Donald Sterling: Don't Bring Black People to My Games

[Lights Out]

Most people seem to assume that Sterling's punishment is solely due to this tape. In reality, this tape was just the breaking point after decades of Stern kicking the can down the road.

That probably has a lot to do with the fact that when reporters asked Silver whether this was solely due to the tape or the last straw after years of wrongdoing, Silver said it was, in fact, just the tape. That's because Silver is no dummy and understands he can't go on the record saying "yeah we were gunning for him and that sweet Guggenheim money and this seemed like a good opening," i.e., the truth, because that'd be a dynamite way to get your crap pushed in when this goes to court.

He has to say that, but anyone with a brain realizes that his entire history is why he's been banned and is being forced to sell instead of just being reprimanded and fined.

[rams80]

Should we become an eggshell society afraid to speak in our own home? Sterling got some nasty ass karma for his past misdeeds but there is many questions.

Social opprobrium is the only consequence of this speech. Freedom of speech shouldn't be used to protect you from yourself.

[IceCap]

I have a hard time feeling sorry for Sterling. He was ignorant enough to have those views in 2014 and dumb enough to allow someone to record every word of it. Its only fitting this happened.

I'm not saying I feel sorry for him either. I'm commenting on the larger discussion of privacy that has emerged from this topic. Sterling said some very bigoted, disgusting things and that bit him in the ass. I'm not trying to minimize what he said, and I'm not trying to say he should have received a lesser punishment.

In my opinion, people that are deathly afraid of folk knowing what they talk about in private probably aren't saying the most positive things about others in those conversations. That's the problem. I don't like the idea of it either, but all I'm saying is should I be recorded you wouldn't find out I secretly hate white people.

Ok, here's how I see it. I don't go around saying ignorant, racist crap in private life because I'm afraid someone will record me saying it. I don't say ignorant, racist crap in my private life because I'm not an ignorant racist. That doesn't mean I'm a saint in my private life either. I use colourful language at times and I'm not above making an off-colour joke to two about religion, politics, or simply people I do not like. Maybe something I say in the privacy of my own home with a friend won't get me fired from my job, but maybe something could land me in hot water.

And that's the key point here. It's not that "everyone whose afraid of having their private conversations aired is secretly a Klansman." It's about the fact that everyone, yourself included, has said something off-colour in a private conversation that you would probably prefer to remain private. And that's fine, because no one's a saint 24/7, regardless of how much some people may claim they are.

That's why the statements "speaking one's mind isn't all it's cracked up to be" and "such potential exposure forces us to more carefully select our words and edit our thoughts" bother me so much. I keep coming back to Orwell's 1984, probably because I've just re-read it. Still, it fits. That someone in the press is actively promoting the policies of the G-ddman Thought Police from the mother of all dystopian fiction is downright chilling.

[Still MIGHTY]

So, Donald Sterling sat down with Anderson Cooper for an interview set to air tonight, and it went pretty much as well as you would think.

“I’m not a racist,” Sterling told Cooper. “I made a terrible, terrible mistake. And I’m here with you today to apologize and to ask for forgiveness for all the people that I’ve hurt.”

---

“When I listen to that tape, I don’t even know how I can say words like that. … I don’t know why the girl had me say those things,” he told CNN’s Anderson Cooper in an exclusive interview set to air on Monday.

“You’re saying you were set up?” Cooper asked.

“Well yes, I was baited,” Sterling said. “I mean, that’s not the way I talk. I don’t talk about people for one thing, ever. I talk about ideas and other things. I don’t talk about people.”

And then the capper about Magic Johnson:

“He’s a good person. I mean, what am I going to say? Has he done everything he can do to help minorities? I don’t think so. But I’ll say it, he’s great. But I don’t think he’s a good example for the children of Los Angeles.”

Annnnnnnnnd, scene.

[IceCap]

"I don’t know why the girl had me say those things..."

Oh Donald...the hole is deep enough...

Anyway I said it on BASS but why not here too? Donald Sterling is everyone's least favourite uncle in a Jewish family.

[The_Admiral]

I cant believe what Bill Maher said because I figured him to be a cheerleader for the self rightous thought police but bravo it is spot on.

Maher is the kind of guy whose ideological purity makes him a bit of a wild card. He's never going to come down on the side of "thought police" because he doesn't want his own thoughts policed. He's also one of the few leftists who doesn't pull his punches on the Muslims, because in his mind, when he says that religion is oppressive and crappy, he means all of them.

[Gothamite]

He's certainly consistent.

I just think he's off-base on this one. Sterling is not in trouble for anything he said in a private conversation.

[Gothamite]

That someone in the press is actively promoting the policies of the G-ddman Thought Police from the mother of all dystopian fiction is downright chilling.

And Michelle Malkin, who's Asian-American, has proudly defended the forced internment of American citizens in WWII just because they had Japanese ancestors. She's gone for far as calling for a similar program today.

There will always be outliers. You will always be able to find a moron who's willing to say the most extreme things in a pathetic ploy for attention. You can't worry too much about them - an idiot or two doesn't constitute a larger trend worth bothering with.

[Lights Out]

So now that Sterling's CNN interview has become a predictable trainwreck with him doubling down on his views and making even worse comments, can the lame "thought police" argument now be retired?

[IceCap]

So now that Sterling's CNN interview has become a predictable trainwreck with him doubling down on his views and making even worse comments, can the lame "thought police" argument now be retired?

I never tried to use the "thought police" argument to try and diminish what Sterling said. The inability to separated these issues, even in the case of a hypothetical situation, is the real shame here.

[The_Admiral]

THAT INTERVIEW WAS HIGHLY UNCOMFORTABLE AND I WISH NEVER TO SEE IT AGAIN.

[bosrs1]

Just end him already. After this the NBA owners should just hold a special session this week and strip him of ownership. Enough is enough. This bigoted dinosaur will shuffle off before long due to age, illness or both. No need to continue giving him a pulpit by allowing him to remain the owner of one of their franchises.

[waltere]

I got through the awkward in that interview, and hoo boy was there a lot of it, by distracting myself with the eye-bags/lizard like cheek likes on his face. What the :censored: is with those things?

[The_Admiral]

The Clippers should be owned by a neutral false god who cannot be seen.

[Kramerica Industries]

I prefer a powerless, retarted god, personally.

[Tigers6884]

I knew that Mr. Sterling wasn't the smartest owner in the NBA, but come on! I think he just destroyed any sympathy anyone would have for him with the last interview he did.

[NJTank]

You know Donald Sterling is 80 years old I wonder with the way he is talking if he has The Alzheimers

[SuperLeafsFan]

If the Clippers know how to Clip (of course they do), they should Clip Sterling already. He doesn't deserve the team after this. Yes, he has a opinion, but you just know he's trying to cover his ass and hopes Silver changes his mind. If Silver is smart, he won't.

[Soarindude]

Has it yet been released whether there was any paperwork signed that allows the NBA to strip ownership from him anyway?

Without that, I just don't see how it's fair to take away property from a person. Unless this "association" has a clause that allows forcing an owner to sell, it really isn't fair, regardless of his beliefs.

[rams80]

Has it yet been released whether there was any paperwork signed that allows the NBA to strip ownership from him anyway?

Without that, I just don't see how it's fair to take away property from a person. Unless this "association" has a clause that allows forcing an owner to sell, it really isn't fair, regardless of his beliefs.

Private associations, especially cabals (which is what the NBA is) can make all the unfair rules they want. REVEL, REVEL in the glory of your small government!