Donald Trump Won it Like an All-American Football Star. But Rules Change Off the Field.

    

Tell the Kids Donald Trump Won Like the Election Like a Linebacker Wins the Super Bowl. But Now the Game is Over.

“There is something in good men that really yearns for discipline and the harsh reality of head to head combat.” Vince Lombardi from What it Takes to Be Number One

Football and politics are both All-American sports. Donald Trump won the election. It wasn’t rigged, not everyone voted, he didn’t get the most votes, but he did win. Some people are cheering, some are mourning. Yet no one can deny that he came from behind and dominated the field, which is something Americans love. Many voted for him despite his election behavior because they stand behind the Republican “team.” Even for those who voted for him, it is obvious that the attention getting tactics he used in his election, are behaviors that we don’t want to instill in our children and can’t have in our President. Now that he is President-Elect, he knows he must behave and act as an example to all. I realized that his election fits our sports obsessed culture very well.

· Like political parties, football teams aren’t true reflections of who they represent.

o Most team members aren’t originally from that team’s city.

o The teams don’t accurately represent the diversity of the nation or their own city (starting with the obvious lack of representation for ½ the population, which is female). Do they even make jerseys in sizes for women?

o All of the players have jobs, (the minimum NFL salary in 2015 was 435,000). The more you tackle, the more you make. Most went to college (on scholarships). Many own homes in their team city and also in their home city.

· Members of political parties and fans of football teams both root for their team despite changes in rosters and coaches. They wear their colors and chant and get in fights. They don’t even need beer to start fighting. Many have never even been to the city (or university) that their team represents. But it’s their team and they fly the team’s flag.

· The players tackle, grab, trip, and steal the ball from each other. Referees make calls of tripping or fouls, but they can’t catch everything and, it turns out, a lot of it is actually legal during the game! Sometimes the clock just seems to keep running and other times it stops. Sometimes a call will cancel or prevent a last second play that would give a team a victory.

· Donald Trump aggressively tackled, jeered, kicked, intercepted in his campaign and the last minute Electoral College call gave him the win. Many fans of both “teams” were already out in the parking lot when the final whistle blew. 

Now the game is over. No more playing rough out on the field. Mr. Trump already appears to realize he has to change his game plan now. A Super Bowl winner isn’t considered a bad person because he fought his way to the win. But he is expected to suddenly become a gracious winner and act as an example off of the field and in the real world. Nowadays much more attention is placed on punishing the star players off the field who abuse women, commit crimes, and hurt animals. They have to learn to keep their player behavior on the field.

Mr. Trump is now representing all teams and has to be an example off the field. Mr. Trump seemed surprised and upset that some of his fans are out in public gleefully recreating his on-the-field plays. Now we expect that he will respect the coaching role he’s taken on (no, he shouldn’t coach everyone to act like life is a football game, but an analogy can only go so far!). Advertisers love to use star players as role models to sell products. The truth is he’s going to appoint some of his teammates (hopefully not those who’ve suffered concussions, suspended, fired, fined, etc.). Hopefully he doesn’t use the same tactics he used with the late USFL (anyone remember that?). There are probably more kids who’d like to win a Super Bowl ring than become President, but it’s all part of the American Dream. The ball is in Mr. Trump’s court and I’m rooting for him to become a good sportsman, and stop being a player. The Constitution is the ultimate playbook, but the game isn’t football, it’s Life.

Nancy M Doyle

A Tribute to a Courageous Iranian "Ordinary Face": Dr. Sadegh Zibakalam

Our team picked up this courtesy of the team at MEMRI earlier this morning as we received this at our Virtual Studios.    Dr. Zibakalam, who serves as a Professor at the University of Tehran, is one of the most prominent dissidents and has been extremely vocal in speaking out against the policies of the Islamic Republic.    What he underscores here is what is shared by a majority of Iranians that must be underscored as the rapprochement with the West has continued under the current President, Hassan Rouhani--it is quite telling and in our view, took courage by him to be as vocal as he was--A true courageous "ordinary face" 

Special Dispatch | 6682 | November 18, 2016       Prominent Iranian Dissident Zibakalam Defies Iranian Regime's 'Mission' To Destroy Israel, Refuses To Step On American, Israeli Flags

Prominent Iranian dissident and Tehran University professor Sadegh Zibalakam, who in 2014 was sentenced to 18 months in prison for criticizing the regime's nuclear policy and for his reformist and pro-U.S. opinions, is a prominent voice in the conflict in Iran between the ideological camp and the pragmatic camp. MEMRI has published many translations of his statements.[1] The following are two recent MEMRI TV clips of Zibakalam's statements. Zibakalam Refuses To Step on American, Israeli Flags On November 5, 2016, footage was posted online showing Zibakalam refusing to step on the American and Israeli flags and pushing away students who were trying to force him to do so. Prof. Zibakalam later explained on a television show, on November 10, that stepping on the flag of any nation was a sign of disrespect toward that nation. The footage of the incidents and the interview were posted on Zibakalam's Facebook page in November. To view this clip, click here or below   Zibakalam said in the interview: "It is a mistake to burn the flag of any nation. It is a sign of disrespect toward that nation. Placing the flag of a country on the ground and stepping on it is an error, a sign of disrespect toward that nation. You do this kind of thing, and then some London-based [Iranian] complains that when traveling to the US, he was thoroughly checked at the airport. Even his eyes were scanned. This is an act of disrespect." Zibakalam Defies Iranian Regime's "Mission" To Destroy Israel In an interview conducted by the Iranian Ministry of Islamic Culture, Zibakalam criticized the Iranian regime over its stance on Israel, saying that by promoting calls for the destruction of Israel, Iran was acting in violation of the U.N. Charter. He further criticized Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's idea of a referendum on the future of Israel, saying that it was unrealistic and, furthermore, none of Iran's business, and pointing out that Iran's commitment to destroy Israel was evident in its parading of long-range missiles with slogans in Hebrew pronouncing that "Israel must be destroyed." The interview was posted on the ministry's official YouTube account on November 13, 2016. To view this clip, click here or below  The following is the transcript of the interview: Zibakalam: "The UN officially recognized Israel, and Iran is a member state. According to Article 1 of the UN charter, the UN member states must not conduct acts of aggression against one another, and must not wish death and destruction upon another nation. [...] "Iran should first withdraw from the UN before it may chant: 'Death to Israel' and 'Israel must be destroyed.' [...] "What Palestinian political movement calls for the destruction of Israel?" Interviewer: "The Islamic Jihad and Hamas..." Zibakalam: "Absolutely not. Hamas calls for a Palestinian state. Where does it call for Israel's destruction? [...] "Most of the Palestinians who became refugees in 1948, almost 70 years ago, are already dead, and some of them emigrated to Jordan, Armenia, or Ethiopia. There are already second- and third-generation (Palestinians) there. Are you really suggesting holding a referendum to determine if they should return to Palestine or not? How would they even identify them? [...] "Let's say that a referendum is held tomorrow, and the Jews return to where they lived 70 years ago, and the Palestinians return to where they lived 70 years ago... Let's assume that this were possible." Interviewer: "Are you saying that we shouldn't care about this?" Zibakalam: "No that's not what I'm saying. I'm talking about Iran's mission to destroy Israel, and about our declarations that we must destroy Israel..."   Interviewer: "We are not talking about destroying Israel with an atom bomb..."   Zibakalam: "Mr. Dehbashi, don't argue with me. Don't say: 'We're talking about a referendum, not about the destruction [of Israel]. When you write on your missiles 'Israel must be destroyed,' it's no joke. These missiles have a range of 2,000-3,000 kilometers, so if you launch them from here, they will definitely hit Tel Aviv. You write 'Israel must be destroyed' on the missiles in Hebrew, in order to dispel any doubts [about our intentions]. Is this really talking about human rights? Who entrusted Iran with this mission? The Arabs? Did the Arabs say: 'Oh Iran, we are incapable of destroying Israel, and, you know, we Arabs love you very much, so please come and do this for us'?! Did the Palestinians say this? Did Hamas? Did the PLO? Did the Palestinian parliament in exile say this? Is this written in our constitut [...] "They know that if they ask me, I will comply in full – so what's the point in arresting me? After the [demonstrations of] September 18, 2009, they called me, and said: 'Mr. Zibakalam'... That was when the [Farsi] BBC was launched. 'Don't talk to the BBC anymore," they said. I said: 'Fine.' They called and said: 'Mr. Zibakalam, don't talk to Radio Farda.' I said: 'Fine.' Another telephone call: 'Don't talk to VOA. I said: 'Fine.' Why should we arrest him if he complies every time we tell him what to do?"  ion? Was there a poll in which the Iranian people said that Israel must be destroyed? Does Islam say this? Who said that we must destroy Israel?! [...] "There is a practical reason why they do not arrest me. They say to themselves: Why arrest him? We can just call him and tell him to shut up, and he won't utter another word.

On This Thanksgiving 2016

• Credit: Jean Leon Gerome Ferris / Public domain Other
  

As America celebrates Thanksgiving 2016, our team picked up these brief "tidbits" on Thanksgiving that we hope all enjoy!!   

Happy Thanksgiving to all!!!

When was the first Thanksgiving celebrated?

• What is a fun fact about Thanksgiving? 

FULL ANSWER

The feast lasted for several days, and the tradition was repeated at harvest time in the following years. The event was not originally called Thanksgiving because to the Pilgrims, thanksgiving was purely religious. The first recorded day of thanksgiving was held in 1623 in response to a much-needed rainfall. It was much later that the two events were combined to what is now known as Thanksgiving Day, which President Abraham Lincoln made an official holiday in 1863.

The Plymouth colonists built successful relationships with the neighboring Indians who taught them farming techniques. This success was due in part to Squanto, a local Indian who had been kidnapped and taken to England a decade before. Squanto was able to act as an interpreter between the colonists and the local Indians.

Massasoit, chief of the Wampanoags, signed a treaty of alliance with the Pilgrims. The Pilgrims would provide assistance with defense against a neighboring tribe, and the Wampanoags would provide food and teach the Pilgrims how to farm. It was this successful partnership, along with the leadership of colony governor William Bradford, that led to the first harvest festival, or thanksgiving.