That bunch of ungrateful millionaires who have all the
relevance of tree fungus and continue to hold their pity party to disrespect
our national anthem now have a PR problem. The ingrates have underestimated our
ability to affirm their irrelevance by tuning them out.
A recent
Washington-based Winston poll affirms that the protests have transformed the
NFL into the least popular professional sports league in America. A J.D. Power
survey in July indicated 30 percent of the viewers who watched less football in
2016 than they did the prior season said it was because they were offended by
players protesting the anthem.
Obviously, that has carried over into 2017. So,
keep exercising your right to kneel, you overpaid ingrates, and We the Unwashed
will continue to exercise our right to tune you out. Is this a great country,
or what?
I spent a number of years either working in Washington or supervising those who did. Potomac Fever is real, folks, and highly contagious. That is why former Georgia Congressman Tom Price and later the Secretary of Health and Human Services in the Trump Administration saw no problem chartering private jets to ferry him around to the tune of some $400,000 while his boss has been promising to “drain the swamp.”
Price’s poor judgment was exceeded by Pennsylvania
Republican congressman Tim Murphy, a married man and one of the leading
anti-abortion advocates in Congress, who asked his mistress to have an abortion
and did so via a text message. Brilliant. Both Price and Murphy have resigned,
the latest victims of Potomac Fever.
There is a God but it is not Harvey Weinstein, movie mogul and fat cat
contributor to liberal causes. Weinstein is facing allegations of decades of
sexual harassment and abuse by a number of women, including several prominent
actresses. The company he co-founded, Miramax, has fired him. While I could
care less about what goes on in Weenie World, aka, Hollywood, I must confess
this came as a shock to me because none other than that esteemed political
observer, Meryl Streep, had designated him a god and I hang on every word she
utters. Now, she claims she was not aware of what Weinstein was doing, although
it seems that most of Weenie World knew. Bless her heart, Meryl needs to get
out more. Like maybe to church?
The Boy Scouts are going to admit girls in their ranks and become more
inclusive. The Girl Scouts say the Boy Scouts’ “house is on fire” — whatever
that means — and talked about the power of a “single gender environment” which
I think means they aren’t going to let boys in. (ACLU, are you listening?) And
what about those poor souls who don’t know which bathroom to choose? On my
honor, this is making my head hurt.
Note to Georgia’s public school teachers: It’s that time again. The political
races are beginning to heat up. You are going to hear from a lot of candidates
who will tell you they know how difficult and thankless your job can be because
their momma/sister/uncle/cousin was or is a schoolteacher and if you will elect
them, they are going to work extremely hard to improve things for you. That is
just so much bilge water. It happens every election cycle. Don’t let them
sweet-talk you. Do your homework (I love telling schoolteachers that!) and keep
an eye peeled particularly for those ideologues who advocate more tax dollars
for private school vouchers. They are not your friend.
Finally, it is hard to believe it has been 10 years this month since I was in
Iraq with members of Georgia’s 48th Brigade Combat Team. The 48th BCT is a part
of the Georgia Army National Guard. True citizen soldiers.
They were commanded
by Brig. Gen. Stewart Rodeheaver, a certified Great American. On the wall in my
home is a photograph of a crater about the size of a kitchen table, courtesy of
an IED (Improvised Explosive Device) that went off right under the wheel of the
Humvee in which I was seated. A few seconds one way or the other and we might
not be having this conversation. It was a unique experience for me, to say the
least. For these folks it was a daily risk.
Want to talk about heroes? Mine are the men and women of Georgia’s 48th Brigade Combat Team. The NFL ingrates couldn’t carry their duffel bags.
You can reach Dick Yarbrough at dick@dickyarbrough.com; at P.O. Box 725373, Atlanta, Georgia 31139 or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/dickyarb.