The Way I See It

In this Way I See It, NFL Deals, admitting that Kyrie Irving is nuts, and thoughts on current Libertarian in-fighting.

Kyrie Irving, Ye Don’t Care for the Jews

If you caught Ep. 47 of Points on the Board, you heard about Ye’s (fka Kanye West) continued anti-Semitic rants. Which he’s been doubling and tripling down on. If you don’t believe me, scroll through his Parler feed when you have some spare time.

Nets guard Kyrie Irving decided that Ye was stealing too much of the “crazy” spotlight. So he decided to join in on the Jew-hating fun! Irving tweeted a link to “Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America“. Rolling Stone described it as “stuffed with antisemitic tropes.” Irving responded to the criticism by emulating Ye and doubling down on his comments.

I appreciate people who stand by their comments and opinions. I have a motto I’d like to share: “If you ever hear me apologize for an opinion, I’m being insincere.” But in Irving’s case, you need to look at the totality of the man: he’s nuts.

He’s previously supported the idea of the Earth being flat. Last month on social media he shared an old clip from conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. Throw in the fact that he refused to be vaccinated because he thinks the Covid-19 pandemic and vaccines are a Satanic plot to connect black people to a master computer, and I think we can make some pretty safe assumptions. One of those assumptions being that he’s nuts.

For real though… why are so many blacks in the U.S. seemingly so anti-Semitic? Is it based in religion, i.e., fundamentalist Christians who view Jews as “Christ killers”? That’s the only thing I can think of since Jews, as a block, are overwhelmingly generous towards blacks in the U.S.

If any of you rocket scientists that read this column have any ideas on the matter, please let me know.

NFL Trade Deadline Deals

This season’s NFL trade deadline was historically busy: a total of 10 trades were completed at the deadline. It’s almost as if NFL GMs were emulating fantasy football GMs.

Here’s my take on some of the more interesting trades:

Offense

Dolphins acquire LB Bradley Chubb. Miami sends RB Chase Edmonds, a 2023 1st-rounder and 2024 4th-rounder to Denver for Chubb and 2025 5th-rounder. I like this move for the Dolphins, who had to counter the Bills’ Josh Allen. This mimics the Bills signing Von Miller to counter the Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes.
Steelers acquire William Jackson III from Commanders. Given the Commanders were releasing Jackson if they couldn’t find a buyer, they were fortunate the Steelers bailed them out. The Steelers sent a 2025 conditional 6th in exchange for Jackson and a 2025 7th. Pittsburgh is hoping the change of scenery will reinvigorate the former first-round pick.
Ravens acquire all-world LB Roquan Smith from Bears. The Ravens sent LB A.J. Klein, a 2023 second-round draft pick and a 2023 fifth-round draft pick for Smith. This didn’t make much sense from the Bears’ end since Smith is both young and talented. However, it was clear since this past off-season that Smith wanted to be elsewhere, so getting some draft capital in return now was key. For the Ravens, this trade bolsters a defense lacking a play-making LB for a while.

Defense

Falcons unload talented (but a handful) WR Calvin Ridley to the Jags. The Jags snag Ridley– suspended for the season–for the relatively low price of 2023 conditional fifth and 2024 second rounders. Ridley carries risk, as he must get reinstated by the NFL before stepping on the field for the Jags.
Steelers move WR Chase Claypool to Bears. It wasn’t a shock that the Steelers dealt Claypool; the shock was that he went to the Bears. Can’t complain that the Bears acquired a potential WR1 for Justin Fields, but the price (2023 2nd rounder) seems steep.
Vikings add impact TE Hockensen. With Irv Smith Jr. heading to the IR, the Vikings were in the market for a TE. Much to my surprise, they got one from the division rival Lions. The Lions sent Hockenson, a 2023 fourth-rounder, and a 2024 conditional fourth-round draft pick. They received a 2023 second-round and a 2024 third-round draft pick. In addition to upgrading the receiving options for Kirk Cousins, Hockensen is a good run blocker, which boosts Dalvin Cook.

Libertarian In-fighting

It’s time for that great annual tradition! No, not Halloween or Thanksgiving. I’m talking about the traditional Libertarian in-fighting.

I’ll be exploring this issue in depth on an upcoming episode of Fired Up!, but here’s the summary. The Libertarian Party has new leadership: the Mises Caucus. Without getting into details, the Mises Caucus is like the Trumpers of the GOP. Or the AOC faction of the Democrats. They are new, have an aggressive messaging strategy, and are tired of losing. The Mises Caucus has also tweeted some inflammatory stuff, and is usually unapologetic about it.

The latest controversy involves Marc Victor, the libertarian candidate for U.S. Senator from Arizona. Victor recently bowed out of the race and endorsed his Republican opponent, Blake Masters. Now if you’re a libertarian, there’s is no school of thought that justifies voting for a Trump republican. Whether you’re a minarchist, anarchist, AnCap, or agorist– there’s no logical reason to endorse Masters.

Yet Dave Smith, a comedian and prominent member of the Mises Caucus leadership, applauded the Arizona situation. Smith even spoke of Masters’ libertarian credentials and referred to Victor as a “clown”. Other prominent non-Mises Caucus libertarians such as Justin Amash and Larry Sharpe have condemned Marc Victor’s actions.

I have no issue with aggressive messaging– if it’s done properly. This is to say if it accomplishes at least one of two goals: membership or political victory. In my opinion, the Mises folks are doing neither. Endorsing statists (even ones who can recite libertarian screed) doesn’t win election for the LP. Attacking the family of John McCain doesn’t advance liberty thinking. For now, the Mises Caucus is reinforcing the perception of libertarians as Republicans who like to smoke weed.

And that’s something that needs to change.