I didn't want to spend a ton of time on this considering you ended your post with "And that is all I will say on these matters in this topic" (suggesting you're not open or interested in a discussion), but here we are.
1. Grandstanding: "to play or act so as to impress onlookers" - Source (Webster's Dictionary)
These NBA players offer no solutions. They whine, they parade around slogans, and speak in generalities. They demand "societal change" while eagerly taking money from China, a nation openly practicing genocide right now among other atrocities.
What are your expectations here?
NBA players may not have independently described solutions in detail themselves, but they support campaigns that have already articulated solutions for reform. There are only so many different ways to say "Defund and demilitarize the police", "Stop voter suppression" etc. Each of those things have had a lot of words written about them. It isn't as if no one has suggested ways to use money normally allocated to police or to stop voter suppression.
I don't agree with your accusation of grandstanding considering how many players volunteer their time and money to give back to their communities. LeBron James, for example, opened up an entire school in Akron.
As for China, your assessment is reductive and unfair. Most players are indirectly taking money from China in that they're paid by the teams which take money from anyone they can including but not limited to China. Other players have promotional deals in China. You're trying to point out hypocrisy, but I guarantee you use products made in China. How's that PlayStation 4 treating you? You're also a Utah Jazz fan so you're supporting an organization that takes money from China. That said, I don't think you're in a position to be pointing fingers at anyone for this in particular. In order for this to be a fair criticism, the United States as a whole would have to cease dealing with China entirely until they stop *broadly gestures at the countless atrocities China is committing*
More importantly, your assertion on China doesn't invalidate the need for societal change in America.
2. I work in a critical role in a small business that can't afford for me to be out a day without 2 weeks notice, as I generate & coordinate all reports to our clients as well as process our highest-value invoices. I am the only person there who does what I do. We are working on finding someone who can sub for me so I can afford to take more than handful of days off a year, but it's a slow process when the general populace is incompetent.
To elaborate on what I said before, though, it is rather tone-deaf for the NBA players to decide to just walk off the job when millions of people in the US, presumably some of which are among their fans, are unemployed.
I'm sorry your work situation is such a flustercuck, but again, maybe you should look for a better job. I'm not implying that doing so is easy especially in the middle of a pandemic. However, your anger toward players who boycotted on Wednesday seems misdirected. It really isn't their fault that they work at a job that allows them to do what they did while you are not afforded the same luxury. I wonder if you're at all angry that we live in a socio-economic system that allows the small business you work for to even function the way you described.
If you really believe the players' actions are tone deaf, I'm not here to argue that. Personally, I think they put their livelihood on the line to use the platform available to them for a just cause. It isn't an unrelated matter to them because they live racism every day. Many of their family and friends still live in those communities even if the players moved up.
3. Viewership for the 2020 NBA Playoffs is down 40-50% compared to 2019. Yes, compared to the general size of the US populace, relatively no one is watching this year's playoffs. You can feel free to blame there being non-prime time playoff games this year, but regardless the playoffs have not been wildly successful so far.
https://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2020/08/nba-playoff-ratings-abc-down-lakers-blazers/
I'm not arguing that viewership is down. You flat out said, "Things like this are why relatively no one is watching the NBA's games right now." You are claiming viewership is down due to things like grandstanding without a shred of evidence.
4. Regarding the "People are dying. What is wrong with you?" and "ignorant" quips.
The NBA players are willfully ignorant regarding the shooting & crippling of Jacob Blake. Even by the time of their "strike" yesterday, information had been released by the police that showed Jacob Blake had multiple warrants for his arrest, including sexual assault. The police were on the scene because Blake was somewhere he wasn't supposed to be accosting a woman for her car keys. He resisted arrest & apparently a taser hit. He then proceeded to ignore the gun-pointing police officers & make his way back to his car. He then reached into the car as if to grab a weapon, and as it turns out there was a knife found right where he was reaching.
You're claiming the players are willfully ignorant when they haven't mentioned any of the above (which I'll have to fact check because I admittedly haven't read everything there is to read about the shooting of Jacob Blake). You're assuming they don't know the facts of the incident or they're blatantly ignoring the facts which is unfair because you're not privy to what they do and do not know. That said, people (including the players) are upset about this because Rusten Sheskey firing seven bullets seemed excessive. Was it excessive? I don't have enough information to make that call even if my gut is telling me yes.
Now, you're a police officer & you have a suspect resisting arrest & going for a weapon. The taser has already failed & you don't have time to wait to see what the weapon the suspect is drawing is. You don't want to try to "tackle" him, Lebron James, because then you risk having a George Flynn all over again. The only logical choice there is to shoot to protect yourself. The shooting of Jacob Blake was completely justified by the facts of the case, and a court of law (if necessary) will prove that. Instead of following the facts of the case, though, the NBA players decided to declare "SYSTEMIC RACISM" and freak out (would you prefer that to "grandstanding")?
That's a weird take.
- You didn't even care enough to write George Floyd's name correctly yet you think this is all grandstanding. Collectively as a country, we do not value black lives as much as others, and you just proved that because you couldn't be bothered to learn a black man's name even when you're using it to attempt to prove a point.
- George Floyd died because Derek Chauvin kneeled on his neck for almost nine minutes while Floyd kept saying he couldn't breathe. And yes, that is excessive.
- Were risking a George Floyd situation and shooting a man seven times the only options? Sheskey could have avoided the former by just not kneeling on a man's neck for nine minutes.
- It is systemic racism because time and time again, evidence shows that black people are not treated equally by the law and judicial system. Additionally, the Kenosha Police Department attempted to shield Sheskey (a white man) by not immediately identifying him. The Wisconsin Department of Justice had to release his name.
As for the kid arrested for killing 1 sex offender (yes, that has been confirmed) and wounding 2 other people, I leave this Twitter Thread from the New York Times. Read it. Don't read it. I don't care.
https://twitter.com/trbrtc/status/1298839097923063809
The kid should face consequences for bringing his gun across state lines, where it is illegal. That charge is perfectly valid. He should not have been there.
While you acknowledged that Kyle Rittenhouse shouldn't have been there, it's super weird that you mentioned he killed a sex offender because that's irrelevant. Stop trying to distort what happened here and somewhat justify what Rittenhouse did because of who he killed. It doesn't matter that Joseph Rosenbaum was a registered sex offender. He shouldn't have been murdered.
Also, Rittenhouse killed two people, not one. It's strange that you provided a link to that Twitter thread yet don't know a key detail about the incident when it's mentioned in the very first Tweet. Hmm.
Finally, Rittenhouse was charged with five felonies:
- One count of first-degree intentional homicide
- One count of first-degree reckless homicide
- One count attempted first-degree intentional homicide
- Two counts of reckless endangerment
This does not even include the fact that he cannot legally own a gun because he's a minor then as you already mentioned, brought it across state lines.
As for the shootings, though, the evidence so far shows they were in self-defense as the mob attempted to beat him to death (and self-defense against another gun-wielder in one instance). That will need to be proven in a court of law, of course, but I guarantee you that 1st Degree Murder Charge isn't going to stick just on the facts.
The mental gymnastics you're performing here to justify this is mind-boggling.
- Rittenhouse inserted himself into a situation he had no business being a part of considering he's 17 years old and doesn't even live in Wisconsin then he escalated it, being armed the way he was.
- You claim Rittenhouse acted in self-defense when he willingly marched down into a protest carrying a semi-automatic weapon under the guise of "protecting people".
- You claim a mob was trying to beat him to death which the video of the event and eyewitness accounts do not support. He was being chased because he just murdered Joseph Rosenbaum (who was unarmed and trying to disarm Rittenhouse) and was still carrying a semi-automatic weapon. Someone yelled "get his ass" when Rittenhouse tripped and fell. However, I don't know if you can call it self-defense when a 17 year old placed himself in the center of a conflict, armed with an AR-15, and was clearly the aggressor. Rittenhouse didn't belong there then he killed two unarmed people trying to disarm him (unless you count Anthony Huber's skateboard as a weapon).
He was not shot by the police when attempting to turn himself in because he was not pointing a gun at the police. That is not systemic racism. That is "not being stupid".
It is systemic racism because the treatment would not be the same if Rittenhouse was black. Several police vehicles drove right past a white boy carrying a semi-automatic weapon. Video evidence shows that while Rittenhouse did have his hands up, he actually reaches down and touches his gun a couple times right in front of police while walking towards them (at one point, he held the barrel for a few seconds). They didn't even arrest him then. After killing two people and wounding another, Rittenhouse was able to flee back to Illinois where he was finally arrested.
You also conveniently left out the part where video evidence shows a white police officer gave Rittenhouse and his white associates some water and said, "We appreciate you guys, we really do." A police officer said this to armed civilians who shouldn't have even been in Wisconsin in the first place yet you're claiming this wasn't systemic racism. Why did Kenosha police need help and from civilians no less? The police were in big, armored vehicles. No way any of that happens if Rittenhouse and co. were black.
The fact that you justified the shooting and crippling of Jacob Blake then in the same post, leaned in to defend Kyle Rittenhouse unprompted pretty much tells me everything I need to know about you as a person.