Michael Bennett has one fervent imagination and a knack for making news. Last month the Seattle Seahawks' activist/defensive end accused Las Vegas police of racial profiling, and this week he complained that Dallas Cowboys' owner Jerry Jones is treating his players like Dred Scott, the famous 19th-century slave denied his freedom by the U.S. Supreme Court. Compliant media progressives are lapping up each of Bennett's incredulous claims without question.
It's no wonder Bennett has been described as "an activist disguised as a football player." He's having a quiet season on the field -- just 15 tackles and four sacks -- but he's making a lot of noise off the field with continuous charges of racism. His accusation against Vegas police fell flat, so now he's railing against Jones, the white owner of the Cowboys who said any of his players who do not stand for the anthem can take a seat on the bench:
I just think it’s inconsiderate of a person, being a human being. I just thought it reminded me of the Dred Scott case. ‘You’re property, so you don’t have the ability to be a person first.’ And I think that in this generation, I think that sends the wrong message to young kids and young people all across the world that your employer doesn’t see you as a human being, he sees you as a piece of property.
Left-stream media swallow this kind of mularkey hook, and sinker, without question. They don't question those they're ideologically aligned with and they sure didn't challenge the veracity of Bennett's absurd statement.
"Invoking that case has powerful implications and Bennett clearly knew exactly the point he was making by driving the point home of owners seeing their employees as property," wrote Derek Lewis of 24/7 Sports. Ridiculous point that it was, Lewis found it compelling nonetheless.
Let's get this straight: being told to stand for the Star Spangled Banner is akin to treating athletes as if they are slaves. Yet it's acceptable behavior for football coaches to make players do wind sprints and grass drills until they puke and to batter each other into concussions. Just part of the game.
Yet if a team owner requires them to stand for the national anthem, that's where the line is drawn. They suddenly become akin to Dred Scott, who was declared less than human by the High Court in 1857. And gutless liberal media are afraid of calling out Bennett -- a fellow progressive -- on the stupidity of his outlandish remarks comparing millionaires to a 19th-century slave.
At the end of the year Bennett is expected to release a book on racism. If his current and recent behavior is any indication of what we can expect to read on the pages of that book, it should be provocative reading. It's being written by Dave Zirin, a radical leftist and Bennett fan who writes for The Nation and Edge of Sports blogs.
Earlier this year Bennett made news for declining to accompany an NFL contingent to Israel and siding with Palestinians. He frequently speaks up on behalf of Colin Kaepernick and speaks out on social justice issues. All of this insulates him from media criticism.
Left-stream media love Bennett's activism. They agree with him on controversial issues and never question his on-field performance. With a salary of more than $15 million this season ($1 million per tackle thus far), he's becoming more and more like Kaepernick: outspoken and under-performing. But you won't hear this from his media lapdogs.
