dagblog - Comments for "The Tweets I feel are not worthy of the news feed but are still damn interesting news"

Do you think there will be a

rmrd0000 — Thu, 14 Jun 2018 00:41:12 +0000

In reply to "Most Capitals say they will

Do you think there will be a protest of police brutality by the team members who go to the White House?

"Most Capitals say they will

AmericanDreamer — Wed, 13 Jun 2018 21:28:07 +0000

In reply to Thinking on this matter more

"Most Capitals say they will visit the White House after winning the Stanley Cup," Samantha Pell, WaPo, this afternoon. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capitals-insider/wp/2018/06/13/most-...

172 comments and counting, less than 2 hours following the post as I write. This is pretty high volume for comments in response to a WaPo online sports column.

Thx for the discussion. I

rmrd0000 — Mon, 11 Jun 2018 19:11:44 +0000

In reply to I don't feel a powerful

Thx for the discussion. I think the message has been sent. The DNC will try to engage the white working class. I think the other portion of the working class already got the message.

Edit to add:

It always boils down to what the white working class needs to hear that other ethnic groups have already heard. It seems they are the ones reluctant to form a coalition.

I don't feel a powerful

AmericanDreamer — Mon, 11 Jun 2018 15:35:27 +0000

In reply to The economic message has been

I don't feel a powerful economic message has been conveyed powerfully, with clarity and conviction, in explicitly unifying, cross-racial and gender responsive language (by the latter I mean offering, with clarity and conviction, proposals that would enable many more women, and male single parents, to be able to better juggle work and family responsibilities and aspirations; Madeleine Kunin, former governor of Vermont, is one among many who have offered workable suggestions on how to do this, in The New Feminist Agenda, for example.) You believe it has. So it is understandable to me why you do not see possibilities worth pursuing for doing better in this regard.

I believe we understand one another, at a certain level, at any rate. We just disagree on this matter.

The economic message has been

rmrd0000 — Mon, 11 Jun 2018 15:00:19 +0000

In reply to This economy is not working

The economic message has been sent. It was rejected for Trump’s nonsense. People who need healthcare don’t know that their healthcare his Obamacare. They cheer when Trump talks about abolishing Obamacare. They cheer the Wall and are silent when children are snatched from their mothers. Black voters are not objecting to the Democratic Party’s economic plan. Blacks, Latinos, Asians, and a minority of whites agree with the Democratic plan. A majority of Whites voted for Trump. Trump’s approval remains in the 40s.

At the Presidential Level, I see a majority of ethnic minority voters siding with the Democrats and a majority of whites siding with the Republicans. Neither Clinton or Obama ever got a majority of the white vote. We can work to get the white voters willing to form a coalition. I don’t see signs that Trump supporters will change, Democrats are winning seats by forming coalitions already. I don’t see a pool of Democratic voters among people who make up the 40% supporting Trump right now.

Blacks and minority voters are not the ones preventing a coalition. There is already a coalition with white voters. What is your message to current Trump voters? The economic message isn’t working.

This economy is not working

AmericanDreamer — Mon, 11 Jun 2018 14:40:51 +0000

In reply to The reason I am a pessimist

This economy is not working for a great many. Yet there are many measures available to us which would benefit people of all skin colors, ethnicities and genders--people who think of themselves as on one or another "side" of the current divisions--and result in a fairer, more compassionate, stronger, less angry, less divided economy and society. So why not work together to pursue those?

For the substance, see proposals from, among others with excellent, entirely workable ideas, Jared Bernstein, Thomas Shapiro, and (add proposals of others with excellent ideas here). Both offer specific policy suggestions, grounded in fact and research and offering broad benefits which would reduce inequality and inequities by addressing barriers which make it more difficult for people of all skin colors, ethnicities and genders to help themselves and improve their circumstances.

The reason I am a pessimist

rmrd0000 — Mon, 11 Jun 2018 00:31:18 +0000

In reply to The Tweets I feel are not worthy of the news feed but are still damn interesting news

The reason I am a pessimist is because I keep hearing that we need to recruit those on the other side. I have yet to hear someone propose what can be said to the other side.

I have heard Trump call NFL

rmrd0000 — Sun, 10 Jun 2018 20:52:02 +0000

In reply to There are time stamped

I have heard Trump call NFL players, SOBs and unpatriotic. Trump wants players fired or expelled from the country.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2018/05/24/donald-trump-vs-nfl-players-tracking-anthem-remarks-protest/640055002/

I see the players described with a broad brush. Have yo seen the players attack the general public?

Edit to add:

A recent poll indicates that only Republicans and white men without college degrees object to the NFL protests in majority numbers.

https://nypost.com/2018/06/07/most-voters-are-fine-with-nfl-players-anthem-kneeling-poll/

2nd Edit tomadd:

NFL, NBA, and NHL players do good things in their respective communities. Many people do not object to the protests. If fact there are activists telling fans to not watch the upcoming season of the NFL because of the demand that the anthem be respected.

If the biggest demand for the NFL’s anthem position comes from Republicans can white males without a college education, I don’t see how you create a bridge.

https://theintercept.com/2018/02/08/nfl-boycott-super-bowl-colin-kaepernick/

It is an interesting dynamic.

rmrd0000 — Sun, 10 Jun 2018 18:43:00 +0000

In reply to Thinking on this matter more

It is an interesting dynamic. The Capitals owner supported Hillary Clinton. The team plays near the White House so not going would be a big deal.

https://www.sbnation.com/nhl/2018/6/7/17440256/capitals-white-house-visit-stanley-cup

Ivanka and Jared had a photo op with the Capitals at a Washington restaurant last night.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/10/politics/stanley-cup-jared-kushner-ivanka-trump/index.html

We will see what Trump’s mood is after Singapore to find out if the team is invited.

Thinking on this matter more

AmericanDreamer — Sun, 10 Jun 2018 17:57:44 +0000

In reply to I took comments made at 6:37

Thinking on this matter more here is what I hope will happen. The Caps provide no indication that they are considering whether or not to go to the WH if there is an invitation. Trump believes that they will, perhaps thinking to can isolate more black athletes he believes insufficiently worshipful of him and his actions, when Smith-Pelly alone declines to go. He extends an invitation.

Meanwhile behind the scenes the Caps actually have been discussing this. They decide to send an additional powerful message of unity and the need for everyone to contribute to racial justice and racial reconciliation by declining the invitation, with a unifying public statement accompanied by a reinforcing gesture. The basketball champion Warriors brought a group of DC area kids with them to visit the Museum of African American history in lieu of a WH visit.

Sounds like an organizing project among the Caps players. Perhaps the most likely way it happens is if Smith-Pelly recruits another player as an ally, or a teammate takes such an initiative, in an effort to engage the whole team in a conversation about the matter. All the other players who played in the deciding game are white. Perhaps Smith-Pelly's closest friend on the team, or the teammate with the strongest feelings in opposition to Trump's racial divisiveness, would be the most likely person to team up with him to create a conversation among the whole team.

I agree with AA that there might be a way for the entire team to convey their feelings about Trump's actions in this way.

The team captain, Russian Alex Ovechkin, made pro-Putin comments to the media a couple of months ago. It's possible that he cares enough about these matters to also more or less consciously be just fine with Trump, as perhaps the most powerful human in the world presently owned by Putin. But who knows? He doesn't strike me as very political at all.

The Capitals were able to win that elusive Stanley Cup championship this season despite having lost a number of key players from last season. They were able to far surpass expectations this season in part because they were all in for one another. By all accounts they were an extremely close-knit group that overcome much adversity along the way by supporting one another.

What better way for them to further demonstrate the power of such unity than by standing with their black teammate Smith-Pelly on this matter? They could show themselves to be human beings of enormous depth, social awareness, and character beyond their identity as inspired and inspiring hockey teammates.