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The WTA Refuses to Kneel, Shows Up the NBA’s Vapid Moral Posturing
Peng Shui used social media to accuse former Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli of sexually assaulting her three years ago. Then like the young man who once stood in front of a tank in Tiananmen Square, she magically vanished from the public eye. Poof! For multiple weeks. Gone.
Fortunately, Peng Shui is not an anonymous person but one of China’s most recognizable sports stars. While controlled, contained, and censored by a government that cares absolutely nothing about human rights for anyone (except accused rapists, I suppose), she has a name that people know and an organization behind her that has not been willing to let her picture fade into oblivion on some metaphorical milk carton crafted by the CCP to exonerate its own orchestration of a disappearing.
The WTA has put principle over profit and canceled all tournaments in China and Hong Kong as long as there is no open investigation of Peng’s case as well as her release to real safety and freedom.
“None of this is acceptable, nor can it become acceptable,” Steve Simon, current WTA CEO who has an actual backbone, has said. “If powerful people can suppress the voices of women and sweep allegations of sexual misconduct under the rug, then the basis on which the WTA was founded – equality for women – would suffer an immense setback. I will not and cannot let that happen to the WTA and its players.”
Yes, Steve. Yesssssss. That is bad ass. This is a real man whose organization’s position is right. And good. And expressing what I always thought people meant whenever they said American values.
In fact, that’s better than every reaction I’ve seen from other sports “super stars” when their own principles are easily compromised for profits. I’m thinking Nike, which will never see another red cent from me, and the shallow shills like LeBron James who love to run their mouths about the failings of the United States while kneeling in silence for their CCP masters.
So the ace here goes to the WTA who has absolutely demolished the NBA per moral principles, and I love it. Yes. Yes. Yesssssss.
The truth is I could not be cheering louder if I was standing in front of Center Court of the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center during a final match for the US Open.
This is so much more important than a game.
Applaud the effort. And then still pray for Peng Shui. Simon’s good works to one side, God is, and will always be, greater than Xi Jinping (and commerce).
Published in General
The WTA has more ba–s than the entire NBA (excepting Enes Kanter Freedom).
Once, sports was a pass time for entertainment. Then it became a business. Then the leagues got involved in politics. Then they got woke. Now, their wokeness has been revealed to be a charade. All they care for is the dollar (or the yuan). LeBron James should be the photo in the dictionary for hypocrite.
Now if we can just seek justice in this country for female athletes:
https://www.breitbart.com/sports/2021/11/30/college-swimmer-who-competed-as-man-now-dominating-womens-category-after-identifying-female/
The entire American economy has sold to the Chinese. I don’t know why the NBA gets all the grief. What about Disney, Amazon, Wal-Mart etc….. I guess it took having one of their own players possibly being killed for the WTA to give a damn about China. Have they said anything about the Uyghur genocide going on or any other human rights violations?
Enes Kanter is almost out of the league because he can’t guard anybody and can get destroyed on switches. He’s a mediocre player trying to make a name for himself on his way out. I do admire him taking a stance against Erdogan. He’s no longer permitted in his home country of Turkey.
I just listened to Bari Weiss’s latest podcast, where she interviews Desmond Shum. His ex-wife was the richest woman in China and was “disappeared” by the government, only to resurface when he published a book about the CCP. The Chinese government under Xi has become an incredible threat to the world but even more to the Chinese people.
The bravery of the WTA is noteworthy unfortunately, because it is rare.
That all may well be true (and his family in Turkey has suffered because of Freedom’s stance, as I understand it). But he’s still speaking out against Turkey and the ChiComs. I’ll give him credit for this, even if one thinks he’s doing it “to make a name for himself.” Especially since it appears very few other are doing it at all.
The truth is for most of my life I did not want to ever penalize a company for politics. I am militantly pro-life, for example, but I bought Ben and Jerry’s for years because they make good ice cream. You see, as a conservative, I wanted markets to be markets, whatever people’s views. I believe free trade can create tolerance.
But lines have been crossed on the company’s side at times in ways that can’t be overlooked, so I switch brands when possible. (I will never buy another pint of Ben and Jerry’s again.) So I totally agree about your point on corporations. The NBA is just one of many, actually, and I’ve learned to detest the NBA brand. I mentioned that I boycott Nike as well and have for a very long time though I am a serious (for an amateur) distance runner.
However, when it comes to boycotting all companies that do business with China…. That’s next to impossible.
I will celebrate those that do the right thing though. And in this case? The WTA did the right thing.
The tax payer has to buy these guys out. Anybody that gets revenue. They were lied to about how China was going to change when we started trading with them.
Amen.
I think China is a real problem. Thank God it got illuminated.