Image courtesy of Erik Drost's Flickr page - Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Golden State Warriors: https://www.flickr.com/photos/edrost88/18712418510/in/photolist-uvy36m-uKQ6xG-tRgUTP-uvtpVm-uKQmv7-uvGFwB-uMFFeG-uNpE1e-tBehBy-uN3P3D-tR2Qho-HUSfr-4Taf5q-uvASzv-7vAzf2-qHUK2k-r52g6V-6K6Fki-bgddQ6-4G4nGd-r4UoZy-7NjrkD-9nssXS-rmt3kn-JgQiv-uoEiQf-djFciv-rmokYq-r4Ujq3-7hGokn-4iSMB3-bgdChx-47g67u-qKt9Fn-qKuV8z-qKt9yP-qKt9Ea-3pYanc-4C12US-uvyAju-uvyCCs-buWvMB-3q3GXA-eedDRY-7NopXJ-6r3FD-6r3uV-3pYaeB-dZTukn-dZTkBK
Creative Commons License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.
Trump must have some serious attention deficit disorder. He is just all over the place, a self-proclaimed expert on everything, which is why he feels the need to comment on everything.
Just think about this week. On Tuesday, he gave an unimpressive speech before the United Nations, railing against the failings of the organization and mocking what he suggested was false grandeur. Can you imagine this idiot, of all people, accusing anyone of false grandeur? He also spoke about how the Iran nuclear deal was, according to him, a humiliation for the country, and then, of course, the most infamous part of his speech, the part that sent chills down the spine of any objective individual who does not merely talk about wanting peace, but truly wants it. He referred to North Korea's leader as the "Rocket Man," and threatened to obliterate that country, to effectively wipe it off the map.
The next day, though, he created an entirely new nation, the Republic of Nambia (presumably, a mixture of Namibia and Zambia). He did this during a lunch meeting with African leaders, and surely, they must have been impressed with his obviously extensive knowledge of their continent.
Now, back in front of his supporters, where he apparently feels the most emboldened, President Trump went back to race baiting. Just a few weeks after refusing to get off the fence about condemning white supremacists, he suggested that players who kneel during the national anthem should be fired on the spot.
Surprise, surprise - the protesting players are almost exclusively black.
He also suggested that he was rescinding his invitation to NBA champion and basketball great Stephen Curry, even though Curry had already suggested that he was not interested in going to the White House to visit with this president.
This was where the other major NBA star of this age, LeBron James, stepped in, attacking President Trump with a tweet (which usually is Trump's own bread and butter):
“You bum @StephenCurry30 already said he ain't going! So therefore ain't no invite. Going to White House was a great honor until you showed up!”
James is right. Trump was just essentially trying to save face by claiming that he was taking his invitation of Curry back, following the NBA Championship that Curry and his Golden State Warriors captured earlier this year - their second title in three years. When Curry and the Warriors won it two years ago, there was another president sitting in the Oval Office, and nobody on the Warriors had any problems with a White House visit at that point.
But that is not the case this time around, and Curry stepped up and made clear that he was turning down the invitation to visit the White House, due to disagreement with the man in charge nowadays. It was not a secret or anything, either. Curry was very clear on why, precisely, he was declining. He said that he and his team "basically don’t stand for what our president has said, and the things he hasn’t said at the right time.” according to SF Gate.
Curry continued with the statement that expanded on the precise reasons that he would not be visiting the White House this time around:
“By not going, hopefully it will inspire some change for what we tolerate in this country and what we stand for, what is accepted and what we turn a blind eye toward. You can talk about all the different personalities that have said things and done things from [Colin] Kaepernick to what happened with Michael Bennett to all sorts of examples of what has gone on in our country that has led to change.
“We’re all trying to do what we can, using our platforms, our opportunities, to shed light on it. I don’t think not going to the White House will miraculously make everything better. But this is my opportunity to voice that.”
Well, there you have it. Curry followed the example of numerous members of the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots in declining the invitation, specifically because Donald Trump is the man serving as the sitting president. This has been an ongoing trend, and it has not been helping Trump's image, obviously. So, of course, he has to try and be petty and deceitful, and make it seem that he was the one who rejected Curry, and not the other way around. Because, you know, Trump can never, ever let anything go. This overgrown manchild just always has to feel that he one-upped everybody.
Clearly, it did not work so well, however. Many people knew that Curry rejected the idea of visiting Trump's White House almost immediately after the Warriors won the NBA Championship. And just in case anyone did happen to forget, Curry's rival, LeBron James, stepped in to remind everyone and to make it clear, once and for all and without any doubts, that Curry had rejected Trump's invitation specifically because it was Trump who extended it. And an issue that was more or less dormant suddenly received much more attention because of the big names involved in this little dispute, or spat, or whatever you would call this.
The facts do not favor Trump, but unfortunately, this likely will not improve his behavior. Also, facts never bothered him before. Anyone who looks at the facts will immediately know that Trump was just trying to save face after being slighted for his bigotry, once again. Yet, his supporters will grab onto his version of things, and dismiss anything else, true or not, as "fake news." And even if they are directly confronted with the truth somehow (which seems unlikely), they will follow the lead of their pathetic prince of orange and skewer everything, so that it will confirm their world view, that everyone indeed is out to get Trump, to try and undermine his presidency, and that their man is of such a high character, that he is fighting back and calling these spoiled yet ungrateful millionaire athletes out on their hypocrisy and/or lack of patriotism.
Same old same old, even if they seem to view Trump as a fresh approach, a breath of fresh air.
Truly absurd times in America, and bizarre stories like these not only have become the norm, but will obviously be the norm, at least for the next three years and change.
Sigh.
This is the article that I used in writing this particular blog entry (as well as where I got the above quotes from), which felt a bit like a mixture of sports and politics - at least the trashy and dishonest brand of politics that President Trump ushered in, and which has been uniquely, if also tragically, successful thus far (he is the president, after all):
LeBron James hits Trump: White House visits were an honor 'until you showed up!' BY BRANDON CARTER - 09/23/17
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