NFL commissioner Roger Goodel handed down the verdict on Saints General Manager Mickey Loomis, head coact Sean Payton, assistant head coach Joe Vitt and former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, guilty for running a "bounty program" from 2009-2011. The NFL also slapped fines and or suspensions on those found guilty.
As reported in the Times Picayune of 3/22, Goodel also contended that Payton and Loomis orchestrated a web of lies to divert the attention of league gumshoes. That is not a flattering statement concerning two of the Saints top people. Their punishments given out by the NFL is well deserved and hopefully will be a reminder in the future for all concerned. Professional sports, especially NFL football is not a sport any more, it is a business and businesses do not like to be regulated. They like to give lip service to rules and regulations.
NFL owners, general managers, head coaches and players are all overpaid and think they are above it all. Part of the reason is greed and part is because the news media, especially sports journalists put them on a pedestal and give them idol status. How can they do anything wrong. It's the culture they live in. Owners who seek corporate welfare from the states are worse because they know some elected officials would do anything.
This writer in the past has been critical of N.O. sports journalists who cover the Saints for their hype and closeness to the organization and their failure to be objective, but Jeff Duncan and John DeShazier were right on target concerning their report on the subject matter in a Times Picayune article of 3/22. They stepped up to the plate and should be congratulated.
Some players just don't get it and Drew Brees seems to fall in that number for a quote attributed to him in Peter Finney's column of 3/22 in the Times Picayune. Quoting from the column Brees said, "I am speechless" Brees posted on his twitter account. Sean Payton is a great coach and mentor. The best there is. I need to hear an explanation for this punishment.
This writer is of the opinion that Goodel indeed gave a good explanation for the punishment. Where is Brees mind on the subject matter? Is he that far from reality that he is unable to comprehend why Goodel took the actions he did? The Saints, their coaching staff and the players from this day forward will have an opportunity to demonstrate how well they will handle the future. The final chapter in this sad story will be written at a later date.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Conservatism and Ideology Are Not Qualifications To Be President
The administrations or Reagan, Bush 41 and Bush 43 proved that in the 20 years they ran the country. All three promised balanced budgets, a smaller federal government, reduced federal spending and a lasting economy but accomplished none of that. The facts also show that the national debt would not be a problem today had they balanced the federal budget as Clinton did.
Yet today's republican Presidential candidates are brandishing their so called conservatism and ideology as what is needed for the next President to run the country. To them understanding the past is never the key to the future. They embrace the failed policies of Reagan, Bush 41 and Bush 43 and offer the country and its people the same failed policies based on conservatism and ideology.
On the military side the candidates like to talk tough and want the defense budget to continue to grow unchecked. They promote war like it is a game because they do not have the slightest idea what the military is all about. John McCain, the republican candidate during the 2008 campaign along with then V.P. Dick Cheney predicted that if Obama was elected President terrorists would attack the U.S. because Obama would be a weak President. Of course that was the usual conservative scare tactic, the politics of fear. The Obama administration has not only kept the U.S. safer than the Bush administration, it also brought Bin Laden to justice.
Reagan sold arms to Iran in exchange for American hostages, some thing he said he would never do. He then actually denied he did so and later corrected the record. Bush 43 started an unnecessary war and occupation of Iraq over WMD that never existed during his administration, invaded Afghanistan after 9/11 and did not have a military plan to seal off the escape of the Taliban or Bin Laden and 10 years later we are told the Taliban is still a big problem.
Now it is a Democratic President that has to deal with Iran and Afghanistan. Obama did the right thing in ending the U.S. involvement in Iraq. Conservatism and ideology has proved many times over that it is not a qualification for President. In fact the past has proven it to be a failure in governing, leadership and courage. Listening to the republican Presidential candidates is a stark reminder of the George W. Bush administration. The U.S. and its people must not go there again.
Yet today's republican Presidential candidates are brandishing their so called conservatism and ideology as what is needed for the next President to run the country. To them understanding the past is never the key to the future. They embrace the failed policies of Reagan, Bush 41 and Bush 43 and offer the country and its people the same failed policies based on conservatism and ideology.
On the military side the candidates like to talk tough and want the defense budget to continue to grow unchecked. They promote war like it is a game because they do not have the slightest idea what the military is all about. John McCain, the republican candidate during the 2008 campaign along with then V.P. Dick Cheney predicted that if Obama was elected President terrorists would attack the U.S. because Obama would be a weak President. Of course that was the usual conservative scare tactic, the politics of fear. The Obama administration has not only kept the U.S. safer than the Bush administration, it also brought Bin Laden to justice.
Reagan sold arms to Iran in exchange for American hostages, some thing he said he would never do. He then actually denied he did so and later corrected the record. Bush 43 started an unnecessary war and occupation of Iraq over WMD that never existed during his administration, invaded Afghanistan after 9/11 and did not have a military plan to seal off the escape of the Taliban or Bin Laden and 10 years later we are told the Taliban is still a big problem.
Now it is a Democratic President that has to deal with Iran and Afghanistan. Obama did the right thing in ending the U.S. involvement in Iraq. Conservatism and ideology has proved many times over that it is not a qualification for President. In fact the past has proven it to be a failure in governing, leadership and courage. Listening to the republican Presidential candidates is a stark reminder of the George W. Bush administration. The U.S. and its people must not go there again.
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