April 30, 2014

Mark Steyn on the Magic Johnson Connection

Mark Steyn writes:
In the 21st century's pansified American media the sports desk are the biggest pansies of all. Steve Sailer thinks this is because political correctness is all about not noticing things, and for sports reporters the stuff you're not meant to notice is staring you right in the face all day long: 
There's a reason why run-of-the-mill sportswriters have long been among the most dopily politically correct for years. Political correctness is a war on noticing, and it's harder to not notice patterns when watching sports than almost anywhere else in life. If you turn on ESPN, you'll notice that on average, blacks can outjump and outsprint whites, that straight men and lesbian women like sports far more than do gay men and straight women, and that men are much better than women at sports. 
Even so, the mawkish drivel from the sob-sisters of the sports pages is quite something. Adrian Wojnarowski
For all these despicable revelations tumbling out of the hateful heart of Donald Sterling, there promises construction of a roadmap to redemption for the Los Angeles Clippers and the NBA... Magic Johnson is the ultimate cleanser in sports, and steering a Clippers sale to him could be transformative for the franchise. Truth be told, it could change the balance of basketball power in Los Angeles forever. 
Oprah says Magic wants the team, and, if Oprah says it, it's probably going to happen. So let's see: Donald Sterling's mistress takes Magic Johnson to a Clippers game. And, in the course of complaining about her swanning around with Magic Johnson, Donald Sterling makes some racist remarks. So they take the team away from Donald Sterling and transfer it to ...Magic Johnson. Gee, that's awfully neat.
    

45 comments:

Oswald Spengler said...

"So let's see: Donald Sterling's mistress takes Magic Johnson to a Clippers game. And, in the course of complaining about her swanning around with Magic Johnson, Donald Sterling makes some racist remarks. So they take the team away from Donald Sterling and transfer it to...Magic Johnson. Gee, that's awfully neat."

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Hmmm...you'd almost think that the whole affair was all planned out beforehand or something.

Anonymous said...

Today's news says that Oprah is "interested" in joining an ownership group.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/basketball/chi-oprah-winfrey-clippers-20140430,0,7916234.story

Next, Ellen will want to join them.

PropagandistHacker said...

quote from the article:

There's a reason why run-of-the-mill sportswriters have long been among the most dopily politically correct for years. Political correctness is a war on noticing....


Agreed. Now what are the forces that caused political correctness? Everything happens for a reason.

Well, in school young white people were bombarded with information that put white people in a bad light. Why was that so? Why are white people made out to be evil? How do the people at the top of society benefit when white people are made to feel guilty about the past and about being white? I ask that question because, being the silly little thing I am, I assume that those at the top of society have the most power and influence. Silly of me, I know.

I ask the question again: how did those at the top benefit by having white people feel guilty about being white?

Anonymous said...

PC is about not noticing the obvious (all religions have that quality). For example, if race doesn't matter (or is just a "social construct", why is the NBA 80% Black?

Yet not one mainstream commentator states this obvious fact.

Anonymous said...

So this chick is smarter than Selena Roberts?

Anonymous said...

It looks like the PC crowd is hunger for more.

The most viewed article right now on the Guardian is

"Jeremy Clarkson: I did not use the n-word"

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/may/01/jeremy-clarkson-not-use-n-word

Anonymous said...

So, when can we expect the first Magic the Redeemer mural to be commissioned?

It is truly astonishing that you're no longer allowed to suggest that those who stood to benefit from an unusual set of circumstances may have had something to do with bringing them about. The world is just one topsy-turvical coincidence after another!

DJF said...

Actually PC is a two step process.

First is not noticing

Second is when finally forced to notice coming up with a reason that blames it on white racism.

Anonymous said...

I just find it humorous that folks say his age the reason for his racism. Maybe his racism is based on 80 years of life experience. Maybe his comment about giving the players stuff is a result of him spending time with them. He realizes most wouldn't be fit to clean his apartments without the NBA. I wonder how many ex-players have asked him for loans to get by?

This guy needs to start naming names. Also public opinion seems to be turning on the NBA. More people are saying this goes too far.

Unknown said...

Magic Johnson is the colourful tip of a larger, paler and richer iceberg and the owner of the Clippers navigated into it because he followed the siren call of his vibrant mistress? The who/whom game of political correctness is being used to win a war waged in the media? This sounds quite possible and, if it's true, it's the second such case I've heard of in the last 24hrs, the other being the story of the man behind the self-styled radical feminist protest group, Femen, They're the bunch of Ukrainian women who protest topless against anyone who's patriarchal, Christian or Vladimir Putin, or do I repeat myself?

Anyway, there's a new documentary of Femen that apparently reveals the oily and domineering man behind this media-friendly protest movement. "The film reveals unsettling details about the group's early days under the leadership of a man named Victor Svyatski" according to the CBC story on this.

The maker of the documentary seemed to still have some sympathy for Victor Svyatski. She describes him as someone who:
"really sees himself as a revolutionary. He spent a few years in jail during the Soviet Union as an activist. He read lots of Lenin, lots of Marx and when he got out of jail he was like "I want to change the world!" but he's a young guy and he couldn't find anyone to listen to him but what he found in this tiny village in western Ukraine was this group of 16yr girls who were very impressionable and who he could persuade to do crazy stuff."

White guys and Jewish guys using proxies to wage a media war against one another? Yes, I'm starting to see that pop up all over.

Anonymous said...

I listened to a bizarre exchange on some talk radio show yesterday. A panel of reporters unanimously condemned Donald Sterling for hurtful racist comments against blacks and hailed the NBA for handing down maximum sanctions. Then one of the panelists got a bit wobbly-kneed about the lack of due process, another got nervous about a potential criminal action in obtaining the recording then all of them started whining about the potential hit to personal privacy. But it was still a good thing that Sterling got his comeuppance since his words were so hateful toward blacks.

Jason Roberts said...

So will the NFL owners force Snyder to change the Redskins name and logo now?

Anonymous said...

Steyn does a great job of writing on meaningful topics (foremost Islam in the West) while staying respectable enough for the National Review crowd. This allows him to do things like debate leading Democrats. He's also a master speaker: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMjm1zDBY-k

Anonymous said...

The reason why sportswriters are "politically correct" is obviously because the jocks they write about are so disproportionately black. Sports/athletics is the truest meritocracy in America and blacks dominate this field purely on merit.

Unknown said...

leftist conservative said...
...
I ask the question again: how did those at the top benefit by having white people feel guilty about being white?


To be more specific, White men who are Christian, or at least unashamed of their inherited Christian civilisation.

How do those at the top benefit by having White people feel guilty about being White? They benefit by severely handicapping or sabotaging their strongest rivals for power; the rightful heirs to the lands they've stolen by stealth. Having everyone fret and squabble about petty matters leaves the field open for those with their eyes on the prize. " We can do anything we like as long as it is unimportant. But in all important matters the system tends increasingly to regulate our behavior".

That's one reason why Russia and the whole former East Bloc is a serious problem for the people now running the West: they haven't been through our socialization process. Political correctness, 2nd and 3rd wave feminism, White guilt, Holocaust guilt don't ring many Pavlovian bells with these people.

Dahinda said...

These days just saying "Truth be told" in any statement makes me sick!

d said...

The wussification of the sports guys is truly disgusting. They were actually the last to cave, but once they did, their collapse was swift and complete.

One of the more decent ones, who I'm convinced has to tape his mouth shut, is Steve Serby of the NY Post. I know this for a fact.

He was slammed by Al Sharpton as a racist for commending Tom Coughlin of the Jets for suspending Burress after the latter had shot himself in the groin with an unlicensed gun. It appears Serby had used verboten speech, so had to be disciplined:

http://tinyurl.com/omf538l

You really can't make this stuff up and as they say in sports, records are made to be broken.

How deep is our abysmal descent into shame & disgrace going to be? How low can a once-great nation sink?

That's what we're finding out now.

Dahinda said...

There is a whole other angle to this Sterling thing that I see. (Many people may disagree with me but so be it) If instead of the L.A. Clippers what if Sterling were the owner of the CHicago Bulls. The national new media would be crucifying the entire City of Chicago as a hotbed of racism. In the national news media, Chicago and the Midwest get treated as some kind of place that is outside of America. When a thing like what happened with Sterling happens in a city like Chicago then, it is viewed by the national media in much the same way as it would if it happened in a foriegn country. The culture of the place is then suspect not the individual. As this happened in Los Angeles it is seen in a more nuanced way as "just one bad apple among us." Donald Sterling grew up in Los Angeles and represents what that upbringing produces yet the entire City of Los Angeles or Souther California are not blamed for this. I feel that if Don Sterling grew up in Chicago and owned the Bulls, and the same thing happened, Chicago (or Detroit, Cleveland, St. Louis etc..) would be put on the spot in much the same way that the city is when any other bad news comes out of the city.

Anonymous said...

Cgubby Ape:"White guys and Jewish guys using proxies to wage a media war against one another? Yes, I'm starting to see that pop up all over."

Think that you mean "White Gentile guys and *White Jewish guys."

* As Sterling has helpfully pointed out, not all Jews are White.

Anonymous said...

Magic Johnson, he just a mountain-sized negro who wuvs a wittle mouse that squealed to the world.

Anonymous said...

I still find it incredible that sterling would discuss race, culture, history, and political philosophy with a bimbo.

Anonymous said...

femme tattletale

Unknown said...

How many people did Magic infect with HIV?

Can some reporter find out? please.

Anonymous said...

http://www.jewishjournal.com/david_suissa/article/donald_tokowitz_sterling_a_jew_minus

Anonymous said...

"I ask the question again: how did those at the top benefit by having white people feel guilty about being white?"

I keep seeing this "feel guilty about being white" shyt, but I've never bought it. I don't think white people feel guilty at all.

Instead, what the pushers of this phrase understand the psyche of many people, particularly Americans, a people who've always had a romanticized view of themselves and their land. Think of our childhood studies. Washington. Lincoln.

The pushers have told white people for so long that they hold the key to the emancipation of millions that white people of a certain sort have grown rather full of themselves with that notion of themselves heroes: "Oh, I see. I hold power over others so it's important that I be magnanimous and fair to the extreme."

Of course, this attitude is born of arrogance, hubris. It's a clever appeal to the ego: "Yes, I have had it so much better than others--I am smart, talented, blessed (lately the word has been changed to "entitled"). I haven't ever actually had to struggle in life for the very basics, and I want to prove to all that I am a person of high moral fiber, and most of all, I want to display my exquisite character by being a magnanimous princely sort or at the very least, a sort of Robin Hood. Yes, by God. I really am wonderful and fair-minded and...and....and....a hero!"

It's not guilt AT ALL. IT's pure fatuous, juvenile egocentrism at work.

As you talk to people who believe in the silliness that is microaggressions and the like, people who spout the language of the left, you can actually see their chests begin to puff out, their chins raise for the duration of the conversation.

They are very silly people.




i am the walrus said...

PC is about not noticing the obvious (all religions have that quality). For example, if race doesn't matter (or is just a "social construct", why is the NBA 80% Black?

Yet not one mainstream commentator states this obvious fact


Actually, Charles Barkley did. He called the NBA a "black league." He even used the same 80% number you used.

Barkley criticized Magic last night for his (Magic's) public glee over Lakers' coach Mike D'Antoni resigning. Magic is getting a bit full of himself, I think.

Sean said...

BILL SIMMONS: "Only a few hours before Game 5, new NBA commissioner Adam Silver banned Sterling from the league for life. [...]
Sitting in Sterling’s seats at midcourt? Two black guys. This was one of Sterling’s favorite tricks over the years: Anytime he landed in hot water racially, because of a housing discrimination lawsuit, an inappropriate comment or something else, you could count on a minority mysteriously popping up in his seats."

Unknown said...

One thing to always remember - it's been a long time since anyone black was actually hurt by anything any white person said. Black self-love is bulletproof, has been since at least 1990.

Anonymous said...

Just remember that Sterling would have been one of those dumping on Rush Limbaugh when he said that stuff about black quarterbacks.

Actually... all this invasion of privacy wouldn't be a bad thing if directed at elites.

Since they have immense power over us, maybe we should have powerful people monitored 24/7.

That way, we'll know what the GOP turncoats are doing in secret meetings with Democrats about amnesty.

So, if you're a super rich Jew or some big time politician, everything you do must be made public...

because let's face it..

they are saying awful and hateful things about us.

Turn the NSA on the rich and powerful instead of having the rich and powerful use it on us.

Anonymous said...

"Jeremy Clarkson: I did not use the n-word"

he should say "I did use it as I'm practicing to be a rapper."

Sean said...

"all about not noticing things, and for sports reporters the stuff you're not meant to notice is staring you right in the face all day long"

They are LIARS, all pretending to be astonished by the extraordinary feats of athletes. But the sports stars are clearly juiced to the gills. Look at Blake Griffin, the physiques make it so obvious.

Anonymous said...

He wasn't any more hurtful than Barney the Purple Dinosaur.

Anonymous said...

Hey, Leftist Conservative, when I read your comment out loud to my wife, every dog in the neighborhood started barking!
What did you put in that thing?

Anonymous said...

I listened to a bizarre exchange on some talk radio show yesterday. A panel of reporters unanimously condemned Donald Sterling for hurtful racist comments against blacks and hailed the NBA for handing down maximum sanctions. Then one of the panelists got a bit wobbly-kneed about the lack of due process, another got nervous about a potential criminal action in obtaining the recording then all of them started whining about the potential hit to personal privacy. But it was still a good thing that Sterling got his comeuppance since his words were so hateful toward blacks.

Many people believe the end justifies the means because Sterling's rude comments hurt the feelings of a few 6'9" 245 lb. black guys making $5 million per year. It's all about the hurtful statements and the hell with due process and the law.

Anonymous said...

"I ask the question again: how did those at the top benefit by having white people feel guilty about being white?"

There are two answers. First, the group at the top wants GENTILES to feel guilty, not Ashkenazi (white) Jews.

Second, white gentiles generally have a unique ability to feel guilty about themselves. Heinous crimes have been committed by other groups of people, but members of these other groups are less likely to cry crocodile tears over what their ancestors did.

Icepick said...

I'm pretty sure we're not supposed to notice that Magic (and the partners standing in the shadows) is going to benefit from this. In fact, I'm pretty sure we're not supposed to notice anything but the squirrel of the day.

Anonymous said...

Nice to see one of my two favorite writers quote the other one.

Steyn is funnier; but Sailer is more informative.



AKAHorace.

Anonymous said...

Does magic still have the virus?

wiseguy said...

Bill Simmons has his Sterling article up.

I like how he has known for a long time what a jerk Sterling is and has still shelled out money to him for season tickets for years. But when the media firestorm kicked up, it became time to wear black and protest the Clippers and Sterling.

Don't sports journalists realize how obvious it is that their outrage is phony?

Anonymous said...

They're the bunch of Ukrainian women who protest topless against anyone who's patriarchal, Christian or Vladimir Putin, or do I repeat myself?

Yeah, but are they hawt? 'Cause if they are, I can think of better ways to reward patriarchy, Christianity, or being Vlad, but that's a pretty good start.

"I want to change the world!" but he's a young guy and he couldn't find anyone to listen to him but what he found in this tiny village in western Ukraine was this group of 16yr girls who were very impressionable and who he could persuade to do crazy stuff."

That answers that question.

So will the NFL owners force Snyder to change the Redskins name and logo now?

Gotta give Snyder some credit here, I'd have expected a Jew to a dive on this one long ago.

OpenID, yeah, Steyn flirts dangerously with Righteous Jew status.

How deep is our abysmal descent into shame & disgrace going to be? How low can a once-great nation sink?

What's this "we" shit? I'm post-American, bub.

Donald Sterling grew up in Los Angeles and represents what that upbringing produces yet the entire City of Los Angeles or Souther California are not blamed for this.

Agreed. I just posted this comment to another thread:

Simmons extrapolates from the trying experience watching Sterling that he must've been a pain in the ass to work for and feels sorry for the organization that supported him.

That's one of the more interesting things about the Sterling flap: how many co-workers and employees are now leaking how much of a horrible racist bastard he's always been. You know, those same co-workers and employees that have been working with or for the guy for decades. Here you go folks, here's some more rope. And here's some more, and a little more, and a little more...

I keep seeing this "feel guilty about being white" shyt, but I've never bought it. I don't think white people feel guilty at all.

Agreed. If anything, whites live steeped in fear, not guilt. The "guilty" ones are the scapegoats, the "wrong sort of white people," who must be punished.

Of course, this attitude is born of arrogance, hubris. It's a clever appeal to the ego: "Yes, I have had it so much better than others--I am smart, talented, blessed (lately the word has been changed to "entitled"). I haven't ever actually had to struggle in life for the very basics, and I want to prove to all that I am a person of high moral fiber, and most of all, I want to display my exquisite character by being a magnanimous princely sort or at the very least, a sort of Robin Hood. Yes, by God. I really am wonderful and fair-minded and...and....and....a hero!"

Very good. You've either been cribbing from me, or you know your stuff. Not many seem to get this. I call it "liberal white supremacy." It has many other manifestations ("whites aren't threatened, the very idea is preposterous!" being a salient one).

They are very silly people.

Not least because they preen while Rome burns.

Steyn is funnier

I find the funniest thing about Steyn is how funny he finds leftist stupidity (but, I repeat myself).

Svi

Anonymous said...

For all these despicable revelations tumbling out of the hateful heart of Donald Sterling...

I know we're supposed to live in a cynical, ironic age, but the tone of earnest denunciation you see in these Two Minutes Hate sessions is something to behold. Otherwise educated, intelligent people who pride themselves on recognizing "nuances" and "shades of gray" write like they're contributing to Pravda, circa 1935.

Yeah, Sterling's a jerk, but the incident in question is trifling, and his crassness and hypocrisy are hardly unique among our elites. Heck, the fact that he was heretofore able to buy the NAACP's good graces with his millions is a perfect illustration of who wears the pants in the Cultural Marxist coalition. I suppose that's precisely why we must be treated to lurid prose about his uniquely hateful heart.

At the other end of the spectrum, I'm glad to see Steyn quoting a brazen thought-criminal like Steve. Maybe it's wishful thinking, but it seems like there are some folks on the respectable right whose patience with Conservatism Inc. is wearing thin.

jody said...

"I ask the question again: how did those at the top benefit by having white people feel guilty about being white?"

is this a serious question? you benefit by eliminating competitors.

"I still find it incredible that sterling would discuss race, culture, history, and political philosophy with a bimbo."

i know i have. when you're alone in private with a person you trust, you muse. that it was a bimbo listening to me sometimes didn't make much difference, in fact, it allowed me the freedom to speak essentially rhetorically. this is why i feel confident he didn't know he was being recorded.

"How many people did Magic infect with HIV?"

have wondered this myself, yet the question absolutely never comes up. to nobody's surprise really. they never want to talk about magic johnson's magic johnson.

that they never talk about his flaming son though, is really the weirdest part. they want to pretend he doesn't exist.

"The wussification of the sports guys is truly disgusting."

it really is. they are a disgrace. it's astounding to see the difference between now and only 20 years ago, heck, even 10 years ago.

"One thing to always remember - it's been a long time since anyone black was actually hurt by anything any white person said. Black self-love is bulletproof, has been since at least 1990."

mean words still hurt, but africans have become fragile from 50 years of gentle treatment. it's like their skin is now a label that you see on glassware: fragile, handle with care. now anything negative hurts way more than it should. we're getting close to the point where you either have two options. say nothing, ever. or praise them as gods.

Anonymous said...

Isn't it kind of redundant for Steyn to write "lesbian women" ?

Are there other kinds I am not aware of ?

Anonymous said...

Steve is from California where facebookdotcon got their idea that there are 56 genders so lesbian women is only incorrect in that he spelled womyn incorrectly as wimmin.

Anonymous said...

So shortly after Obama was elected, I was walking through an airport (Philly, I think) and overheard someone in a business suit trying to impress his girlfriend: "we needed to lay some people off so [name I don't recall] went through the parking lot and looked for whose cars had Obama bumper stickers. They wanted change. They got change."

In one case we have people being laid off simply because they hold different political opinions from the owner, even though their political opinions are not costing the company money. In this case that gets Steyn's knickers in a twist: There is no question that if his comments went unpunished the NBA would lose significant amounts of money. What was the punishment? He had to sell the team at market value.

I'm sure Steyn believes that the person who fired people for supporting Obama had every right to do so. And he'd oppose taking that man's freedom to do so away. Those people lost their jobs and got nothing in return. Sterling gets to sell his franchise and keep the money. Somehow, I think Steyn's sympathy is misplaced.