Monthly Archives: September 2020

Sep 29 2020

Saving American Jobs – President Trump Introduces Lordstown Motors 2021 Endurance Pickup Truck – Video and Transcript…


Posted originally on The conservative tree house on September 28, 2020 by 

When GM announced they were closing their Lordstown, Ohio, plant in 2018 President Trump jumped into action to negotiate a deal between GM and a new company intent on building an electric pickup truck.  GM sold the plant in 2019 to Lordstown Motors and took a partial equity stake in the new company… a win/win deal that saved the jobs for the auto workers and ancillary businesses in Ohio.

Today President Trump introduces the outcome of that new venture, the 2021 Endurance pickup truck; the world’s first true four wheel drive electric motor commercial vehicle.  President Trump, Peter Navarro, Senator Rob Portman, Congressman Mike Turner, together with  Steve Burns, CEO of Lordstown Motors, Rich Schmidt, Lordstown Motors Employee and Michael Fabian, Lordstown Motors introduce the new vehicle. WATCH:

.

[Transcript]  – THE PRESIDENT: Well, ladies and gentlemen, this is incredible. So this is a vehicle where the — essentially, the engines — the motor’s engines are in the wheels. They’re in the wheels — in all four wheels.

It’s Lordstown, Ohio. They make them in Lordstown, Ohio. You know Senator Portman. We are — we’ve been working on this very long and very hard because General Motors left the plant. This is a company that went in — and, I guess, General Motors is your partner. But they went in, and they have an incredible vehicle. And you’ll make how many a year when you get it going?

 

MR. BURNS: Well, we’ll make north of 100,000 once we get going.

THE PRESIDENT: And they’ve already started. But this is a really unique thing because the four wheels are — and you would call it a motor, right?

MR. BURNS: “Hub motor,” we call it.

THE PRESIDENT: It’s called a “hub motor.” “Hub motor.” And this is the only one that does this in the world, and it has a lot of advantages. Maybe you’ll explain the advantages.

MR. BURNS: Well, it’s just a true four-wheel drive. The first true four-wheel drive pickup truck ever made. So with a computer and a motor on each wheel, you can get the best traction possible. So if you look 50 years out, and cars have four wheels, they’re going to have simple hub motors on them because it’s — it’s the simplest —

THE PRESIDENT: Do you think that this is the wave of the future?

MR. BURNS: Yeah.

THE PRESIDENT: This is the first time ev- — it’s ever been done. It’s been thought of for a long time. In theory, it should work better.

MR. BURNS: Yeah.

THE PRESIDENT: I mean, it should work better.

MR. BURNS: Yeah. It does work better. It does work better.

THE PRESIDENT: It also gives you room inside here.

MR. BURNS: Yeah.

THE PRESIDENT: So is that additional room that you have?

MR. BURNS: Yeah. So it’s the first pickup truck with a trunk; it’s in the front. So you can call it a “frunk,” but you have to pronounce it carefully, right?

THE PRESIDENT: Right.

MR. BURNS: This is the first — you know, it — you can eliminate a toolbox back here because you can put your things up front.

THE PRESIDENT: Rob, would you like to say something?

SENATOR PORTMAN: Just, this — this is exciting. Lordstown, Ohio, got a gut punch when General Motors decided to stop making the Chevy Cruze and pulled out. Fifteen hundred workers lost their jobs right away. They actually reduced the workforce over time to that.

So this was the biggest employer in the Mahoning Valley, which is where Youngstown is and Lordstown. We are now calling it “Voltage Valley,” because we not only have this electric pickup truck being produced at the old General Motors plant, but right next to that plant, there’s a new LG Chem/General Motors joint venture making batteries. And they’re going to hire 1,100 people this year.

So the combination of this company and the battery plant will mean we’ve replaced about the same number of workers but with a really interesting future, which is to bring in even more electric vehicle — electric technology companies. And Youngstown State University is playing an active role in this, in providing training on electric vehicles and technology. So this is a rebirth, and it’s really exciting.

And, as you know, the President and this administration have been very helpful in this effort to try to bring back the jobs to the Mahoning Valley.

THE PRESIDENT: And it’s exciting because everyone has wanted to do — do this. This is a great technology. They’ve known it. But until this, nobody has actually done it, having the motors in each wheel — having motors in each wheel, and they’re very well coordinated, and you can work them individually or whatever is necessary by computer. It’s an incredible concept. I think it’s an incredible concept.

Congressman, would you like to say something?

REPRESENTATIVE TURNER: Well, I just appreciate the President’s support for Ohio and manufacturing. This, obviously, is an accomplishment as a result of Ohio’s rebirth under the Trump economy. And we appreciate his work.

As we look to Lordstown and Ohio, this is — this is a great, good step for the future.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you.

MR. NAVARRO: Thank you, sir. And this didn’t happen by accident. This was a great partnership. When GM shut down that Cruze plant, that was a devastating blow to the Mahoning Valley. The President sprung into action, Senator Portman sprung into action. We started working with GM, and GM took a — took an equity partnership in this to make it happen, as well as generously gave them some of the footprint inside Lordstown.

But the beauty of it too is that right outside the footprint of Lordstown plant is also this LG Chem battery. So we’re going to have more employees there than when they shut down the Cruze plant, very soon. And over time, it’s going to be great.

So this was — this was a great partnership with the President’s leadership and Senator Portman’s leadership, and everybody really pulled in. And congratulations to you, Mr. Burns.

THE PRESIDENT: Well, the area was devastated when General Motors moved out, and then we worked together, and we made the deal on the plant. But beyond the plant — I mean, it’s incredible what’s happened to the area. It’s booming now. It’s absolutely booming and really great. And you also have room for expansion in a plant.

MR. BURNS: Yep. Oh, yeah. We’ll come out with multiple models. This is just our first model.

THE PRESIDENT: That’s good. That’s great. So they’ll have over 100,000 a year, and I heard the sales are great. And — but the concept, I’ve heard about it for years. I never knew what anyone was doing it. It’s so exciting.

MR. BURNS: Yeah. It’s been a dream for a while, and we got it.

THE PRESIDENT: That’s fantastic. Congratulations. Congratulations.

MR. BURNS: Appreciate it.

THE PRESIDENT: Anybody else? Would you like to say something? You’ve worked at all the different — the big plants, I understand — every one of them.

MR. SCHMIDT: Yeah. I appreciate, you know, joining the team, appreciate you seeing our truck. It’s a world-class vehicle. We can’t wait to launch it this year coming.

THE PRESIDENT: Yeah, (inaudible).

MR. SCHMIDT: We’re going to be very excited.

THE PRESIDENT: We’ll be there with you.

MR. BURNS: American innovation.

THE PRESIDENT: Would you like to say something?

MR. FABIAN: Yeah. I worked for GM for 34 years. Left when GM left Lordstown, and I got the opportunity to come back and work for Steve.

THE PRESIDENT: That’s great.

MR. FABIAN: It was just — it was too good an opportunity. It’s just a great place to work. Steve takes care of his people, and we’re doing great things right now.

THE PRESIDENT: Well, congratulations to you both. Rob, congratulations. Congratulations. And, Peter, thank you. Congressman, great job. It’s a great job. We’ve all done a good job. What can I say?

But it’s hotter now than it was before, and that’s something really different. And it’s an incredible piece of science, technology. It’s an incredible thing. It’s going to happen now with more and more trucks and cars. And, ultimately, they say you’ll be able to do it for less money, and it’s better, which is a good combination.

Okay. Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you.

Q Mr. President, are you looking forward to the debate?

THE PRESIDENT: Yeah, I am. I do. I’m really —

Q Mr. President, you tweeted about releasing a financial statement. When will you release that?

THE PRESIDENT: — I am looking — I am looking very forward to the debate. Thank you, everybody.

END 11:09 A.M. EDT

Sep 29 2020

Don Trump Jr. Discusses Tax Returns, SCOTUS, Ballot Harvesting and Biden Debate Expectations…


Posted originally on The Conservative Tree House on September 28, 2020 by 

If you have not watched Donald Trump Jr. respond to beltway narratives in a  while, this is a good example of his ability to boil issues down to their essential elements.  Don Jr. has refined his skills at pushing back against the progressive-left and their media orcs.

 

Sep 28 2020

The Parting Of The Blue Sea


“And he raised the sword of justice to part the foaming waters of wrath, driving the boiling waves upon the rocky shore to be dashed into nothingness.”

 President Trump made his SCOTUS nomination choice on Saturday. He wisely chose Judge Amy Coney Barrett to fill the seat left vacant by the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg last week.  Conservatives and Constitutionalists cheered the President’s choice as the Left and Democrats gave a record shattering melt down performance.

Judge Amy Coney Barrett proclaimed,

“I love the United States, and I love the United States Constitution, I am truly humbled by the prospect of serving on the Supreme Court.”

Barrett is only 48, and will be the youngest Justice on the SCOTUS.

This marks a victory for the country and our Constitution. Mitch McConnell has stated the Senate has the votes to confirm Trump’s third Supreme court justice. Of course the Democrats want to hold Kavanaugh-like hearings to destroy Coney-Barrett.  Because that is what they do, character assassination from Bork to Kavanaugh. The Democrats and Left are in panic mode as they know the court will be tilted in favor of the laws and Constitution with Justice Coney-Barrett on the bench, instead of left wing activism.

Also we predict that the Democrats will challenge the Election results and take it all the way to the Supreme Court this year.

We predict two scoops,* two terms, and “four justices”.

GrrrTeam

Sep 28 2020

The Markets & the Political Chaos into the Future – Where do we go?


Armstrong Economics Blog/Economics

Re-Posted Sep 28, 2020 by Martin Armstrong

Sometimes it is important to try to look at markets from an interrelated perspective. Here is the Dow/Gold Ratio which shows the extreme high in the Dow when gold made its historic low in 1999. We then see that gold rallied into 2011 against the Dow, but since that high, the Dow has been gaining ground over gold until the ratio peaked in 2018. While the Dow rallied to make a new record high into the Jan/Feb 2020 time period, it was again underperforming gold and it was declining from its 2018 high which curiously aligned with the Russel 2000 high in 2018.

With all the political chaos around the world and this clear coordinated trend using this virus to further the real goal of Climate Change, the deliberate scheme to crush the economy to prepare for Klaus Schwab’s Great Reset being pushed by the World Economic Forum, there is clearly some unsettling trends unfolding around the world.

Gold has NOT broken out yet in all currencies. In Japanese yen, it has still not made a new record high above 2013 as has been the case in Dollars and even Euro. This implies that the trend for gold is still in an upward bias which may last into the first quarter of 2021.

The DAX in Germany looks more like the Dow whereby it too has not made a new high beyond the 1st quarter. However, when we plot the Dax in terms of US dollars, we get a drastically different pattern all impacted by the currency. Indeed, despite all the evidence and high ranking officials in Germany Merkel is intending to lockdown Germany AGAIN! (see Merkel 2nd lockdown) German ministers warn that lockdowns kill more people than they save, yet Merkel ignores them, as well as Pfizer.

The computer has projected the rise in Civil Unrest and this will only increase post-US election moving into 2022 and then into 2024. As much as it is getting tiring with all this political back and forth, by far, we are not even limited to the United States. We have major elections in 2021 and 2022 around the world. With politics becoming so polarized, we MUST keep an eye on the big picture. As I have said, previous presidential elections in the USA were no big deal. If your candidate lost, you simply moved on and it really had little impact because the DEEP STATE was really in control and the agenda rarely changed other than perhaps taxes. This time it is very different. Capital is being driven around the world not out of investment opportunity, but out of political fear.

The likelihood of life returning to normal is very slim. This agenda is all about Climate Change and my RELIABLE inside sources in London are talking about lockdowns that may be necessary to save the planet. This seems to be more of a trial run to crush the world economy as we have known it. I always enjoyed going to New York City during the Christmas season to see the tree and the cheer. That will not happen in 2020 and it may not happen in 2021 either. There is clearly a UN agenda lurking behind this trend.

We have China & Russia seeking to break away from the Western monetary system and are preparing to reject the SWIFT system altogether. The more hostile the West becomes toward both, the greater the probability that as we head into 2032, the world economy will not just split, it will fragment as well.

With Trudeau suspending Parliament in Canada which was investigating corruption involving him and his family, there is certainly something very strange to see all of these politicians so willing to lockdown their people and undermine their economies creating debts that can never be repaid.

This makes it IMPERATIVE to rely on our computer system which is monitoring the entire world for we will need to track the capital flows to understand the future direction of all markets, we will need to comprehend both the political shifts as well as the debt markets combined with currencies. We have our work cut out for us. If we do not monitor the entire world, there is no way to avoid the crazy trends driven by foreign events.

Sep 28 2020

Appointees to the Supreme Court Are Not Required to Appear Before the Judiciary Committee under the Constitution


Armstrong Economics Blog/Politics

Posted Sep 28, 2020 by Martin Armstrong
We now have this nonsense put forth by Schumer that McConnel is destroying the institution of the Senate by appointing a justice to the Supreme Court before the election. He is calling McConnel’s, equally absurd argument he made when Justice Antonin Scalia died in February of 2016 nine months before the election.

McConnel argued that President Barack Obama should not appoint a new justice because he couldn’t run again. The seat should not be filled in an election year, McConnel claimed and refused to hold hearings to consider Obama’s eventual nominee, Judge Merrick Garland. McConnell said that not since 1888 had the Senate confirmed a Supreme Court nominee by an opposing party’s President to fill a vacancy that arose in an election year.

To make this very clear, there is ABSOLUTELY no requirement by the Constitution to withhold a vacancy to the Supreme Court because of politics. This is not law, and it was not even a rule. It was politics.

Indeed, candidates for the Supreme Court never appeared before the Senate until 1925. They were reviewed solely on their qualifications with no questioning. So all this argument over destroying the institution of the Senate is also total nonsense. On January 5, 1925, President Calvin Coolidge had nominated Attorney General Harlan Fiske Stone to a vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court. Almost everyone agreed that Stone’s character, learning, and temperament eas excellent for the job. However, a complication arose that threatened Stone’s chances for an easy Senate confirmation. The source of the controversy was Senator Burton K. Wheeler, a progressive Democrat.

The previous year, Wheeler had launched an investigation to determine why Stone’s predecessor, Attorney General Harry Daugherty, had failed to prosecute government officials implicated in the Teapot Dome oil-leasing scandal. As a result of Wheeler’s probe, Daugherty resigned in March 1924.

After about a month in his new position as attorney general, Stone saw a federal grand jury in Montana indict Senator Wheeler on charges related to the conduct of his private law practice. Seeing the indictment as an effort to discredit his continuing investigation of the Justice Department, Wheeler asked the Senate to examine the charges against him. Following a two-month inquiry and without waiting for the Montana court to dispose of the case, the Senate outright exonerated Wheeler which of course was against the law to interfere in a legal matter of that nature.

The Wheeler case tormented Attorney General Stone for months. Influential friends of Wheeler urged Stone to drop both the Montana case and new information that led Wheeler’s opponents to seek a second indictment. Stone explained that he felt honor-bound to pursue the second indictment. Legally, this was absolutely correct. Stone made it clear that the Senate “is just not the place to determine the guilt or innocence of a man charged with crime.”

On January 24, 1925, five days after the Senate Judiciary Committee had recommended Stone’s confirmation, Senator Thomas Walsh—Wheeler’s Montana colleague and legal counsel, managed to convince the Senate to return the nomination to the committee for further review.

President Coolidge refused to withdraw the nomination. However, this was the background to these Senate appointments to the Supreme Court. It was Coolidge who agreed to an unprecedented compromise. He agreed to allow Stone to become the first Supreme Court nominee in history to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee. On January 28, 1925, Stone’s performance during five hours of public session testimony cleared the way for his confirmation.

Senator Wheeler soon won the acquittal of all charges. Not until 1955, however, did the Senate Judiciary Committee routinely adopt the practice, based on the precedent established by the Stone nomination, of requiring all Supreme Court nominees to appear in person.

Schumer has called this the McConnel Rule because he said the next Supreme Court justice should be chosen by the next president when Scalia died. That was really no such rule and it was not the position of the Constitution – just politics. This illustrates my position that I believe Ben Franklin’s recommendation that appointments to the Supreme Court should be made by the American Bar Association – not politicians.  Ben Franklin wanted to create a legal system based upon the Scottish model where judges were nominated by lawyers and not politicians. He lost that argument and we have been paying dearly ever since.

Kings_Bench_(1808)

Most people assume that the Framers of the Constitution simply relied on the English judicial system. On the contrary, the Scottish judicial system provided an important component, although it remains overlooked even today. The Scottish system was part of the model for the Framing of Article III in crafting the Judiciary. Unlike the English system of overlapping and primarily original jurisdiction with Chancery (Equity) and the King’s Bench (law), the Scottish judiciary featured a hierarchical, appellate-style judiciary, with one supreme civil court sitting at the top and an array of inferior courts of original jurisdiction below.

We, unfortunately, blended Equity and Law into the same court which was a MAJOR mistake, yet the Scottish judiciary operated within a constitutional framework which we adopted. The corruption in the English judiciary was widespread. Charles Dickens wrote in his introduction to Bleak House;

“This is the Court of Chancery ..• Suffer any wrong that can be done you, rather than come here!“

Under the Constitution, Trump should be appointing the next Justice and NOW! What McConnel did before was UNCONSTITUTIONAL. Personally, I believe we should adopt Ben Franklin’s model taken from Scotland. This claim that we should be voting for presidents to twist the law one way or another is in itself WRONG!

There are far too many aspects of the law that are NOT in the Constitution and the number one issue tearing the country apart is IMMUNITY they created for prosecutors and police which takes away any responsibility to act within the law. The abortion issue was founded on the Right to Privacy which is implicitly within the Constitution. However, then there is the definition of life to justify an abortion v murder. It becomes a fine line just as the legal age for sex. There has been a prosecution of an 18-year boy now labeled as a child molester because his girlfriend was under 18 and the father did not like the boy in Texas (see report). Unfortunately, these things tend to be arbitrary and decided by culture. The legal age varies greatly around the world from 12 to 18 with the United States being the highest.

Sep 28 2020

Biden & the Ukrainian Corruption – But Who Cares?


Armstrong Economics Blog/Corruption

Re-Posted Sep 28, 2020 by Martin Armstrong
The Senate Republicans have released a long-anticipated report that details Joe Biden’s alleged conflicts of interest when he was vice president and his son, Hunter Biden, was making millions with sweetheart business deals in Ukraine, Russia, and China. The report states that it wasn’t clear whether Hunter Biden’s lucrative appointment to the board of the Ukrainian energy company, Burisma Holdings, actually affected the U.S. policy carried out by Biden. At least based upon Biden’s own comments, this has raised serious issues for some time.

 

Nevertheless, this document has cast new light on the Bidens’ suspicious business dealings. Democrats will never be moved by this any more than they were with Hillary’s brother getting a mining contract in Hati when he was not a miner.

The level of corruption in Washington with family members hauling in millions has been standard operating procedure. It’s more than a swamp — it’s an ocean. Die-hard voters never seem to care.

Sep 28 2020

Capital Flows Will Be the Key


Armstrong Economics Blog/Economics

Re-Posted Sep 27, 2020 by Martin Armstrong

QUESTION: Mr. Armstrong,
If this “Great Reset” movement pushes gold underground, what kind of a future do we really have?

HR

ANSWER: On election night, Trump should win. However, the real question will be the mail-in ballots, and are they legitimate. As I have said, it really does not matter who wins from the perspective of the model warning that we will see a rise in civil unrest. NEITHER side will accept a loss. As I have said before, if the guy you voted for lost, it was no big deal, you went on with your life. Obama may have said all kinds of nonsense against Bush from Quantanamo was illegal to his authorization of tapping into US phones. But at the end of the day, Quantanomo was still there when Obama left and the surveillance only increased under Obama. The DEEP STATE runs the show and the trend never really changed.

If you look to France, they imposed a 10% tax on gold. I have friends there you buy their gold but post it to Belgium. We have to understand that is far beyond simply Republican v Democrat. Those are the old days. These people are really trying to seize control of the world to push their agenda of POPULATION CONTROL and CLIMATE CHANGE.

There is no way they will achieve their goal. This is wildly naive and it requires an academic to come up with this nonsense. There are two things that they have completely gotten wrong and it seems willing. (1) Climate Change and (2) the Business Cycle. Civilization expands with warming periods and contracts during cold periods. To listen to these people who argue that climate change is caused by humans cannot be supported by the data. We certainly do not want to live in pollution. We need clean air and clear water. But pollution does not change the climate. There are far bigger cycles at work.

Insofar as the business cycle is concerned, this is driven also by weather as well as innovation. The idea that we can create an economy that is the perfect utopia where there is never a recession or depression is absolute nonsense. Just look at any market from stocks and bonds to commodities. Everything fluctuates.

These two assertions that they can manipulate the climate and smooth the business cycle to create the perfect world is the dreams of madmen who are not satisfied with the way things actually work in this universe.

The BOTTOM LINE will be capital flows. What we must be concerned about is that there will be capital restraints imposed in different countries. Cutting off international travel is highly dangerous. The USA is no exception. All my staff outside the country cannot visit for everyone’s visa has been canceled. In Europe, Americans will be prohibited from traveling there without preapproval BEFORE you can even buy a ticket starting in 2021 and that was before COVID. We are staring at a deliberate move to reduce air travel as part of this Climate Change agenda without formally stating so.

This is no longer about Republic/Conservative v Democrat/Labour. There is a much bigger agenda taking place which will dictate the direction of the world economy ahead of us.

Sep 28 2020

Project Veritas Exposes Ilhan Omar Allies in Alleged Ballot Harvesting Operation in Minnesota


Ilhan Omar connected Ballot Harvester in cash-for-ballots scheme: “Car is full” of absentee ballots

Project Veritas image

Re-Posted from the Canada Free Press By  —— Bio and Archives—September 28, 2020

 

Sep 28 2020

Leftist Radiation: Without Propaganda, Trump’s Popularity Would Soar for Certain Reelection


Judge Coney Barrett Will Too Experience Kavanaugh Sewage Treatment by Lib Propagandists

Kelly OConnell image

Re-Posted from the Canada free Press By  —— Bio and Archives—September 27, 2020

 

Leftist Radiation: Without Propaganda, Trump's Popularity Would Soar for Certain Reelection

INTRO: Propaganda Cocktails
There is a figure in Catholicism, Saint Christopher, Patron Saint of Travels, etc. After many years of veneration, some historians doubt his existence. Entertaining, of course—but it’s no different than the treatment Donald Trump received. His opponents were so sure he would spoil their racket and expose their real identities – and scams, graft and power-grabbing. This included Republicans who also hated Trump. So his foes built an astonishing fake history to poison minds of the credulous before they could find out who Trump was through actions. This was all achieved through propaganda.

Truth 

What is Truth to those who only seek power? Technically there is no ‘truth’ to progressives, as victim of the enlightenment. This explains why so many leftist pursuits are driven by false narratives, such as Norma Covey, aka Jane Roe – in  Roe v Wade, whose abortion case was based upon a false rape claim. Again, Donald Trump’s “Russia Collusion” investigation was entirely fabricated.

Lie-Based Public Policy
But why always lie? Because a leftist does not think drafting a white lie is deception if supporting a larger truth. So, “abortion” is more meaningful than a fake story. Their model is the “Hive,” where the ‘facts of the day’ are all dependent upon the needs of the moment, drafted by a leftist drone. So the group produces official positions which they all then ape. Marx himself did not really address truth, while still implying his ideas  as ‘true’. Liberal Frank Knight, in Ethics of Liberalism, states:

“There can be no truth which is not open to question” under liberalism, which must exercise great discretion over “what questions are raised & discussed; for human individual attention is very limited & the possible scope for discussion is enormously more limited still.”

Talking Points & Fallacies

This is why Talking Points are so crucial to Leftists, as they establish appearance of consensus. What many progressives believe would seem ludicrous to most people. Their entire worldview is based upon false support which works to create credibility. And so they feel forced to battle by fallacy. Their method is personal attack, changing subjects, claiming opposition is always wrong, etc.

Propaganda

Propaganda: “The spreading of ideas, information, or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person.” It’s the conscious use of written, verbal and symbolic means to mislead. This is how Leftism normally establishes its ideas as they are either riddled with falsehoods or abhorrent to the average person. Intellectual John Dewey fought to have US education simplified using  progressive methods forcing children to self-teach. This is why folks today struggle with logic and make easy pawns for false narratives, emotion and manipulation. Contra J Finnis:   Natural Law, Natural Rights

CONCLUSION:

What would Trump’s approval numbers be if Democrats had not orchestrated a gigantic hoax before inauguration, and constantly slandered him through willing idiot reporters? It would be a sea-change. The left was correct to fear Trump and his restless upgrades. Hopefully he can overcome the worst POTUS treatment ever, and still whistle past slumberin’ Joe Biden’s political grave for an easy victory.

Sep 28 2020

The Football Follies


As we can see from the decline in ratings, social justice activism is not as popular as good old-fashioned patriotism

Jeff Crouere image

Re-Posted from the Canada Free Press By  —— Bio and Archives—September 27, 2020

The Football Follies

Over the last few decades, Americans have enjoyed an ever-increasing love affair with the games of college and professional football. Eventually, the National Football League (NFL) surpassed Major League Baseball to become the country’s top sports attraction.

Unfortunately, in recent years, political activism has interfered with Americans being able to enjoy the game. It started to move in a disturbing direction in 2016 when San Francisco Forty-Niners quarterback Colin Kaepernick decided to protest during the playing of the National Anthem before the start of each game.  His kneeling protest was adopted by other players, causing an uproar in the country. The practice continued in 2017 but diminished during the last two seasons.

Everything changed with the death of George Floyd

Everything changed with the death of George Floyd in May of this year. Street protests have led to shootings, rioting, looting and the destruction of property worth billions of dollars. Even more troubling, police officers and protesters have been injured and killed.

These protests have migrated into many sporting events, including the game of football, both in the NFL and in the collegiate level, where the top conference is the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The current policy of the SEC is for all players to stay in the locker room while the National Anthem is performed, but the protests have been expressed in other ways.

Prior to the start of Saturday’s Ole Miss vs. Florida match-up, players and coaches took a knee “to acknowledge the unrest in our country surrounding the treatment of African Americans. We will continue to support social justice efforts as members of the Southeastern Conference and members of our respective communities.”

Vanderbilt University players displayed social messages on their helmets. There are 15 approved messages, including “Black Lives Matter,” and “No Justice No Peace.” Players for the universities of Georgia and Arkansas wore “equality” patches on their jerseys.

While college football players protested, NFL players have spent the past several weeks expressing outrage at police brutality and the treatment of African Americans in our country. The league decided to play the song “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” known as the “Black National Anthem,” prior to the start of all the games during the first week.

During the first few weeks of the season, a variety of players have protested either by remaining in the locker room during pre-game ceremonies or by raising a fist or kneeling while the National Anthem was performed. These actions were approved by the NFL, which changed its stance on the issue.

This entire year has been a ratings disaster for the NFL

In fact, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell apologized for the league. He said, “We, the NFL, condemn racism and the systematic oppression of Black People. We, the NFL, admit we were wrong for not listening to NFL players earlier and encourage all to speak out and peacefully protest.”

Along with Goodell’s apology and on-field symbolism, the NFL became financially involved in the issue by pledging $250 million in donations over a ten-year period to combat “systemic racism.”

Undoubtedly, these actions are popular with players and those who believe in social justice activism. However, there are plenty of fans who feel otherwise, and will take out their frustration by not watching football on television.

Diminished ratings will severely hurt the NFL during this pandemic because the league’s revenues will be much lower since stadium attendance is either extremely limited or not permitted at all.

As the 2020 season has now moved into week three, it seems that television viewers are leaving in droves. For last Thursday night’s NFL game, the television ratings sank to a four year low with only 5.43 million viewers, barely edging the viewership for the ABC show Celebrity Family Feud.

This entire year has been a ratings disaster for the NFL with both Sunday Night Football and Monday Night Football experiencing massive declines in viewership.

Disgust with the politicization of athletics

There is a simple explanation for why this is occurring. Millions of Americans want to watch football as a distraction from their everyday troubles. For these viewers, the last thing they want is to be reminded of the national political battles on the football field or during league sponsored lectures masquerading as commercials.

If athletes want to get involved in politics, they should run for elected office. If they want to be involved in the criminal justice system, they should become police officers, lawyers, or judges. If they want to become social justice warriors, they should sign up to work as counselors or volunteer with a community based non-profit organization helping those in need. Otherwise, they can play football, or other sports, and do their activism on their own time, as opposed to doing it while hard working Americans are watching on television.

Unless the NFL and college football change course, the television viewership will never return to full strength. In fact, it is already too late for some viewers who left forever because of their disgust with the politicization of athletics.

This exact scenario worried the owner of the Dallas Cowboys, Jerry Jones, who speculated that the activism may hurt the NFL’s football ratings. He noted that the majority of his team’s fans recognize “what this great country is and what this flag stands for.”

Yes, Mr. Jones, not only your fans, but most NFL fans also appreciate the greatness of this country and our American Flag. As we can see from the decline in ratings, social justice activism is not as popular as good old-fashioned patriotism.