There’s an interesting story at USA Today about CFB head coaches endorsing political candidates.
On the one hand, I kind of sympathize with Mike Leach, who endorsed Donald Trump earlier this year, when he says,
“I think people in general are afraid to take a position on things, and I think it’s sad that our country drifted in that direction,” Leach said. “Some of that started with political correctness. You know, nobody is allowed to say anything unless everybody agrees on it, and we have to guess whether or not they’re going to agree on it before we ever say it. That’s ridiculous. That’s not the country we signed on for and that’s not why not we say the Pledge of Allegiance and have the First Amendment.”
On the other hand, I get this approach, too.
At Texas A&M, the employment contract for football coach Kevin Sumlin says that Sumlin “will not publicly endorse any political figure or cause.” This has been a university policy for A&M employees since 2008.
“The rationale is that coaches are state employees, and they cannot be seen as attempting to influence, elections or political donations,” said Jason Cook, senior associate athletics director at A&M.
Besides, I can see how it would be bad for business. Would Georgia have gotten the change to the open records law it sought if Kirby Smart were an open-throated Bernie Sanders supporter?
Get The Picture 
My position is that Hilliary, Trump, and Sanders are all poor choices.
I do like Leach however.
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I’m rooting for the Libertarians to hit 15% in national polling, so Gary Johnson can share the debate stage.
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Good luck with that. IMHO the vast majority of Americans are authoritarians whether left or right. I have not been shocked at how little traction Rand Paul got trying to bring libertarianism to the GOP. We lead the world in prison population for a reason and it isn’t because we like restraining the power of government. Quite the opposite. You could get more votes promising to double it than you could promising to halve it. That’s just how we roll.
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Kudos, man. That’s some of the best stuff I’ve heard you say on here.
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Best? or just accurate? 🙂
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I would be in favor of a Pirate ticket.
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501(c)3s cannot endorse particular political candidates or risk losing their non-profit status. That said, employees, as private citizens, do have the right to endorse and support whomever they wish. Unfortunately, high-profile employees, like coaches, may be construed as spokesmen for the organization they represent. I’m sure the institutions are much happier if they just keep their political views to themselves.
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A rule frequently observed in the breach.
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What about effectively operating as for-profit entities with the exception of paid labor?
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As things stand right now I plan on writing in John Kasich’s name in November.
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I certainly understand that sentiment, I voted for Kasich in yesterday’s primary (California) – Come November tho’ I’m voting Johnson/Weld. The only way there will be a change is if we get another party enough votes to matter to the “main stream”
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Hilary? Really? That’s the best the Demos can do? Trump was not my choice, but at least he’s willing to say what he thinks, rather than what he thinks people want to hear like Hilary does. I side with Leach. Political Correctness is a disease.
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Lol. Say what he thinks? I guess that depends on what time of day you catch him, considering he has 20 different views on each issue. He even flip flopped on his own tax plan. Love a guy who says what he thinks!
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Yeah, we ought to be able to be rude as shit and NOBODY ought to be able to say shit about it. That’s AMURKA!
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I can say what we want. If you dont like it. Tuff shit. Leach is right. Political correctness is a fucking scourge on this nation. Even worse than the far left liberalism who created it.HAHAHAHAHA!!!
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“…people in general are afraid to take a position on things…”
What in the hell is he talking about?
If this country has a problem right now, it’s people jumping onto positions without bothering to think 3 seconds about it and then sticking with that position no matter how much evidence reality might pile on top. The further you move towards the ends of the political spectrum, left or right, the worse it gets.
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If you don’t understand what the problem is, make one up. Preferably a vapid one that makes you look good by comparison. Of all of the problems in this world, speaking one’s mind is not one of them. For example, in defense of a no rape exception for abortion: “women have ways of shutting that down.” I could go on. One major problem is that Mike judge’s future is now. It didn’t take 500 years to get to Idiocracy. Far too many of us are already there. Those who are supporting a narcissistic grifter as leader of the free world are among them.
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Why not a narcissistic grifter? We’ve got one for president now.
Trump is bad, very bad, but no worse than Hilary, Bernie, etc.
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Explain how Obama is a narcisstic grifter. If you called Obama a Socialist and I said “Trump is a Socialist too” that’s not an argument. It’s a conclusory statement without any basis in fact. Not for nothing, but I’m thinking that community organizer is not the usual career path of narcissistic grifters. I know that the glitz and glamour and fame of taking your Harvard Law degree to be a community organizer strikes you as self-centered and money grubbing so explain yourself.
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Why should I explain anything? You didn’t.
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Nobody has to explain anything.
Except for things that are colored.
I’ve got the best colored things..
Orange is the New White.
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Oh, sorry. I thought we all understood this. He talks about himself in a very grandiose way. Constantly. He cheats people out of money by claiming that if you pay 36k to Trump University his handpicked “experts” will teach them how to become rich. Truth is that there are no experts. He didn’t handpick them and hai defense is that he had nothing to do with Trump university. There’s the narcissism and the grift.
Your turn.
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You’re still just stating opinions. I grok that you think Trump is self centered. So’s Obama.
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So it’s my opinion that Donald trump ingratiates himself? That’s not a fact. Do you know what either word means? You do realize that there is a reality right? That the sun rises in the east is not an opinion. That trump says he is awesome, always, is just as reliable.
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A person’s ad hominem comments about another individual’s personality, especially someone they’ve never met, are opinions.
Still, Trump is self absorbed and so is Obama.
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Your argument is that a man who isn’t interested in money and power somehow accidentally fell into a wildly successful career in politics at a very young age? I think not.
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Exhibit A
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Health care for millions more Americans? He’s history’s greatest monster!
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A heath care system that is failing miserably. That75% of the people did not want. That was forced upon the people without a vote. Remember Nancy Pelosi saying live on TV. ” We have to pass it so we can find out what’s in it. Then lied to and said you can keep your present policy? Yes that. Narcissistic fraud.
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You say that like narcissistic fraud is a bad thing.
Nancy had a facelift, too. Very sad!
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Have you read the republican alternative? Hint: Obamacare IS the Heritage Foundation plan first implemented by a GOP governor and there is no alternative GOP plan. Unless you liked the status quo of pre-existing conditions exclusions and medical bankruptcies and basic medical care at the emergency room.
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The mental gymnastics it takes for one to take this stance makes me laugh. While I’m not the biggest fan of the Act as it was passed, I’m pretty sure we had a chance to vote for the Congress that drafted and passed the law as well as the President that executed it as well as the next Congresses and next President that could have repealed it. As has been oft repeated this election cycle….we deserve the government we get, for better or worse.
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You mean we’re not the victims of some vast conspiracy over which we have no control? Surely you jest!
I agree with your sentiments. We’re constantly being punished for our collective lack of good judgment about government. You can’t have effective government of and by the people when the people are stupid and think they are smart. Fortunately, Lincoln’s wisdom “you can’t fool all the people all of the time” is largely true. No way this country elects a Trump. That much is a positive. That he is one of the two major choices is not a positive reflection of the electorate.
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Oh, the health care system was GREAT before Obamacare. Christ, dude.
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Exhibit B.
Yeah, I had to give up a policy that cost $425 a month for one that cost $385 better benefits. Dammit.
Compare that “subterfuge” with “death panels.” But really, you’re all about the honesty in policy positions.
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And, I gave up a policy for $400/month for my family for $1200/month with a $5000 (that’s thousand) deductible. Required monthly medicine that was $40/month went ultimately to $800/month for the same prescription. So, yeah, it’s not all peaches and cream. Don’t know why it’s a surprise to some, but there’s no free lunch.
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Yea, my wife and I had to go on Obamacare, first year it was great, 2nd year notr so great, this year cost got out of control. Folks, there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch.
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“a narcissistic grifter”
It’s hard to find a politician that is NOT a narcissistic grifter.
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True
“Politics is the art of gaining power without merit.” P.J. O’Rourke
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“a narcissistic drifter”
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@Derek June 8, 2016 at 9:20 AM
“IMHO the vast majority of Americans are authoritarians whether left or right.”
Sure the right likes to be told what to do. But, other than this stoner, name another left wing authoritarian who’s not from Kenya.
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Bill Clinton and Tip O’Neill bare their share of responsibility for the police state we live in. While generally the right in this country may be more gung ho when it comes imprisoning as many people as possible, the left doesn’t shy away either. Then you can look to the totalitarian leftist states like Cuba, China, the former Soviet Union to see that the proletariat is more than happy to use police power to maintain what they see to be “order.” In short, inasmuch as I’d like to see libertarian social policies prosper in this country, I just don’t think there is much of an audience for it. As the late great Bill Hicks said about country: “you are free to do as we tell you!” That’s about all we’re free to do. We can’t get to addressing this issue because the rich make sure that we’re at each other’s throats so that they can pocket all the money. That, more than “no one speaks their mind anymore,” is a real, actual problem that needs to be addressed.
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I like people who weren’t captured.
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