president of the country she should be honored to represent are selfish and egocentric.  Her statements of not wanting to go to the White House upon winning, a place that is representative of our country to its citizens and to the world, is appalling and her making this about politics by suggesting she will honor invitations to Washington from Democrats shows a complete lack of understanding of what it means to represent one’s country on the world stage.  Rather, she wants to make it about herself and her political views.  Let her then become a politician rather than an athlete.

               I am not saying she does not have a right or responsibility to speak her views.  But there are times and places for all speech.  When one is representing her country as an athlete in a world competition, it is not the appropriate time or place to air personal grievances.

               Speaking of grievances, the victimhood she asserts about unequal pay is a bit suspect when one considers the full facts.  The women’s soccer has a union and a collective bargaining agreement which the women have negotiated separately from that of men’s soccer.  Under that agreement their salaries (like that of the men) are in large part tied to audience size.  Women’s soccer has a much smaller audience than does men’s.  Now, one can argue about why that might be so, but the point is, that is a fact to which the players have agreed to use as a defining factor in their salary.   Yes, in this country that Ms. Rapinoe loves to trash, she, a woman, had a right through her union to negotiate her contract and her pay.  So, yes, the pay is different for men and women, but not due to any discriminatory pay practices.  If more people watched women’s soccer, Ms. Rapinoe might make more money, perhaps even as much as male players.  But, then, behaving like a selfish brat is not a way to encourage a larger viewing audience.

The Mueller Re-do

               So, now we learn that the Democrat Congress is planning to subpoena scads of witnesses to have them re-hash the testimony that they gave to Mr. Mueller during the 2 years of his investigation.  During that investigation they lauded Mr. Mueller for his thoroughness and competence.  That was before they saw his conclusion which was not what they had hoped – President Trump was not removed from office and did not go to jail.

               So, now, they want to re-do the entire investigation.  At another huge cost to the American people.  Money that could go to far better causes, helping our citizenry or even those non-citizens whom the Democrats are so concerned about at our borders.  But no, they want to get rid of Trump.  They thought Mueller would do that; he did not.  So now they will try a re-do of the same investigation with the same witnesses, hoping beyond hope that someone will turn for them or at least say something in slightly different words so that they can accuse them of lying to Congress, and, somehow by implication find the President guilty.

               I also find it interesting that these subpoenas are being issued as the president’s popularity is soaring.  Apparently, the Democrats can’t counter all the positive news of the economy, environmental improvements in things as basic as water, better standing in the world, and many others.  And of course, they are embarrassed (perhaps – if that is something that is possible for a Democrat) by their mischaracterization of the Independence Day Celebration and their all out attack on patriotism, something which many Americans found appalling.

               The Democrats fear that the positive feeling in this country, in large part due to Trump’s policies, will get him re-elected.  So rather than present positive and realistic alternatives they will simply continue their witch hunt against him.

Lies for an Agenda

               Apparently when the Democrats are determined to make a point, the end will justify any means, including lies.  We have AOC and her cohort making up stories about the conditions on the border.  We have the Washington Post calling out Rep. Omar for at least two lies, because her American story “is complicated.”  And, of course we have the daily half- truths and manufactured innuendos about President Trump. 

This is what the Democrats do; this is how they try to gain power and win elections.  They certainly don’t look at facts, look at their constituents wants and needs, and work toward doing what is good and right for this country.  Their agenda seems to be different:  to remake this country into something it was never intended to be and in so doing to install themselves in positions of power that will control every aspect of our lives.

That is certainly not what I want, and, while couched in lies their behavior may sound good, I think that if the people were better informed (which is difficult with a biased media), then few would support the agenda of the Left.