The Patriot Post® · Cuban Changes Course

Wednesday we reported that Mark Cuban, the billionaire owner of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team, had decided to ban the national anthem before home games at the American Airlines Center.

That was an interesting decision on his part. Presumably, Cuban is fully on board with President Biden’s unity schtick right now. Nothing says “unity” more than banning the national anthem – the one thing that is meant to bring us all together as Americans. But the left ruined that years ago. Thank you, Colin Kaepernick.

Yet, in a hopeful sign, Cuban’s decision created such a backlash that by the end of the day the NBA felt compelled to intervene. It issued a statement reiterating its long-standing policy that “all teams will play the national anthem.”

Given the times we’re in, I’m curious to see how much longer the NBA’s long-standing policy will survive.

Killing America

Cuban agreed to follow the NBA’s policy, but only after he reiterated where he really stands (or kneels) on the issue. Cuban declared:

“We respect and always have respected the passion people have for the anthem and our country. But we also loudly hear the voices of those who feel that the anthem does not represent them. We feel that their voices need to be respected and heard, because they have not been.

"Going forward, our hope is that people will take the same passion they have for this issue and apply the same amount of energy to listen to those who feel differently from them. Only then we can move forward and have courageous conversations that move this country forward and find what unites us.”

That statement is nonsense! If loving America doesn’t unite, then nothing else will.

If Cuban had any respect for those who love the anthem and America, he wouldn’t have banned it. And it is absurd to suggest that privileged, multi-millionaire athletes are somehow being silenced.

As for going forward with “courageous conversations,” Cuban must be joking! Remind me again, exactly where did “cancel culture” come from? Oh, yes – that would be the intolerant, totalitarian left!

The left has demonstrated time and again that it has absolutely no tolerance for differing opinions or respect for anyone who disagrees with its radical demands.

It’s frustrating enough when a refugee, like Ilhan Omar, comes to this country, gets elected to public office and then proceeds to lecture us about what an evil and oppressive nation we are.

But what can you say about a billionaire who has such wealth and privilege because he was born here?

While the NBA made the right call this time, it only did so under duress. The league came down like a ton of brinks against one manager who had the courage to stand for freedom in Hong Kong.

And like the rest of corporate America, it was all in on radical social justice and left-wing politics. No doubt that’s why Cuban thought he could get away with banning the national anthem in the first place.

This would be laughable if it wasn’t so serious. Our enemies are teaching patriotism and love of country to their children (here and here) while we are teaching our children to hate America.

In a clear marker of national decline, the Biden White House chose to side with Mark Cuban and the anthem kneelers by once again insisting that “we haven’t lived up to our highest ideals.” But how does disrespecting our national anthem help to make America great again?

Biden’s Border Blunders

Well, this was predictable. There’s a surge of illegal immigration along the southern border as the Biden Administration has moved aggressively to reverse President Trump’s commonsense immigration reforms and border security measures.

The numbers speak for themselves. In January 2020, Border Patrol agents arrested just over 29,000 illegal aliens attempting to cross the southern border. Last month, more than 75,000 illegal aliens were apprehended at the border. That’s an increase of more than 150%.

The number of unaccompanied minors is also surging – up 73% just in the Rio Grande Valley sector. I’m sure the Biden Administration is getting the Obama “cages for kids” ready, but I’m also sure the left-wing media will never mention it.

Meanwhile, the Biden White House knows it has a major problem on its hands and it is scrambling to catch up, which is why catch and release is back because that makes so much sense. (NOT!)

Yes, even though American citizens were told not to attend Super Bowl parties, to wear two masks and travel to Florida may be banned, Biden is releasing illegal immigrants into the country without COVID tests. How’s that for priorities?

Recognizing the growing crisis on their hands, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki had a message Wednesday for illegal immigrants thinking of coming to America. She told migrants that “now is not the time to come” because they just haven’t had the time to set up “a humane, comprehensive process.”

Let’s remember who we’re talking about – people attempting to enter the country illegally. We have a “humane, comprehensive process” in place. It’s called the legal immigration system, which already admits about one million people every year.

Faced with this growing humanitarian and political crisis at the border, you’d think Biden might slow down a bit and stop sending mixed messages. Nope. He’s doubling down on his open borders agenda.

Wednesday, he issued another executive order repealing President Trump’s national border emergency because, in spite of COVID and the surging number of apprehensions, Biden has determined that Trump’s order was “unwarranted.”

“Offensive And Absurd”

The Democrat impeachment managers spent much of their time Wednesday showing several emotional videos of what took place inside the Capitol Building on January 6th. Of course, no one is happy about what happened. The question is: Did Donald Trump cause it? The answer to that question is clearly no.

Senator Lindsey Graham believes Pelosi’s impeachment team overplayed their hand and lost ground Wednesday. He told Sean Hannity that most Republican senators found their presentations “offensive and absurd.” And he demanded to know what Speaker Nancy Pelosi knew about the intelligence warning that some groups were planning a violent response that day.

Graham noted that none of the Democrat impeachment mangers said anything when leftists tried to break into his house. As we have repeatedly noted, few Democrat leaders had the courage to publicly condemn last summer’s rioting. They were content to see your homes and businesses looted and burned.

To his credit, Graham also pointed out that Kamala Harris could well be at risk of impeachment. If Trump can be impeached for his choice of words, why shouldn’t Harris be impeached for bailing out rioters and looters? There is a much stronger argument to be made that her actions actually caused more physical violence.