The Ungrateful Undead: The Rise of Unthankfulness

The media is blasting President Trump for two of his latest tweets.  In the first tweet, the President went after Oakland Raiders running back Marshawn Lynch for taking a knee during the American National Anthem but standing for the Mexican national anthem; arguing that the league should have suspended Lynch for the remainder of the season.   The Raiders played against the Patriots in Mexico City Sunday.  Lynch and other SJWs should know that Mexico is a far more corrupt and unjust country than the United States.  But don’t expect them to let the facts get in the way of their Anti-American crusade.  Perhaps Lynch and his fellow anthem protesters could start up a football team in Mexico since they seem to like our neighbor to the south much more than the country that has given them so much opportunity.  That would certainly make NFL sponsors like Papa John’s happy.  The #BoycottNFL movement that began when a series of football players decided to kneel during the National Anthem has taken a toll on the pizza chain’s sales.  Papa John’s sales may hurt even more after the company did a 180, saying that it believes in protesting inequality and supports “the players’ movement to create a new platform for change.”  In his tweet going after Marshawn Lynch, President Trump correctly pointed out that the protests have caused NFL attendance and ratings to plummet.           

 

The second tweet that has the media’s panties in a bunch resulted from a series of events beginning with President Trump negotiating the release of three UCLA basketball players caught shoplifting in China during his two week long overseas trip to five Asian nations.  Had the President not intervened, the trio could have faced ten years in a Chinese prison.  The trio thanked POTUS in a press conference last week.   Lavar Ball, the father of one of the basketball players, did not share his son’s gratitude.  Ball dismissed the significance of the President’s actions in an interview with ESPN over the weekend, saying “Don’t tell me nothing.  Everybody wants to make it seem like he helped me out.”  In an interview with CNN earlier this week, Ball said that he would have thanked the President if he had flown him home on Air Force One. How ungrateful.  Ball also downplayed the shoplifting incident, calling it “no big deal.”  Shoplifting might not be that big of a deal in the United States, but the Chinese see things a little differently. 

 

Ball’s actions led the President to strike back on Twitter, saying “Now that the three basketball players are out of China and saved from years in jail, Lavar Ball, the father of LiAngelo, is unaccepting of what I did for his son and that shoplifting is no big deal.  I should have left them in jail!”  As Bill O’Reilly pointed out, “Trump has every right to call out the ingratitude of LaVar Ball. The man’s son was spared the Chinese criminal justice system because Trump intervened. Mr. Ball then insulted Trump. Anyone who defends Mr. Ball is misguided in the extreme.” Not surprisingly, Ball has found many defenders in the mainstream media.  The dynamic duo on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” called President Trump racist for criticizing Ball’s ingratitude.  One of the media’s favorite “Republicans” Joe Scarborough put on his psychoanalyst hat, saying “There’s racist overtures here.  The black man was not appreciative of what the white man did for him and it’s a dog whistle to say the least.”  Tomi Lahren had it right when she said that “Donald Trump is damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t.  Can you imagine what they would have said if Trump hadn’t stepped in?  Oh, the race card would have been slapped down so hard our ears would still be ringing.”  It looks the mainstream media has a little gratitude problem of its own that has no signs of disappearing anytime soon.    

 

As for UCLA, they suspended the three basketball players indefinitely upon their return to the United States.  The Trump-Ball feud continued on Twitter this morning, where the President referred to Ball as an “ungrateful fool.”  For his part, Ball seems to really enjoy all of the attention.  In my opinion, POTUS probably should have let this one go by now, but hey, Trump will be Trump.       

 

People ought to know that ungratefulness leads people to stop doing nice things.  Why bother if people don’t appreciate it?  President Trump might decide not to issue anymore calls to the widows of Gold Star families after Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-FL) made it look like the President behaved insensitively when calling the widow of Sgt. La David Johnson, who died last month in Niger.  Keep in mind that Presidents don’t have to make those calls; in many cases, they decide to send letters instead.  A few days after President Trump called Mrs. Johnson, White House Chief of Staff General John Kelly held a press conference where he came to the President’s defense, saying “If you elect to call a family like this, it’s about the most difficult thing you can imagine.  There’s no perfect way to make that phone call.”  Because of the controversy that resulted from his phone call to the widow of Sgt. Johnson, President Trump may choose to make a lot less phone calls in favor of writing a lot more letters.              

 

On second thought, perhaps I have been a little too tough on Lynch and his fellow anthem protesters.  With professors like Ward Churchill, Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn teaching the next generation to hate America, it should not come as a surprise that the Anti-American movement continues to gain momentum.  It also doesn’t help that influential figures in the black community like Al Sharpton, politically correct politicians like Bill De Blasio, and the mainstream media seem to have a vested interest in keeping racial tensions high.  Often times, with age comes wisdom; and hopefully, when the anthem protesters like Lynch and all other millennials brainwashed into seeing America as a racist and oppressive country get a little older, they will realize how lucky they are to live in the United States of America.  For the sake of our national unity, let’s hope that day comes sooner rather than later.          

 

At this year’s Thanksgiving Dinner, Lavar Ball should give thanks that his son gets to spend the holiday with him rather than behind bars in a Communist country.  As President Trump said, “Lavar, you could have spent the next 5 to 10 years during Thanksgiving with your son in China.” Meanwhile, Marshawn Lynch should give thanks that he lives in a country that his given him much opportunity and success.  Lynch should also give thanks that he lives in a country that gives him the freedom to do stupid things, like kneel for the national anthem.  In Castro’s Cuba, which liberals have a tendency to romanticize; political dissidents can often end up in prison for speaking out against the government. 

 

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, I find the “unthankfulness” of Lynch, Ball and others quite troubling.  The Thanksgiving holiday encourages Americans to temporarily abandon the materialistic attitude of always wanting more that our culture constantly promotes and instead give thanks for what they actually do have.  Thanksgiving has become more important than ever in an era when greed has replaced gratitude as one of America’s hallmark virtues.  If more people actually took time to reflect on and appreciate the blessings in their lives that they so often take for granted, we could become a much happier country.  I would like to close by wishing all of my loyal readers a very Happy Thanksgiving.  As for me, I will post a list of everything I am thankful for on Friday.