A group of progressive athletes that includes current social justice warriors, kneeling NFL players, a past Olympic protester and others, has signed a last-minute get-out-the-vote letter. Known as Athletes4Impact, their stated motivation is the struggle against hate and violence. But guess who, in their view, is responsible for all the hate? President Donald J. Trump, of course.
There's no mention in their letter of Democrat incivility or antifa violence. No mention of inflammatory rhetoric by Sen. Cory Booker, Rep. Maxine Waters, Hillary Clinton or Eric Holder. Or the shooting of Republicans at a ball diamond last year. No mention of vandalism at four state Republican offices. The SJWs found the perfect forum for their diatribe: The Nation magazine and its caustic, hard Left sports editor, Dave Zirin.
After their opening statement—"We the undersigned Athletes for Impact want to lend our voice to the struggle against the hatred and violence that have escalated around the country over the last week"— they assign blame to President Trump and his administration in their next four paragraphs:
"The pipe bombs sent to politicians and media members by a President Trump supporter who 'saw Trump as his father'; the killings of two African-American grandparents—69-year-old Maurice Stallard and 67-year-old Vickie Jones—in an attack at a Kroger’s in Kentucky by a shooter who said 'whites don’t kill whites'; and the massacre at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh all point to a rise of white-supremacist violence.
"This violence and division is being further promoted by Trump’s announcement that 15,000 troops will be heading to the southern border to repel families fleeing violence and other legitimate asylum seekers. This outrage is compounded by his recent statement that he intends to issue an executive order to override the 14th Amendment’s declaration of birthright citizenship.
"He continues to call the media 'the enemy of the people' not days after they were sent bombs and just four months after the killing of five people at the Capital Gazette newspaper. (Note: The Capital Gazette shooting suspect, Jarrod Ramos, has a history of animosity against this organization going back to 2012, well before Trump became president).
"In another attack on civil rights, the Department of Health and Human Services is spearheading an effort to narrowly define gender as biological under Title IX (the federal civil-rights law that bans gender discrimination in education programs) in an effort to erode the rights of transgender people."
Furthermore, they accuse the administration of building walls between nations, ethnicities and genders, to divide and conquer. In trying to claim the moral high ground through their own partisan politics, the letter signers conclude:
"We are calling on people to get out the vote on November 6th for candidates who stand against this division. We also call upon people to stand together, publicly and proudly, against hate. As athletes we will use our platform to defend the most vulnerable in our society. An injury to one is an injury to all."
Among the 21 signers are: John Carlos, who raised his fist on the victory stand in protest of the U.S. in the 1968 Olympics; the Miami Dolphins' Kenny Stills, one of the few NFL athletes kneeling during the national anthem this season; WNBA star Sue Bird; women's soccer player Megan Rapinoe; 1960s NFL radical Dave Meggyesy and others.
The America-hating Zirin was hoping more athletes would sign on and "use their platform to speak out against neo-Nazis, hate crimes, and the racist politicians who give them sustenance."
Athletes4Impact's political website is bannered by a large image of Michael Bennett, a defensive end for the Philadelphia Eagles and far Left activist (see Bennett in photo above). The site advocates for former and current athletes, publicists, agents and academics to collaborate on social justice efforts. They want to leverage the platforms of athletes to transform America through collective organizing. A portion of their "Athlete Manifesto" calls on athletes to advocate for progressive change locally and nationally through the use of their influence.
