‘World Wide Leader In Leftist Disinformation’: ESPN Now Pushing Discredited Russian Collusion Story In Attack On Houston Astros For Accepting White House Invitation

Over the last couple of years the once unbeatable sports network ESPN has gone full-scale liberal, firing various commentators who didn’t tow the new company line while allowing those that do work for the company to spread leftist disinformation masquerading as sports analysis.

Now, in a new low for the network, ESPN has aired an unhinged rant by commentator Max Kellerman that specifically brought up the widely discredited Russian collusion probe while pretending that it didn’t have anything to do with being a liberal or conservative.

In other words, according to ESPN, good people are against Donald Trump and bad people support him.

The rant came in response to a decision by the Houston Astros to accept an invitation to the White House after the team won the World Series.

Asked what it means that the Astos had accepted the invitation, Kellerman claimed that the team would be on the wrong side of history before spewing a plethora of leftist disinformation talking points about the president.

“It says they are making a grave error and are on the wrong side of history,” he noted. “I want to be very clear about this: This has nothing to do with where you fall on the political spectrum, left or right.”

“I say what I say because what has gone on in this administration is abnormal and should not be normalized.”

Kellerman then specifically brought up the Russian collusion probe while noting that Trump’s former national security had already been arrested for lying to the FBI. Kellerman seemingly purposefully left out key facts surrounding the Flynn investigation while totally ignoring the high-level Clinton supporters in the FBI who targeted him.

“There is an investigation on-going into the Trump administration, and collusion with a hostile foreign power that involves our national election,” Kellerman continued, sounding almost exactly like a Democrat in Congress or any one of the various cable news anchors who attack Trump on a daily basis.

“It has never happened in my lifetime. All the President’s men seem to be implicated.”

Kellerman concluded, “It has to do with equal protection under the law, and constitutionality, and being a patriotic American citizen. You do not normalize this behavior with White House visits.”

So there you have it. ESPN has officially stopped being a sports network and is now nothing more than another leftist propaganda outlet pushing discredited lies while ignoring key facts about the deep states ongoing war against the president.

Its no wonder that the network is bleeding subscribers at a startling rate with new competitor FS1 seemingly in line to take over as the actual leader of TV sports coverage.

ESPN President Quits Due To "Substance Addiction"

Amid plummeting ratings, mass job cuts, and constant #resistance, ESPN President John Skipper has finally called it quits from running the so-called sports channel.

Here is Skipper’s statement:

Today I have resigned from my duties as President of ESPN. I have had a wonderful career at the Walt Disney Company and am grateful for the many opportunities and friendships. I owe a debt to many, but most profoundly Michael Lynton, George Bodenheimer and Bob Iger.

 

I have struggled for many years with a substance addiction. I have decided that the most important thing I can do right now is to take care of my problem.

 

I have disclosed that decision to the company, and we mutually agreed that it was appropriate that I resign. I will always appreciate the human understanding and warmth that Bob displayed here and always.

 

I come to this public disclosure with embarrassment, trepidation and a feeling of having let others I care about down.

 

As I deal with this issue and what it means to me and my family, I ask for appropriate privacy and a little understanding.

 

To my colleagues at ESPN, it has been a privilege. I take great pride in your accomplishments and have complete confidence in your colective ability to continue ESPN"s success.

The 61-year-old Skipper joined ESPN in 1997 as senior vice president and general manager of ESPN The Magazine. He was promoted to his current job on January 1, 2012.

Here is what ESPN president John Skipper said in a recent memo to staffers:

"ESPN is about sports... It is not a political organization."

So will that agenda change now?

NFL Ratings Slump Worsens As ESPN Forced To Slash $80 Million In Salary Costs

As the NFL continues to try to address the ongoing civil war between Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and Commissioner Roger Goodell, not to mention the intermittent hostile fire from the White House, viewers are increasingly deciding they"ve had enough and are abandoning professional football viewership altogether.  As the NY Post points out today, the embattled league saw ratings dip 6.3% in Week 11 meaning 1 million fewer people tuned in to see players take a knee during the national anthem versus last year.

The TV audience for NFL games steepened its slide in Week 11, losing 1 million viewers versus last year’s season-to-date average.

 

The 6.3 percent slump — worsening from comparable declines of 5.6 to 5.7 percent during the previous three weeks — plagued a week whose off-the-field drama made gridiron tackling seem almost tame by comparison.

 

After starting 11.8 percent behind last year’s TV audience for NFL games in Week 1, league viewership had either held its own or narrowed the gap through Week 8.

 

The 6.3 percent shortfall in Week 11 reflects an average viewership of 14.9 million for the NFL’s 68 national telecasts this year versus 15.9 million for the season-to-date in 2016.

Meanwhile, the ratings dip, combined with massive subscriber losses (see: ESPN Lost 15,000 Subscribers A Day In October), has taken a huge toll on ESPN which Yahoo News reports will have to cut some $80 million in salary costs to offset their plunging top line. 

ESPN is poised to slash an estimated $80 million in salaries and other costs in coming weeks, sources tell Sporting News.

 

The third round of layoffs in two years at the Disney-owned sports network is expected to come down after Thanksgiving and before Christmas. Sporting News broke the news that ESPN planned to lay off up to 60 people in late November and early December. Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated followed up with a report that said 100 positions could be impacted.

 

ESPN lost a whopping $1 billion in affiliate revenue after dropping 13 million subscribers in just six years, according to the SportsBusiness Journal. Sports insiders agree ESPN overpaid for the NFL"s "Monday Night Football" ($1.9 billion annually) and the NBA ($1.4 billion a year). During 2016, ESPN"s prime-time viewership fell 19 percent, according to the SBJ. Rather than driving Disney"s profits, ESPN has been dragging them down, spooking Wall Street analysts.

 

Meanwhile, ESPN management threw money at many anchors, analysts and reporters whose contracts were up in recent years to stop them from jumping to FS1 and other competitors. Some lost those high-paid TV gigs this spring. But ESPN is still on the hook to pay their full salaries until they get a new job elsewhere. Not many have over the past six months. Given the length of some of these expensive deals, not many will in the future, according to Awful Announcing.

 

"ESPN is dealing with three simple math problems. They have fewer subscribers than they planned for. They have higher costs than they planned for. They lower ratings than they hoped for," said one source.

Perhaps it"s time for the NFL to admit that while most Americans can agree that professional football is really fun to watch, roughly half of them are going to disagree with whatever political stance its players decide to cram down their throats during games...so maybe best to just stick to football.

"You"re So Dumb, You"re Beyond Hope" - ESPN Host Hits Out At Conservative Critics

Authored by Alex Thomas via SHTFplan.com,

Over the last few years the once dominant sports news outlet ESPN has come under fire for their perceived political bias after the network fired multiple employees for conservative viewpoints while propping up those that pushed the companies anti-Trump agenda.

From firing baseball icon Curt Schilling to allowing prime-time SportsCenter news anchor Jemele Hill to smear the president on Twitter, the network has an obvious liberal leaning and many conservatives have rightly called out this transparent bias.

Now, in a fiery interview with Sports Illustrated, one of the networks poster boys, Scott Van Pelt, has responded to his conservative critics by attacking them for even having the gall to question ESPN’s political bias in the first place.

Van Pelt attempted to act like a tough guy, calling out said critics for being cowards who he believes only speak out against ESPN on the internet but would never do so in real life.

“This make believe world where everyone talks shit, this shit talking, poke you in the chest virtual whatever it’s just there’s nothing more chicken shit than that, because it’s the easiest thing in the world to do,” Van Pelt laughably said before targeting those who have boycotted his network in the past.

In what one can only assume was a network approved attack on their critics, Van Pelt then described those that have boycotted ESPN as so dumb that they don’t even deserve to be prayed for.

If you truly wanna boycott the NFL and you wanna boycott ESPN, the notion that some guy sitting out there, or gal, and they decide, ‘you know what, I’m gonna cut my entire cable package because ESPN gave an award on a made-up show in July because there’s no sports, to a woman who used to be a man.

 

So I’m now not gonna have any cable TV at all and I’m gonna sit around at night and read books by candlelight like olden times because of that,’ that’s not happening.

 

And if you did that, than you’re so dumb that I can’t even pray for you because you’re beyond hope.

Yep, that is apparently what the networks most visible personality (and thus presumably the network as a whole) thinks about conservatives.

From Hollywood to the media, and now apparently the sports world, anyone with conservative viewpoints are being openly attacked and labeled racist as a means to silence all dissenting thought against the liberal world establishment.

“You’re So Dumb That I Can’t Even Pray For You,” Popular ESPN Host Targets The Networks Conservative Critics

Over the last few years the once dominant sports news outlet ESPN has come under fire for their perceived political bias after the network fired multiple employees for conservative viewpoints while propping up those that pushed the companies anti-Trump agenda.

From firing baseball icon Curt Schilling to allowing prime-time SportsCenter news anchor Jemele Hill to smear the president on Twitter, the network has an obvious liberal leaning and many conservatives have rightly called out this transparent bias.

Now, in a fiery interview with Sports Illustrated, one of the networks poster boys, Scott Van Pelt, has responded to his conservative critics by attacking them for even having the gall to question ESPN’s political bias in the first place.

Van Pelt attempted to act like a tough guy, calling out said critics for being cowards who he believes only speak out against ESPN on the internet but would never do so in real life.

“This make believe world where everyone talks shit, this shit talking, poke you in the chest virtual whatever it’s just there’s nothing more chicken shit than that, because it’s the easiest thing in the world to do,” Van Pelt laughably said before targeting those who have boycotted his network in the past.

In what one can only assume was a network approved attack on their critics, Van Pelt then described those that have boycotted ESPN as so dumb that they don’t even deserve to be prayed for.

If you truly wanna boycott the NFL and you wanna boycott ESPN, the notion that some guy sitting out there, or gal, and they decide, ‘you know what, I’m gonna cut my entire cable package because ESPN gave an award on a made-up show in July because there’s no sports, to a woman who used to be a man.

So I’m now not gonna have any cable TV at all and I’m gonna sit around at night and read books by candlelight like olden times because of that,’ that’s not happening.

And if you did that, than you’re so dumb that I can’t even pray for you because you’re beyond hope.

Yep, that is apparently what the networks most visible personality (and thus presumably the network as a whole) thinks about conservatives.

From Hollywood to the media, and now apparently the sports world, anyone with conservative viewpoints are being openly attacked and labeled racist as a means to silence all dissenting thought against the liberal world establishment.

49ers Continue Alienating Firearm Owners from NFL with Gun Grab Grant

Winning approval from statists,the media, “progressives’ and oath-breaking LEOs is evidently more important than winning games and retaining fans.

“The 49ers announced today that they are joining local and national law enforcement in signing a pledge for a ‘more understanding and safer America,’” Nick Wagoner of ESPN “reports” (if you can call it that). “The Niners have pledged $500,000 toward the campaign, which will advocate for legislation banning ‘bump stocks’ and other mechanisms that allow semi automatic weapons to become automatic weapons, as well as silencers and armor piercing bullets.”

Here’s the presser and the group grope.

For an outfit with the resources of ESPN to get so much so wrong in such a short amount of space is nothing less than journalistic malpractice. Devices that facilitate “bump firing” do not turn “allow semi automatic weapons to become automatic weapons.”  The retired ATF firearms analyst responsible for the ruling explains:

Likewise, those who wish to prevent suppressor rules from being eased use Hollywood hyperbole and fear, and as far as ‘armor piercing bullets” go, without seeing that term qualified, most will assume it refers to stuff that will go through tank plating, as opposed to rated-for-handguns body armor that common rifle rounds will defeat.

It’s not like ESPN has ever given a damn about the right of the people to keep and bear arms. Quite the opposite.

So leave it to them and to “social justice”-oozing NFL “progressives” to come up with yet another way to alienate their core audience. After seeing the #TakeAKnee nonsense result in lower attendance and ratings, you’d think an adult with the league would start acting like it’s a business, and put a stop to pampered bellyachers driving away their customers.

As an aside, it was nice to see former Steelers halfback Rocky Bleier reiterate what we already discussed, that shutting down the protests would not violate anyone’s rights as articulated under the First Amendment:

“It’s very simply this: This is a workplace, you are at the stadium, you are working that day, this is not a platform for protest. The American people, they can’t go to their workplace and start to protest about whatever may be happening in their life. That wouldn’t be allowed and that shouldn’t be allowed in the NFL.”

Exactly.

Just don’t tell that to “Reverend” Jesse Jackson, who just outdid himself for race-hustling grievance mongering:

“To go from picking cotton balls to picking up footballs and basketballs without freedom is not very much progress.”

Seeing that moronic false equivalency, some advice from “Tropic Thunder” comes to mind.

It’s a fact of life that boycotting everyone who deserves it would be problematic for most, and end up hurting us when we deny ourselves essential products or services for which no competitive alternatives exist.  But ESPN, other networks and the NFL are hardly essential, and, in fact, are arguably detrimental in terms of the “bread and circuses” environment they create.  So in this case, it should not be a hardship to cease, literally, giving aid and comfort to these enemies of the Second Amendment.

And it’s not like we don’t have plenty of superior and more rewarding alternatives. Go the range. Take a walk and get the blood going. Reload some ammo. Take stock of your preparedness. Spend quality time with people you love. Read a book.

And tell subversive athletes, teams and networks to #TakeAHike.

—–

If you believe in the mission of Oath Keepers, to defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic, please make a donation to support our work.  You can donate HERE.

—–

David Codrea’s opinions are his own. See “Who speaks for Oath Keepers?”

The post 49ers Continue Alienating Firearm Owners from NFL with Gun Grab Grant appeared first on Oath Keepers.

ESPN Prez Defends Idiotic Decision To Create A National Controversy That Never Existed

ESPN President John Skipper should probably lookup the meaning of "primum non nocere."  Medical school students all across the country are taught this Latin phrase, meaning "first, do no harm," on their first day of classes as a reminder that, given any problem, their first priority should be to simply not make it worse than it already is.

Unfortunately, Skipper doesn"t seem to subscribe to this theory because if he did he would realize that sometimes the best way to address a controversy that never should have happened is simply to keep your mouth shut and "do no further harm."  Alas, Skipper"s clearly not a doctor and thus we"re all stuck having to read another statement from ESPN attempted to explain why they made a truly moronic decision.

Here"s the new statement in which ESPN now makes it seem as if it wasn"t actually their decision to pull Robert Lee off the air in Virginia, but rather Lee"s decision intended to avoid "social media hectoring and trolling"....

"Given the amount of media attention being generated by on of the countless, routine decisions our local production teams make every day, I wanted to make sure you have the facts.  There was never any concern - by anyone, at any level - that Robert Lee"s name would offend anyone watching the Charlottesville game.

Among our Charlotte production staff there was a question as to whether - in these divisive times -- Robert"s assignment might create a distraction, or even worse, expose him to social media hectoring and trolling.  Since Robert was their primary concern, they consulted with him directly.  He expressed some personal trepidation about the assignment and, when offered the chance to do the Youngstown State / Pitt game instead, opted for that game -- in part because he lives in Albany and would be able to get home to his family on Saturday evening. 

I"m disappointed that the good intentions of our Charlotte colleagues have been intentionally hijacked by someone with a personal agenda, and sincerely appreciate Robert"s personal input and professionalism throughout this episode."

New: internal memo from ESPN prez John Skipper about the Robert Lee decision pic.twitter.com/3yFk4hbDRb

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) August 24, 2017

...because this path worked out really well for avoiding "social media hectoring and trolling."

Rare photo of #RobertLee announcing Confederates vs Union game pic.twitter.com/lJLRalDTt1

— John Davis (@TheFoundingSon) August 23, 2017

Of course, Skipper"s new statement, which makes it seems as if the decision was all Lee"s idea, somewhat contradicts ESPN"s original statement that said it just "felt right to all parties."

“We collectively made the decision with Robert to switch games as the
tragic events in Charlottesville were unfolding, simply because of the
coincidence of his name. In that moment it felt right to all parties.
It’s a shame that this is even a topic of conversation and we regret
that who calls play by play for a football game has become an issue.”

Skipper, do us all a favor and read the first sentence of this post again...

* * *

For those who managed to ignore this story line so far, below is our post from yesterday.

We"ve been saying this a lot lately, but just when you thought the political climate in this country couldn"t get any more wacky ESPN has to go and pull an Asian-American announcer, who just happens to be named Robert Lee, off the William and Mary vs. University of Virginia college football game because of concerns they might create a mass-triggering of America"s snowflakes. 

Is this even real life anymore?  So the fragile millennial culture now demands that you should be thrown in jail if you call them by the wrong pronoun but it"s totally fine if their insecurities literally derail a person"s career because they refuse to be "assaulted" by the name his parents happened to give him?

Outkick the Coverage broke the story last night with this summary:

In a story that seems made for The Onion, but is actually true, according to multiple Outkick fans inside ESPN MSESPN decided to pull an Asian college football announcer named Robert Lee off the William and Mary at University of Virginia college football game because they were concerned that having an ASIAN FOOTBALL ANNOUNCER NAMED ROBERT LEE would be offensive to some viewers.

Did I mention that Robert Lee is Asian?

Is this even real life anymore? This might even be worse than MSESPN apologizing for the fantasy football slave draft a couple of weeks ago.

To avoid offending left wing idiots Robert Lee, the Asian college football announcer, not the Confederate General who died in 1870 and shares a name with him, was switched to the Youngstown State at Pittsburgh game and Dave Weekley will now call the William and Mary at University of Virginia game.

Meanwhile, ESPN issued the following statement:

“We collectively made the decision with Robert to switch games as the tragic events in Charlottesville were unfolding, simply because of the coincidence of his name. In that moment it felt right to all parties. It’s a shame that this is even a topic of conversation and we regret that who calls play by play for a football game has become an issue.”

Not surprisingly, ESPN has been mercilessly mocked on social media for their truly moronic decision as #RobertLee quickly shot to the top of Twitter"s trending board.

Irony
/??r?n?/
noun

1. Punishing an Asian-American for his last name out of fear of racism.#RobertLee

— Eugene Gu, MD (@eugenegu) August 23, 2017

Just to clarify, the Asian sports announcer named Robert Lee is NOT the General of the Confederate Army. Get it together #espn #Robertlee

— Joni (@jonifabulous) August 23, 2017

Of course, ESPN may be a little sensitive to race issues after being blasted all last week for hosting a fantasy football auction that many people likened to a slave auction...

ESPN Pulls Asian Announcer Named Robert Lee To Avoid A Mass Triggering Event

We"ve been saying this a lot lately, but just when you thought the political climate in this country couldn"t get any more wacky ESPN has to go and pull an Asian-American announcer, who just happens to be named Robert Lee, off the William and Mary vs. University of Virginia college football game because of concerns they might create a mass-triggering of America"s snowflakes. 

Is this even real life anymore?  So the fragile millennial culture now demands that you should be thrown in jail if you call them by the wrong pronoun but it"s totally fine if their insecurities literally derail a person"s career because they refuse to be "assaulted" by the name his parents happened to give him?

Outkick the Coverage broke the story last night with this summary:

In a story that seems made for The Onion, but is actually true, according to multiple Outkick fans inside ESPN MSESPN decided to pull an Asian college football announcer named Robert Lee off the William and Mary at University of Virginia college football game because they were concerned that having an ASIAN FOOTBALL ANNOUNCER NAMED ROBERT LEE would be offensive to some viewers.

Did I mention that Robert Lee is Asian?

Is this even real life anymore? This might even be worse than MSESPN apologizing for the fantasy football slave draft a couple of weeks ago.

To avoid offending left wing idiots Robert Lee, the Asian college football announcer, not the Confederate General who died in 1870 and shares a name with him, was switched to the Youngstown State at Pittsburgh game and Dave Weekley will now call the William and Mary at University of Virginia game.

Meanwhile, ESPN issued the following statement:

“We collectively made the decision with Robert to switch games as the tragic events in Charlottesville were unfolding, simply because of the coincidence of his name. In that moment it felt right to all parties. It’s a shame that this is even a topic of conversation and we regret that who calls play by play for a football game has become an issue.”

Not surprisingly, ESPN has been mercilessly mocked on social media for their truly moronic decision as #RobertLee quickly shot to the top of Twitter"s trending board.

Irony
/??r?n?/
noun

1. Punishing an Asian-American for his last name out of fear of racism.#RobertLee

— Eugene Gu, MD (@eugenegu) August 23, 2017

Just to clarify, the Asian sports announcer named Robert Lee is NOT the General of the Confederate Army. Get it together #espn #Robertlee

— Joni (@jonifabulous) August 23, 2017

Rare photo of #RobertLee announcing Confederates vs Union game pic.twitter.com/lJLRalDTt1

— John Davis (@TheFoundingSon) August 23, 2017

Of course, ESPN may be a little sensitive to race issues after being blasted all last week for hosting a fantasy football auction that many people likened to a slave auction...

ESPN Removes Asian-American Announcer from Game—Because His Name is Robert Lee

Following violent riots in Charlottesville, Virginia, ESPN is apparently attempting to avoid future controversy by removing any anchors or reporters whose names might offend fans in the area—but its removal of an Asian-American announcer who shares the name of a Confederate general is creating an ample amount of controversy.

Robert Lee, a part-time announcer for the network, is receiving air time in a whole new way after it was revealed that ESPN removed him from the roster for coverage of University of Virginia’s first home football game in Charlottesville on Sept. 2.

In a statement released on Tuesday, the network said:

“We collectively made the decision with Robert to switch games as the tragic events in Charlottesville were unfolding, simply because of the coincidence of his name. In that moment it felt right to all parties. It’s a shame that this is even a topic of conversation and we regret that who calls play-by-play for a football game has become an issue.”

Robert E. Lee was a general of the Confederate Army in Virginia during the Civil War. Quotes attributed to Lee commemorate his distaste for the war that made him famous, such as “It is well that war is so terrible—otherwise we would grow too fond of it,” and “What a cruel thing war is… to fill our hearts with hatred instead of love for our neighbors.”

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While Lee surrendered to the Union Army in 1865, and the Confederacy lost the war, statues commemorating him and other Confederates can be found across the country. Those statues have recently become a subject of controversy, leading to a series of overnight removals in locations such as the University of Texas.

READ MORE:  State Makes "Habitual Drinking" Illegal -- Jails People for a Year for Even Smelling Like Alcohol

However, while the presence of these Confederate statues have angered many, the presence of an ESPN announcer who happens to share the name of a Confederate general does not seem to be creating nearly as much controversy—unless it is from the outrage surrounding his removal.

One Twitter user wrote, “If this society can’t tell the difference from ‘Robert E Lee’ from 150+ years ago to an Asian sportscaster ‘Robert Lee’ we are in trouble.”

If this society can"t tell the difference from "Robert E Lee" from 150+ years ago to an Asian sportscaster "Robert Lee" we are in trouble

— Eric Smith (@Eric_RaceReview) August 23, 2017

Another user pointed out the possible hypocrisy that could occur if any athletes involved shared the same fate as the sportscast, writing, “@ESPN if an athletes name is Robert Lee are you going to not show their game?”

@espn if an athletes name is Robert Lee are you going to not show their game?

— General Lee (@NCGeneralLee) August 23, 2017

Another Twitter user even posted a side-by-side comparison of the two Robert Lee’s:

I can barely tell them apart #RobertLee pic.twitter.com/SADRCQE2tn

— Jack Posobiec 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) August 23, 2017

While Confederate statues are often called symbols of racism, the fact is that removing them—or even removing TV announcers who happen to share their names—will not end racism in this country. As The Free Thought Project reported in the wake of the Charlottesville riots:

“A statue holds no magical power to make people racists. If anything, the monuments to former racists serve as reminders that the state can and always will be open to the influence of bigotry—and only the state has the power to enforce racism. 

An ignorant racist is exactly that—however, if society grants that ignorant racist a political position or a badge and a gun, this ignorant racist now has power over you. Removing or keeping a piece of concrete will never change this.”