Let me tell you folks, Sunday is a great day for blogging because the local fish wraps provide so much material.
Sometimes, I have to take a while to decide which story I will write about.
But today is a tough one because there are two that catch my eye and I think worth commenting on.
The first is courtesy of the Pasadena Star-News and lefty columnist Tim Rutten.
Today in Mr. Rutten's column, it is a lefty lament about politics today.How it is sooo terrible that nothing is getting done politically. How there is anxiety across the Great Land. Well, on that point he is correct. But let me show you how he frames it:
Too many remain jobless; income disparities continue to grow alarmingly. The rewarding middle-class American norm now seems out of reach to many and tenuous to those who still enjoy it. Social mobility, economic system's glory and our great guarantor of social peace, has ossified alarmingly. Today, children born into the American working class are less likely to better themselves over their lifetime than those born into an English or French family.
Let me write from the last sentence about American children born today being no better off than those born into an English or French family.
People like Mr. Rutten, a former Left Angeles Times columnist, love the European nations and their politics and their way of life. So why the diss to Europe Mr. Rutten? Is it a sudden realization that maybe they are not all you have cracked them up to be? That the cradle-to-grave welfare is a hindrance rather than a glory?
And the aspect of social mobility, well Mr. Rutten, look to our own state as the example of why things are so screwed-up on that level.
California is seeing businesses and those that can leaving the state due to high taxation, anti-business and bad schools. Those that are coming in, fewer than those leaving, are not contributing but simply those willing to work cheaply or taking in our government benefits.
The same song is happening all across the United States as Blue states see migration to Red states because of some of what Mr. Rutten has written about here.
And now after four years of relatively unchecked liberal policies emanating from Washington, D. C., we are see the income stagnation worsen, not better.
But for the total richness of this piece, this is the kicker:
We look to Washington for solutions and find ourselves alone, peering into the abyss just over a "fiscal cliff." Such are the wages of bitter partisanship and brittle ideology.
Sigh!
Timmy, I want to tell you something.
No, I do not look to Washington for solutions. I do not look to Suckramento, er Sacramento for solutions. I do not look to Los Angeles county for solutions. I do not look to Pasadena for solutions.
For you see, they do not come up with solutions to so-called problems but end up making problems when none exist.
What I really look for is these parasitic entities to leave me the hell alone. And the rest of the citizenry alone too.
The so-called "Fiscal Cliff" was a man-made potential disaster. Because the government had to do something.
The push for new oppressive gun control is due to the horrific Newtown massacre in which 20 first-graders were killed at the hands of a crazy man named Adam Lanza.
Because the government has to do something.
So called income "inequality" is a problem in Liberalland.
The government has to do something about it.
And on, and on, and on.
See, people like Timmy Rutten put all their faith in government and believe that there are crisis's on top of crisis's. When in reality, there are things that just happen in this life and that the government can not do all and be all.
Enough of Tim Rutten!
The Left Angeles Times provides the next bit of lefty propaganda and it appears in the sports section.
Why it is a front page expose on the issue of professional gay athletes. Or really the fact that none are "out" yet.
Again, sigh!
Trust me, I have seen variations of this story over the years. And it is the slow time of year in news because of the Christmas and New Year's break. Only it should not be all that slow as this is the college football bowl season and there is the NBA and college basketball. No NHL hockey yet.
But really, is this a front page into all of page nine in a 12-page sport section?
I do no think so. I mean, yes it will be something that happens at some point. That a male professional athlete who may be a baseball, basketball, football or hockey player will say that he is a homosexual.
Yes, like in all other aspects of the great gay outfest, it has people down with it and some not so down with it.
Take former Anaheim Angels* outfielder (no pun intended!) Torii Hunter.
Mr. Hunter is a committed Christian. As he sees it from what he has come to believe, homosexuality is wrong. The sexual act that homosexuals engage in is what is wrong has he believes it.
Here is how Mr. Hunter puts it:
"I will be uncomfortable because in all my teachings and all my learning, biblically, it's not right. It will be difficult."
Like it or not, it is how Mr. Hunter feels about the possibility of playing with an openly gay team mate. Mr. Hunter's view is more than likely a prevailing one but to varying degrees.
Of course to the pro-gay folks, it is just wrong, sexist and of course homophobic. One can not believe that having sex with someone of the same sex is wrong. It is totally cool.
And there is a sense of inevitability expressed by one football running back Arian Foster of the Houston Texans:
"People are more accepting of it. . . .I don't think it will be long."
And Mr. Foster is probably right. Yes at some point a male pro athlete is going to say that he is gay.
But that does not mean everyone is going to be cool about it. But trust me, those that are not will be ostracized. Made to feel much less than human than the gay athlete who says he is gay.
The article points out that the ones that have said that they are gay have done so after playing in their respective sport. And none are anyone that are household names.
The fact is that I am certain that there is probably a gay player on almost every team in pro sports. In the article, Tennessee Titan quarterback Matt Hasselback said that he must have played with a "closeted" teammate during his NFL career.
But understand this about the four major pro sports in the United States.
It is team focused. Sure, there are some players better than others and they are superstars. But when the team does not work together, they play lousy. It is not about the player that is a druggie or drunk. Sure, they get help if it becomes a distraction. If they want it. It is about the team. Or let me put it in this context.
The Washington Redskins have this quarterback Robert Griffin III. He is on his way to being a star quarterback. But that is not just because he or his coaches call great plays. Or that Mr. Griffin has a great arm. He needs to have that offensive line block the other team so that he can either hand off to the running back or pass to the right receiver. He needs that running back to gain yards to move the ball down the field. He needs the same from his receivers. If one does not have good linemen, receivers and running backs, he is not all that.
The point is that any distraction is a detriment to the team as a whole.
So imagine that some player decides that he has to tell all that he is a homosexual.
It will, no matter what, be a distraction. No amount of political correctness, wanting to be inclusive, etc. will make it non-controversial.
FWIW, I think those that choose not to be open about their sexuality do so for that reason. That they realize it is about the team and not their own self.
But that does not mean we do not get this kind of article more than we need to. For the gay left, this is one of the last hurdles in their mind for total acceptance. And this will not be popular for me to write but it is all about them and their so-called issues. Never mind what pro team sports is all about. Why a gay has to be open and "proud" and everything else be damned.
Thus I do believe that it will happen and probably pretty soon. Most people will yawn because they are, as Mr. Foster put it, more accepting.
But I do not think that this warrants a huge article in the sports section. A part of the fish wrap that is for stats and stories and analysis of games and those that play them. For at the end of the day, it is about who an athlete has relations with. And that should not be big news.
But I am thankful for the local fish wraps because they just provide some great blog material on a Sunday.
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