Protests during the national anthem, an inherently political gesture, are viewed by the NFL as being bad for business. Openly supporting the most controversial Supreme Court nominee since Clarence Thomas, another inherently political gesture, apparently is not bad for business.
Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill has joined in a letter defending Brett Kavanaugh against an allegation of misconduct that was made Wednesday against him.
“In the extensive amount of time we collectively spent with Brett, we do not recall having ever met someone named Julie Swetnick,” the letter released by the White House states. “Nor did we ever observe Brett engaging in any conduct resembling that described in Ms. Swetnick’s declaration.”
Ms. Swetnick’s declaration contains horrifying allegations of gang rape and other misconduct at parties allegedly attended by Kavanaugh in the 1980s.
“We never witnessed any behavior that even approaches what is described in this allegation,” the letter asserts.
Bidwill joined in a separate letter supporting Kavanaugh shortly after he was nominated for the vacancy created by the retirement of Anthony Kennedy, support that was echoed by an article on the team’s official website. Bidwill then confirmed his support for Kavanaugh after the first allegation of misconduct against Kavanaugh was made.
Bidwill has every right to state his views, just as Broncos G.M. John Elway did last year when supporting the nomination of current Supreme Court Justice Neal Gorsuch. But if Bidwill and Elway have the right to take political positions that support a certain point of view, others connected to the sport should have every right to take political positions that support a different point of view. Those gestures, however, are routinely shouted down and/or frowned upon, as evidenced by the ongoing unemployment of Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid.