Monday, April 11, 2011

Obama and the NFL

We recently read an article discussing Jon Stewart’s role in advocating for 9/11 rescue personnel. Politico presents an article about a similar phenomenon but with somewhat of a reversal of roles. NFL players have requested Obama’s support in the players’ labor fight against NFL owners. According to politico- he dismissed the players as millionaires fighting billionaires, saying he was more concerned about Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s attack on state-employee unions.
Apparently the NFL fight is a serious attack on unions. In mid-March, team owners locked out the players, who decertified their union to challenge the league’s antitrust protection.
One of the players lamented “If you make money, it’s OK to have less rights. It’s just part of the public’s perspective,” said Ruettgers, who was in his third season with Green Bay when NFL players 
It seems to me that despite their SES all people deserve the support of their government. The article we read told us about the idea of someone in the entertainment industry extending support to a political issue. Do these same principles guide the degree of political support extended to celebrities?  


1 comment:

  1. I understand where Obama is coming from--an attack on state-employee unions does seem more important. That being said, there is no excuse for the NFL owners to treat the NFL players the way they are being treated. Just because they are making a lot of money doesn't mean that their rights aren't important. I think Obama made a big PR mistake here....he just lost a lot of wealthy supporters.

    ReplyDelete