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For some time, people considered to be public figures have made comments concerning a number of current events. Many of us often agree with their comments, and therefor don’t find them too controversial. For some ridiculous reason the media gives more credence to comments made by athletes, celebrities, coaches, elected representatives, etc. One might understand giving a little extra credence in the case of elected representatives. But only a little. This post is dedicated to those who say things they obviously believe, and then are bullied into changing, or apologizing for, their comments. They dive, whimpering, into the nearest foxhole. Had our generals in WWII shown the same lack of conviction there’s a good chance we would be speaking German or Japanese. There have been too many examples of this lack of courage to write about all of them in this post. I will write about those that are most recent, or most egregious.

Chris Kempczinski is the CEO of McDonalds. In April he sent a text to Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot concerning the recent shooting deaths of two children in her city. His text said the deaths were “tragic”. It went on to say: “The parents failed those kids, which is something I know you can’t say.” In my research I found no evidence as to how 7 year old Jaslyn Adams’ father failed her. She was at a McDonald’s drive thru with her dad when she was brutality murdered. The mistake Kempczinski made was lumping the two deaths together. While it doesn’t make the child’s death less tragic, it is clear the parents of 13 year old Adam Toledo did fail him. There can be no excuse for a 13 year old child to be roaming around Chicago’s streets with a gun at 2:30 A.M. This is a case of child neglect. In an apology letter Kempzcinski said: “I have not walked in the shoes of Adam’s or Jaslyn’s parents. . . . ” “Not taking the time to think about this from their viewpoint was wrong.” It was wrong to send the text if you didn’t believe it. As the title of this post suggests, grow some balls, or don’t send the text.

Dave Chappelle is a very popular stand up comic. In a recent special on Netflix, titled The Closer, he made comments that transgenders and “non-binary” people thought were offensive. Ted Sorandos, Netflix CEO, immediately came to the defense of Chappelle, free speech, and artistic integrity. It shouldn’t take an act of heroism to do that. But with the media megaphones blaring insults at those who dare to stand for what they think is right, a certain amount of courage is needed. The LGBTQ+ employees at Netflix were incensed. They got very vocal, and threatened a walk out, over what they deemed were Chappelle’s insensitive comments, and Sorandos’ defense of them. It didn’t take long before the CEO waved the white flag of surrender. He said he “screwed up” in his initial handling of the internal backlash about the special. “I should have recognized the fact that a group of our employees was really hurting.” he said. In effect he was saying he should have turned the company over to the whiners. A leader would have sat down with the offended, delicate, employees and told them he understood their concerns. However, he had a company to manage. He could have reminded them they worked for an entertainment company, and how such companies operate. He should have made it clear at that point the decision whether to remain employed at such a company was theirs. That is leadership. By the way, Chappelle has yet to apologize for being a comedian. Good for you Dave!

One of my favorite football players sadly proved to be less than heroic. Drew Brees, recently retired New Orleans Saints quarterback, espoused some strong opinions about taking a knee during the National Anthem. In 2020 Brees said the following: “I will never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag of the United States of America, or our country. Let me just tell what I see or what I feel when the National Anthem is played and when I look at the flag of the U.S. I envision my two grandfathers, who fought for this country during WWII, one in the Army and one in the Marine Corps. Both risking their lives to protect our country and to try to make our country and the world a better place. So every time I stand with my hand over my heart looking at that flag and singing the National Anthem that’s what I think about. And in many cases, that brings me to tears, thinking about all that has been sacrificed. Not just those in the military, but for that matter, those throughout the civil rights movements of the 60s and all that has been endured by so many people up until this point. But I think what you do by standing there and showing respect to the flag with your hand over your heart, is it shows unity. It shows that we are all in this together, we can all do better and that we are all part of the solution.” Does that sound like the words of a racist? I don’t think so. They sound more like the words of a proud American. Unfortunately his heartfelt justification fell on the deaf ears of the real racists. The people who want to bring our country to its knees, literally. He was roundly denounced. The pummeling he took resulted in this shameful apology. “I would like to apologize to my friends, teammates, the city of New Orleans, the black community, the NFL community, and anyone I hurt with my comments yesterday.” His entire apology is much longer, but this sums up his lack of courage. While he was at it he should have apologized to his grandfathers for his inability to stand for what he thought was right. The cancel culture allows you to have your own opinion, as long as it doesn’t conflict with theirs.

I could write hours of these failures of leadership. I know you get the point. The lack of leadership in every aspect of our lives is, in my judgment, the number one problem facing this great nation. I will close with one situation that is ongoing right now. It describes a very strong athlete who is standing in the face of serious harm, both financial and personal.

His name is Enes Kanter, he is a Turkish basketball player in the NBA. He is a center on the Boston Celtics. In October he came out swinging at the human rights violations in China. He called Chinese Communist Party (CCP) President, Xi Jinping, a brutal dictator. His message to the CCP is Free Tibet. He said that “Under the Chinese governments brutal rule, the Tibetan people’s basic rights are non-existent.” He wore “Free Tibet” emblazoned on his sneakers during a Celtic’s game. He called out Nike for their friendly relationship with the CCP which reportedly forces Uyghurs, a Muslim minority in China, to perform slave labor for them, and other large multinational companies. He demanded that Nike end the “modern day slavery.” What he is doing could be career threatening. He said he was asked not to wear his Free Tibet shoes during a game. One could see why. The Chinese pulled the streaming of the Celtics/Knicks opening game. The streaming company suggested they would not livestream Celtics game for the foreseeable future. It is reported that China is responsible for as much as 10% of the NBA’s revenue. One can only guess how much money his comments have cost the Celtics and the NBA. So far the NBA has not put out a statement concerning Kanter’s positions on China. It will be interesting to see how long they will continue to take losses without reining him in. I hope he maintains his position on defending human rights in China. It seems that those players who support Black Lives Matter, because of slavery and other injustices that used to exist in the USA, would be eager to fight against slavery and injustices that exist in China right now. If he recants I’ll be forced to write some sort of retraction. Good for you Mr. Kantor.

I hope you found this post interesting and informative. If you did, please tell your friends about it. Thank you, Bob

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