Mikey Likes It!: Stupid George Payne

Monday, May 28, 2018

Stupid George Payne

George Payne is an idiot. He's sobbing over the NFL's decision and how 'unfair' it is. He needs to grow the f**k up. What a little bitch boi. He even writes:

As with every major social justice movement in this country-from women’s suffrage to the Parkland students fighting for gun reform-the only way that voices of dissent will be heard is for dissent to happen.

Sorry Pretty Payne but Parkland students have accomplished nothing. That'll only be more true come next fall.

Here's Jonathan Turley writing today:

The new rule requiring NFL players to either stand for the national anthem or remain in the locker room has produced a firestorm of criticism. Sports Illustrated’s Jimmy Traina called for resistance against the “racist owners” and NBC’s Chuck Todd joined in portraying the policy as “un-American.”Rolling Stone’s Jamil Smith cast it as an effort to conceal reminders of “white supremacy.” A Washington Post column called for a challenge and declared, “There would be no NFL without black players.”

But the fact is that the NFL has every right under the Constitution to do what it did. Absent state laws to the contrary, any constitutional challenge would be like a “Hail Mary” without a receiver. No court will rule that employees of a private company have a right under the First Amendment to conduct protests at work against the wishes of their employer.

More than 50 percent of Americans are opposed to protests during the national anthem and support the new policy. Many fans boycotted games and NFL purchases over what they viewed as disrespect for the country. Others view this as a time-honored form of athlete protests, and some 32 percent oppose the new policy.

Ultimately, it is unlikely that the new rule was motivated by simple patriotism among NFL owners and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. Historically, the only thing unfailingly saluted by the NFL is profits, and these protests are cutting into profits. Even if much of the decline of viewership can be attributed to a variety factors, there is an obvious impact on sale and viewership.

In the end, it is actually a stronger case to argue the bottom line in defense of this policy than the patriotism of the owners. The NFL is a business dedicated to making money. It has determined that these protests are bad for business. Period. The First Amendment protects against government actions against free speech, not private companies like the NFL. Even if that were not the case, it is doubtful that a court would find the arguments of the critics particularly compelling.

And here's C.I. from last Thursday:

Very quickly, didn't realize this was actually a community issue until I was in the e-mails this morning, the NFL. We're not a sports site. I'm known for going to see a movie during the Superbowl. But because it's becoming an issue (and apparently will be in the gina & krista round-robin) here's my take that's being asked for.

There is no censorship. They can wear a pin to protest if they want. But in terms of kneeling at a televised game, it's not happening. I'm not surprised. Football isn't a sport, it's big money for big business. They lost millions viewers last year which was millions of ad dollars. This is not a response to Donald Trump's comments, this is a response to greed. They don't want to lose money -- the owners, the broadcasters, the advertisers. Football players -- many of whom are paid tons of money -- are being told by their employers that they cannot kneel on the clock. Most people paid by the hour have even less rights when they're at work. This decision was gong to be made and I'm surprised they waited that long. No one's being told what they can say in an interview or anything like that. There are serious issues out there. If this is one to you, work on it. To me, it's not a serious issue. It's not the ongoing war or the homophobic Simon Rosenberg trying to slip back in as a respected voice (remember when only Rachel Maddow stood up to him on AIR AMERICA RADIO? I do, it's the one moment I'm always proud of her for). Sports is entertainment. I doubt ABC would let David Muir kick off a newscast by first taking a knee. I don't applaud the NFL decision but I don't see it as surprising or worth marching for. Again, that's my opinion, feel free to disagree. If you do, take action.

This is not a legal issue.

But if players want to protest, nothing is stopping them from marching outside a police station or holding a press conference outside a police station. Of course, that might require them to actually do something and not just do something when they're on the clock anyway.

Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

Friday, May 25, 2018.

Iraq held elections this month and somehave tut-tut-ed the low turnout. They don't seem to appreciate the level of corruption in Iraq.

Maybe they will now?

As former prime minister and forever thug Nouri al-Maliki works to yet again steal an election, he makes a variety of efforts.

Like this week . . .

‏ @KurdDailynews

KDP Delegation Meets with Maliki in Baghdad

ERBIL — While in Baghdad, a high-level delegation from the #Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) met on Tuesday with Nouri al-Maliki, the ...

KURDDAILY

1 like

KurdDaily‏ @KurdDailynews May 23

Maliki's Coalition: No Objection to Choosing KDP's Hoshiyar Zebary For Presidency

ERBIL – The State of Law Coalition, led by Nouri al-Maliki said on Wednesday that they have no objection to choosing Hoshiyar...

KURDDAILY

Nouri says Hoshyar Zabari can be president of Iraq.

This is the same Hoshyar who left his post in 2016.

Well . . . was 'requested' to leave.

Expelled for corruption.

Nouri says that one of the few people actually punished in any way or form for corruption in Iraq is a good choice for president.

And we're not talking corruption in the distant past.

From the September 21, 2016 snapshot:

Now for the big news out of Iraq.

Remember all the time we spent this month explaining Hoshyar Zebari was in trouble. He was accused of corruption. He was denying it. We must have spent five days on this at least.

And we did that via Arab media because western media didn't give a damn.

In fact, only THE FINANCIAL TIMES OF LONDON filed a story on this topic and they did so after they thought it was safe and Hoshyar had survived.

He didn't survive.

A Parliamentary vote did not take place because they didn't have enough MPs present to meet a quorum.

Now what they couldn't or wouldn't tell you is known: Hoshyar's out.

AL ARABIYA reports Hoshyar Zebari has been "sacked." REUTERS adds it was a majority vote.

Twitter reaction?

Ikram Balekanî - NEW ‏@ikramBalekaniK 2 hours ago

Flash Parlementoya Iraqê ji ber gendeliyê Huşiyar Zêbarî yê PDKyî ji wezîfê girt. Zêbarî bi milyaran pere dizîbû.

10 retweets5 likes

So bad that he was voted out of his post.

Less than two years ago, voted out for corruption.

And Nouri is saying this person can be president of Iraq?

Are you getting how depressing that is for the Iraqi people?

They already see their country torn apart daily by war, bombs on the ground by terrorists, bombs from the skies by the US government (whose reign of terror has now hit the 15 year mark). And you want them to turn out to vote in a sham election when the politicians rip off the republic of Iraq and the Iraqi people?

There's a reason for the low turnout just as there's a reason for the only leader to fight corruption -- Moqtada al-Sadr -- saw his bloc win the most seats in Parliament.

It's as though no one in the media outside of Iraq gets the reality of daily life in Iraq.

‏ @fresh_sadegh

Translation/ An unprecedented event: meeting between ex-PM Nouri al-Maliki, PMU’s head Hadi al-Ameri , #Kurdistan’s Democratic Party (PDK, #Barzani) & Patriotic Union (PUK, Talabani) for formation of coalitional government. #Iraq

احسان سلطانی @ehsan_soltani

یک اتفاق غیرمنتظره و غافلگیرکننده:
نشست نوری مالکی، هادی عامری، حزب دموکرات کردستان عراق و اتحادیه میهنی برای تشکیل دولت ائتلافی twitter.com/Rudawkurdish/s…

3 retweets4 likes

Were Nouri an American politician, the above would launch a hundred and one analysis and speculations. Is Nouri, as he did in 2010, attempting to circumvent the process (the process outlined in the Constitution)? It certainly harkens back to those days.

Yet the only one aware of that appears to be THE BAGHDAD POST:

After the failure of his State of Law Coalition in the May 12 parliamentary election, former PM Nouri al-Maliki, still adopts an Iranian plot to spoil the political scene in Iraq. The results of the last elections proved that Iraqis kicked Maliki and that hundreds of millions of dollars spent could not make progress for his suspected coalition.

Maliki, who won only 26 seats in the 2018 election (64 seats less than what his coalition won in the 2014 elections), tries to keep the corrupt Dawa party alive under Iranian auspices.

Recently, media reports said that Maliki was engaged in intensive talks with Haider Abadi, leader of the Victory Alliance, to form the next parliamentary bloc in parliament.

But sources confirmed the former PM was working to break up Abadi's alliance. Recently, three MPs from the victory alliance have quit Abadi. Another 10 MPs are planning to take the same step.

Analysts say Maliki has only one option: either to integrate with Abadi or break up his coalition for the interest of his own coalition or IMIS-linked Al Fatih Alliance, which is supported by Tehran.

Nouri's action created the growth of ISIS in Iraq. Now he wants to be prime minister yet again. He's yet again disrupting the actual process. Where is the western media?

Oh, that's silly. The western media doesn't care about protecting the Iraqi people. They'd cover Iraq if they did. Iraq's a media liability. Covering it reminds people of how badly the lies of war destroyed Iraq and that tamps down on enthusiasm for future wars. The western press is all about selling the future wars.

The following community sites updated: