Social Issues

The main headline from the German election yesterday is not Angela Merkel getting a fourth term in charge, but rather her party's weakened position - caused chiefly by a surge in support for the right wing nationalist party 'Alternative für Deutschland' (AfD).

The AfD is a controversial party - one which not only ran on a program of anti-immigration and anti-Muslim policies, but one which is at least in part represented by people who have expressed racist and xenophobic views.

We should have known the moment that their Asian announcer, Robert Lee (did we mention he's Asian), got pulled from the William and Mary vs. University of Virginia college football game last month for having the same name as a Confederate General that ESPN's transition from sports commentary to 'MSNBC-Lite' was inevitable.  Now, just one month after that fateful decision, it appears that ESPN's metamorphosis is complete.

Ever since election day Hillary and her former minions have attempted to reinforce a narrative that some combination of Russian hackers, James Comey and angry, sexist, xenophobic, white men were the cause of here staggering defeat in November 2016.  That said, a new study highlighted by the Washington Post (of all places) today, confirms that it very well could have been black voters that ultimately crushed Hillary's chances at the White House and not so much a sudden onset of racism.

Authored by James Howard Kunstler via Kunstler.com,

There’s a lot to complain about in this deranged republic - if it even still is one - but the burdens of being a multimillionaire football player would not be at the top of my list.

Personally, I find it a little peculiar that we have to play the national anthem before any sporting event. All it really shows is how insecure we are as a nation that we have to display our love of country in this obsessive manner.

Via GEFIRA,

Aristotle was the first to point out how a thriving middle class is a condition sine qua non for a functioning democracy: “A constitution based on the middle class is the mean between the extremes of the rule by the rich and the rule by the poor.”