TGIF 7/3/20

What kind of week was it? As usual, that all depends on who you are, or where you are, or when you are who you are where you are, or if you are who or what you say you are... Or something.

Let's take a look, shall we, starting in the world of sports...

Women took a knee during the national anthem at a few soccer games; several wore #BlackLivesMatter shirts, and even some coaches and officials took a knee, too.  And it seems, somehow, that the world did not stop spinning. Not only that, but players have a choice in whether, or how, to participate in patriotic celebrations, which seems to me to be a pretty patriotic, freedomy thing to do on the eve of Independence Day.

And speaking of choice, there was more than a little irony in seeing anti-maskers marching to a chant of "my body, my choice" given that the small government conservatives usually only show disdain for that kind of silliness, I recall. Clearly, masks are polarizing issue, and picking a marching slogan is fraught with danger, but heck - even Mitch McConnell (R-White House) has finally decided that wearing a mask is actually something he can talk about.

We must have no stigma, none, about wearing masks when we leave our homes and come near other people. Wearing simple face coverings is not about protecting ourselves, it is about protecting everyone we encounter.

And I would assume that includes his own encounters, for example, with the president, who stated that he himself looked like the Lone Ranger  in his black mask. I hope I get to see that, I really do!

Ghislaine Maxwell, confidant and alleged co-conspirator of the late Jeffrey Epstein, as well as apparent Friend of Trump and Friend of Bill Clinton, if we can believe the photos, was arrested yesterday morning in New Hampshire and is facing multiple charges involving the alleged Epstein sexual assault victims.  Needless to say, given Epstein's unfortunate demise, there are many calls for Maxwell to be placed under the closest of close surveillance while she's in prison, mostly (if the memes are correct), to protect her from the wrath and reach of Hillary Clinton.

And speaking of wrath, there's more than enough of that going around aimed at the NFL (back to sports we go).  First, the Washington Redskins are going to do a "thorough review" on the team's name, after ignoring the calls to change it that have echoed for years. What's different now? Well, FedEx  told them they had to;  and Nike has stopped selling the team's merch after it, PepsiCo, and FedEx were all sent notifications by shareholders asking them to bail on the team if it didn't make a change.

But wait - there's more.

The NFL announced that it would play 'Lift Every Voice and Sing,' a song known as the black national anthem, before the US national anthem at each of the first-week games. Not at every game all season long, mind you - just on opening weekend - but that's enough to drive people crazy on social media, some of whom (including some who may not even watch NFL games anyway) have declared they will never watch the sport again. No comment on whether they're ever going to drink Pepsi again, or ship by FedEx, or pay too much for Nike sneaks. We'll have to see how that all works out.

And one more, before we finish this, our first TGIF lap of the month of July. NASCAR will have a Trump 2020 car this year, to encourage voting, making America great again, and perhaps as a little gamesmanship given we've already seen the #BlackLivesMatter car. Again, when the latter car made an appearance, fans were beside themselves, decrying the intrusion of politics into the sport. Now, not so much.

But that's OK.  Me personally? "I'm never going to watch NASCAR anymore!" (and for the record, I'm not going to watch it any less, either - because I don't watch it at all now...)

TGIF everyone -- and whether you choose to celebrate Independence Day or not, whatever you do this weekend, please be safe.

And remember, hand sanitizer and sparklers are not compatible...