Speaking on Air Force One to David Remnick, writing for the New Yorker, President Obama – in the middle of a conversation about the Middle East while watching a Miami Dolphins game – said that he wouldn’t let his son play football:
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“I would not let my son play pro football,” he conceded. “But, I mean, you wrote a lot about boxing, right? We’re sort of in the same realm.”
The Miami defense was taking on a Keystone Kops quality, and Obama, who had lost hope on a Bears contest, was starting to lose interest in the Dolphins. “At this point, there’s a little bit of caveat emptor,” he went on. “These guys, they know what they’re doing. They know what they’re buying into. It is no longer a secret. It’s sort of the feeling I have about smokers, you know?”
First, if smokers know what they’re buying into, why do we have those futile warning labels on my precious cigars?
Second, once again President Obama has made mention of his imaginary son. (The President has two daughters in real life.) The last time was about Trayvon Martin, the older teenager who was killed by George Zimmerman during an attack on Zimmerman in a Florida community.
At the time Obama said of Martin, “You know,” said Obama, “if I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon. All of us have to do some soul-searching to figure out how does something like this happen.”
What an odd, overly personal turn of phrase. As TownHall columnist Ben Shaprio commented at the time: “Leave aside the fact that while Obama’s theoretical son may have looked like Trayvon at age 12, he would likely look nothing like Trayvon at age 17, what with the tattoos and gold grill.”
I don’t argue the decision of parents to make decisions for their children. My own mother refused to let me play football in high school; a decision, I remind her, she was wrong about. But she was, justifiably or not, concerned. I respect that, like I would respect President Obama for his decision about his children.
This isn’t the first time the President has weighed in on the subject. In January, 2013, Obama discussed football and his imaginary son:
I’m a big football fan, but I have to tell you if I had a son, I’d have to think long and hard before I let him play football. And I think that those of us who love the sport are going to have to wrestle with the fact that it will probably change gradually to try to reduce some of the violence.
I tend to be more worried about college players than NFL players in the sense that the NFL players have a union, they’re grown men, they can make some of these decisions on their own, and most of them are well-compensated for the violence they do to their bodies.
President Obama has evolved on football. A year ago he had to think about it. Now, he’s sure; His imaginary son definitely can’t play football, and NFL players get to make some of these decisions on their own.
Respecting his private, parental decisions is one thing. Respecting his public comments is simply impossible. Why is the President weighing in on this subject? Was it one more opportunity for the President to lament not having a son? (I mean, he has said it three times, now.) Why is a sports fan talking smack about a sport he supposedly loves?
Football has inherent dangers. (So does baseball, basketball, hockey, rugby, archery, pole vaulting, luge, synchronized swimming beach volleyball, ….every sport except golf, I guess.) The President makes note of this; That players know what they’re getting into. So do parents, one would imagine. The President isn’t just giving a thought about the raising of his fake son, the President is using his fake son as a shield from criticism from the parents he’s clearly chastising for letting their kids play football.
So why invite the Super Bowl champions to the White House? Why tell us for years on years how much you love the Chicago Bears? Why is it ok to be a fan, to celebrate the game, but not to play it?
Just Google “NFL players Obama,” and you’ll be inundated with photos of President Obama and the game of football. President Obama being presented a jersey from the Pittsburgh Steelers, a Giants Jersey from quarterback Eli Manning, a Packers jersey from Gov. Scott Walker, a Bears jersey from the legendary Coach Ditka. Then there is President Obama doing the Heisman Trophy pose.
There is even a Heisman pose from the First Lady. Heck, even his first imaginary son, Trayvon, played football.
Obama promotes a violent sport – football – through his actions, but uses the canard (long suffering dream?) of his imaginary son to shame those who play and denounces the “violence” of the game. It’s enough to leave one utterly confused about the President’s position – what is it that he actually believes?
The problem with Obama’s imaginary son (and with Obama) is that he didn’t get the lessons that football – that team sports – teach. Luke Hilgemann is the Chief Operating Officer of Americans For Prosperity. But in college, he was Luke Hilgemann, offensive tackle for the Wisconsin Badgers. I asked him about his views on being a parent with real sons:
I have two young sons and if they so choose, I would be honored for them to follow in my footsteps on the gridiron. There is no greater way to build character and learn life lessons than to share your blood, sweat and tears with your teammates in the huddle. I’m not surprised that President Obama would opt out of letting his children play football. He doesn’t strike me as someone who most people would want in their huddle anyway.
Sports teaches great lessons; about team work, about tenacity, about not quitting when the going gets tough. It teaches – when taught right – sportsmanship, friendship, and graciousness in victory and defeat.
Obama isn’t about teamwork – he’s about self-serving. Obama isn’t about tenacity – just ask the people of Iran or Syria, or Blacks dealing with an unemployment rate of 11.9 percent (with just 60 percent participation in the labor force). Obama isn’t about sportsmanship – after all, as he reminded Republicans in 2009, he won. Obama isn’t about graciousness – after all, a selfie at a funeral speaks volumes, as does returning the bust of the great Winston Churchill
What Obama is about is hypocrisy, and using his imaginary son as his shield against criticism. He slaps football in the face while enjoying all the players who slap him on the back. Leave it to Obama to want the trappings of the game without ever running wind-sprints or doing 2-a-days.