Quick Hits for 11/8/15

• First off, can I ask a favor?  Will sports teams stop using the troops as props, promoting their leagues with soldiers, meanwhile taking cash to do so?  These leagues are primarily embracing the military for themselves, and the US government paid $6.8 million to get these leagues to 'honor' them.  The military shouldn't have to pay for military salutes, period.  And if you really did support the troops, instead of only showing them on the sidelines, cheering on a game in a foreign locale, or camo-ing out your jerseys, you'd be thanking them for the freedom they provide, freedom which allows your sports leagues to make obscene profits, by funding jobs programs, health care, and mental health treatment.  Instead of throwing a soldier, veteran and an American flag in front of your cameras to imply you care, show you care first, then let the soldiers and veterans come to you on their own.  A public appearance shouldn't be the sole purpose of the leagues intent, but rather the final step in a comprehensive plan to support the troops.

• Ben Carson implied he has been more persecuted by the media than President Obama ever was...HAHAHAHAHA!  The saddest part, the amount of people who scream about birth certificates or his secret Muslim faith, immediately forgetting all the pressure they've applied to President Obama in the last 7 years, and nodding their heads in agreement.  Hey freaks, remember Jade Helm?!  The media's narrative has been driven by this far right screaming car wreck, and not since the early 1800's has a President been treated this poorly by the media (Jackson).  The fact the media is FINALLY confronting Ben Carson about his wild stories tells you how far a GOP candidate has to go for the media to start doing their job.  Could any Democrat come up with 1/10th the craziness as Carson and NOT have a congressional investigation called?  Remember what they did to Brian Williams?

• Speaking of GOP candidates, Donald Trump's turn as host on Saturday Night Live was a train wreck.  It was horrible because of two mistakes, lessons conservative joke writers should've learned from the "Half Hour Comedy Hour" debacle Fox News aired a few years back.  Problem one - conservative comedy is insult driven, and considering the hatred the right has for all things left, it got ugly during that show.  The Rosie O'Donnell joke in the monologue and the skit where Trump was supposedly 'live tweeting' are prime examples of that.  Problem two - when you buy GOP talking points as fact, ignoring the truth, and THEN write the jokes, you end up making a confusing mess which is only about validating ignorance.  Let's go with the opening sketch.  Most people didn't watch the Democratic forum on Friday because the media in this country purposely ignored it until after the fact, when they then tried to argue "we ignored it because this was only for African American people."  SNL labeling the forum as unimportant, and then running with the 'black people' argument, ruined that skit before it got going.

• Which brings up the laughable argument Conservatives today still are trying to make about a 'left leaning media.'  Not one media outlet outside of MSNBC even mentioned the Democratic candidates for President were all going to be in South Carolina on Friday; not one.  They were all covering Trump, Carson and the rest of the GOP field.  I actually wonder if the news outlets really felt the "it was for African Americans only" defense was a viable excuse, not warranting the immediate follow up question, "are you saying you purposely ignore news stories  geared toward African Amercian issues and discussion, ones that don't involve protests in the streets?"  That's a whole lot of sad.  For the record, the Democrats were talking about ALL the issues, not just ones important to African Americans.

• Speaking of the South Carolina Forum - and THIS IS NOT AN ENDORSEMENT - Berne Sanders was SPOT on by calling out the GOP's obsession with trying to stop people, who they think will vote against them, from even having the right to vote.  The levels of voter suppression woven into the GOP platform is disgusting, and as anti-American as you can get.  Here's the link to the voting rights discussion:

• One of the things I've started to look forward to is the Friday news dump; a release of news stories that need to be released, but because they will make someone look bad, or disprove a narrative being driven in this country, they release the news on a Friday afternoon, and hope no one pays attention.  On Friday, the story was dumped, after a full investigation by our intelligence agencies, Hillary Clinton DID NOT share classified information on her server.  The GOP is hoping you missed that one, as they have another 11 hour long hearing to call!

• And last thing today, Minnesota Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater was the victim of a vicious cheap shot by the St. Louis Rams which gave him concussion like symptoms.  Not only should the NFL suspend/fine St. Louis Ram Lamarcus Joyner for the obvious cheap hit, but two other groups need some scrutiny.  The NFL should review the officials from the game who allowed earlier roughing calls to go un-called, encouraging the Rams to see how far they could take their aggressive play.  Also, every network covering the game (NBC, Fox, CBS, ESPN, the NFL Network) all eluded to the St. Louis Rams head coach and assistant coaches doing this Cobra Kai higher aggressive play, repeatedly, over the years.  Apparently, Rams Coach Jeff Fisher and his crew are known for targeting players for injuries.  If everyone who covers the league knows this, why hasn't the league addressed it?  You might want to get on that.