For some time I have wanted to write about politics and/or all of the issues going on in the world. As fun as I find the frivolity of the sports and nerd culture I write about, my opinionated nature is not limited to just that. But I also did not necessarily want to just ramble into the ether on Twitter, only to be harassed by the conservative bots that Elon told us he would eliminate when in reality they multiplied exponentially.
In that vein, I wanted to discuss rather than sermonize. Enter Charlie Cummings. While we may agree on plenty, the discussion serves us both well, if for nothing else to get it out of our head. Between the presidential TIME interviews, continuous ongoing international conflicts, and the general degradation of democracy, we have no shortage of things to discuss.
Corey: Chuck, thanks so much for joining me on this first foray of actually writing about this. I have shared thoughts on the timeline, but there is something different about actually getting out there in a more long form way. Is there anywhere in particular you wanted to start? I feel like this is the kind of conversation where we just start and it flows endlessly.
Charlie: I want to start with something more irreverent, but relevant. You and I became friends through a mutual love of basketball and that would be a good place to begin. Like many others, I am paying more attention to the WNBA with the arrival of a hometown team for me in 2025. And my god is it incredible to see how people react to this. Everything is just so pervasively negative surrounding this league. Fighting over Caitlin Clark, charter flights, whatever idiotic thing Stephen A. Smith said to get a reaction to fund his ability to create more reactions. I know, shocker, people online are getting mad and arguing for the sake of it.
What’s more annoying is talking to people in person about it and seeing all the tired misogynistic tropes. I tell someone I’m getting more into the W, all they have is jokes. As if the idea of women’s sports being entertaining and interesting is laughable no matter the sport. Even the ones who enjoy how obsessively I follow the NBA laugh at the idea. As if something has to be wrong with me, or that I’m putting on some show to impress people. So for you, as someone who understands the W better than I do and has been having these conversations a lot longer, I wanted to hear what your reaction is.
Corey: While it is exhausting, it is nothing new. I get reactions like, “you do not have to project so hard that you are a liberal” or talking to me about the players’ attractiveness. This has been the case as long as I have been following and even predates that.
All sides are at fault here. For the ingrained fans, many of them were already cliquey, gatekeeping, and far too online. They wanted their favorite thing to grow, but only insofar as it benefits their feel-good and the pockets of the players. They did not want additional coverage beyond the voices they already knew. On the off chance there was a new fan that actually wanted to learn beyond the First Take level, too many people on the infamous W Twitter were territorial.
We have joked before that some would paint my visage as a liberal meme, in no small part because we have seen the words spell it out. I dye my hair, I (occasionally) paint my nails, I believe in equality, and yes, damnit, I love the WNBA. Is this because I also follow politics or because I think it checks off the box? No, it is because I like basketball and the basketball is good.
Is it perfect? No. There are issues with the NFL, the NBA, and every other sports league, but the casuals have grown so used to them that their ire is now directed full force at the W.
The W is a physical league. You are not being an ally or a knight in shining armor if you think they need to be nicer to an athlete. You are being a misogynist. I never heard people say, man they should foul Wembenyama less. Or dang, that hit on CJ Stroud is assault, protect him. It is embarrassing.
There were always going to be the knuckle draggers that did not get it. I have seen that on the comments on tweets from day one. They hate women and feel comfortable doing so behind a keyboard. Watching the coverage of it by people who are clearly not operating in the interest of the league or the players, but just their own clicks, however expected is no less discouraging though.
I do not expect everyone to have the same opinion as me or to like the same things as me. However, if you are going to have an opinion and be that loud about it, at least be informed. Is that too much to ask?
Charlie: Everything you said makes perfect sense (and I wish the reading audience could experience the glory of your hair and nails) but that last sentence struck a chord.
Is it too much to ask for people to be informed, kind, open to learning, etc? Yes, and no. In an ideal world, everyone would use the Internet (or existence in general) as an opportunity to acquire knowledge, cultivate love and respect, and make a genuine positive impact. Instead, they use their lives to argue, hate others, and refuse to learn.
And we are cursed to deal with those people. They walk the streets past us. They work with us. They vote in the elections we vote in. Sometimes, they’re in our families. And there’s simply no way of dealing with it.
That’s the double-edged sword of living in a country where, in theory, all are treated equally. A well-read and experienced person with empathy and perspective is equal to the dumbass going 25 over the speed limit with a Punisher logo on his lifted Ford Raptor that may or may not be several beers deep, and definitely says it. That guy has the same voting rights, the same legal rights, the same ability to log online and say whatever we want. But where I use my online privileges to talk about a young NBA wing’s developmental arc, he shares conspiracies about Jewish space lasers and boomer memes about Sleepy Joe.
So yes, it may be too much to ask for people to just be normal.
Corey: Yeah I understand the internet and social media are a cesspool beyond draining and filtering. I had hoped an organization heralded (and self-branded) as the worldwide leader in sports would be willing to talk about the sport as opposed to the marketing opportunities and holding up a great white hope in a league known for its diversity in terms of race, sexual orientation, and plenty else. There are people employed there willing and able. But instead, the screaming prevails.
It is amusing that the shut up and dribble crowd now want to everyone to shut up, stop dribbling, and place Caitlin on a throne even though she regularly says she does not want to be used like that and just wants to be able to hoop. She is not the victim here, but she has also been forced into an unwinnable situation. I thought the fervor around Tim Tebow and then Sabrina Ionsecu was wild. This has reached another level. A Fever pitch, if you will. Do you see any fixing that in particular?
Charlie: I gotta hand it to you for Fever pitch. Take a bow, sir.
I would have hoped that Caitlin making a statement asking people to leave her be would have some impact. But I fear the train has left the station. She’s a competitor on and off the floor, and that angry style mixed with the media coverage has clearly made an impression on other players. Chennedy Carter and Angel Reese both had some snippy words for her after their matchups, words that far outweighed the minor dust-ups they were involved in.
I understand why a white woman being heralded as the savior is uncomfortable for many, but to me, we have already forgotten the why. If only there was another pro basketball league that saw a massive spike in popularity because of a guard chucking 30 foot bombs with supreme confidence. Surely that hasn’t happened?
Corey: Eventually, I genuinely believe, at least with her peers, this will right itself. The media is another question, but if focus shifts to actual coverage that includes integrity, there is a chance. The sooner the hot take culture can be ignored, not just for women’s sports, but for all, the better to me.
Well, now that we have had that easy discussion, let’s touch on something a little more depressing. There is a presidential debate next week. Will you watch? After the interviews with Time, and the general experience of both men’s careers, is there even any point?
Charlie: To me, no. I know what these two men represent. One smiles while he steps on your neck, the other half apologizes before he does it. They’re both over 50 years older than me and will once again be the oldest person to run the country.
I’m pretty far left politically, and even then the party I should theoretically align with constantly tells me to shove it. Genocide is fine, protesting that on colleges is not okay. You’re the generation to lead us to the future, but also pipe down because the adults are talking. It’s the third straight election where I’ve been peddled the same garbage. Where all they can offer is not being the worst guy imaginable, just one of the worst.
Maybe I’ll read the transcript and I’ll probably see some clips. I can think of much better things to do with my time than watch two geriatric racists argue over who deserves to crush the poor and the non-white for the next four years.
Corey: And the genuine issue is, these are the options. Not just because they said so, though that certainly has plenty of bearing. But because the general masses seem to agree. If you are not fully paying attention, it is is easy to just go with the name that you know.
One of the broader issues is that extreme directions of either side do not particularly appeal to the broader country. The more vocal extremes are the ones we tend to hear. Either the bleeding heart liberals (us, included) or the conservatives who would love for those hearts to keep bleeding. The middle is more prominent and therefore the portion that tends to get fed.
In theory that is what Biden is purported to do, though that portion of the middle still tends to be more conservative than anything. He is progressive in ways, but never to the point that he would want to seem too partisan; therefore, the country is held back.
I genuinely hate that these are the options, but going rogue does not feel like it will accomplish anything either. I do not want to vote for Joe Biden. I do not believe in him and I am mostly opposed to someone with clear cognitive disfunction (though not to extent that his opponent would have us believe) should hold that much power. That is not ageism. It is simply fact. However, voting for someone other than him is simply lighting the vote on fire in the current system.
We should not only have two choices. But, alas, we do. What a crossroads we have found ourselves in. But I feel like I have to grin and bear it and hope always voting the more progressive of the options (even if neither meet the definition) is the only potential slow slog towards said progress. Because otherwise we get met with ideals the the 2025 project. Or dictator of a day. While I do no like Biden, that has to be worse than him, correct?
Charlie: I suppose it’s different for me, growing up in the bluest state imaginable (California) then moving to a state that is becoming more blue with each passing year (Colorado). I have the luxury of being able to press third party votes if I like the candidate, with the hope of building momentum towards a legitimate third party in the future. Not the RFK types, but a real party on the left unlike the poorly disguised conservatives we have that masquerade as liberals.
Unfortunately you live in Pennsylvania, where each vote counts a bit more, and that luxury isn’t as afforded. I’ll be chastised for my choices by my neoliberal family members but at the end of the day I have no guilt about refusing to vote for either of the main two in a third consecutive election. Yet
it’s what I feel I have to do. The optimist buried deep down inside me believes at some point in my life an actual third choice will materialize, and if years of voting off the beaten path can help get there, that’s what I’ll do.
Corey: So a couple follow ups to that, because I am genuinely fascinated by the different perspective. If you lived in a state where you did not have that luxury, would you still do it and risk Trump (who I assume from years of talking to you you agree is worse, even if by degrees) or would you bite the bullet and deal as I am? Do you think that the system make it so literally every vote is equal, not part of a state make up? Not that that will happen, but I appreciate the perspective.
I just feel dejected about it all because I know what I believe in. Unfortunately, voting as long as I have been of age has not about voting for what you believe in, but to try to prevent what you do not. Part of that is that I am more left than the norm, as I know you are as well. But it is frustrating that the only extremes that have made it far on the ballots are the right. It regularly makes me think if moving to a left leaning country is the only answer for my personal ethics and living standard.
Charlie: If I was in a swing state such as yours, I would think much differently. Where I split from people with my political leanings is understanding that Trump and Biden are not the same thing. Terrible things will happen under both, but Biden doesn’t actively stoke division, at least not intentionally. He’s an evil man on the whole but one who seeks to be evil in the shadows. Trump is so brazen in his nastiness that it makes things different. I would absolutely vote Biden if I felt my vote would actually count for something instead of being one small drop in a giant blue bucket.
Corey: That I can get behind. Because we generally agree on most issues and even those we do not, we understand each other. I can be extremely liberal, but I also am painfully logical. If something just does not make logical sense to me, I cannot fathom it. And Trump coming in and enacting Project 2025 or whatever other right-wing insanity that could come with it (dictator for a day, the Commandments on school walls, illegalization of non-Catholic whites only marriage, etc.) scares me to death.
I remember when he won the first time. Luckily for me, my company is big about get out during your work day for walks or something of the sort to maintain a mental balance. I was on the walk around the outside of the office, and the feel in the air was akin to what an eclipse felt like, without the look. The atmopshere had a strange absence of charge in it. It felt like I remember feeling when 9-11 happened. Not because of the severity necessarily, but because it genuinely felt like something shifted in the world that was not going to shift back. I have not been able to shake that feeling since. I have been able to joke about it or be nihilistic. But at my core, that fear remains. It came back during January 6. It came many times during the pandemic when racial tensions were stoked seemingly for sport. It has cost me friends and people I respect.
So while this election feels out of our hands, even for me in a state where my vote counts, I have to hope. Because if not, what else is there.
I am going to stop us here for now. Mostly because we could talk forever but will have plenty of chances to in the future. As we have said to each other, this occasionally feels like our dark joint therapy session. Anything else before we call it a day?
Charlie: I think that’s all the venting I needed to do. I’m glad we got to do some impromptu therapy together, it was much needed. As always, a pleasure writing with you. Let’s hope we can avoid having any post-9/11 energy in the air over the coming months.
PolitoedThoughts 
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