Posted on 11/20/2017 9:38:39 AM PST by SeekAndFind
The father of one of the basketball players who had been facing shoplifting charges in China downplayed President Trump’s role in having him released — and Trump’s response may be one of the worst I’ve seen yet.
Now, to be fair, I certainly do understand why President Trump would have been upset by this. If you want to argue that LiAngelo Ball’s father, LaVar, should have shown gratitude instead of dismissal of President Trump’s efforts, then I’d say that’s a fine argument. What’s not fine, however, is this:
Now that the three basketball players are out of China and saved from years in jail, LaVar Ball, the father of LiAngelo, is unaccepting of what I did for his son and that shoplifting is no big deal. I should have left them in jail! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 19, 2017
I mean, really? These three players thanked you by name, but because one of their fathers said something that you didn’t like, all three of them should have had to rot in a foreign jail? There’s really no appropriate response to a reaction like that except for, just, come on, man.
Of course, I’m not saying that these players don’t deserve any punishment. They do . . . and they deserve some ridicule, too. After all, not only is stealing wrong, but stealing in China also makes you kind of an idiot. These three embarrassed themselves, UCLA, their families, and our entire country — but they still don’t deserve to rot in a Chinese jail, and President Trump did the right thing by working to free them. Here’s the thing, though: President Trump should have worked to free them simply because it was the right thing to do, and his tweet suggests he did it looking for admiration.
This wasn’t “presidential,” and I’m not using that word in the way that most people use it. After all, when most people criticize Trump for not being “presidential,” what they mean is that he doesn’t conduct himself with the kind of decorum that they believe someone in his position should. This, however, goes so far beyond that: It suggests that President Trump does not understand that his role is to be a servant for the people of the United States — of all of the people, whether they (or their fathers) like him or not.
Yes, what President Trump did was noble, but it wasn’t extraordinary — it was his job. This is America, and our presidents don’t just leave U.S. citizens in foreign countries’ jails regardless of whether or not those citizens thought it was a good idea to steal luxury merchandise or not. President Trump should have done what he did because it’s the kind of thing he was elected to do, not in exchange for recognition from the players, their fathers, or anyone.
“It’s Kat Timph, what do you expect.”
Exactly, the Liberal who claims to be Libertarian so she can keep her FOX gig.
If one where to HONESTLY look at how President Trump has conducted himself in office, it has hardly been about self adulation, but about the office/position itself. He is not allowing that office to be insulted by ANYONE. Admiration he does not need but ingratitude towards his position as President, he obviously will not tolerate. Plus the fact he has always been a ‘brawler’ makes for an individual who won’t stand for any crap thrown his way, whether personal but especially at the position he holds.
Sit on it, Potsie!
He’s like Tony Manero. J’ew wanna play wi’ ME??? Hokay! Say ‘ello to mah l’il frien’!!!!
By definition, everything that President Trump does is presidential.
No, I disagree. The proper consequence for a criminal act is a punishment like they would have received, had the President not intervened.
You might argue that a 10-year sentence is not commensurate with a petty crime, but sentencing is a cultural thing; aren't liberals like yourself always telling us that we should respect other cultures?
I don't know about the author of this article--undoubtedly a member of the privileged "media class" -- but ordinary people like myself and many other Americans would receive no special treatment had we committed such a bone-headed crime. We'd be doing prison time, and getting all the privileges of the felon class in China, which is to say, very little. These thugs received special treatment from the President because they attend a prestigious school, and have ties to a notorious professional athlete with an obnoxious father. Everything Presidents do has a political overtone; perhaps the President thought the intervention could create some good will within the black community, remind them that he works for all Americans. That act was blatantly ignored and dismissed by Ball's father.
The President could have ignored it, but as he is wont to do, he exposed it on Twitter. The story is out there, and most freedom-loving Americans will see privileged, spoiled athletes engaged in thuggery, and an ungrateful father. These will be the same athletes sitting or kneeling during a national anthem in the near future. Once again, President Trump will be proven correct, even though no one in the media will take the time to acknowledge it.
As fund raiser, Jim, how about a $25-50 donation by the poster to Free Republic to post anything of NR’s bs?
Does the author mean presidential like Obama, the Boosh's, and or the Clinton's?
These stupid azz writers can't figure out that's exactly why Trump is President. America wants a straight talking, a none politically correct president and they're sick and damn tired of all their polite bull sh*t and their garden party demeanor. All those did in the decades prior to Trump was to take turns economically gang banging America as they became wealthier while the country declined in every direction.
These are the same political, "Experts" who said Trump would never be elected. In fact, it's a shame we're reading what they have to say, when they still haven't figured out what the hell happened or why.
From the Trump POV, all his life, I suspect, the upper classes of “society” (NOT coterminous with the folks with loot) and of the academic/newsmedia/political axis have looked down on him.
He says, “Yuge.” That's a “class marker if ever there was one. He's brash with his wealth. He marries gaudy women. He's just “not one of us.” He's uncouth.
Under this frost, lesser shoots would have wilted. But DJT has always hit back, and hit back harder. I suspect that if you've hit him and have not yet been hit back, keep your guard up, because it's coming.
It's not my style. I'm not at ease with it. But over the years I have come to appreciate that some very fine and admirable people do not observe the same courtesies of my kith and kin. I have come to see that disdaining them is not to afflict them but to deprive myself of the benefit of their acquaintance.
Of course I wish he wouldn't do some of the things he does. But I'm not sure that's his problem.
So a great many of my friends get freaked out and become censorious when DJT swings back at some dope. But that's cultural. I suspect where DJT comes from it's “I hit you, then you hit me, then we laugh and have coffee or something.”
National Review? Lighten up. Relax a little. This guy is as entertaining a president as we're likely to see in a long time.
Hey FaceMaker.
More “unpresidential” than
“If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor””?
I have to agree with Timpf on this one. There comes a point where President Trump really needs to rise above this pettiness. Calling out a single citizen and wishing he had let his kid rot in a Chinese prison for the Dad’s extremely boorish remarks is beyond the pale. If Trump had let it go, the Dad’s crude remark would have stood on its own and it would have faded away. Trump’s tweet just throws more gasoline on the fire.
Yup, you now must go with the honest evil of the left.
Hmmm, when I see NRO I quit right there - home of the NEVER TRUMPERS. I make an exception for VDH and Andy McCarthy.
IBTBWAPOIH
(the bunny with a pancake on its head)
It’s the same attitude we saw after Michael “The Gentle Giant” Brown stole from a convenience store and assaulted the clerk who tried to stop him.
The police try to get him to stand down (Brown committed a crime) but to hear it from his mourners, he did nothing wrong.
Black entitlement, privilege and ingratitude as demonstrated by the NFL. So oppressed.
Uniparty’s National Review jumped the shark. It is a `neo-con’ arm of the left now, like Rolling Stone. It is worse than, say, The Nation because others think it evidences conservative thought.
Not even close. It has become the left, like McCain. At least the left stabs Republican President Trump from the front. They spew one negative op-ed after another.
Trump only said what millions were thinking.
Trump signed the executive order for extradition to China today. [/sarc]
“In a time of universal deceit - telling the truth is a revolutionary act.”.
“This is America, and our presidents don’t just leave U.S. citizens in foreign countries’ jails regardless of whether or not those citizens thought it was a good idea to steal luxury merchandise or not.”
Really? Otto Warmbier would dispute this assertion if he could.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 28, 2017
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.