President Barack Obama was interviewed by the left-wing media outlet The New Republic. He says a lot, but if you’re not convinced that he has dropped the whole “moderate” façade just read the interview. This 2nd term of President Obama’s will be much, much more liberal than his first. Which is something most conservatives knew would happen when he no longer had the issue of re-election to worry about.
He talks gun control and Washington gridlock, in particular saying that the media is to blame. Namely the conservative media, but the rest of the pesky media that actually gets both sides of a story. One aspect of the interview that struck me was his comments on football.
He was asked, “sticking with the culture of violence, but on a much less dramatic scale: I’m wondering if you, as a fan, take less pleasure in watching football, knowing the impact that the game takes on its players.”
President Obama responded:
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. In some cases, that may make it a little bit less exciting, but it will be a whole lot better for the players, and those of us who are fans maybe won’t have to examine our consciences quite as much.
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. You read some of these stories about college players who undergo some of these same problems with concussions and so forth and then have nothing to fall back on. That’s something that I’d like to see the NCAA think about.
Now if the NCAA and the NFL decide to change rules to try to mitigate damage done with the physical nature of the sport, fine. I think there’s some common sense rules that have been implemented like a buffer for punt returners, not allowing helmet to helmet contact, etc.
I’m a little concerned where this thought process will lead however. It is not the President’s role interject himself into college sports. There have already been numerous improvements to the sport in terms of helmet technology, rule changes, pads, etc. Yes players are faster and stronger than they used to be, but I believe the game has kept pace with those changes. Don’t forget when this game began they played with leather helmets, no facemasks and few pads. So let’s not go overboard.
Will he just stick to the bully pulpit on this topic or will he call for further regulations? With this President who knows?
This interview is just another peak into the wussification of our culture in which the President who wears “mom jeans” seems to have just become a leading advocate for.
Just wonderful.