NAACP sends letter to players to not sign with Texas teams. Mavs included

[hakeemfaan]

Not that any FA stud signs with the Mavs anyway, but still:


https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/3249...egislation

[KillerLeft]

Not that any FA stud signs with the Mavs anyway, but still:


https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/3249...egislation

Good for them. Fortunately, the handling of the current pandemic situation is the one thing I can remember Cuban doing right recently. Hopefully the kinds of people who carefully consider this kind of message will also be the type who recognize that.

[TXBamanut]

Not that any FA stud signs with the Mavs anyway, but still:


https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/3249...egislation

Complete eye roll to this nonsense.

[david75090]

It's all about viewpoint. If, from where you're sitting, the government of a state appears to be taking the rights away from people who look like you, you might have the same viewpoint. Whether it's true or not. Perhaps they feel that what looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, just might be a duck. Could be, it's just coincidental that laws/rules/regulation/some such, just happen to appear to be discriminatory toward people such as themselves. They could choose to remain silent and hope such, possible, goings-on go away by themselves, and that what they think is going on, isn't really going on.

[embellisher]

Can somebody answer for me why people believe that black and brown voters have a hard time getting a government id?

[Arioch]

Can somebody answer for me why people believe that black and brown voters have a hard time getting a government id?

The argument is not that black and brown voters have a hard time getting a government id. It's that poor people have a harder time getting government ID (far from offices, lack of transportation, lack of paperwork in general). And since black and brown citizens are disproportionately lower income, they are disproportionately affected by things that are harder on poor people than on the better-off.

[khaled1987]

Hate to talk about US social/political issues, but with salary cap rules in those leagues, and the message being for coloured athletes, aren't they basically telling those colored athletes to leave more money on the table, that inevitably will go to white athletes. 
Feels counterproductive, so I must be missing something

[TXBamanut]

The argument is not that black and brown voters have a hard time getting a government id. It's that poor people have a harder time getting government ID (far from offices, lack of transportation, lack of paperwork in general). And since black and brown citizens are disproportionately lower income, they are disproportionately affected by things that are harder on poor people than on the better-off.

I'm sorry, but I don't buy this argument at all.  It's a red herring that really, imho, insults black and brown voters and people.  That's the argument, but I don't buy it or at very least, the percentage you are actually talking about is so small it's almost nil.  IDs are required for so much in this country and people don't bat an eyelash or talk about it here, including the Democrats who tout this so heavily...they just bring it up it very closed context.

Anyone is totally free to subscribe to that, but I don't buy it.

---

Hate to talk about US social/political issues, but with salary cap rules in those leagues, and the message being for coloured athletes, aren't they basically telling those colored athletes to leave more money on the table, that inevitably will go to white athletes. 
Feels counterproductive, so I must be missing something

It's a political stunt, that's all, imho.  That's my opinion.  All done for more of a "virtue signaling" thing that really won't change anything.

[RasheedsBigWhiteSpot]

Can somebody answer for me why people believe that black and brown voters have a hard time getting a government id?

It's not a matter of a government ID.  It's that they've narrowed the scope of what is considered a valid ID.  Texas doesn't allow for student ID's (including colleges), city identifications (library cards) or a host of other IDs that a person could easily obtain freely, within their local communities and that don't require a person to acquire it during M-F 9 to 5 hours.

What many people on this board may or may not know about me is that I have a spinal cord injury suffered at birth.  I have always said that the most frustrating aspect of my life aren't the physical limitations I have, but rather the arbitrary bullshit that people put in my way that make my life unnecessarily more difficult than it should be.

Now while I've lived a very active life (drive a car, owned a bar, coached AAU basketball, acted/performed standup), there are things I can't do such as fully reach touchpad voting machines.  For decades I've simply gone in with a friend or family member who touches what I want on the screen.  I simply pick any voting day I want, go in with someone, flash my ID, and vote.  Donezo.  (Ya know, easy like voting should be.)

Hoooooooowever, based on the bullshit voting laws that Texas state Republicans have spent the year trying to shoehorn in,  I would now have to go to the doctor to have them fill out paperwork justifying that I require assistance.  Then I have to designate who will help me vote and together we have to fill out paperwork, have it notarized and submit it at least 30 days before I want to vote.  So, tell me, all who roll their eyes at those who say laws are written to disproportionately limit minorities, tell me that I'm not disenfranchised by this nonsense??  Worst of all, it isn't being proposed because there's ANY EVIDENCE of mass election fraud, but rather because Republicans believe the only way to hold power is to rig the game.  I mean, this is Tim Donaghy bad.

And is it wrong that a minority like me complains about this?  Does it just totally kill your buzz that an organization might leverage any power it has or use whatever ability to generate awareness of this miscarriage even it means that even the mid-level free agent of your dreams goes elsewhere?  Well, if it makes you feel better, Kemba and Kyle and Kawai weren't that into your state anyway.

[embellisher]

I can't buy a pack of cigarettes, a 6 pack of beer, or an R rated movie ticket without an id. I can't register for Medicare / Medicaid / Snap / housing assistance without an id.

So the government is discriminating against me by making it harder for me to buy smokes, alcohol, or go to a movie because I'm poor? The government is discriminating against me by making it difficult to get government assistance because I'm poor?

[hakeemfaan]

It's not a matter of a government ID.  It's that they've narrowed the scope of what is considered a valid ID.  Texas doesn't allow for student ID's (including colleges), city identifications (library cards) or a host of other IDs that a person could easily obtain freely, within their local communities and that don't require a person to acquire it during M-F 9 to 5 hours.

What many people on this board may or may not know about me is that I have a spinal cord injury suffered at birth.  I have always said that the most frustrating aspect of my life aren't the physical limitations I have, but rather the arbitrary bullshit that people put in my way that make my life unnecessarily more difficult than it should be.

Now while I've lived a very active life (drive a car, owned a bar, coached AAU basketball, acted/performed standup), there are things I can't do such as fully reach touchpad voting machines.  For decades I've simply gone in with a friend or family member who touches what I want on the screen.  I simply pick any voting day I want, go in with someone, flash my ID, and vote.  Donezo.  (Ya know, easy like voting should be.)

Hoooooooowever, based on the bullshit voting laws that Texas state Republicans have spent the year trying to shoehorn in,  I would now have to go to the doctor to have them fill out paperwork justifying that I require assistance.  Then I have to designate who will help me vote and together we have to fill out paperwork, have it notarized and submit it at least 30 days before I want to vote.  So, tell me, all who roll their eyes at those who say laws are written to disproportionately limit minorities, tell me that I'm not disenfranchised by this nonsense??  Worst of all, it isn't being proposed because there's ANY EVIDENCE of mass election fraud, but rather because Republicans believe the only way to hold power is to rig the game.  I mean, this is Tim Donaghy bad.

And is it wrong that a minority like me complains about this?  Does it just totally kill your buzz that an organization might leverage any power it has or use whatever ability to generate awareness of this miscarriage even it means that even the mid-level free agent of your dreams goes elsewhere?  Well, if it makes you feel better, Kemba and Kyle and Kawai weren't that into your state anyway.

Thanks for sharing your story and perspective on this.

[TXBamanut]

I can't buy a pack of cigarettes, a 6 pack of beer, or an R rated movie ticket without an id. I can't register for Medicare / Medicaid / Snap / housing assistance without an id.

So the government is discriminating against me by making it harder for me to buy smokes, alcohol, or go to a movie because I'm poor? The government is discriminating against me by making it difficult to get government assistance because I'm poor?

EXACTLY my point...just a stunt to try to keep division going, make one group look like the savior and the other group look like the Devil...ALL OF IT about helping themselves to money, power, influence and a lifelong pension...NONE OF IT for the people of the US.

Plug any political party in any slot above in what I said...fits them all in every position.  It's positionless politics, like positionless basketball.

[embellisher]

@"RasheedsBigWhiteSpot", you've truly been impacted in a way that most persons of any color have not, due to a physical condition. 

I applaud you for not letting a disability keep you from doing what most of us take for granted. Obviously a person with a disability deserves as much to right as an able bodied person, but that doesn't negate the fact that there are provisions to make it possible, even if they are a hassle to go through. 

But in most states, a state issued id card is ten bucks or less. So the argument for a library card or student id to be acceptable for voting is kind of a moot point. They are much easier to counterfeit than most state issues ID cards are. Holograms, fake watermarks, magnetic stripes and security threads all make faking a state ID card expensive and difficult, when in most states they're $10 or less.

[hakeemfaan]

@"RasheedsBigWhiteSpot", you've truly been impacted in a way that most persons of any color have not, due to a physical condition. 

I applaud you for not letting a disability keep you from doing what most of us take for granted. Obviously a person with a disability deserves as much to right as an able bodied person, but that doesn't negate the fact that there are provisions to make it possible, even if they are a hassle to go through. 

But in most states, a state issued id card is ten bucks or less. So the argument for a library card or student id to be acceptable for voting is kind of a moot point. They are much easier to counterfeit than most state issues ID cards are. Holograms, fake watermarks, magnetic stripes and security threads all make faking a state ID card expensive and difficult, when in most states they're $10 or less.

You are focusing on just the ID aspect but the ramifications go far beyond that. 

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2021/09/07/polit...index.html

This is not just about the difficulty in procuring IDs which itself is a problem for many poor people, but let us even park that aside. 

Check the changes in the link I have given This is about knowing voting patterns and targeting those who don’t vote for the Republican Party. Why would anyone be opposed to giving unsolicited information to others about mail in ballots? Why oppose 24x7 voting? Why make it more difficult for disabled workers?  Why empower some poll worker to monitor what I do at the ballot knowing most poll workers tend to be white?  This is about making it difficult and uncomfortable for sections of the population who the party feels won’t vote for them.  Plus in the past there have been shenanigans by the Republican Party to spread rumors about cops and arrests. Even minorities who have nothing to hide feel scared because of the nature of how interactions with law enforcement goes and they stay away. 

If it were just about IDs, though we may have a disagreement, I would probably end up supporting you because every country requires valid ID. However read then about why certain folks have it difficult and fight for them to make the process easier. Fight against the other provisions in this law that make it more difficult to vote just because the ones being targeted might not vote for one specific party. Whether we vote for the same party or not we both should be on the same side when it comes to opposing a lot of these changes in the new bill.

[david75090]

In the state of Texas there are drive-through liquor stores, but they don't want drive-through voting. They're allowing one place per county where a person can drop off a ballot. Look at the size of these counties, size-wise and also population wise. They make it easier to acquire a gun, with fewer regulations, while making more stringent regulations to vote. The powers that be are all about de-regulation on some things like utilities, but max regulations on voting and women's bodies. We can 24 hour, 7 day-a-week bank online, but do none of that with voting. We can safely handle our money, but not our vote? Why are they making voting, which is a right, harder, rather than easier? These politicians are, supposedly, public servants. Why aren't they facilitating the ease of voting. Also, the safety. People could vote online. Sure it could be hacked but so could our money. There are work-arounds for everything. IMO, they're just making obstacles to voting that serve political agendas.

[Jommybone]

@"RasheedsBigWhiteSpot", you've truly been impacted in a way that most persons of any color have not, due to a physical condition. 

I applaud you for not letting a disability keep you from doing what most of us take for granted. Obviously a person with a disability deserves as much to right as an able bodied person, but that doesn't negate the fact that there are provisions to make it possible, even if they are a hassle to go through. 

Embellisher, I applaud your thoughtful and, in my opinion, courteous reply to RBWS. Seriously, I do. 

Obviously teams like the Mavs or Longhorns deserve a level playing field when it comes to attracting athletes to join them But that doesn’t negate the fact that there are ways the Mavs and Longhorns can get those athletes to join, even if it is more difficult for them—given the recent bad press—than for their competitors in states where government actually cares about how its actions are perceived. 

See what I did there?

[TXBamanut]

You are focusing on just the ID aspect but the ramifications go far beyond that. 

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2021/09/07/polit...index.html

This is not just about the difficulty in procuring IDs which itself is a problem for many poor people, but let us even park that aside. 

Check the changes in the link I have given This is about knowing voting patterns and targeting those who don’t vote for the Republican Party. Why would anyone be opposed to giving unsolicited information to others about mail in ballots? Why oppose  have 24x7 voting? (Florida is pretty much the standard for everything working smoothly during COVID and there isn't any 24/7 voting here -- that's not oppressive) Why make it more difficult for disabled workers?  Why empower some poll worker to monitor what I do at the ballot knowing most poll workers tend to be white?  This is about making it difficult and uncomfortable for sections of the population who the party feels won’t vote for them.  Plus in the past there have been shenanigans by the Republican Party to spread rumors about cops and arrests. Even minorities who have nothing to hide feel scared because of the nature of how interactions with law enforcement goes and they stay away. 

If it were just about IDs, though we may have a disagreement, I would probably end up supporting you because every country requires valid ID. However read then about why certain folks have it difficult and fight for them to make the process easier. Fight against the other provisions in this law that make it more difficult to vote just because the ones being targeted might not vote for one specific party. Whether we vote for the same party or not we both should be on the same side when it comes to opposing a lot of these changes in the new bill.

I'm not going with you on the blue after your analysis basically comes from the Democrat Propganda Machine.  I'll read the act myself and make my own judgment.  They spent billions trying to bury a high school kid because he was white and they thought it would help the Democrats win an election...and they just paid a HUGE settlement to get out of it...so, no...You can buy that beachfront property in Arizona from CNN, but you won't catch me doing it. 

If when I read the bill myself, I'll make my own judgment, like I've started doing with all this nonsense, because you can't trust any major news sources.  Everything that Eric Bradner (who wrote the article) writes is "woohoo Democrats are awesome" and hasn't ever given a fair shake to a conservative cause or candidate...  Loved the hit piece on Mike Pence he wrote "breaking" that Trump had tabbed him for the VP role...right out of the gate.  He can go back to Franklin College for my money.  So no...Bradner is a pinnochio man for me.

[Mavs2021]

I tried that. I sent letters to Cuban to not sign Powell and sign Julius Randle instead.

[hakeemfaan]

I'm not going with you on the blue after your analysis basically comes from the Democrat Propganda Machine.  I'll read the act myself and make my own judgment.  They spent billions trying to bury a high school kid because he was white and they thought it would help the Democrats win an election...and they just paid a HUGE settlement to get out of it...so, no...You can buy that beachfront property in Arizona from CNN, but you won't catch me doing it. 

If when I read the bill myself, I'll make my own judgment, like I've started doing with all this nonsense, because you can't trust any major news sources.  Everything that Eric Bradner (who wrote the article) writes is "woohoo Democrats are awesome" and hasn't ever given a fair shake to a conservative cause or candidate...  Loved the hit piece on Mike Pence he wrote "breaking" that Trump had tabbed him for the VP role...right out of the gate.  He can go back to Franklin College for my money.  So no...Bradner is a pinnochio man for me.

I can provide you with other links that say the same thing. Then again you don’t seem too eager to educate yourself anyway. I can’t help you there. You all brought up the IDs as if that was the only issue  When I parked that aside and brought up other things in the bill, you deflect it by rambling about other irrelevant things while admitting you have not read anything about the bill. 

I usually don’t debate much on politics online anymore. I stayed almost 99% out of the vaccine thread. Let’s be honest here. If the voting patterns were reversed, the Republican Party would have tried to make laws to make it easier for 24x7 voting and mail in ballots.  How anyone can defend this in good conscience is beyond me.

[Dahlsim]

I'm not going with you on the blue after your analysis basically comes from the Democrat Propganda Machine.  ...

Sigh. I don't like to do the political thing here but ... 

For the record I'm independent, I have conservative values, Christian values but I also have some views that fall under the modern progressive label.  I have serious issues with both of the parties. 

That said, the spin here that might be getting missed is that issue with ID's is not about ID's really.  The United States are very, very close to becoming a one party country.   The relaxation of voter id standards combined with the massive influx of what used to be called illegal immigration will all but eliminate one of the two parties, that is the republican party.  

Once the State of Texas is blue, given the electoral college system and demographics, the country will be effectively under one party rule with little chance of turning back.  That's what the desperate battle is over, almost a last stand for traditional America as it was known. 

From what I can tell, a lot of the younger generation now would see no problem with one party rule, as long as its the party they like. Its not quite here yet, but if the voter id laws go the way of blue as the relaxed immigration policy has gone those that want one party to dominate them, will get their wish.