If you’re a regular Shark Tank viewer, you’ve probably seen the Sharks pressure entrepreneurs to move their made-in-the-USA products to China to improve margins. That’s kind of the Wall Street hedge fund, crony capitalist mentality. American industry and the American worker be damned.
In the last few days, America has found out that the so-called progressive or “woke” National Basketball Association is willing to speak truth to power, unless it involves China’s communist dictatorship.
The Houston Rockets GM had to more-or-less apologize for tweeting support of democracy in Hong Kong, which was followed by apologies from the team owner and the NBA.
Some Chinese companies (and business and government in China is the same thing) have cut ties with the Rockets, which has made the league very nervous.
According to Bloomberg, “Through decades of painstaking deal-making, the NBA created a multibillion-dollar opportunity in China, the world’s second-largest economy. Now a single swiftly deleted tweet has put all that time and money in jeopardy.”
Several Rockets players have subsequently pandered to China’s authoritarian regime which is beyond pathetic. And Brooklyn Nets owner Joe Tsai claimed the pro-Democracy protesters consist of a “separatist movement” which sounds like pro-Beijing propaganda.
This the same same progressive league that pulled the All-Star Game from Charlotte over bathroom legislation, that is made up of players and coaches who have repeatedly denounced President Trump, and who refused to celebrate their championships at the Trump White House.
As FNC’s Laura Ingraham pointed out this evening, the craven, virtue-signaling NBA loves free speech, unless big money is involved.
President Trump and his team are trying to reform the ghastly one-sided trade relationship with China, including imposing tariffs on imports to try to level the playing field, despite the bellyaching from big business and other globalists. He also spoken out forcefully against China’s intellectual property theft. The U.S. trade deficit with China in 2018 alone was more than $400 billion. Trump has been somewhat circumspect about Hong Kong, although he has insisted that China’s president should resolve the situation quickly.
It’s odd how the political-media establishment has found itself obsessed with Russia, essentially a failed state, while China — a country that actually operates concentration camps — is expanding its vast political, economic, and military tentacles all over the world.
Apparently the NBA is okay with human rights violations overseas as long as the check clears. Big Tech as well as Hollywood, both of which hate Trump and will anything to prevent his reelection, also panders and sells out to China’s ruling elite. Recall that Apple (and other companies) has withdrawn business from U.S. states that it considers insufficiently progressive.
Fox Sports Radio/FS1 analyst Clay Travis aptly summed up when another example of liberal hypocrisy on his Outkick the Coverage blog.
“The NBA, a league which recently banned the word owner because [Commissioner] Adam Silver agreed it was racially insensitive, just apologized for one of its executives supporting the democratic rights of an oppressed minority to aspire to basic human rights. The NBA, the league which moved its All Star game out of Charlotte, North Carolina over a manufactured battle between Democrats and Republicans over transgender bathroom rights, is perfectly fine with embracing systemic oppression and communist dictatorships in China.
“Where are the NBA’s woke leaders right now? You know, the supposedly outspoken sports figures using their platforms to espouse social justice? NBA coaches Steve Kerr and Gregg Popovich feel compelled to comment on every Donald Trump Tweet, yet they can’t utter a word in support of [Rockets GM Daryl] Morey’s tweet supporting democracy? How about LeBron ‘Safety Pin’ James, he can’t be bothered to actually support world democracy instead of calling the president a bum?…
“It’s almost as if these woke NBA activists only speak out when they know the far left wing woke sports media will praise them and there is no risk to their actual income. It’s easy to criticize the president of the United States in this country without any fear of punishment. Especially when the daft media compare you with Muhammad Ali when you do it.
“But if you speak out against China’s president you disappear in prisons, potentially for the rest of your life. If LeBron wants to have a significant place on the global stage it would be easy to do. Just say you support democracy for China’s billion people at your next press conference. That’s what Ali would have done. That’s what an athlete truly trying to make a difference would do. But LeBron won’t do that.
“Because China pays him too much money. LeBron thought it was offensive when he was told to shut up and dribble. But the truth is, that was too kind. If you pay him enough money LeBron won’t just shut up and dribble, he’ll shut up, dribble, and defend brutal communist dictatorships with his paid for silence….
“So ESPN, the worldwide leader in far left wing woke sports takes, is going to be broadcasting live from China and coddling brutal Communist dictators all for a little more money in their corporate coffers. (Which ESPN may need because they’re going to be broke in a few years, but still.)
“The truth is this entire woke sports industry is founded on total bullshit…”
If you’ve ever had the opportunity to visit semi-autonomous Hong Kong, you know that it is a peaceful, orderly place with, among other things, a live-and-let-live attitude among its hard-working population, and a state-of-the-art mass transit system. That’s why it was so disturbing to learn that the authorities shut down the subway system, the MTR, all weekend, which essentially crippled Hong Kong and prevented ordinary citizens from getting where they needed to go.
Bejing has also destroyed the previously respected reputation of the Hong Kong police. If you’ve seen any videos uploaded by journalist Michael Yon, you’ve watched heartbreaking footage of cops launching tear gas grenades and deploying water cannons on pro-Democracy marchers. There are also allegations the the cops have killed several demonstrators.
A couple of weeks ago, another good liberal, former NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg, claimed that China’s President Xi is not a dictator.
Added from the Daily Caller:
“American universities have allowed the Chinese government to fund centers called Confucius Institutes that provide the communist regime with avenues to infuse pro-China propaganda into American academia. Eighty-nine Confucius Institutes were operating in the U.S. as of September 2019, according to the National Association of Scholars. Hollywood has self-censored for years in order to ensure access to the Chinese market. The U.S. government published a report in 2015 detailing how filmmakers tailor their messaging to appease Chinese audiences and—more importantly—Chinese government censors… The Walt Disney Company threatened to boycott Georgia in May if a pro-life law took effect, even though the company apparently has no issue doing business with the Chinese regime, which is a notorious human rights violator…Athletic apparel giant Nike pulled a shoe line from Chinese markets in June after the shoes’ designer tweeted support for the Hong Kong protesters.”
Added2: Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr has no comment:
