Derangement
Well, this is a sign of the times, isn't it?
KIRKLAND — Are you still fans of Matt Hasselbeck and Mack Strong after they visited President Bush last week in Bellevue? Or have their political leanings turned you against them?
The Seahawks quarterback and fullback gave the 43rd president a No. 43 jersey with his name on it at a $1,000-a-plate fundraiser for Rep. Dave Reichert at the Hyatt.
At the time, Hasselbeck called it a thrill and said it was a win-win, this opportunity to meet the president and get out of a team meeting.
But as soon as he saw the picture of the two players with Bush, Gary Wright, the team's vice president of administration, said he was concerned about negative reaction.
Maybe in really red Republican states, it would not have been a big deal. But Washington is a blue state, and deep, deep Democratic blue in King County. So objections were raised, and Hasselbeck heard them and read them. He got nasty voice mails, e-mails and text messages.
"I had no idea," Hasselbeck said.
One guy told him: "I hate you, I'll never wear your jersey, I'll never like the Seahawks again."
"Huh?" Hasselbeck thought. "Seriously?"
"Politics can be very mean and dirty," he said. "The things politicians say about each other, and what activists say, I had a brief glimpse of that for a couple of days.
"If I ever had any questions about whether I wanted to run for office, I now know the answer — I don't."
Everything is used as a reason for an attack on Bush these days. Anything. Even a typical photo-op that happens all the time with professional athletes. I suppose Hasselbeck can look on the bright side here. There was no ketchup involved. (I suppose that should be qualified with a "yet.")
Other Links to this Post
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Washington State Liberals Flip Seattle Seahawks QB “The Bird” Over Political Support Of President Bush; GOP — Friday, 7 September , 2007 @ 12:47 pm
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Blue Crab Boulevard » Stunted Souls — Tuesday, 11 September , 2007 @ 3:01 pm
By feeblemind, Friday, 7 September , 2007 @ 10:53 am
I heard this on Rush yesterday and was amazed. One would think football fans qould want the best possible players on their team so the team could be as successful as possible. Perhaps the Seahawks should subordinate their pursuit of the most talented players to those that are avowed Maxists?