This is perhaps the only downside of my decision years ago that watching the NFL was unethical and complicit with a greed-fueled sport that cripples its participants in exchange for short-term financial rewards. I was completely unaware that since the George Floyd Freakout in 2020, the cynical sports league had included the legend “End Racism” on its fields’ end zones, including in the Super Bowl.
Is there a more perfect example of virtue-signaling than this? That message on a football field does absolutely nothing, accomplishes nothing, changes no behavior or attitudes, and is just a silly “See? We’re cool!” declaration that really signals, “See? We have no shame! We think you’re an idiot!”
There has never been a smidgen of evidence that racism played any part in George Floyd’s death, except from the likes of Black Lives Matter which asserts that because the cop held responsible is white, he must be a racist. The DEI fad arose from the non-race-related death of an overdosing petty perp who happened to be black, and the NFL’s abandonment of its previous end zone slogan is being blamed on—all together now!— President Trump, as he has put that discriminatory and wasteful movement on his hit list. The end zones in today’s game will declare, “Choose Love,” which is just as fatuous but at least appropriate for Valentines Day.
Today I urge readers to join me in boycotting a game that is guaranteed to send some young men, probably many, to a future of being unable to recognize their children before they reach 65.
In other news….
1. I had the felicitous experience yesterday of meeting and spending a couple of hours with a frequent Ethics Alarms commenter who was just as fascinating and engaging as I would have guessed. Please let me know when you are in the D.C. metropolitan area, and for those who are already here, I’d love to meet you too. I am now thinking ruefully about a particular local couple who invited me to come over and visit years ago, and I never followed up on my rain check. Give me another chance? I’m also trying to figure out how to set up some kind of mass meeting, though I worry that it might resemble the Capitol riot…
2. On MSNBC just now, Michael Steele (BOY he’s an idiot) and Symone Sanders (how can anyone stand watching such a strident, arrogant, obnoxious host?) kept saying that Trump and Musk were “dismantling the education system.” That’s beyond exaggeration into an outright lie. The Department of Education isn’t part of “the education system”: it educates no one. MSNBC, however, is a major part of the mis-education system.
3. Speaking of education, an actor friend on Facebook who works for the federal government posted this…
Peak ignorance. And nobody had the guts or perhaps education to point out in a comment how stupid that is, certainly not me. As my EA luncheon companion said yesterday, it is worth more to keep such otherwise nice people as friends than to risk alienating them by pointing out that Trump Derangement has rendered them nuts and that they are embarrassing themselves.
3. It has been pointed out that the Trump-Musk tsunami has trapped the Democrats and the Axis media into openly supporting government waste, fraud and abuse. Bingo. And it’s political suicide. Here is what they are opposing, courtesy of Musk on Twitter/X:
Read the last three paragraphs if you don’t want to read the whole thing. The guess of how much Treasury pays out in fraudulent payments is about a billion dollars a week.
4. About those subscriptions….a commenter over the last few days was vociferously arguing that those expensive subscriptions to Politico Pro were completely innocent and there was no reason to think the Biden administration had figured out a way to pay off their Axis allies in the news media. Red State found this data on a government website:
Move along! Nothing to see here!
Red State: “[I]t is an unassailable fact that in these three instances involving Politico, the New York Times, and the AP, the massive increase in their subscription business with the US government coincides with Joe Biden’s election and is really obvious by February 2021, Biden’s first full month in office. There is no such volume of subscriptions in either the Obama or Trump administrations. The government does not need to purchase this number of subscriptions to premium media services. While the government may have bought them because the “venture Marxists” at the upper reaches of government like to imagine themselves as “captains of industry” and brilliant executives, and the subscriptions served as an outward symbol of their importance, the media outlets could not but have pulled their punches when weighing negative stories about Joe Biden, his dementia, his criminal family, etc., against potentially millions of dollars in lost revenue. The excuse that the government always buys these services is patent nonsense and insulting…Trump needs to order an investigation into this unseemly financial connection between the Biden administration and the media that covered it and give America a full accounting of what they find.”
But…but… that would mean that we have no democracy!
5. A strong entry into the Most Trump-Deranged Democrat competition: Democratic Michigan state representative Laurie Pohutsky told a rally at the state Capitol last week that she underwent sterilization surgery to prevent her from becoming pregnant during President Donald Trump’s administration. “It was a decision that I had been mulling over for quite some time,” Pohutsky told reporters. “I wanted to say it out loud because 1) I know for a fact that there are a lot of women considering a similar procedure…but also I know women second guess themselves and think they are catastrophizing.”
This is the actual level of intellect a community in Michigan is sending to its legislature. She and new DNC co-chair David Hogg, who has said that he doesn’t want to have children because they would interfere with his need for expensive cars and Portuguese Water Dogs, should run as a Presidential ticket for the rebranded “Human Race Extinction Party.”
6. And here is an entry for the most pathetic anti-Trump Axis headline so far in 2025: ‘‘Not What We Signed Up For’: Trump Voter Rips Trump Policies To WSJ — Says ‘I Don’t Like Chaos’” I hardly ever bother with Mediaite any more, not since Joe Concha, the one non-progressive biased reporter there, left for greener and more respectable pastures. Tthe writer of the stupid article with that headline, Tommy Christopher, was a major reason I put the site on my “nearly useless” list. A single Trump voter named Paul Beeson doesn’t like how his administration has started out, and that’s newsworthy to Mediaite. Is Beeson a student of government, an economist, a scholar, a genius, a CEO, even an ethicist? No, he’s a 58-year-old man who writes grant proposals for a flight safety company and co-owns a dog daycare in San Antonio.
7. Finally…So far, only one of you has answered my call for guest columns during the current glut of ethics news in the world of government and politics. Come, on hit that keyboard. What else is there to do today?
Ethics Alarms 
I can only hope I’ll be alive to recognize my children when they’re sixty.
(Reference error! Hah! Sorry, couldn’t resist. You cant take the high school English teacher out of the classroom but you can’t take the high school English teacher out of the commenter.)
Choose Love? That’s the mantra of a sport involving massive, strong, muscular guys smashing into each other at high speed and throwing each other down to the ground? Choose Love? Hah!
End racism? When all the players are black, and all the fans in the expensive seats are white? It’s the plantation business model brought back to life.
Jack,
FYI: the messages were not restricted to End Racism: https://apnews.com/article/sports-nfl-c10867c92924cc9a59c99e220c8ee84e
-Jut
I gave up on football when it became a business and not a means of friendly competition among cities. In those days, you could count on running into Johnny Unitas at the A&P or at his restaurant. Players were not hired guns and Joe Average guy could afford to go to a game without sacrificing his ability to pay the rent.
I will never begrudge someone making scads of money but that does not mean that I have to contribute to his money making efforts.
#2 Michael Steele is an embarrassment to those of us Marylanders who voted for the Ehrlich/Steele ticket for Governor. Thank god Ehrlich gave him a low profile.
#5 Well, that’s her business. I don’t really want her grooming another generation. Further given that she does not want to birth a child in Trump’s America then she has no business pontificating on what others should do or how to raise their children.
#7 I would submit something if I found a topic in which I am well versed. The last thing I want to do is open my mouth and remove all doubt that I have no idea what I am talking about.
I have no data other than my experience here to support this but I think you have an audience that is primarily comprised of people seeking ideas as opposed to proffering them.
The Steve’s represent the latter. I enjoy both, but Steve in NJ is especially entertaining because he makes history come alive. Mrs Q’s essays are also enlightening and thought provoking. And, if I may say, reassuring that the world is not completely gone nuts.
What you do day in and day out here is extraordinarily difficult. EA, in many ways, is like a classroom of high achieving students who have as much to contribute as gained but need a seasoned facilitator to get the ball rolling. Maybe, your repertoire of posts could include a metaphorical grenade you throw out to elicit comments. That may result in ginning up ideas for a more elaborate guest essay.
Maybe run some prior posts, a kind of Greatest Hits, that with the passage of time are somehow current again? Maybe call it, “When Posts Come True! Or Don’t.”
Chris Marschner wrote, “…Steve in NJ is especially entertaining because he makes history come alive…”
I completely agree!!!
Your insightful writing is a great read as well.
6. Beeson sounds like someone who might want to benefit from USAID, to be frank. Grant-writing proposals? A small business owner? Methinks there’s an ulterior motive for his disenchantment.
#5 : I fully support Pohutsky and Hogg, and indeed all democrats, in their efforts to end the spread of their genetic defects.
addendum: Guessing Hogg wants a Portuguese Water Dog since that’s what Obama had.,,,though it was never observed with the family after an “Indonesian Night” dinner at the White House.
addendum to addendum: Part of addendum one is a lie, but I’m calling it truthy.
#6: And yet, this is what TwitteX‘s Grok has to say today:
“Trump’s Approval Rating Hits Historic High in CBS Poll
Last updated 1 hour ago
Recent polls indicate that President Donald Trump has achieved a significant approval rating of 53%, marking the highest in CBS polling history. This surge in approval is largely attributed to perceptions of him fulfilling campaign promises, with 70% of respondents believing he is doing what he promised during his campaign. Descriptions of Trump as ‘tough’, ‘energetic’, ‘focused’, and ‘effective’ are common among voters, reflecting a positive public sentiment towards his presidency at this stage.“
#1: Shoot me an email if you’re ever coming to the Atlanta area. Might get you a free lunch or something.
It’s been so long ago that I honestly don’t remember the last time I watched the Super Bowl and IU have no plans to watch any more of them in the future.
1. The next time I’m in DC area visiting my brother, I’ll certainly stop by and visit. My last visit was for my niece’s High School graduation and now she’s got her PhD in Astronomy, I got to witness her dissertation.
2. They’ll say anything to stoke anti-Trump fear.
3. (#1) That “Dismantling the government…” post is well past you typical delusions caused by acute TDS, there may be no coming back from that kind of brainwashing.
3. (#2) That’s what I was getting at in my comment yesterday when I wrote, “The problem is that since it’s the Republicans are the ones delving into the waste and the Democrats are the ones fighting the Republican’s efforts, it makes it appear that the Democrats are the wasteful spenders and the Republicans are the ones with common sense, when the whole truth is both parties have been the wasteful spenders and it’s taking an independent minded DC outsider to say “ENOUGH!””
4. Of course the Politico subscriptions were to funnel money to Politico but they also served a secondary purpose which was clearly to push the Politico propaganda and let people know where they should be getting their information from.
5. Politicizing her choice to engage in sterilization surgery because of Trump tells you all you need to know about this TDS fool. I completely support her choice to surgically sterilize herself because she’s a fucking moron.
6. Yes, Mr. Beeson, this is EXACTLY what you signed up for and if you didn’t think so, then you’re a moron.
7. There are some really good writers in the ranks of the EA commentariat. I look forward to reading some interesting Guest Posts. The Guest Post I submitted was already in the works for a different purpose, I simple submitted it to Jack because it seemed to me to fit the general criteria that Jack was looking for, that’s how I got it to Jack so quickly. By the way; I really don’t know what it is about my essays that don’t inspire much for follow up conversation, but regardless, I gave it a go and I really hope some of the much better writers than I around here send in their Guest Posts.
“I really don’t know what it is about my essays that don’t inspire much for follow up conversation“
You preemptively answer most of the questions…
PWS
Cornelius_Gotchberg wrote, “You preemptively answer most of the questions…”
I hadn’t thought of that!
Interesting…
You’re pretty definitive, Steve.
You’s fockin’ guys….
PWS
According to my watch, it was taken at 1:30. I really wish I could have hung out longer but I had to get home to take my wife out for her early birthday dinner.
Dang, my boots got all dusty from the ride up on the Harley!
Who is the “Tomato Whisperer”?
jvb
You’ll NEVER GUESS
ERRATUM: You’ll NEVER GUESS
PWS
How’s your availability this September? I’ll be in your area for the Joint Base Andrews air show.
After the 12th, very available except the 23rd and 24th! Before the 12, daytime, Sundays and weekdays only. I’ll try to whistle up Still Spartan too. She’s always wanted to meet you.
Well, I wasn’t paying a huge amount of attention to the Super Bowl commercials, but what I did hear seemed rather depressingly wokish. Do people really think it is a good idea to spend millions of dollars to preach at your audience?
I am also amazed at what seem to be a high percentage of PSA type commercials.
Or. Should we be thinking that the Super Bowl adverts are financed by USAID? Hmmm.
#6 Looks similar to all the posts of X/Twitter saying “I never would have voted for Trump if I knew he was going to deport ME!”. I hope they are just troll posts (like this one may be). However, almost no one in the comments seems to get the point that if he was in the country illegally, he shouldn’t have been voting!
I do appreciate the troll video of the hispanic man crying, stating that he is worried that Trump will deport his mother-in-law, he is very worried that Maria Rosa Lopez of 450 W. Oak Ave, Apt 16 might be deported…he sure hopes she will be OK…450 W. Oak Ave, Apt 16…
Sorry to disappoint you, but I love football and host a Super Bowl party every year, though it has gotten smaller since we escaped California and are not close to as many family members.
The game was awesome – commercials not as good as in the past – too much political innuendo.
As for the sterilization announcement – God almighty, what sort of insipid ghoul sterilizes herself because of an election, or even because of the misguided thought that her abortion rights might be reduced or simplified. We have got to get the education system back on track …. so many young people appear to be morons.
Congratulations Eagles!!!
You’re clearly with the vast majority, and it’s what the NFL counts on. Even if the game weren’t crippling its players, the kneeling and the BLM pandering would have been sufficient to make me stop watching if I hadn’t already.
And as for the tripe – ‘Choose love’ ‘End racism’. Get rid of it all. This is football, not a flippin’ tea party!
Surely this is the same Hispanic man who defined the word harassment. Probably in context of the same mother in law.
Harassment: Her ass meant nothing to me.
The data used on the non-politico graphs is garbage. All it takes is viewing one of the specific grants included to notice the issue. There’s a notice on the page that there is a bug with the recipients search. At a guess, it’s an issue with multi-word keyword searches. Viewing the actual recipient record, the graph of dollars over time looks a little different. https://www.usaspending.gov/recipient/7d4ac83c-018d-ab86-fbae-b9d399f8a4c2-P/all
It’s still 49.9 million since 2008, which is as far back as the system seems to go. But I don’t actually trust a proven buggy system.
NYT was only 2.7 million over that time frame.
Politico seems like an outlier, but the amount in the keyword search results, when filtered to a recipient, is 33 million, But if you actually click the recipient name, it’s only 7.4 million. I suspect it’s measuring the obligated funds for each year and adding them, and double counting when the money isn’t all spent. I.e. a contract in 2020 for 7M, spend 1M in 2020 leaving 6 still obligated, and the total obligated for 2020 to 2021 years becomes 13M. It’s significant GIGO, and I find the whole page untrustworthy.
Someone (DOGE maybe?) needs to revamp the programming on the site.
I thought about submitting this as a guest column on government websites and or coding ethics, but I don’t have have the time to dig into it further. Summary version: producing garbage is unethical, as is relying on the garbage produced.