The late George Orwell was absolutely prophetic when he penned his classic novel "Nineteen Eighty Four" back in 1949. Though Orwell himself was a Brit and the work was set in England, everything he "predicted" of a futuristic society has come true -- in the USA. And more.
Orwell's term was "Newspeak". Today we call it political correctness. Same thing. Example: There are no more bald, short, or fat people. They are follicly, vertically, or nutritionally challenged.
Orwell foresaw cameras everywhere closely monitoring the actions of all citizens. Is there any doubt these days?
Orwell imagined independent thinking would be quashed by Big Brother and people daring to do so would be held responsible for "thoughtcrimes". Do the words "thought police" ring a bell in modern times? They're out there and getting stronger and more oppressive every day. From politics to social issues, and more, how DARE you think independently!! Either toe the party line like a good little droid or be labelled some sort of "radical extremist" not only by Big Brother, but the "mainstream" lemmings, and find yourself cast away into societal purgatory.
Did I mention secret courts? Oh my, the Founding Fathers would have been so proud.
In other words, things have become bass-ackwards in the "land of the free and the home of the brave". It's gotten to the point where anybody standing up for their rights will be painted as being "unpatriotic". They must be guilty of SOMETHING, so let's punish them. It's insanity, but it's happening.
Enter Roger Goodell, Tom Brady, and Deflategate.
What happened or not with the footballs in the New England vs Indianapolis NFL playoff game a few months back, and who was responsible and/or complicit, will likely never be known for sure. For their own self-serving reasons, many will be accusers or defenders of the parties involved in the process, even if they be totally ignorant of any hard facts. Some people love Brady and all things Patriots. Others hate them. It's just human nature and fandom, and that's fine.
But what NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell recently stated about the reasons he's going to suspend Tom Brady are decidedly NOT fine. Even Orwellian.
Let's remember that the Wells report was tailor made to fit the recent language Goodell himself had imposed as a standard of determining future guilt -- hence punishment. There were a lot of "likelys", "probablys", and a preponderance here and there that Wells submitted after over 3 months of investigation. Basically, he had no smoking gun, witnesses, or video to offer up as evidence. In fact an, GASP, independent thinker might still have a few doubts as to whether a crime was ever committed at all. But Big Brother, the media, and their hordes of dutiful, if mindless lemmings say one was, so it must have happened -- right?
On to the punishment phase, where Emperor Goodell can rule at his whim. "Off with the head of that super-model dating, Super Bowl winning, smug SOB Brady. Or at least suspend him", the masses are clamoring.
And Roger has said he will. A (sound the trumpets) proclamation from His Highness is expected to be handed down within the next couple weeks. It might be a couple games. Maybe 4. Or 6. Or 8. Or maybe the entire 2015 season. But it certainly appears Brady's going to have to do a little NFL Gitmo time courtesy of the Commish.
There are two things wrong with this, both of which are Goodell's reasons to hand down such a punishment. One is a stretch and the other positively Orwellian.
Goodell has said he will suspend Brady for his complicity in the Deflategate affair, though #12 has yet to be proven culpable. Well OK, that's sort of how it's become twisted around these days. Once an allegation has been made, guilty until proven innocent has become the way many people consider such matters in modern times. It flies in the face of how the jurisprudence system in this country was originally set up to guarantee individual rights -- but there is no doubt it has happened in a large way in recent years. Everybody's a prosecutor and hang em high, as long as it's happening to somebody else, especially a player or team they are jealous of.
But Roger's other reason for deciding to hammer Brady sets a precedent that is scary, if it holds up. He maintained Brady must be guilty because he refused to release all his phone records to the NFL. Think about that for a second.
A burden of proof warranting punishment has been established because one doesn't wish for their employer and the rest of the world to know who they talk with on the phone? Who in their right mind would willingly sign off on such an outrageous intrusion into their private affairs? I don't know how others may feel regarding such things, but yours truly would adamantly say "It's none of your damn business who I talk to on the phone."
Sure, back in 1949, even Orwell couldn't have foreseen cell phones, texts, tweets, the satellites required, and the routine warrantless wire-tapping and data mining that goes on these days by Big Brother regarding the same. But I dare say doing all this in the name of "national security" on everyday citizens would have dovetailed nicely into another chapter of 1984.
Bottom line? Hopefully the NFL Players Union will hotly contest any suspension given to Brady by Goodell. And well they should.
If THEY sign off and let one of their own get zapped over probablys and likelys, by a guy who was hired by the NFL in the first place to write a report to their liking, and accept that giving up the right of privacy to one's own phone conversations is an indicator of guilt -- well -- they might as well fold up their tent and let the Commish completely run amok at his whim. It's over. The already flickering candle of any sense of fairness and true justice in the future of the NFL will have finally been extinguished.
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