Posted on 12/17/2015 10:41:31 AM PST by Third Person
Tom Brady doesn't want to discuss Donald Trump, and it's hard to blame him. Part of Brady's appeal is that he stands for nothing, which means he can stand for anything. The second he takes a side, that veneer of perfection vanishes.
Look good, stay out of trouble, and stick to sports. Michael Jordan soared to heights of inoffensive fame this way, too – "Be like Mike" meant whatever we wanted it to mean.
So Brady dodges, like he did Monday on Dennis & Callahan with Minihane when he declined to endorse or rebuke his "good friend" Trump, instead staking out a positionless middle ground.
"Can I just stay out of this debate?" he asked with a laugh.
He dodged again on Wednesday at Gillette, when Ch. 7's Dan Hausle tried to draw him down the rabbit hole and Brady walked off the podium with a wave and a smile.
"Like I said, I'm just here to play football," Brady offered with a sheepish grin before exiting stage left.
His fans don't care what he says about anything, as long as he shows up on Sunday and completes 70 percent of his passes. I just wish he wouldn't sit out this particular issue, and here's why.
It has nothing to do with being a celebrity, and everything to do with being a citizen. Trump is now officially a menace and I'm only three-quarters hyperbolizing when I say Brady owes it to his country to say something.
If Brady is annoyed at the unwanted headlines, he has no one but himself to blame. He started all of this by proudly displaying one of Trump's insipid "Make America Great Again" hats at his locker in September, which prompted questions, which prompted generalities from Brady about Trump's chances at winning the Presidency ("I hope so . . . That would be great."), which prompted reams of coverage.
I wrote about it back then, too, but from more of a tongue-in-cheek perspective admonishing Brady for supporting such a clown. It seemed harmless enough. Once Trump's carnival barking subsided, or maybe a circus tiger ate him, we could move on with the actual election.
Except, in the interim Trump has emerged as a legitimate candidate, which defies all reason and logic. This is where it would be nice for Brady to heed the advice given to subway riders everywhere: if you see something, say something.
Far from his campaign sloganeering, Trump represents the worst of America: ignorance and arrogance masquerading as strength and conviction, money paving the path to power, fear-mongering and racism creating a vacuum to be filled with hate.
Trump is a divisive demagogue in the style of Sen. Joseph McCarthy, who'd definitely call me a Communist for writing this, or segregationist George Wallace, whose presidential campaigns in the 1960s and '70s stoked the same kinds of rage with lesser-educated white voters that Trump is tapping into now.
When Trump says things like all Muslims should be denied entry to the U.S. or that Mexican migrants are rapists and drug traffickers, that's not just antithetical to the very concept of America, it's evil. But the thing with demagogues is no one in a position of influence rebukes them. Liberals and Democrats can caterwaul all they want, but it's up to the Republican establishment to condemn his policies of hate.
What does this have to do with Brady? Like it or not, he has entered the conversation as one of Trump's symbols. Consider this quote from the Washington Post:
"In Massachusetts, I'm at 48 percent. You know why?" Trump said. "Tom Brady said 'Trump's the greatest.' He says it to anyone who asks him. You know, it's hard for a guy like him to say that. When you're a football player, you don't want to be taking sides in campaigns and having the Hillary [Clinton] people now say, 'You're not as good as Bart Starr.'"
Putting aside that Brady has never publicly labeled Trump, "the greatest" (hyperbole is one of The Donald's oratory trademarks), he has said enough to suggest he's a supporter.
Does he want to play even the tiniest role in electing a hate-monger to the White House? He could make an impact simply by saying, "Donald is my friend, but we have a lot of fans that are Muslim and Mexican, and I don't agree with his thoughts on those subjects at all."
Instead, Brady tells us Trump let him judge a beauty pageant when he first got famous, they like to golf together, and that, "I support my friends in everything they do." That's all well and good, but not every friend is worthy of the presidency.
I understand why Brady wants to stay out of this one, but Trump has positioned himself to lead our country, and if I had any kind of platform to keep that from happening, I'd use it.
I know this is asking a lot, but I wish Brady would, too.
Well, if the Dixie Chicks wanted to wear t-shirts, but not discuss their political views on stage while they were performing, I probably wouldn’t have much sentiment about them one way or another. I might have judged them instead on their musical ability or philanthropic efforts, if they had any.
I don’t care who Tom Brady votes for. As long as he isn’t using his position as a bully-pulpit, it is his business. If he gets in front of the camera after a game, covered in sweat, and begins talking about global warming and how evil corporations are responsible and such...I wouldn’t like it.
And that is how I think it should be.
None of them were denouncing Obama when he made his first run, or even his second, when there was more than enough information available to realize that Barack was a clear and present danger to the United States. He has already done more damage to America than Trump could do if he tried.
“If he gets in front of the camera after a game, covered in sweat, and begins talking about global warming and how evil corporations are responsible and such...I wouldn’t like it.
And that is how I think it should be.”
I agree-—and I feel the same way about the Hollywood crowd.
.
He's smarter than the average bear.
Trump is now officially a menace
He's a menace to the demonicrat party, the republicrat party, and anyone else who practices political correctness.
To Americans, he's stirring up exactly the RIGHT kind of trouble.
Yes, there is. As President of the American Menace Society (AMS), having convened a meeting of the Menace Declarations Committee (MDC) and taken a vote of the members thereof, and a majority of said members having voted "Aye", I formally declare the aforementioned Donald J. Trump to be a menace to:
1) mohammedan terrorists seeking to infiltrate these United States.
2) Illegal aliens seeking to cross our borders illegally for any of various nefarious purposes.
3) The democrat party.
4) The socialists and fascists infesting the upper ranks of the Republican Party.
5) Politically correct journalists.
So let it be written, so let it be done.
I have a hard time watching new movies now. If I see someone like Samuel L. Jackson in it...I'm not watching it. Sigh.
Love it!
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