Walker goes Down

[Vēritās]

Short of midfield.

Thank effing God

[MeDotOrg]

If Walker had won, it would have felt like a punch in the gut. Not because a conservative won in a traditionally red state, but it would have been a message to the Republican Party that people will vote for anyone who can fog a mirror.

[Vēritās]

I tried registering my daughter to vote but then later found out that Georgia law prohibits people from registering during runoff elections.

WTF?

[Morley]

This article in The Atlantic is well worth reading, if you can get behind the paywall.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archi ... ns/672373/

Herschel Walker Is an American Tragedy
Black bodies, white agendas
By Caroline Randall Williams

Midway in the piece:

Walker’s candidacy is a fundamental assault by the Republican Party on the dignity of Black Americans. How dare they so cynically use this buffoon as a shield for their obvious failings to meet the needs and expectations of Black voters? They hold him up and say, “See, our voters don’t mind his race. We’re not a racist party. We have Black people on our side too.” Parading Walker at rallies like some kind of blue-ribbon livestock does not mean you have Black people on your side. What it means is that you are promoting a charlatan—a man morally and intellectually bereft enough, blithely egomaniacal enough, to sing and dance on the world stage against his own best interest. Is he in on the joke? Does he know they picked him to save money on boot black and burnt cork, this man who made his name by bringing the master glory on the master’s field, who got comfortable eating from the master’s table?

…

Whether Walker wins or loses, whatever was good or valuable or worthy about his prior professional legacy has been utterly compromised. His many trophies are now and forever eclipsed by the humiliating spectacle of his political foray. He is ruined, and the party that propped him up does not care.


Context is everything, however, and the whole article is worth the time it takes to read it—and to get the author’s context.

[Gunnar]

This article in The Atlantic is well worth reading, if you can get behind the paywall.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archi ... ns/672373/

Context is everything, however, and the whole article is worth the time it takes to read it—and to get the author’s context.

Excellent, well written article, Morley! Thanks for linking us to it!

[Moksha]

Walker could have gotten elected in Utah.

[Dr. Shades]

Walker’s candidacy is a fundamental assault by the Republican Party on the dignity of Black Americans. How dare they so cynically use this buffoon as a shield for their obvious failings to meet the needs and expectations of Black voters? They hold him up and say, “See, our voters don’t mind his race. We’re not a racist party. We have Black people on our side too.” Parading Walker at rallies like some kind of blue-ribbon livestock does not mean you have Black people on your side. What it means is that you are promoting a charlatan—a man morally and intellectually bereft enough, blithely egomaniacal enough, to sing and dance on the world stage against his own best interest. Is he in on the joke? Does he know they picked him to save money on boot black and burnt cork, this man who made his name by bringing the master glory on the master’s field, who got comfortable eating from the master’s table?

So, the Republicans forced him to run? He had no choice or say in the matter?

[Morley]

Walker’s candidacy is a fundamental assault by the Republican Party on the dignity of Black Americans. How dare they so cynically use this buffoon as a shield for their obvious failings to meet the needs and expectations of Black voters? They hold him up and say, “See, our voters don’t mind his race. We’re not a racist party. We have Black people on our side too.” Parading Walker at rallies like some kind of blue-ribbon livestock does not mean you have Black people on your side. What it means is that you are promoting a charlatan—a man morally and intellectually bereft enough, blithely egomaniacal enough, to sing and dance on the world stage against his own best interest. Is he in on the joke? Does he know they picked him to save money on boot black and burnt cork, this man who made his name by bringing the master glory on the master’s field, who got comfortable eating from the master’s table?

So, the Republicans forced him to run? He had no choice or say in the matter?

They did not. That doesn’t mean he wasn’t exploited and out of his depth. Though it’s probably not a fair comparison, I keep thinking of how Muhammed Ali was used by his handlers, those last couple of years.

I know the portion that I chose sounds harsh, but for context, you need to read the whole article. I wish fair use laws would allow me to quote the whole thing.

[Xenophon]

They did not. That doesn’t mean he wasn’t exploited and out of his depth. Though it’s probably not a fair comparison, I keep thinking of how Muhammed Ali was used by his handlers, those last couple of years.

Personal (but related) story time. There is a very famous football star from the late 70's early 80's from the town that I reside in. We're talking MVP, Heisman winning, Hall of Fame level player here. As is often the case for retired stars they find other revenue streams and for him it was no different. This has led to about five or six different instances of me getting extended time one-on-one with him as he has done multiple public appearances both for the company I work for and the local charity I'm engaged with. It was quite a treat every time as he obviously has some of the most amazing stories and he is a very interesting person to talk to. It doesn't hurt that he is a local hero and it's awesome to watch the kids in particular light up when he talks about the "glory years".

That said it is obvious the years of abuse on his body and mind while playing had a very long and significant impact. It is not uncommon for him to completely lose trains of thought, get a bit confused about where he is at or why. He also adopted the practice of referring to himself in the third person when he needs something ("Hall of Famer needs some peanut M&M's" may still be one of my favorite sentences I've heard). My use of one-on-one above is a bit inaccurate as well, he never goes anywhere or does anything without a few handlers. In my conversations with him it became pretty clear that they do 100% of the booking and schedule setting and he just goes where he is asked, says what they tell him to say, and collects the check. Part of it is that he clearly needs some help with these things but there are always the folks that latch themselves to successful people in order to cash in.

Fortunately I think this gentleman is surrounded mostly by folks who do have his best interest at heart but I can easily see a very different world. Were the folks in his immediate circle a little more power hungry, a little more ambitious, or caught up with folks that sought to use him for their own personal desires I could easily see him falling into a Walker-esque situation. I have no doubt that if local political groups thought they could, they wouldn't hesitate for a second to leverage him either for endorsement or as a candidate.

If they did, it would be easy to say "well he could have just said no" but I think that misses a lot of the context. These former athletes are often very vulnerable. It isn't uncommon for them to have few positive influences in their life, education is often questionable, and coupling that with the side effects we know come from that amount of physical trauma and you have the perfect recipe for someone to exploit.

[Chap]

I think Xenophon has nailed it.

This man was clearly used by the Republicans because he was easy to manipulate, and black. Those TV appearances where he was seen grinning vaguely between two white guys who did all the talking were a real giveaway of what was going on.

By the way, I am not saying that Walker was any kind of an innocent, or even a nice guy. But in the context we have seen in past weeks, he was more or less a puppet of the Republicans who hoped he could beat his opponent and thereafter would do whatever he was told. It was not an edifying spectacle.