That seems entirely in-character for President Trump.
Kerr’s silence, on the other hand, seems entirely out-of-character. Where is the moral leadership we’ve come to expect from this Bay Area basketball coach? What about all of the other moral crusaders of the NBA?
Why not gift other NBA markets the same moral leadership they’ve bestowed upon us?
Like I said, it is amusing to watch a worm squirm about.
That’s pretty sad if we’re holding basketball coaches to much higher standards of conduct than the President. But yes it’s very in character for Trump to call someone else out on something he does.
Like most everyone else in the NBA cognizant of the fact that showing that type of leadership might get them fired.
But again Kerr is being silent because the higher ups have made it clear that everyone needs to be silent. Why does he have the obligation to speak out against this if the President won’t? Why does he have that obligation when it’s the ultra rich bosses in charge of him who have said everyone shut up?
I mean maybe he’s a coward because if he got fired today he would be fine. But he’s not the one telling everyone to be silent. And we’re ok with Trump being that way simply because we’re used to him being shitty but demand more from a coach? Again maybe I’m wrong but I think your disagreement with other stances of his is causing you to look at this differently. I don’t see a bunch of other coaches saying things. But I see all the right wing blogs seem to be in love with this so flavor of the day I guess. And not a one mentions Trumps stance.
Seems weird to me when the guy we elected to show leadership on an issue like this doesn’t get criticism for silence but people who can lose their job for it do.
But I do wish he’d say something. It’s not like we can count on the President to do it for us. I guess we must rely on basketball coaches.
Free market can’t be wrong profits are all that will ever matter etc.
I’m like you I agree with all of what Pats saying but feel as if it’s probably too late. I don’t think we can unilaterally keep them from being a global force.
And that’s assuming that we actually want to stop trading with them period which I don’t see a big push for.
But it’s not just toys we get from China as OP said. I wish it was that easy. Even our sacred military which we should never ever do anything crazy like reduce spending on is dependent on China for numerous things.
I’m not saying it would be impossible to break up with them but right now we’re pretty damn wedded.
As opposed to voting for… Hillary?
I didn’t mention Trump, this story isn’t about Trump yet y’all bring Trump into it like he’s the only person that matters.
Get your head out of Trumps ass people! Not everything is about Trump.
If he’s emperor it’s because you lot elevated him to that position because you are obsessed with him. It’s a little weird quite frankly.
I am not singling you out H, just using your post as my soapbox.
The story is about Corporate America caving to Chinese censorship.
How do you expect any corporate company to ‘stand up’ to China in a way that matters if they obviously can’t rely on their own President to have their backs about it.
You said we would be wiser and I said we voted for a guy who said we should make America great again yet his goods weren’t made here. Doesn’t seem that wise to me. It was a comment on the brains of our nation.
Clinton’s always fun to bring up I suppose but she’s not who Republicans picked for their team. What were supposed to do vote for Clinton?! Well you could just pick less shitty people so the choice wasn’t horrible on both sides. Just a thought.
But still it’s always worth pointing out that when you’re talking about American businesses caving to China about Hong Kong that the President told them he would stay quiet.
But like I said that doesn’t matter. It’s the silence of our basketball coaches that’s really important!
Isn’t Kerr just being a good employee though? Surely if by vocalizing his stances on domestic issues the NBA stood to lose a significant amount of money, his bosses would tell him to button it up or find a new gig. I’d say, given the NBAs target demographic, this threat does not exist so they’ve given him free rein to say or not say whatever he wants about domestic issues. You could say he’s doing what’s best for the company.
No I don’t. I created a Trump-free thread. It can be discussed without ever mentioning Trump. This is actually an anti-big corporate thread. I figured there are too many threads about Trump and there are other important stories not being discussed because people are obsessed with Trump.
Trump doesn’t go up and down on my life like the sun, like it seems like it is for a lot of people. I can and do turn this shit off.
So there is no irony from me. If I am on a Trump thread, then I talk about Trump. If not I don’t.
I don’t insert Trump in to conversations all the time. Others seems so obsessed that no topic can be about anything else.
I just happen to know that these people in power, whether I know them or not or like them or not, do not miss a second of sleep over me, they don’t know I exist.
I don’t cave to peer-pressure no matter how many people insult me or mock me. This was an attempt at a conversation not about Trump, so much for that.
Do you think it’s reasonable or logical to expect American companies to fight China (at the cost of their bottom line) on things like this when they don’t have the support of their own govt?
I think it’s reasonable not to have or expect companies cave and import the censorship of a foreign company. The problem is that they impose those rules here and put it on us. To the point where the NBA, for instance, apologized as an entity to the Chinese government over a single person’s support for the protesters in Hong Kong.
Brave people, who are risking quite a lot to have the freedoms we have here, only to have American corporations to hang them out to dry. Hong Kong’s economy, after all, is no joke and not small. And slowly pulling away from doing business with an enemy government would be a wise move for the long run.
In which way have you been censored by one of these companies? Or if not that, in which way have these acts of censorship (whatever they might be) been forced upon you?
A wise move for who? The companies themselves stand to lose massive amount of money by alienating China, with nothing to gain.
What exactly is the incentive for these companies to publicly resist China? How can they expect their bottom line to absorb the massive damage when they don’t even have support from their own country?
The protests have diminished to a couple of hundred of the most extreme protestors, mostly kids. The situation in HK is a lot more complicated than simply about CCP overreach and freedom of speech, or the ones wanting to leave wouldn’t be choosing Singapore as their most desired place to relocate.
But you created a thread in which the views of the President are essential. You can’t be mad for anyone pointing out that if American companies are staying silent on the Hong Kong issue the President promised the Chinese he would do the same. Even your initial point said is it the government not really when the answer is yes really.
That’s not true as pfury pointed out.
I also don’t know why now is the magical time for corporations to speak up. Our wealthiest corporations and people have used poor foreign labor under horrific working conditions to enrich themselves for years. These are the dickheads you think we need to all of the sudden have a moral compass? Our country jacks off to the idea that profit is the only thing important and now you expect these people to put that in jeopardy?
Don’t get me wrong I wish they would but how is anyone even remotely surprised by this? Why should these companies put human rights above profits all of a sudden?
The president actually commented on this issue and Kerr in particular so Trump made himself part of the discussion.
I think you are misunderstanding my sentiment. Generally speaking, I don’t care if companies shut up and do business with China. I recognize the economy we live in.
It is the companies and the individuals that feel compelled to comment on politics from a perceived moral high ground that I wonder about. I singled out Kerr because he’s a clear example of this.
It’s when you start calling people out publicly that I have to wonder what you’re all about. It’s one thing to say you support this or that policy or even give non-answers on touchy issues like Tom Brady usually does. Many, maybe even most athletes behave that way, preferring to keep politics separate from sports entertainment. Kerr doesn’t do that.
He’ll compliment other sports people like Stan Van Gundy, saying it took “guts” to say he was upset that Trump won the election. That’s “guts” in Kerr’s book, apparently. Kerr’s got no problem shaming roughly half of the country from his perceived moral high ground. He’s shown it again and again.
I’m not sitting here wondering why McMaster Carr hasn’t come out publicly on China. They’re a parts supplier who’ve never commented publicly on government policy that I know of, let alone issued strong statements about large swaths of Americans, so I don’t expect them to do anything except go about their business.
Mr. Kerr, on the other hand, is entirely out-of-character here. If Americas policy on rifle regulation merits both comment and harsh judgement from Kerr, surely the people of China could benefit from his moral clarity as well.
I also don’t understand why you seem to believe I must pay some type of Trump Penance before I can have an opinion on Kerr and others like him, as if I’m supposed to go and dig up every bad thing think Trump’s done before I can form an opinion on Kerr. Kerr being a coward and opportunist has nothing to do with Trump.
It’s really not that hard to understand. Kerr’s a sports entertainment figure who wanted to play moral crusader when it was convenient for him, only calling out people who posed no threat to him or his popularity as a Bay Area basketball coach who is paid millions to play a child’s game.
Well it turns out he really isn’t a moral crusader after all. He’s just an asshole who should’ve shut up and coached.
As he often does.
Interesting thread. Looks like the NBA prompted foreign policy expert Lebron to weigh in…
I was responding to Pat…
So you don’t care if companies shut up and do business with China because it’s in their best self interest but you do care if Kerr does the same thing? How does that make any sense? But you aren’t mad that the wealthiest people in the world are silent? But you are mad that a basketball coach is.
Why? Why does commenting on one thing mean you need to comment on something else? And again you largely feel this way because you disagree with his comments in US policy. I highly doubt any of the right wing would give a shit if he had been saying things they liked and was silent now. It’s only because he shared opinions that they don’t like that they attack him now.
Just pointing out that you seem furious about a basketball coaches silence on the issue and dismissive of the President doing the same thing. To me it should be the other way around. Did we vote for Kerr to show leadership on foreign policy? Is he supposed to be our spokesman and not Trump?
This is another way of saying Kerr gives an opinion when he knows it won’t put his job in jeopardy. You can call him a coward but where are the corporations, other NBA stars etc? Doing the same damn thing he is staying quiet because it’s in their best self interest.
I don’t know why you keep saying moral crusader? Is that what the right says when someone shares an opinion they don’t like? You’re going straight out of the Fox News Lebron should shut up and dribble playbook. The right doesn’t like when athletes say stuff they disagree with. Why are athletes not allowed to share their opinion?
I don’t care if you think he’s a coward or not. The vast majority of humans won’t say something if it puts their livelihood in jeopardy. What he makes or has made is irrelevant. Everyone in the NBA knows that speaking up puts their job at risk.