Bob Costas On China

I have not been fond of Costas, but he is right here. (From Jonah Goldberg and The Dispatch)

In an interview on The Lead With Jake Tapper yesterday,  veteran sports broadcaster Bob Costas gives a measured, but forceful, condemnation of the coddling of China by some international institutions and prominent athletes. Tapper asked about the Peng Shuai situation and why the Women’s Tennis Association and International Olympic Committee have taken such different approaches to it. “The IOC is in bed with China,” Costas said. “It’s very troubling, their affinity for authoritarian regimes. … Meanwhile, you’ve got not just the IOC, you’ve got the NBA, and you’ve got Nike, and various individual sports stars in the United States who have significant investments in China, where the sports market is huge. And some of those people are very outspoken—as they have a right to be, and maybe in general you and I would agree with their viewpoints—very outspoken and sometimes offer sweeping condemnations of their own admittedly imperfect country, the United States. But when it comes to China—perhaps the world’s leading human rights abuser given its size and its wherewithal—they’re mum. Very, very few have anything to say.” 

Boston Celtics center Enes Kanter of Turkey, whose family comes into danger because of what he says about Erdogan, and dares not return there himself, just became an American citizen, changing his name to Enes Kanter Freedom.  He is the one who who has been calling out LeBron James, who shrugs him off. That is the sports mentality that is dangerous.  If you are the better player, you think yourself above answering any criticism from lesser players. Even when you are a complete sellout who bends over for the PRC at every turn.  But you're The Man, you know, because you can score.