MCCAFFREY, MERKEL, AND MISCELLANEOUS YEAR-END MADNESS

     At year's end, Splashing Rocks finds itself appalled by so many episodes of moral and mental vacuity at home and abroad that settling upon a single dismal subject for vilification simply won't do.  So, departing from our usual penetrating in-depth essay format, we resort to a more cursory exposition of a variety of disturbing developments that plague us as we look forward to better times under a new administration -- and, perhaps, a new era of sense and sanity.

     Merkel Madness in Germany.  Earlier this year, SR called attention to the three brave female leaders -- the Le Pen's of France and Frauke Petry of Germany -- who offered the prospect of some desperately needed backbone in standing up to the de facto Islamic invasion of Europe.  The urgent need for the steely measures proposed by these intrepid ladies and their nationalist parties was  underscored this week by the preventable terrorist murder of at least twelve Germans by a Muslim asylum-seeker in Berlin.  The Tunisian "refugee" who drove a hijacked truck into an open-air Christmas market had already been identified as a serious terrorist threat by the so-called authorities of Angela Merkel's government.  Yet they  inexplicably let him roam Germany at will until he executed the slaughter that his arrest would have prevented. 

     The Berlin killer, one Anis Amri, easily evaded Merkel's feckless minions inside Germany.  Then, courtesy of the EU's crass open border policy, Amri effortlessly crossed into France and Italy before a plucky rookie Italian policeman fatally shot him in Milan.  Meanwhile, the poltroons of Merkel's bootless security agencies are doubtless misdirecting their confused attentions upon the righteous wrath of German citizens against the Islamic invasion within, instead of upon "refugee" terrorists like Amri. 
                                                 

  Frauke Petry and the AfD: "Coming ashore" to Germany's rescue?

     Waiting in the wings, however, Frauke Petry's Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD) party rightly condemns the Merkel government for inviting Islamic terrorism into Germany under the cover of the million Muslim refugees whom Merkel ordered Germans to embrace.  A more deadly embrace would be hard to imagine.  If lethargic Germans continue to reject the AfD's urgent warnings and again ratify Merkel's failed policies of abject appeasement -- Germany's federal elections are to be held next fall -- they can only expect a future of ever more deadly Islamicist incursion. Like Obi Wan Kenobi in Star Wars, Ms. Petry and the AfD, in alliance with like-minded patriotic elements, may be Germany's only hope against the forces of the dark side.

     Russia, WikiLeaks and an Alternative FOIA.  Democrats and the deranged left -- but I repeat myself -- have outdone McCarthy era Republican Red-baiters in their odd obsession with the "Russian Menace" in the wake of their election humiliation at the hands of Donald Trump.  They are blaming their defeat upon purported Russian hacking of Democrat- and government-related computer targets -- like the Democratic National Committee, Hillary Clinton's notorious "secret server," and Clinton operative John Podesta -- and the damaging release of hacked e-mails by Julian Assange's shadowy WikiLeaks organization.  Assange flatly denies that Russia was Wiki's source, but the political and media left persist in their foam-flecked rant that "the Russians" insidiously and successfully subverted the U.S. elections in favor of Mr. Trump. Much can be said to refute this contrived nonsense, but space limits us to these main points:

        1.  Even if Russia acted as alleged, its supposedly aberrational intrusion into U.S. affairs was little more than business-as-usual in the cut-throat realm of international intelligence and cyber- and propaganda warfare. In the shadowy world of global espionage as practiced by the likes of the CIA and the KGB, it was about as "shocking" as the gambling in Rick's Bar in Casablanca. 

                                            

    Democrats and their media are "shocked" that spies are spying

        2.  Indeed, it ill behooves the Obama administration to over-react to alleged Russian interference in U.S. politics when Obama's agents have engaged in similar intrusions into Russia's internal affairs -- and this is only what we know of.  Some readers will recall the obnoxious Russian performance artists called Pussy Riot, who engaged in a grossly sacrilegious performance in a Russian Orthodox Cathedral to mock President Putin.  After the group was justly convicted and sentenced (a lenient 2 years imprisonment) for their outrageous desecration, the Obama White House sought to exploit the episode and embarrass Putin politically by falsely accusing the Russians of human rights violations and "disproportionate" sentencing.  Further, Obama's leftist UN Ambassador, the insufferable Samantha Power, subsequently conspired with Pussy Riot members to amplify U.S. support of the group's campaign to undermine Putin.  In other words, any Russian hacking of U.S. political groups could just as likely have been retaliation for U.S. interference in Russian domestic affairs rather than some kind of absurdly Quixotic attempt to manipulate a U.S. election.

        3.  Far from subverting the U.S. election, if Russia and WikiLeaks caused the disclosures attributed to them they would deserve a degree of credit for facilitating the free flow of information that Clinton and the Democrats sought to suppress.  It should not be forgotten that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's secret computer server was designed to insulate her e-mails and other communications from State Department records that would have been subject to public disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).  If Russia in fact facilitated public disclosure of material information that Clinton and her political minions were seeking to suppress, they were supporting the free flow of information that Clinton and her allies were seeking to block.  In short, Russia and WikiLeaks were providing an unofficial shadow FOIA while Clinton and the Democrats were subverting the actual FOIA.

     The Depressing Venality of Christian McCaffrey's Sun Bowl Cop-Out.  Though sports may seem trivial measured against global issues of war and peace, the impacts of Big Time Sports in America cannot be so lightly dismissed.  SR has previously noted that the artificial significance of professional and major college sports has supplanted religion as the "opiate of the people," providing a dysfunctional distraction from the genuinely important issues of personal and public life.  A recent episode involving an admirable college football star aptly illustrates the profoundly corrupting effect of our grossly inflated and mercenary sports culture upon American society and values.

     Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey was the subject of an earlier piece on this blog noting his unusual achievements in a position almost exclusively dominated by swift black athletes (McCaffrey is white, fast, and the scion of an especially gifted athletic family).  His performance in 2015 was so outstanding that he was runner-up for the Heisman Trophy and honored as the AP's college football player of the year.  Although his and Stanford's performance dropped off a bit in 2016 (he was briefly sidelined with injury earlier in the year), McCaffrey has nonetheless again drawn extensive national attention, but for different and disturbing reasons.  He announced that he would not play with his teammates in their Sun Bowl matchup with the North Carolina Tar Heels.on December 30.

     McCaffrey's abrupt abandonment of his team before their bowl game was not due to injury (he is fully recovered from his earlier mishap), a death or illness in the family, or some other extenuating personal crisis.  Instead, his sole justification was that he wanted to "begin my draft prep immediately."  He was referring to the draft of the corrupt and politicized National Football League (not the U.S. Army) which takes place on April 27-29 of 2017 -- four months after the Sun Bowl game.
                              

UNC Quarterback Mitch Trubisky won't leave teammates in lurch for NFL "draft prep"  
   
     But McCaffrey has been in sufficiently good playing shape to excel at the highest levels of NCAA football for the past several months.  So there is no apparent reason why he could not delay whatever "prep" he needs until after one final game with the teammates whose support enabled him to become a star in the first place. 

     The grotesque player cattle show known as the NFL Combine does not take place until early March, so McCaffrey would also have ample time to "prep" for that after the Sun Bowl.  Any advantage he would gain in that regard by skipping the bowl game would be minimal at best.  McCaffrey's claim that he needs to skip the Sun Bowl to prepare for the draft is patently bogus.

     Another justification widely seized upon by McCaffrey's defenders is that even the slight risk of a career-threatening injury is not worth participation in what they describe as a "meaningless bowl game." Reduced to its essence, this reasoning would militate against participation in almost all college football games by serious pro prospects like McCaffrey.  Playing in his last regular season game against California posed just as much injury risk as playing in the Sun Bowl, and no conference or national championships were at stake in that game.  In effect, McCaffrey's defenders would relegate all the historic bowl games that were not part of a national championship playoff to the category of "meaningless exhibition games" that are simply not worth playing in the case of serious NFL prospects like McCaffrey.

    But North Carolina's star quarterback, Mitch Trubisky, apparently failed to read the memo absolving top NFL prospects of any obligation to join their college teammates in playing a final bowl game.  Trubisky's NFL prospects are even greater than McCaffrey's, as he is rated the No. 1 quarterback prospect in the next NFL draft.  Yet Trubisky apparently does not regard the slight risk of injury, or the need for a few more weeks "prep" for the draft, as justification for dropping out of the Sun Bowl.

     This underscores a factor that the NFL-obsessed sports media types either disregard or consider unimportant in their monolithic defense of McCaffrey's cop-out:  There is no strong reason why all college players with NFL prospects should not, by their reasoning, pursue the same course and opt out of any game they consider "meaningless."  Thankfully, there are still players like Mitch Trubisky who have not completely abandoned their team spirit and youthful zest for pure competition to the venal mercenary demands of the NFL juggernaut.

     There was a time when principles of duty, loyalty, esprit de corps, and simple team and college spirit would have rendered the desertion of one's team on the eve of a bowl game unthinkable.  Not so today.  Indeed, the overwhelming consensus of response to McCaffrey's cop-out, especially in the soulless sports media, has been that his decision was a so-called "no brainer" because the avoidance of any risk to his mercenary pro football prospects obviously outweighs the value of joining his teammates in a mere college bowl game.

     The irony in this reasoning is rich indeed.  On the one hand, college football programs like Stanford's are considered so important that their coaches are paid multi-million dollar salaries dwarfing those of university presidents and the most prestigious faculty; colossal stadiums of Caligulan extravagance are erected to stage a mere six or seven games a year; and many universities flaunt their fabled football programs as the chief enticement to attract prospective students.  Yet the same feckless sports commentators who devote hours of fawning coverage to the college games now dismiss them as "meaningless" when weighed against a few privileged players' speculative fears that playing in one final game with their mates could somehow jeopardize their mercenary NFL prospects.  To these venal characters, time-tested virtues of loyalty, honor, and personal sacrifice for a team or a school are laughably obsolete when balanced against the inflated wealth and celebrity of an NFL career.
    
     The NFL has become a grossly inflated economic and social monster that has now been further corrupted by afro-racist politics, as evidenced by the Colin Kaepernick anti-anthem protest and the grotesque spectacle of players scornfully flaunting black power salutes as they race onto the field.  Despite this blatant mockery, millions of feckless white fans persist in spending thousands of dollars on tickets for the "privilege" of cheering the very afro-racist athletes who are thumbing their nose at them. 

     That a seemingly well-grounded and well-educated Stanford stalwart like Christian McCaffrey is willing to abandon his teammates, his university, and the most basic principles of loyalty to embrace the deeply corrupted NFL is a sad commentary on the inverted and venal values of our age.

    

COERCED POLITICAL CONFORMITY IN SPORTS: WHO WILL STAND DOWN THE LGBT TOTALITARIANS?

     The Maine University basketball team recently ventured into Duke University's intimidating Cameron Indoor Stadium to play Duke's powerful Blue Devils.  Predictably, Maine was demolished, 94-55, even though Duke played without several of its best players.

     Although losing badly to Duke on its home court is no disgrace, Maine's performance was nonetheless disgraceful and disturbing for reasons having nothing to do with the rout it suffered on the court.

     The entire Maine squad wore "rainbow-themed" warm-up jerseys in ostentatious and provocative solidarity with the most extreme elements of the LGBT/transgender movement.  It appears that the obnoxious politicization currently infecting the NFL and the NBA is spreading inexorably to other athletic forums.

     The purpose of Maine's gay jersey display was to protest a law (designated as HB 2) passed by the North Carolina legislature in order to, inter alia, protect innocent girls from sharing their bathrooms and showers with nasty, leering men claiming to "identify" as women. 

     Maine's players failed miserably in putting up a respectable showing against Duke on the court, but they sure showed the world they could stand tall on the side of brawny transexuals in their quest to violate the modesty and privacy of girls who -- quelle horreur! -- want to be left alone with other girls in their restrooms and showers.

                                             

      Transgender activist lays down the party line for submissive Maine players

     HB 2 applies to government and public university facilities in the State of North Carolina, and has no application to either Duke (a private university) or to Maine, its university, or any of its players.  In short, HB 2 is none of Maine's or Duke's business, let alone the business of their highly privileged 19-21 year-old scholarship athletes.  Who, by the way, enjoy the most comfortable, privileged, and private locker rooms and showers.

     HB 2 was enacted to prevent local governments in North Carolina from passing radical legislation that gives privileged treatment to homosexuals and transgendered persons beyond what is provided by the state's ample antidiscrimination laws.  In particular, it prevents local governments from adopting laws that would entitle burly biological males, for example, from using girls restrooms as long as they purport to "identify" as females. 

     Under the lunatic LGBT doctrine that the Democratic left seeks to impose on society, any brawny male who "identifies" as female can demand to be treated as such and to use female restroom and shower facilities.  You know, the places where it was once safe for nubile young females to undress free from the leering eyes of any biological male who claims to be a female in spirit.  But under the prevailing coercion of the LGBT juggernaut, a modest female's claim to privacy must yield to the obnoxious demands of the transgender intruders.  That is precisely the kind of grotesque legal and social absurdity that HB 2 is intended to combat.

     But a twisted collectivist mentality has so deeply infected American society that something as basic and straightforward as maintaining separate restrooms and showers for females and males is now considered contemptible.  Overnight, the social justice fanatics of the LGBT movement have managed to upend millennia of civilized social norms with barely a whimper of resistance from the society at large.  The U.S. has indeed become a Nation of Sheep.

     Ironically, nowhere has the surrender to the demands of the LGBT totalitarians been more abject than in the fields of collegiate and professional athletics -- a cohort where one would expect to find rugged and manly characters who are not readily intimidated by the LGBT radicals.  But, sadly, that expectation would be wrong.  Where is Chuck Bednarik when we need him?

     After mediocre defensive end Michael Sam became the first openly homosexual player drafted by the NFL, the media swooned in raptures of slobbering celebration.  Many news outlets eagerly  flaunted shock-value photos of Sam kissing his reputed boyfriend in celebration (all celebration turned out to be premature, however, since Sam failed to make the cut as an actual NFL player). 

     When a red-blooded Miami Dolphins defensive back named Don Jones expressed revulsion at these provocative pictures  -- he responded by merely tweeting "OMG" and "Horrible" -- the Dolphins' management promptly pounced on him like Soviet commissars punishing a deviant cadre in a Stalinist purge.  Jones was instantly fined; banned from team activities until he had completed "sensitivity training;" and forced to publicly apologize. 

     The similarity to the methods used to enforce political correctness in the former Soviet Union and in Maoist China could hardly be plainer.  Jones was forced to engage in the same kind of "self-criticism" that has long been a staple of ideological brainwashing in totalitarian societies. 

     Jones is black.  Had be been punished in this way for insulting, say, a police officer instead of the LGBT monolith, the media would have indignantly arisen in his defense and reflexively raised the specter of racism.  Instead, they reflexively raised the phony specter of homophobia and pounced in unison on the hapless Mr. Jones.

     And Jones is hardly the only pro athlete who has been forced to kowtow to the relentlessly pro-LGBT agenda of the NFL and the NBA.  Just ask NBA players Kobe Bryant, Roy Hibbert, Joakim Noah, and Rajon Rondo, each of whom was forced to apologize in Soviet-style self-criticism for uttering so-called "gay slurs." Bryant was even fined a cool $100,000 for his casual offense against the pro-gay juggernaut.  In short, when the NFL and the NBA are not cravenly approving their players' provocative afro-racist demonstrations on the field, they are harshly penalizing any players' deviation from their pro-LGBT collectivism.

     Which brings us back to the hapless members of the rainbow-clad Maine basketball squad.  Where, one wonders, did these young men come up with the improbable idea to drape themselves in LGBT/rainbow t-shirts to protest a distant state's efforts to preserve the sexual privacy of restrooms and showers?  Is that what strapping young athletes discuss when they sit around the locker room or the dining hall?  Did they choose this course of action themselves, or were they chosen?

     SR has examined Maine's team roster and found it consists of a more diverse international collection than the typical Division 1 basketball squad -- several Serbs, a Turk from Istanbul, blacks from Louisville, KY, Brooklyn, and Bethlehem, Pa., and a predictable number from Maine itself.  One thing is certain, however:  In such a diverse collection of presumably normal young male athletes, there were undoubtedly some who would not be troubled at all by the notion that restrooms and showers should be restricted to persons of the same biological sex.  Like the ones who have little sisters, or nice girlfriends.

     Although one Maine player was quoted in express support of the rainbow-shirt protest, it is by no means clear, and probably doubtful, that members of the team voluntarily and unanimously actively favored this presumptuous demonstration.

     On the contrary, it appears that the Maine demonstration was orchestrated and subtly coerced by a combination of the LGBT activist "You Can Play" organization, the American East Conference, and Maine's administration and/or head coach.  As shown by the above photo, someone in the university hierarchy evidently shepherded the team into a conference room for a televised brainwashing session on HB 2 and other LGBT/transgender issues by a formerly female transgender activist named Chris Mosier.  Given these overwhelming institutional pressures, and the atmosphere of conformity to the most radical LGBT doctrines prevailing at most U.S. colleges, it is sadly unsurprising that none of the Maine players openly objected to the anti-HB 2 demonstration.

     If multi-millionaire superstars like Kobe Bryant cannot stand up against the overbearing LGBT enterprise, I suppose we cannot expect anonymous hoopsters at a mid-level college program to do so.  In any case, that is how low our expectations of principled individuality have descended.

     The sad fact is that a perverse collective conformity on issues concerning homosexual privilege, so-called same-sex marriage, and, most recently, transgender entitlement has taken hold in American society at large.  The organized sports world is merely a prominent and visible manifestation of this demoralizing tendency.  The values and standards of successive legions of parents, grandparents, and ancestors, grounded in nature, religion, and social order, have been upended and eviscerated with startling rapidity. 

     In this way, the unquestioned inviolability of women-only restrooms, showers, and dressing rooms has been demolished overnight in society's craven rush to codify a norm -- the "right" to self-select one's sexual identity and force others to accept it -- that barely a decade ago would have been considered utterly laughable. 

     By merely attempting to preserve a protective social norm long ingrained in civilized societies, North Carolina finds itself boycotted and vilified by the NBA (All-Star Game moved), the NCAA (championship events relocated), and even State governments (New York's obnoxious Gov. Cuomo, e.g., has banned non-essential state travel to NC for this absurd reason). 

     Eager to join in this orgy of collectivist insanity, Duke's spineless and unspellable Coach K-shefski (misspelled on purpose, since spelling this jerk's annoying name correctly isn't worth the trouble) has declared from his profound knowledge of the law that HB 2 is "embarrassing." 

     What is really embarrassing is when an overpaid custodian of over-privileged and pampered athletes, like those athletes themselves, presumes to impose his ill-informed snap judgments on others.  It is just possible that North Carolina's elected legislators have a better grasp on the legitimate social standards of their states' people than privileged athletes, ill-informed coaches, or the radical social activists who lead them by the nose.

     Although contemporary New England may breed docile conformists like those of the Maine basketball program, it once produced rugged individualists like Henry Thoreau.  The sports community and the society at large are both in dire need of a jolt from some latter-day rebels like Thoreau who "march to the beat of a different drummer" and are ready to scorn the demands of the LGBT juggernaut and other totalitarians of the left.