Why cancelling Heinicke misses the point
Joe Johnson
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As I’ve alluded to multiple times, if there’s anything that rivals the Minnesota Vikings to me in terms of interest or as a hobby? It’s politics. I’m a political junkie, one of my degrees is in political science from the University of Minnesota (which maybe makes me a political scientist? I’d ask the alumni center (but no one with a poli sci degree can afford internet access), but that’s neither here nor there in terms of this article.
Instead, I thought that I’d cover the interesting turn of events that took place in Washington, DC this week. I mean both the occupation of the Capital building by Pro-Trump/anti-Trump… Let’s just face it, traitors, as well as the last 24 hours in the life of Washington’s quarterback, former Viking, Taylor Heinicke.
First, let’s add some context.
Me, personally? I’m a pretty center-left guy. I believe, socially, that as long as what you’re doing doesn’t hurt or impede another person’s liberty? The government shouldn’t impede. I don’t believe that church and state should intertwine, regardless of the religions of the founding fathers (who mostly detested religion as a form of government).
The main reason I’m liberal is economic. It’s really not that complicated. 75% of our GDP comes from consumer spending, and wealth doesn’t trickle down, nor do companies hire when they get tax cuts (demand causes job growth, which comes from consumer spending). That’s why Trump’s GDP quickly became sub-Obama era GDP growth, because his tax cuts did nothing but offer one-time bonuses and the ability for companies to but back their stock.
You know, trickling down.
But I typically try to keep my political views separate because I own this network, and I don’t want my views to somehow become the brand of my network as we have a lot of writers with a lot of viewpoints.
Beyond that, and despite my love for all things political? I think we need a place to go to get away from just how awful things are right now.
I really believed that, but then this week happened and sports overlapped with politics. First, the by definition treason that occurred in D.C. this week, then came the Cinderella story that wasn’t with Washington quarterback and former Viking Taylor Heinicke.
He had a great game, as we reported.
Then came the fastest rise-and-fall in history as Heinicke’s former pro-Trump and anti-Liberal tweets became the focal point.
Now.
I strongly believe that is a right and wrong side to all this, intellectually. Deeper concepts, I mean, as clearly one side is right and one is wrong when it comes to surface level topics. Or even, just look at Rudy Giuliani or that drunk woman saying she saw (or ssssaw) voter fraud where she worked?
You wouldn’t borrow that woman $100, but you’re willing to completely destroy democracy based on her story?
But, until this week, although it has irked me… I still believed our core message is and should be football. I don’t like or condone cancel culture because no one is perfect and destroying someone’s life is (or should be) a big deal.
So. I don’t take that lightly. Should we just cancel people because they’re objectively wrong about and stoking the flames of the increasing amount of treasonous things their side does and why they do them?
Of course not.
I don’t think people, especially younger people, understand what that actually means. What the specter of homelessness, debt, all of what comes from the outcome of cancelling someone actually means or feels like.
Heinicke is wrong, and his side has done more to damage the country they claim to love so much that they’ve outpaced fundamentalist, Islamic terrorist attacks 75:25 since the 1980’s, but… Where does that end?
There are more Democrats than Republicans in this country. But there are still a tremendous amount of Republicans in this country, Heinicke is just the most recent and most famous Trump supporter (sorry, Antonio Sabato Jr.).
We can dislike his views, but as much as I know we were being held hostage by a minority party (that has disproportionate turnout at midterm elections thanks to its propaganda arm’s ability to gin up the base, which means they’ve gerrymandered districts to the point of creating only super conservative or progressive members of the house) BEFORE we literally stopped living life thanks to COVID and the total failure by our federal government in that regard.
I’m over it.
But, just remember these things. Remember your disgust at what happened in DC this week. Remember the loved one you lost to COVID (since far too many of you have), remember that we have 4% of the world’s population and 30% the deaths because people equate common sense measures with communism/somehow a constitutional issue while their side beats police officer’s to death while attempting a coup because a literal con man won’t admit he lost because Roy Cohn taught him that after his Dad did his work?
Ugh.
That Trump literally didn’t act at least partially because he wanted blue states to pay for not supporting him, which is essentially murder. People died because his ego is that fragile. And 30% of the country will never admit that because they’re too proud.
So, vote them out.
Remember how this feels (assuming we can still vote by then, and we’re also alive), stop pretending that both sides are essentially the same. We spend more as a % of our GDP than other countries with universal health care, but universal health care? What party wants to go back to the old system by destroying the current one?
People have had to choose their lives or their surviving families’ ability to keep a roof over their heads? What is their plan? The great Trump plan?! He never had one. He doesn’t even understand what the current system is.
He thinks Yosemite is pronounced Yo-Seh-Might. But yeah, he understands the complexity of the healthcare system. Most savvy Republicans get that, and think the ends justify the means. They’re literally saying that the policies/Supreme Court justices they’ve enacted/added thanks to Trump justify the now literal blood on their hands.
Remember that. Vote.
Until then? Let Heinicke cash in on his Saturday. All cancelling him would do would increase the persecution complex that the right has. Masks are communism. A senator who supported Trump’s coup attempt lost a book deal. Heinicke lost every sponsor but MyPillow.
While I do think that it isn’t the best idea for someone who wants a job/sponsorship to spew incredibly polarizing nonsense on their social media. But, he’s allowed to. It might not ingratiate him with many locker-rooms in the league, but it doesn’t change how and why watch football.
His job is to throw the football and he’s worked incredibly hard to get here. I am by no means using the “shut up and [throw]” argument, in fact it’s the opposite. Let him hurt his own marketability. Let him parrot literal propaganda from people with obvious motives.
Just remember to vote.