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“Michael and I have talked about it a lot. I was very proud of the way he handled it. The way this has been handled is not what America is all about. So yes I feel very strongly about
it.”
-- Bob Bradley on how son Michael Bradley, the U.S. men's national team coach, spoke out about President Donald Trump's travel ban. (Guardian)
He and his father can say whatever they want but to treat all Muslim's as some kind of oppressed minority is ignorante to say the least. Bob should know full well why the Egyptians elected general Sisi and threw out Morsi and his subversive Muslim Brotherhood allies. We have every right in fact we have a duty to keep extremists out of the USA. That is not unamerican.
From a Daniel Flynn Article - "In a politics-is-everything-and-everything-is-politics world, music, sports, movies, and all that isn’t politics necessarily becomes political. Call it a non sequitur or a category mistake. Fanatics frequently fall into such follies.
The NFL season witnessed players kneel for the national anthem. Television ratings dropped by eight percent, losing more than a million viewers per game, over the previous season.
Meryl Streep harangued her captive audience with an anti-Donald Trump at the Screen Actors Guild Awards. The people disgusted by millionaire anthem kneelers and shut-up-and-listen-to-us-speechify singers likely take it out on her fellow thespians at the Oscars.
Pop culture requires popularity and culture. By appealing to a hardened minority of citizens, and doing so from a political rather than artistic standpoint, pop-culture vultures perform a treason of sorts to their vocation. They bore rather than entertain. We click away. Who wants to listen to a stemwinder speech from Katy Perry instead of hearing her sing?
Music, movies, and sports work as an escape. People turn on the tunes to tune out the noise. They go to the movies to leave reality. They click over to ESPN to click away from CNNFoxMSNBC. When monomaniacs divert the diversions toward politics, people seek to escape from their escape.
For this reason, popular culture has never been so unpopular."
IMO, many celebs think that their opinions tend to be more important than the average person's view. Fire - never said they need to shut up but I think you missed the point of my original post. Fans don't watch sports to hear what any player/coach has to say about politics. Just play or sing or act. Does anyone think that say Madonna or Katy Perry know more about national security than say Dr. Sebastian Gorka just because they can sing? Does anyone go to a concert to hear their political views? Look what happened at the grammy's or, for that matter, any other non-political event that involves hollywood.
Based on the the platform and the reach of their audience, their opinions actually are more important that ours. They aren't any more right or wrong, but they are more important.
Michael Bradley put his views on Twitter like millions of other people. The fact more people will pay attention to those views than they will to mine or yours because MB is captain of the USMNT doesn't mean he should "just play" and never speak his mind on anything. Geoff Cameron made his views known on this issue and they're the exact opposite of MB but I haven't heard you complaining about that.
Bob Ashpole replied,
February 14, 2017 at 4:17 p.m.
Don you should probably say "more influential" rather than "more important." I know what you mean and agree with you.
Remember, until he was elected, President Trump was nothing but a Hollywood celebrity (Apprentice, Celebrity Apprentice) voicing his views, so the criticism of other citizens airing their views, Hollywood or athlete, rings a bit hollow in the aftermath of his election. Not to mention, that if Bob Bradley should know because of his Egyptian experience, curious that Egypt is NOT on the travel ban list.
That is an easy one LS, Trump chose not to stick his neck out and simply listed the exact same list of countries named by President Barack Obama as terror hotbeds.
Apparently Obama decided not to put them on the list.
Banning everyone person from an arbitrary group of countries does nothing to make us safer. I read that the former prime minister of Norway was detained for hours because his passport showed he had traveled to Iran a few years ago. The passport also showed that he was the former prime minister of Norway. A mindless one size fits all approach to determining who enters our country does nothing to make us safer, just like randomly selecting an 80 year old grandma for stricter security procedures at the airport does nothing to make us safer. It's not "extreme vetting", it's extreme laziness.
Lewie Stevens replied,
February 15, 2017 at 11:39 a.m.
Brian McLindsay, Obama didn't put them on a list. Obama was presented an omnibus spending bill. The list of countries was slipped in as an add on by his Republican counterparts. He either signed the bill and continued to fund the government, and also have those countries recognized, or not fund the government. Old trick practiced by both sides of the political aisle. I'm not casting blame just pointing out that if Bob Bradley was supposed to have learned from his time in Egypt then it doesn't necessarily apply, although his experience with such issues was probably similar.
JR - I don't think you will find many metrics that support that thesis that "popular culture has never been so unpopular." NFL ratings shot right back up to normal toward the end of the season once the election was over, and I'm pretty sure that the number of people who watched the Super Bowl suggest that it's still really popular. I don't know what the ratings were for the Grammys, but I've seen a lot of chatter about it (more so than ever before) suggesting it was popular, despite lots of political statements. I'm not sure how useful political comments from people in sports or entertainment are, but for you to be offended or for these comments to ruin your experience suggests that you might be overly sensitive to the subject.
Bradleys, It is not a travel ban on Muslims! There are 7 nations that do not have organized effective governments that were chosen by the Obama admin that have been known to harbor terrorists and promote and pay for terrorism. If it is a Muslim ban then why were the two most populous Muslim countries, Indonesia and India, not to mention Egypt and Saudi Arabia, left off the list?
Kent James replied,
February 15, 2017 at 11:55 a.m.
Except that Trump said it was a ban on Muslims (and asked Guliani how he could legally ban Muslims). And in an interview on a Christian radio network he told them that he would prioritize Christians getting entrance to the US, and using a religious test to determine who gets into the US is unconstitutional. Additionally, like torture, it seems like a good idea but upon further investigation turns out not work (even without the moral/constitutional issues). No system is perfect, but such a ban inflames the extremists who are most determined to cause the US harm (and weakens our allies in Islamic communities, who we need). Even if it were to prevent a terrorist from one of the countries on the list from entering the country, it probably radicalizes 2 or 3x as many people from other countries (or who are already here), and those have proven to be the greater danger.
FPGN - Iran does have an organized government - they are listed as the largest state sponsor of terrorism in the world. So, not the best in terms of being able to trust that we can work with them to vet people coming from their country. Try again.
Yes. of course Iran's government is not trustworthy. But the onus is on us to vet people coming into our country. A one size fits all "Iranians are all bad" policy doesn't keep us safer. The ban is overbroad in that it targets everyone who comes from certain countries (except Christians) But it is also too narrow in that it does nothing to stop anyone from coming from countries that have a stronger connection to terrorism than any of the countries on the list, such as Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. Ultimately Trump is going to be the one who has to "try again". Hopefully his next effort actually resembles something designed to keep us safer.
Your right Abe it is technically not a Muslim ban because only 7 countries are named. The wording of the executive order, after new vetting measures are in place, make it pretty tough for a sharia compliant Muslim to get easy entry to the country. So tht can that be interpreted as anti-Muslim perhaps but it is pro human rights. While many Muslims may be angered, Kent, that their devote relatives cannot enter many other Muslims who come to the USA wishing to escape their more orthodox fellow Muslims will be very happy. I am more interested in keeping peace loving Muslims happy than those who will kill over cartoons ie. blasphemy or apostasy. I'm sorry to disagree with you Kent but if we don't stick up for our values who will? I think you might be surprised at how many Muslims around the world would support change to their faith. General Sisi of Egypt has called for change and social media around the world would indicate that many young Muslims want change. We need to lead in this peaceful way and drop bombs less.
Bob Ashpole replied,
February 18, 2017 at 12:49 p.m.
Thank you for your brilliant addition to the conversation. I feel enlightened by your wit and charm. I suppose you will consider this to be a partisan political statement rather than a call for civility.
He and his father can say whatever they want but to treat all Muslim's as some kind of oppressed minority is ignorante to say the least. Bob should know full well why the Egyptians elected general Sisi and threw out Morsi and his subversive Muslim Brotherhood allies. We have every right in fact we have a duty to keep extremists out of the USA. That is not unamerican.
Yes, too bad the travel ban does a poor job of "keeping out extremists." Fortunately, it looks like that nonsense will never go into effect.
Glad Coach is proud of his son, as a good father should and glad they feel strongly. Next topic.
From a Daniel Flynn Article - "In a politics-is-everything-and-everything-is-politics world, music, sports, movies, and all that isn’t politics necessarily becomes political. Call it a non sequitur or a category mistake. Fanatics frequently fall into such follies.
The NFL season witnessed players kneel for the national anthem. Television ratings dropped by eight percent, losing more than a million viewers per game, over the previous season.
Meryl Streep harangued her captive audience with an anti-Donald Trump at the Screen Actors Guild Awards. The people disgusted by millionaire anthem kneelers and shut-up-and-listen-to-us-speechify singers likely take it out on her fellow thespians at the Oscars.
Pop culture requires popularity and culture. By appealing to a hardened minority of citizens, and doing so from a political rather than artistic standpoint, pop-culture vultures perform a treason of sorts to their vocation. They bore rather than entertain. We click away. Who wants to listen to a stemwinder speech from Katy Perry instead of hearing her sing?
Music, movies, and sports work as an escape. People turn on the tunes to tune out the noise. They go to the movies to leave reality. They click over to ESPN to click away from CNNFoxMSNBC. When monomaniacs divert the diversions toward politics, people seek to escape from their escape.
For this reason, popular culture has never been so unpopular."
Bingo, J R.
Bob was probably asked about it. Michael wrote his views on Twitter. Being a soccer player/coach doesn't mean you have to shut up.
IMO, many celebs think that their opinions tend to be more important than the average person's view. Fire - never said they need to shut up but I think you missed the point of my original post. Fans don't watch sports to hear what any player/coach has to say about politics. Just play or sing or act. Does anyone think that say Madonna or Katy Perry know more about national security than say Dr. Sebastian Gorka just because they can sing? Does anyone go to a concert to hear their political views? Look what happened at the grammy's or, for that matter, any other non-political event that involves hollywood.
Based on the the platform and the reach of their audience, their opinions actually are more important that ours. They aren't any more right or wrong, but they are more important.
Michael Bradley put his views on Twitter like millions of other people. The fact more people will pay attention to those views than they will to mine or yours because MB is captain of the USMNT doesn't mean he should "just play" and never speak his mind on anything. Geoff Cameron made his views known on this issue and they're the exact opposite of MB but I haven't heard you complaining about that.
Don you should probably say "more influential" rather than "more important." I know what you mean and agree with you.
You are probably right, Bob. I thought about that and concluded that influence equates to importance, but that might not be entirely correct.
Remember, until he was elected, President Trump was nothing but a Hollywood celebrity (Apprentice, Celebrity Apprentice) voicing his views, so the criticism of other citizens airing their views, Hollywood or athlete, rings a bit hollow in the aftermath of his election.
Not to mention, that if Bob Bradley should know because of his Egyptian experience, curious that Egypt is NOT on the travel ban list.
That is an easy one LS, Trump chose not to stick his neck out and simply listed the exact same list of countries named by President Barack Obama as terror hotbeds.
Apparently Obama decided not to put them on the list.
Banning everyone person from an arbitrary group of countries does nothing to make us safer. I read that the former prime minister of Norway was detained for hours because his passport showed he had traveled to Iran a few years ago. The passport also showed that he was the former prime minister of Norway. A mindless one size fits all approach to determining who enters our country does nothing to make us safer, just like randomly selecting an 80 year old grandma for stricter security procedures at the airport does nothing to make us safer. It's not "extreme vetting", it's extreme laziness.
Brian McLindsay, Obama didn't put them on a list. Obama was presented an omnibus spending bill. The list of countries was slipped in as an add on by his Republican counterparts. He either signed the bill and continued to fund the government, and also have those countries recognized, or not fund the government. Old trick practiced by both sides of the political aisle. I'm not casting blame just pointing out that if Bob Bradley was supposed to have learned from his time in Egypt then it doesn't necessarily apply, although his experience with such issues was probably similar.
JR - I don't think you will find many metrics that support that thesis that "popular culture has never been so unpopular." NFL ratings shot right back up to normal toward the end of the season once the election was over, and I'm pretty sure that the number of people who watched the Super Bowl suggest that it's still really popular. I don't know what the ratings were for the Grammys, but I've seen a lot of chatter about it (more so than ever before) suggesting it was popular, despite lots of political statements. I'm not sure how useful political comments from people in sports or entertainment are, but for you to be offended or for these comments to ruin your experience suggests that you might be overly sensitive to the subject.
Welcome to America where everyone can have an opinion !
Bradleys, It is not a travel ban on Muslims! There are 7 nations that do not have organized effective governments that were chosen by the Obama admin that have been known to harbor terrorists and promote and pay for terrorism. If it is a Muslim ban then why were the two most populous Muslim countries, Indonesia and India, not to mention Egypt and Saudi Arabia, left off the list?
Except that Trump said it was a ban on Muslims (and asked Guliani how he could legally ban Muslims). And in an interview on a Christian radio network he told them that he would prioritize Christians getting entrance to the US, and using a religious test to determine who gets into the US is unconstitutional. Additionally, like torture, it seems like a good idea but upon further investigation turns out not work (even without the moral/constitutional issues). No system is perfect, but such a ban inflames the extremists who are most determined to cause the US harm (and weakens our allies in Islamic communities, who we need). Even if it were to prevent a terrorist from one of the countries on the list from entering the country, it probably radicalizes 2 or 3x as many people from other countries (or who are already here), and those have proven to be the greater danger.
Iran doesn't have an organized government? Try again.
FPGN -
Iran does have an organized government - they are listed as the largest state sponsor of terrorism in the world. So, not the best in terms of being able to trust that we can work with them to vet people coming from their country.
Try again.
Yes. of course Iran's government is not trustworthy. But the onus is on us to vet people coming into our country. A one size fits all "Iranians are all bad" policy doesn't keep us safer. The ban is overbroad in that it targets everyone who comes from certain countries (except Christians) But it is also too narrow in that it does nothing to stop anyone from coming from countries that have a stronger connection to terrorism than any of the countries on the list, such as Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. Ultimately Trump is going to be the one who has to "try again". Hopefully his next effort actually resembles something designed to keep us safer.
Good to hear from Bob B. He is a class guy hopefully he is back coaching soon. If you get a chance read his article in Players Tribune today.
Your right Abe it is technically not a Muslim ban because only 7 countries are named. The wording of the executive order, after new vetting measures are in place, make it pretty tough for a sharia compliant Muslim to get easy entry to the country. So tht can that be interpreted as anti-Muslim perhaps but it is pro human rights. While many Muslims may be angered, Kent, that their devote relatives cannot enter many other Muslims who come to the USA wishing to escape their more orthodox fellow Muslims will be very happy. I am more interested in keeping peace loving Muslims happy than those who will kill over cartoons ie. blasphemy or apostasy. I'm sorry to disagree with you Kent but if we don't stick up for our values who will? I think you might be surprised at how many Muslims around the world would support change to their faith. General Sisi of Egypt has called for change and social media around the world would indicate that many young Muslims want change. We need to lead in this peaceful way and drop bombs less.
Apparently the apple doesn't fall far from the tree....
.....both are sadly stupid myopic fools.
Thank you for your brilliant addition to the conversation. I feel enlightened by your wit and charm. I suppose you will consider this to be a partisan political statement rather than a call for civility.