You may not care much about football or sports. So be it. But bear with me (no pun intended). This is about football, yes, but it's mostly about the foundation of the man underneath it all. I was very saddened to read today about the passing of Chicago Bears Hall of Fame halfback Gale Sayers, at the age of 77. Because of a leg injury, he only played seven years, but oh those years. Man was he great. The cliche "poetry in motion" was invented for him, fluidly gliding through the line, stopping, changing directions and making cuts you didn't think were humanly possible. When he was a rookie, he tied the NFL record by scoring six touchdowns in one game. He led the league in touchdowns that rookie year, with 22. He was that special. By the way, the first knee injury didn't end his career -- he rehabbed, actually came back...and then led the league in rushing the next year! As I said, he was that great. But another injury to his knee is what ended it. When he was elected to the Hall of Fame, he was the youngest man in the history of the league. And as amazing a runner as we was, by all accounts I've read over the years, he was a better person. Many people may know of all this because of the most acclaimed TV movies of all time was made about him and his relationship with fellow halfback Brian Piccolo, the first black and white roommates in NFL history, though that was only just a small part of the film, notable as it was. .. His time with the Bears was odd. In what has to have been the greatest draft in NFL history, the Chicago Bears had two first-round selections in 1965 -- and they picked Gale Sayers and Dick Butkus, not only another Hall of Famer but considered by many the greatest linebacker in the league, but if not, at least of the five best. The college award for best linebacker of the year is called the Butkus Award, that's how great he was. What made it all odd, though, was that the team was absolutely awful -- yet with Sayers on offense and Butkus on defense, even as a little kid I knew enough not to miss a game or a down whether the Bears had the ball or not. They were both too special to watch. I remember another player on that team, too -- Brian Piccolo. If you've never seen the TV movie (the 1971 original with a young James Caan and a young Billy Dee Williams, since they tried remaking it a few years ago), it's highly-worth checking out, just a wonderful film, and it gives a good sense of who Sayers and Piccolo were. Here's just a hint of that. But all that aside, I have a special affection to Gale Sayers for a particular reason. Through the first 50 years of the Chicago Bears existence, they played in Wrigley Field, after the Cubs season was over. Though I'm a big Bears fan, have seen countless Bears games over the years on TV, and been to years and years of college games at the beloved Northwestern (where my dad had season tickets for 49 years) and UCLA, I've only been to one Chicago Bears game in person in my life. But that one game, which was played at Wrigley Field, was not just the only time I saw the Bears play live, but it was my first professional football game ever, -- and boy, it was a doozy. It was the game when Gale Sayers as a rookie scored six touchdowns to tie the National Football League record, which still stands. December 12, 1965. The day was pouring rain and the field was muddy, but while most everyone else was sliding all over the place, Sayers was seemingly unfazed, running free through the San Francisco 49ers defense, or what positioned itself as a defense. The Bears won 61-20. What isn't generally remembered is that although Sayers scored six touchdown, the team actually took him out of the game after three quarters when he had five touchdowns. Perhaps it was because they were so far ahead, perhaps it was because of the muddy field they didn't want to risk injury. Probably both. In fact, they only put him in the fourth quarter, for just one single play. A punt return. And he ran it back for a touchdown! His sixth, which tied the record. Through the mud, with the opposing San Francisco 49ers slipping all over the place. (Also notable about that rainy day is that it was also the game where the 49ers kicker, Tommy Davis, who at that point had the longest streak of kick extra points...missed. Which is why, you'll note, that they ended up with just 20 points, not 21. This is an affectionate video of Gale Sayers sitting down with a sports reporter and going through film of his six touchdowns. Sayers was always a modest man (the title of his "as told to" autobiography is I Am Third), though an honest one. And in this video you'll hear him repeatedly say, "They couldn't touch me. They couldn't touch me." That isn't bragging. As you watch this video, what you'll see is that...they couldn't touch him. For what it's worth, our seats were in the upper deck, sort of in the area of the end zone to the right, though we were a little further away, to the left. Yes, it was up high, but we had a great view of the field and everything that took place that glorious, albeit dreary day. (If for whatever reason this video won't embed on the site, you can watch it directly on YouTube here.) I was going to end things there, on real life -- but I decided to go back to reel life, and the movie Brian's Song. In 1969, Gale Sayers were given the George S. Halas Courage Award (named, as it happens, for Sayers' coach). He won the award for coming back from his devastating knee injury -- a rehab he credited to being made possible by his roommate Brian Piccolo. But though Sayers got the Courage Award, what those in the room didn't really know was the serious condition his dear friend was in, and he gave a famously moving speech, which was memorialized in the film. But though it got edited a bit for the movie, this was basically what Sayers said in his acceptance -- And I decided to go back to the movie because I found an excerpt of the actual speech. And as you can see, it really was Sayers. "...He has the heart of a giant and that rare form of courage that allows him to kid himself and his opponent --cancer. He has the mental attitude that makes me proud to have a friend who spells out the word 'courage' twenty-four hours a day, every day of his life. You flatter me by giving me this award, but I tell you that I accept it for Brian Piccolo. It is mine tonight, it is Brian Piccolo's tomorrow... I love Brian Piccolo, and I'd like all of you to love him too. Tonight, when you hit your knees, please ask God to love him." That's Gale Sayers. And that's only just a part of while he'll be missed. And remembered.
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As I listened to White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany twist herself in knots and try to explain to an unrelenting Jim Acosta of CNN why Trump wasn't lying when he said that "nobody" was really affected by the coronavirus, despite 205,471 deaths of Americans, so far -- and 7,097,937 infections, so far. And these were only in the United States. In fact, around the world, there have been almost 32 million human beings infected by the coronavirus and just under one million people have died. So far. So, that whole "nobody" thing, not so much. And yet, on and on, Ms. McEnany went on, trying to explain that Trump was being honest and only talking about young people -- despite that, no, he wasn't, and, of course, despite there also being an actual recording of Trump telling Bob Woodward that he knew young people could get infected by it. And as I listened to someone from the White House once again try to explain what Trump meant when he said something horrible and irresponsible and cruel and racist, I just started to wonder when it was that we formally went past the line where it become officially head-numbing to hear a White House spokesperson again explain "What the president meant when he said..." something. I mean, words matter. But when it comes to the President of the United States, words not only matter, they can be life-and-death critical. A president should ever have to have it explained what he meant, but though in life that does occur on occasion, those occasions should be rare -- not something so common that the White House Communications Office has the words, "What the president meant when he said..." on speed dial and a macro. Of course, most people know what Trump "meant" when he says something. We've heard him for four years. We know he meant something egomaniacal or cruel or untrue or racist. The only time we don't know is when it's totally incomprehensible and a mindless bunch of word less. Or "covfefe." The thing is, this -- like most things -- isn't just about Trump, though he and his spokespeople have turned it into an art form. (Can we ever forget "alternative facts"?) But Republicans making bald-faced lies and then having to explain what they actually meant when the lie is too egregious even for them to double-down on and they're called out on it. The list is too long and massive, but a few leap out. Like when Trump spokesperson Katrina Pierson said that President Obama was responsible for the battle that killed Captain Humayan Khan (son of Khizr Khan, who had spoken at the Democratic Convention) -- except the problem is that Capt. Khan did in Iraq in 2004, and Barack Obama didn't take office until 2008. And of course, there was Republican lying claims of birtherism long before Trump made it his campaign issue. And maybe one of the most legendary of all, there was the infamous article by Ron Suskind in 2004 when an unnamed W. Bush White House official (now believed to be Karl Rove) who chided Democrats for living in a "realty-based community" while Republicans "created our own reality." In other words, you tell the truth, we make it up. And that's just been standard operating procedure for Republicans. And as it often happens, I can delve into the archives and explain what I mean. Back in 2011, I wrote an article about then-senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ) getting caught in a lie so blatant that he ended up coming out with one of the more stupid, teeth-aching attempts to explain it away. This isn't about Trump. It isn't even specifically about All Republicans. This is just one individual. But especially because of what his mind-numbing explanation for his lie was, it is all too indicative of what Republicans have been doing for decades, and what Trump does when he breathes. Over 20,000 Trump lies that the Washington Post documented in just over two years of his time in office. Yes, all politicians lie. All people lie. But it's how you lie, what you lie about, how you explain your lie, how you correct your lie, if you correct your lie and why you lie that separates people. This is just a look at Jon Kyl.. But when we live with this sort of thing for decades because one party has "created their own reality" and live on "alternative facts," and as a result of all that we now live with the standard, default White House explanation of "What the president meant when he said..." -- this is far more than a look at Jon Kyl. It's about Trump. And it's about much more than Trump, it's about the elected members of the Republican Party who enable him, are complicit and, in fact, long-since laid the foundation for him. So, we head back to April 13, 2011. The Road to Hell is also Paved with Bad Intentions As a young man, Jon Kyl, the Republican junior senator from Arizona, was convicted of selling heroin, and he spent eight months in federal prison. This remark was not intended to be a factual statement. Rather, it was to illustrate that Jon Kyl, a Republican senator, is from Arizona. Yes, that was unfair. But just because Jon Kyl wasn't actually convicted of drug crimes doesn't mean he hasn't committed any legal abuses. Make no mistake, in his early days in Arizona state politics, he was reprimanded for 12 ethics violations, though avoided expulsion on a technicality, changing the spelling of his name which originally was "John Kyle." This remark was not intended to be a factual statement, either, rather it was to illustrate that Jon Kyl doesn't have the letter "H" in his name. Joking aside, there is something I do admire Sen. Kyl for. It is his deft skill manipulating the English language to avoid responsibility for making a gross smear on the floor of the U.S. Senate. Addressing his senate colleagues, Mr. Kyl had said that abortions accounted for "well over 90 percent of what Planned Parenthood does" - though the actual, truthful number is 3 percent. When later confronted over these shamefully inaccurate remarks now in the official Congressional Record, he hid behind his staff, which commented that "His remark was not intended to be a factual statement, but rather to illustrate that Planned Parenthood, an organization that receives millions of dollars in taxpayer funding, does subsidize abortions." Forgetting for a moment that this isn't even an attempt at an apology, there only two options here: either Jon Kyl takes you for an idiot, or himself. To be fair to Jon Kyl and sympathetic, he has unfortunately been painfully distracted lately, due to a bitter divorce he's going through, brought about by the exposure of a 12-year, secret affair with his secretary. Just to clarify, this remark is not intended to be a factual statement, rather it was to illustrate that Jon Kyl has a secretary. A case could be made that Jon Kyl knew his senate statement was a lie when he gave it, or at least that he didn't care whether it was false or not. But even if one chooses to graciously accept that it was just a horrific mistake - we all know what a proper reply should have been. We all know how we ourselves would have apologized. We would have said - "I'm sorry. I made a mistake. I relied on information given to me, and I should have checked it myself. I apologize to Planned Parenthood, to my senate colleagues, and to the American public. I will immediately correct the Congressional Record. And will strive to make sure such a horrible error doesn't occur again." We wouldn't have had a lackey say for us - "His remark was not intended to be a factual statement." Jon Kyl's lie and lying response reminds me of an election several years back for the Writers Guild Board of Directors. An unsigned letter was mailed that smeared each candidate on an opposition slate. Later, one of the non-attacked candidates was asked for his reaction to the anonymous smear of his opponents. Not wanting to defend his opponents, he said with a thoughtful, sad expression, "The fact that it got all the names and some of the ages right is what made the letter so hurtful." All I could think was, "No! The fact that it got all the names right is what made the letter - a smear." It was the same attitude weaving through Jon Kyl's own smearing statement and smarmy, staff reply. It's as if the truth doesn't matter. That anything can be said if it helps you. And if you're forced to address the lie, dismiss it as not being intended to be the truth. Of course it's not intended to be the truth. It was intended to smear! This is an attitude that permeates the conservative movement these days. Democrats can lie, too, and when they do, it's just as wrong. But these days, the "say whatever you want," "truth be damned" weight has been falling more heavily on the Republican and conservative side. Perhaps because they're the ones in attack mode. Perhaps because the truth that Social Security, Medicare, universal healthcare, and public education all actually help people causes Republicans political trouble. Whatever the reason, when the truth hurts you, and you choose to say anything to win, the truth doesn't matter. To make a point attacking President Obama, Bill O'Reilly describes U.S. troops massacring Germans at Malmedy during WWII - when the truth is the exact opposite. To prove a rally was popular, Glenn Beck shows a photograph of the crowd - when the truth is that the photo was taken years before. To terrify the GOP base, Sarah Palin and others lie that Democrats want to kill old people. And on and on the spiral downward goes. But of course, truth actually does matter. And we should not only expect it of our children, but also our politicians and social voices. Yes, I know that's a lot to expect. So, let's make it easy and start small - Let's expect it of Jon Kyl. That remark is intended to be a factual statement. Last night in his show's cold opening, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert took Lindsey Graham at this word when he pledged not to go forward with a Supreme Court nominee in the last Trump's term and said to use his words against him...and so they used Graham's words against him -- but in a different way that you might have been expecting – Continuing with a good thing, his some more from Colbert last night, because the show also did a very nice piece on Ruth Bader Ginsburg and everything surrounding her replacement. It ends with an amusing conversation with one of his show's Emmy-nominated writers, Eliana Kwartler (though they lost out on Sunday to Last Week Tonight with John Oliver). The bit is not hilarious, but I love her intro, and there are some pretty funny things in it, like a joke about VMI.
So, yesterday, I came across this brief video of Trump. And yes, I know there were a lot to choose from. Indeed, yes, I know that every day there are a lot to choose from. Like, for instance, I came close to using him slam the granddaughter of the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg by suggesting that she might have been lying about the dying message she said her grandmother wanted to be quoted for. Never mind that renowned NPR court reporter Nina Totenberg had earlier followed up on the quote to learn that others in room at the time (including Justice Ginsberg's doctor) confirmed what was said -- something Ms. Totenberg did at the time as a good reporter checking on a story, not because of Trump's idiot comment suggesting that maybe Adam Schiff or some other Democrats said it. But as offensive as that was about a granddaughter who'd just lost a grandmother, it was just Trump being cold, heartless Trump and got plenty of attention on its own.
Or the video clip of Trump saying about the coronavirus that "It affects virtually nobody," that it really only affects the elderly (who aren't "nobody," and he himself fits into the "elderly" group, and we not only know it's not true, but we know from Bob Woodward's recording that Trump himself says he knows it's not true.). And of course, we all know that the coronavirus has now killed over 204,000 Americans -- so far. But this is just too insane to waste too much time on. Not that it's just dismissed for being normal Trump, but dismissed for being too infantile to spend adult time on it playing his game. Instead, this one caught my attention because at first it seemed like one of those tweet where the person posting it, in this case Aaron Rupar, paraphrased an idiot comment by Trump to translate into English in order to bring out its full stupidity in a way that was even more clear. But then when I watch the clip, it turned out that, no, the quote was actually what Trump said, word for word. (You can a bonus. The tweet with the clip was linked to a clip of Trump defending his earlier comment ridiculing the granddaughter. That's the one on top. The main clip in question, about the poisoning of Russian dissident leader Alexey Nalvany is below.
What I would have loved is a follow-up question --
"Sir, could you let us know generally when that "another time" would be? Because Mr. Navalny was poisoned a month ago which should be plenty of time for you to have figured out an answer." For me, this quote stood out because it encapsulated the Trump time in office. His refusal to criticize Vladmir Putin or Russia about anything, including the poisoning of a political opponent, which is about as fascist a thing as one could imagine, even if you were taking a test of fascism and it was open book so that could copy down anything that you thought was pure fascist. And then, Trump just pushed it off with a mumbled "We'll talk about it later" and of course never will, though hopefully he'll be asked about it again. And again. And again and again. The only surprising thing in the quote is that he didn't use his standard "in two weeks." I have a lot more to say about that, but instead of being "outraged," (tm), I think I'm just going to embed a joyful video of a zookeeper in China trying her best to deal with a group of pandas. I realized that we haven't had a Quirkology video in waaaay too long here. Quirkology is the brand of Richard Wisemen, who has performed as a magician, but his day job is as a psychologist. In fact, he's a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, and has written numerous books on the subject, including The Luck Factor and Quirkology. Quirkology are ostensibly magic tricks, but general are more optical illusions. Because of that, he generally shows how they're done. And he does all this in a charming, whimsical way making his little excursions treats. Many are in his "10 Amazing Bets You Can Always Win" series...which today's comes from |
AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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