TRUE COLORS — The Weekly Opine

Some people would tell you the woman on the left is about to shoplift while the woman on the right is exhorting her team to victory. Get a grip, America! (Photo credit ESPN screenshots)

Be better, people

Within the past few days, as it oft does, America displayed its sullied underbelly. It’s a reminder the country is still less about red, white and blue and much more about black and white.

First, came news Jacob Chansley, a.k.a. the QAnon Shaman, was granted early release from prison. You’ll recall Chansley, wearing a costume that suggested he hadn’t found his way home two months after Halloween, boastfully participated in the January 6 insurrection.

The QAnon Shaman and other insurrectionists came within a few feet of overthrowing American democracy. Yet he’s about to become a free man. (I remember the outrage when Michael Vick was released from prison, yet there is virtual silence when the QAnon Shaman is gifted a way-to-early pass out of prison.)

Sentenced to just 3 ½ years, the QAnon Shaman will end up serving only 1 ½ years. That’s less than half his sentence (and less time than Vick did). Vick served 21 months of a 23-month sentence. Without question, what Vick perpetrated was grotesquely inhumane, and he absolutely deserved imprisonment. And he did 91% of his sentence.

But operating a dog fighting ring – as horrific as it was – does not remotely compare to participating, as a central antagonist, in an insurrection against our democracy that left one civilian and several police officers dead. An insurgency that caused significant physical damage to our most hallowed symbol of democracy, the U.S. Capitol Building. But in America, the QAnon Shaman is granted the privilege of an early, early release from prison.

Leslie Stahl irreparably damaged her own legacy, and the stature of 60 Minutes, by stooping to interview a lying, MAGA racist. (Photo credit CBS screenshot)

Then, last Sunday, 60 Minutes broadcast an ill-advised, utterly shameful interview. Veteran journalist Leslie Stahl conducted the interview that provided a normalization platform for insurrection sympathizer, QAnon racist, trailer-trash Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.). Stahl, for the most part, asked softball questions and did little to forcefully refute, and set the record straight, when MTGQ+ launched into her dangerous, lies-filled riffs.

Why an award-winning, highly respected organization of 60 Minutes’ stature would lower itself to the level of Fox Lies is beyond my comprehension. (Somebody check the archives and let me know if, for example, 60 Minutes interviewed militant Black Panthers, such as Huey Newton.) I suppose this proves that desperation for audience ratings and fearful coddling of MAGAs extends beyond Fox pip-squeaks like Tucker Carlson and Maria Bartiromo. The late, great 60 Minutes journalist Mike Wallace must be dizzy from spinning in his grave after Sunday night’s debacle, orchestrated by the now formerly respected Leslie Stahl.

March madness

Also, on Sunday, LSU and Iowa decided the women’s NCAA basketball championship. (For the record, the game drew a bigger audience than any NBA game on ESPN so far this season.) Also, for the record, the officiating was plain atrocious, equally bad against both teams. Do not believe anyone who says the officials tilted the game in LSU’s favor. Not true. The better team won.

The outcome ended up as I predicted, with LSU handily defeating Iowa, 102-85. As I said a couple of weeks ago, the Big Ten plods while the SEC sprints. In Sunday’s championship game, quickness ruled. And LSU coach Kim Mulkey steered her team to her 4th title, the first three coaching at Baylor.

Call me crazy but I am a big fan of LSU coach Kim Mulkey. She’s a bad mama jama with 4 NCAA titles to prove it. (Photo credit ESPN screenshot)

Frankly, Iowa beat undefeated South Carolina on Friday only because South Carolina coach Dawn Staley, usually a great coach, failed to react to Iowa’s brilliant defensive strategy of packing their defenders in the paint and daring South Carolina’s players to shoot from outside. However, Iowa superstar Caitlin Clark showed a lack of sportsmanship by dismissively waving her hand (in a “forget you” motion) at a South Carolina player. Interestingly, the media said nothing negative about Clark’s classless gesture.

Clark is a marvelously talented player. She obviously has worked hard to become a superstar. She is virtually unstoppable, hitting 3-point shots from five feet behind the 3-point line. She is a deft, accurate passer who plays with supreme confidence.

But Clark also displays unsportsmanlike tendencies. Beyond the usual trash talking, Clark too often behaves like a jerk, screaming at the refs, cheap shot elbowing her opponents, etc. Unlike many fans who watched her for the first time during the Final Four, I’ve watched Clark play a dozen times in the past two years. Trust me, she can be a hotheaded jerk. And the media never says a word about it.

Part-time progressives

So, it was unsurprising, yet still amazing, to watch as the American double-standard shifted into high gear last Sunday. Sadly, many progressives participated.

LSU plays all Black players. Iowa plays nearly all White players. You don’t need a theater-style program booklet to figure out the script here. ESPN was clearly rooting for Iowa. Of course, ESPN will deny this. Much of the non-SEC media, at least from the kinds of questions they asked during pre-and post-game press conferences, appeared to favor Iowa.

There is exactly no difference in these gestures. But some people choose to perceive one as acceptable and the other as offensive. (Photo credit ESPN screenshots)

Prior to the title matchup, I detected an undercurrent suggesting you might have to go back to the O.J. trial to find America split in the way it was for this championship hoops tilt.

Near the game’s conclusion, LSU star Angel Reese placed her hand in front of her face in a you-can’t-see-me gesture made famous by WWE superstar John Cena. Reese directed her gesture toward Caitlin Clark. The same Clark who on Friday disrespected the South Carolina player. The same Clark who in Iowa’s Elite Eight victory over Louisville directed the same you-can’t-see-me gesture toward a Louisville player. (After the Iowa-Louisville game Cena himself, along with the media and fans, celebrated Clark’s gesture.)

As is American tradition, when the Golden Girl “acts out” in a questionable manner it is overlooked or twisted into a positive (Caitlin’s just showing she’s a strong-willed, hardworking competitor, they say). But when a Black player does THE EXACT SAME THING suddenly the sky is falling. Reese was labeled a thug and classless by the media. Social media exploded with racist trolls posting derogatory anti-Reese comments, countered by supportive “You go, girl” posts.

Yesterday, First Lady Jill Biden waded into the drama by announcing she wants Iowa, along with LSU, to visit the White House in a ceremony traditionally reserved exclusively for the champions (Jill must subscribe to everybody gets a trophy). It reminds me of when Ruben Studdard won American Idol and then was forced to accept runner-up Clay Aiken joining him on publicity tours. I don’t recall idol winners Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood suffering the same indignation of having their respective runner-up tagging along. Unfortunately, Jill Biden just added more controversy to what should be a time of joyful celebration for the women of LSU.

Like Muhammad Ali, Angel Reese is a winner unafraid to speak inconvenient truths. (Photos credit Athlon Sports and the Smithsonian)

When I was a kid, growing up in the 1960s, Cassius Clay – who became Muhammed Ali – was my undisputed favorite athlete. Ali said things and did things that most Black people could not, or would not, say or do, especially Black athletes. Particularly for Black athletes, it was an era of perform but stay quiet. But Ali was so big and bad there was nothing anybody could do to silence him. Even the government conspiring to strip him of his boxing title and toss him in jail could not stop Ali.

As is often the case in America, years later, when Ali was proven to be on the right side of history, he was lovingly embraced by many of his haters. (I almost typed “detractors” but those against Ali passionately hated him.)

Angel Reese has some Ali in her. She speaks eloquently, with wisdom beyond her age of 20 years. Her post-championship game press conference was a masterpiece. She is respectful, but unapologetic. Reese is fearless and tells it like it is. She is a leader and a competitor, standing up for herself and her teammates. Reese is the epitome of grace and modernism. Female voices like Reese’s are especially important during these times, as women’s rights and people of color’s rights are under assault.

Rather than dog out Angel Reese we all, especially self-proclaimed progressives, should celebrate a true champion, on and off the court.