A Couple of Things
I don’t think you need to have an opinion about everything. I certainly don’t think you need to have an opinion about Simone Biles. I will tell you what I think — I think I got it wrong and a lot of other people with the same take also got it wrong and I’ll admit I was wrong and they will double down on being wrong and get mad at me for thinking differently after having processed more information.
My first take was that it was pathetic for her to abandon her team at the last minute and claim mental health after being built up as the whole reason for USA Gymnastics and the face of Team USA.
But on a data-driven approach, Simone Biles was falling behind her Team USA colleagues and, given her results, had she stayed for the finals she not only would have risked serious injury but would have cost Team USA even their silver medal.
I think it is safe to say she could have made the decision sooner, but also would note she was under extraordinary pressure and NBC had built an entire Team USA media campaign around her.
All of that is to say you can disagree and have your own opinion or no opinion whatsoever, but I think the larger story that we should not lose sight of is the way the media itself and NBC especially have handled this. They built Biles into the GOAT (greatest of all time). They put her on the covers of magazines. And they’re framing the story as her heroism for talking about mental health when it is closer to say she took one for the team knowing she couldn’t compete proficiently.
Biles, herself, helped feed that media story and distract from the truth with her statement that, “It’s okay to sit out the big competitions to focus on yourself.” If we take Biles at her word, she should have never gone to Tokyo to begin with.
The larger truth is that the fallout from Larry Nassar’s abuse continues to haunt Team USA and the condemnation should probably be placed on the leaders of the gymnastics division than on the athletes still dealing, in various ways, with Nassar’s abuse and the leadership’s willingness to keep him around.
I also think it is worth saying if Biles had been a man, she would have not so easily been able to take one for the team to popular applause and I think we should be reminded, yet again, that men and women are different and that’s not a bad thing. And no, I don’t think we should soften up on the men at all. Sticktuitiveness has to count for something, particularly at the Olympic level.
Second, I want to double down on something I have said before. Yesterday, it cost me a few subscriptions to this publication and I don’t really care because I’m here to tell you the truth and not make you feel good about yourself.
What happened on January 6th is presently being revised. Those who stormed into the Capitol, wreaked havoc, and went to jail are being called “political prisoners.” The woman who got shot while trying to climb through the window to open the door for the mob as members of Congress were fleeing — all caught on video — is portrayed as a martyr.
There were a lot of people in the Capitol who were just wandering around to see what was going on. But there was a nefarious element as well and they are not political prisoners, but criminals who will go to prison. They should not be portrayed as brave or victims, but a lot of people are so doing. They didn’t commit an armed insurrection. They certainly intended to stop Congress from meeting and carrying out its constitutional responsibilities. If you don’t like me telling you the actual freaking truth, you too can unsubscribe and hide down the rabbit hole of lies so many people prefer these days.
BUT ALSO…
January 6th is not nor does it come anywhere close to September 11, 2001, and anyone who thinks it does is no saner than the braying bison helmeted jackass who went into the Capitol that day.
In the 80’s, communists literally planted a bomb in the Capitol that exploded. Puerto Rican nationalists opened fire in the House gallery. The people who stormed the Capitol were broken souls and so too are many in the media who compare it to something like 9/11.
The reality is that these members of the media and Democrats do it for political purposes. They want to define the GOP by January 6th.
Except, while it was Trump supporters storming into the Capitol, it was not Republican politicians manning the ramparts with them except in the minds of MSNBC anchors. The Republicans and Democrats were both fleeing.
In November of 2022, voters are not going to go into voting booths and think, “Well, I nearly got mugged getting here, my kid just learned he’s a racist oppressor because he’s white, the police have been defunded, bread costs $6.00 a loaf, my gas is $10.00 a gallon, but I’m going to punish the Republican f—ers who didn’t participate in January 6th’s incursion in the Capitol but maybe supported Trump who isn’t on the ballot.”
BUT ALSO…
It is really appalling to see a bunch of Republicans who purport to back the blue condemning Capitol Hill police officers and mocking them all because they both did their job that day and now recount what happened. You either back the blue or you don’t. If you only back the ones who tell you what you want to hear, you’re more like Antifa.
ONE LAST THING…
Like hell will I put a mask back on.
The media would be excoriating Joe Biden if his name were Trump for doing what the administration did yesterday. “Wear your mask if you’re vaccinated in order to protect your loved ones” is the stupidest messaging possible.
Yes, yes, if you are vaccinated there is a chance — a small chance — you could get infected. But it is small and the odds are you’ll be fine. Telling the people who bothered to get the vaccine that they now have to live their life in a mask is crap messaging.
My whole family is vaccinated now. I’m not putting back on a mask unless a business has an explicit sign telling me I must have one to enter and I really want to go in. It is the business’s choice. I can wear a mask or shop elsewhere. But the government itself insisting on mask mandates is a failure.
I’d also note that if Donald Trump had hit a vaccination goal and failed to meet it, the press would blame the administration, not the people.
This administration and progressives are fine to let loose in this country COVID positive illegal immigrants on the promise they show up one day in court, but drip with disdain and distrust for their fellow countrymen and demand proof of vaccines or public shaming.
I thank God for you Erick. Speaking the truth no matter the cost..Wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Would love to have a beer with you someday my friend. You’re a great American. Keep blowing the horn….
Full on YES! Keep telling it the way it is.
As for the Olympics, the world does not revolve around this periodic event, except in the minds of those who sell advertising and sports gear. My favorite event, the Equestrian competitions never gets any coverage. So I rarely watch the others. Gymnastics, as ballet, forever destroys the structure of those young bodies. As anyone who started as children.
January 6 was an unfortunate and abhorrent display of insanity. Don’t want to talk about it any more.
NO MASKS any more unless I have to wear one to get into a grocery store. I’m
Vaccinated and that’s it.
Finally, my daughter, her military husband and our three grandchildren are in Australia serving our country for the next 9 months at the end of a two year posting. Australia is contact tracing full on via a mandatory app on your phone. You must scan into every public building so they’ll know where you are. We cannot be next in line for this intrusiveness. Returning to masks and the potential for a vaccination mandate are the first ominous steps in that direction in the hands of this pitiful administration. Something must change!!!