On October 2, 2018, Jamal Khashoggi, a U.S.-based journalist critical of the Saudi regime, was murdered and dismembered. According to the U.S. government, Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman (MBS), Saudi Arabia's de facto leader, ordered the brutal assassination
Once again, the Benjamins speak louder than any thoughts of morality. I also noticed that only Democrats were listed as opposing this transaction. This doesn't surprise me, as the Republican Party seems to be moving toward authoritative control. They have defended DJT against the DOJ and never said a word about banning books, etc., by the leader of Florida. If you don't speak out against things like this, then your silence says you approve.
This whole episode is an example of how much of a failure this countries approach to anti trust violations has been. The consolidation of multiple commodities like manufacturing and farming operations are in many most cases raising the cost of those goods and not improving the quality of the product.
I continue to be disgusted and horrified by the Republican Party. This is the type of thing that they would have taken a strong stand against. Just one more example of how they have abandoned any attempt at decency and reasonable governance and leadership. I suppose if it was a Fox “News” celebrity who was kidnapped and chopped up then they would be screaming and demanding investigations but a WaPo journalist…nah. The fact that they and the corporations are mute on this merger is not surprising.
I mentioned in another thread that if the journalist's name was, say, Smith, rather than Khashoggi, there may, emphasis on may, have been stronger petitions for our government to take action.
The Republican Party is a party of predators and sociopaths. They've been that way for a very long time. The pity is that they can't see reason. It's as if their brains are turned off or in a very primitive state. It's not simply a matter of stupidity.
I don’t understand how working class people can support Trump or Republicans.
They get nothing from them. Nothing. Indeed, the GOP spends most of their political resources on getting rid of programs that help blue collar families.
They would argue they have been forgotten by Democrats as well because sadly the left has no idea how to talk to people. They have no clue how to fight back against the bull the right wing media echo chamber puts out on a daily basis. And unlike the right, there is no united Democratic message.
I live in rural America. In a solidly “blue” state in a county that voted Democrat for years. In 2016 53% of my neighbors chose Trump. They also chose a right wing lunatic to replace the conservative Democrat who’d represented us in our state Senate for years. A few years later, the other Democrat in the state House was replaced by a radical nut who like our State Senator has done absolutely nothing for this community.
More recently, the local paper wrote up a “sweet” little piece on a newly created organization--the John Birch Society. The paper neglected to include any historical info and simply printed what the group gave them. We have an active Resistance Group here, or did, before COVID. Members often write letters to the editor disputing the lies others write on a weekly basis. But we’ve lost good teachers, and a superintendent of our school district who was targeted by our state Senator for the crime of requiring masks during the worst of the pandemic.
The only talk radio available here is right wing. The only message many folks here are getting is coming from the wrong people. My Senators are both Democrats. They rarely appear on our local news and have never come to my community. They never respond to Republican lies.
I’m afraid if Democrats don’t start learning how to talk to “regular” Americans, the fascists will win.
Khashoggi was a Saudi Muslim married to one woman while engaged to another. I recall that in WaPo land, some folks didn't like that, and one reader even called Khashoggi a "pig" even though he was not, but was a typical middle eastern Muslim man. We shouldn't care about the beliefs of a murder victim who was strangled and dismembered for writing truthfully about the Saudi regime.
Money. Still the root of evil. PGA members all have a choice. They can take the money and run or stand up for what for morals they previously pretended to have.
All those requested to comment were too busy shoveling the Big Cash into their coffers to have time or inkling to reply. Money talks...decency walks. 🥶😱🤦♀️
I could perhaps see it for a junior program - little kids through maybe high school. But Pro - absolutely not. "Charitable" - hah! They're rolling in money - and now it's dripping with Saudi blood.
Lobbying has nothing to do with it. They qualify for tax exempt status under the IRA code. The code has requirements and your organization meets them, you are in. They are quite specific and there is basically zero wiggle room. Morality is not part of the equation
Lobbying is more akin as to congress refusing to toughen up this part of the code.
Corporations make money for their investors. That's capitalism. It's also a system where achieving its ends has historically been prone to immoral exploitation and behavior. The PGA-LIV deal clearly demonstrates this. It is disheartening how greed has become a virtue in the business world. Dark times, indeed!
The deal is relatively fresh, so there's still a chance some of these sponsors pick a side. That said, the current level of silent noncommitment reeks of cowardice.
I’m not really surprised that corporate sponsors aren’t commenting yet. There will be an intensive internal debate analysing the revenue impact of their future stance. It’s absolutely certain there will not be a moral component to these discussions. After all, corporations only exist to make money.
I don’t know much about golf or the PGA, but the morning after the merger I read a quote from a PGA player that implied that the PGA was supposed to be the “players” tour and as far as he knew no one at the negotiating table had talked to any of the players about how they felt about this. Some, heck many! players don’t want to associate themselves with LIV and the Saudis. One more professional sports league blowing itself up over money. It seems like if you’re not making “the most” then you’re not making “enough”. Frankly it’s all disgusting and after decades of watching Football, Baseball, and Hockey we no longer have cable and no longer watch any of these leagues. Don’t miss them either. (Glad to have watched the Nats run to the World Series in 2019 though!)
Backwards I can accept but brutality, murder and terrorism is unacceptable. Oil means we must deal with them but not open our arms to their attempt to worm into our culture.
Unfortunately, backwards usually means brutality. I don't accept their domination of women, as well as their murder and terrorism. And, my understanding is that we have been weaning ourselves off of their oil, but they still control the price of a barrel. That money trumps morality once again is unconscionable.
Rock and a hard place. On the one hand, as long as our economy runs on oil, and it will for the foreseeable future, our government should not upset the Saudis too much. On the other hand, if we were to wash our hands of the Saudis and OPEC, would our domestic oil companies take up the slack and would we allow them to do so. Neither the Saudis nor the domestic oil companies have our best interests at heart. Inasmuch as we would like to waive the magic wand and rid our oil dependency yesterday, that just isn't going to happen. Oil is going to be around running our economy for a long long time.
Like race car drivers, pro golfers have their own sponsors. Those men and women who want to leave PGA can leverage their resources and form a new tour....contracts permitting.
Oil, like currency, is fungible. It is regrettable that markets allow bad actors to participate, but that cannot be fully controlled. There was a lot of trade with Hitler, and now with Putin, in spite of sanctions. If the golf deal gets nixed, it will be a miracle. As for me, all I can do is boycott those responsible for this outrage. (I did send the PGA a nasty letter).
Once again, the Benjamins speak louder than any thoughts of morality. I also noticed that only Democrats were listed as opposing this transaction. This doesn't surprise me, as the Republican Party seems to be moving toward authoritative control. They have defended DJT against the DOJ and never said a word about banning books, etc., by the leader of Florida. If you don't speak out against things like this, then your silence says you approve.
Perfect. You dotted all the i's on this. Jared been taking a lot of folks to dinner in mho
This whole episode is an example of how much of a failure this countries approach to anti trust violations has been. The consolidation of multiple commodities like manufacturing and farming operations are in many most cases raising the cost of those goods and not improving the quality of the product.
Under-regulated capitalism is a rigged game.
I continue to be disgusted and horrified by the Republican Party. This is the type of thing that they would have taken a strong stand against. Just one more example of how they have abandoned any attempt at decency and reasonable governance and leadership. I suppose if it was a Fox “News” celebrity who was kidnapped and chopped up then they would be screaming and demanding investigations but a WaPo journalist…nah. The fact that they and the corporations are mute on this merger is not surprising.
I mentioned in another thread that if the journalist's name was, say, Smith, rather than Khashoggi, there may, emphasis on may, have been stronger petitions for our government to take action.
The Republican Party is a party of predators and sociopaths. They've been that way for a very long time. The pity is that they can't see reason. It's as if their brains are turned off or in a very primitive state. It's not simply a matter of stupidity.
The backbone of the Republican party is comprised of rich conservatives. They are the ones recruiting working class idiots to vote GOP.
I don’t understand how working class people can support Trump or Republicans.
They get nothing from them. Nothing. Indeed, the GOP spends most of their political resources on getting rid of programs that help blue collar families.
They would argue they have been forgotten by Democrats as well because sadly the left has no idea how to talk to people. They have no clue how to fight back against the bull the right wing media echo chamber puts out on a daily basis. And unlike the right, there is no united Democratic message.
I live in rural America. In a solidly “blue” state in a county that voted Democrat for years. In 2016 53% of my neighbors chose Trump. They also chose a right wing lunatic to replace the conservative Democrat who’d represented us in our state Senate for years. A few years later, the other Democrat in the state House was replaced by a radical nut who like our State Senator has done absolutely nothing for this community.
More recently, the local paper wrote up a “sweet” little piece on a newly created organization--the John Birch Society. The paper neglected to include any historical info and simply printed what the group gave them. We have an active Resistance Group here, or did, before COVID. Members often write letters to the editor disputing the lies others write on a weekly basis. But we’ve lost good teachers, and a superintendent of our school district who was targeted by our state Senator for the crime of requiring masks during the worst of the pandemic.
The only talk radio available here is right wing. The only message many folks here are getting is coming from the wrong people. My Senators are both Democrats. They rarely appear on our local news and have never come to my community. They never respond to Republican lies.
I’m afraid if Democrats don’t start learning how to talk to “regular” Americans, the fascists will win.
Khashoggi was a Saudi Muslim married to one woman while engaged to another. I recall that in WaPo land, some folks didn't like that, and one reader even called Khashoggi a "pig" even though he was not, but was a typical middle eastern Muslim man. We shouldn't care about the beliefs of a murder victim who was strangled and dismembered for writing truthfully about the Saudi regime.
Money. Still the root of evil. PGA members all have a choice. They can take the money and run or stand up for what for morals they previously pretended to have.
Never fails: when asked even a slightly difficult question, corporate "spokespersons" somehow have nothing to say.
Also, G-d Bless Messi who turned down 9 figures from the Saudis to join MLS' Inter Miami. He has a new fan.
All those requested to comment were too busy shoveling the Big Cash into their coffers to have time or inkling to reply. Money talks...decency walks. 🥶😱🤦♀️
Golf's primary fan base are wealthy people. Wealthy people will excuse any behavior that adds money to the bottom line.
Why in hell is the PGA tax-exempt in the first place?
I'm stunned that the PGA is tax-exempt.
Are they a religious organization? ( also most churches should not have tax exempt status). But really , golf?
Of course wherever big money is we give tax exempt status. Why?
Because it makes no sense to do so.
I could perhaps see it for a junior program - little kids through maybe high school. But Pro - absolutely not. "Charitable" - hah! They're rolling in money - and now it's dripping with Saudi blood.
PGA is nonprofit. Nonprofits have tax exempt status, I've been told
Lobbying.
Not true David.
Lobbying has nothing to do with it. They qualify for tax exempt status under the IRA code. The code has requirements and your organization meets them, you are in. They are quite specific and there is basically zero wiggle room. Morality is not part of the equation
Lobbying is more akin as to congress refusing to toughen up this part of the code.
Corporations make money for their investors. That's capitalism. It's also a system where achieving its ends has historically been prone to immoral exploitation and behavior. The PGA-LIV deal clearly demonstrates this. It is disheartening how greed has become a virtue in the business world. Dark times, indeed!
Well I think that greed has always been at least 65% of the reason that most go into business in the first place.
Next thing to look into would be the horse racing industry.
The deal is relatively fresh, so there's still a chance some of these sponsors pick a side. That said, the current level of silent noncommitment reeks of cowardice.
With their silence, I believe they have picked a side.
I’m not really surprised that corporate sponsors aren’t commenting yet. There will be an intensive internal debate analysing the revenue impact of their future stance. It’s absolutely certain there will not be a moral component to these discussions. After all, corporations only exist to make money.
I don’t know much about golf or the PGA, but the morning after the merger I read a quote from a PGA player that implied that the PGA was supposed to be the “players” tour and as far as he knew no one at the negotiating table had talked to any of the players about how they felt about this. Some, heck many! players don’t want to associate themselves with LIV and the Saudis. One more professional sports league blowing itself up over money. It seems like if you’re not making “the most” then you’re not making “enough”. Frankly it’s all disgusting and after decades of watching Football, Baseball, and Hockey we no longer have cable and no longer watch any of these leagues. Don’t miss them either. (Glad to have watched the Nats run to the World Series in 2019 though!)
It also continues to be problematic that the US has a "relationship" with Saudi Arabia, a backward patriarchy.
Backwards I can accept but brutality, murder and terrorism is unacceptable. Oil means we must deal with them but not open our arms to their attempt to worm into our culture.
Unfortunately, backwards usually means brutality. I don't accept their domination of women, as well as their murder and terrorism. And, my understanding is that we have been weaning ourselves off of their oil, but they still control the price of a barrel. That money trumps morality once again is unconscionable.
Rock and a hard place. On the one hand, as long as our economy runs on oil, and it will for the foreseeable future, our government should not upset the Saudis too much. On the other hand, if we were to wash our hands of the Saudis and OPEC, would our domestic oil companies take up the slack and would we allow them to do so. Neither the Saudis nor the domestic oil companies have our best interests at heart. Inasmuch as we would like to waive the magic wand and rid our oil dependency yesterday, that just isn't going to happen. Oil is going to be around running our economy for a long long time.
Like race car drivers, pro golfers have their own sponsors. Those men and women who want to leave PGA can leverage their resources and form a new tour....contracts permitting.
Oil, like currency, is fungible. It is regrettable that markets allow bad actors to participate, but that cannot be fully controlled. There was a lot of trade with Hitler, and now with Putin, in spite of sanctions. If the golf deal gets nixed, it will be a miracle. As for me, all I can do is boycott those responsible for this outrage. (I did send the PGA a nasty letter).