If there is one out there, I apologize, but it needs to be promoted better, because I’ve never heard of it.

The team owners for professional sports franchises have their leagues with representation.

The professional players have their union representation.

Even the refereeing officials have their unions.

Why shouldn’t the people who pay all of the bills have some representation in this money orgy?

We could call it the NPSFU (the National Professional Sports Fans’ Union).

Before professional sports gets too crazy about their good fortunes regarding the new gambling possibilities, and the players renegotiate their collective bargaining agreements with their respective leagues, we the fans need to be represented and considered for a change.

The fans need and deserve a voice at the negotiating table.

Player salaries continue to spiral upward at a percentage rate that far exceeds the rate an average working person has experienced, and that is the biggest understatement of the decade!

We are already at the “ridiculous stage” for player salaries. If they want to continue to perform for us and have us support their current level of good fortune, we need to negotiate a salary cap freeze for a while, giving the fans a chance to catch up a little bit in the monetary income area. I mean fans get squeezed from all sides when it comes to their money.

While we’re at it, maybe we could negotiate down the price of a ticket, a hot dog or a beer while we’re at a game as well?

I mean, you can only squeeze so much water out of a rock. There will come a time when a majority of the fans will have had enough, and the golden goose will be cooked.

This is definitely an idea whose time has come.

As fans, we love our sports and we love our teams, but we’re not idiots and we’re not fools to be taken advantage of.

Please let me know what you think about this.

Some say the recent Supreme Court ruling regarding sports betting could double the value of existing sports franchises and significantly increase their annual income.

So, if these beliefs are correct, the owners of teams in The National Football League (NFL), The National Basketball Association (NBA), and Major League Baseball (MLB), just doubled their investment.

It’s already being discussed how the players’ salaries are expected to increase significantly over the next few years because of this. It must be nice to “win the lottery” every year.

The current average salaries per year, per player, are: NFL = $3.5 million, NBA = $7 million, and MLB = $6 million.

And like usual, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. It sounds good for all of these people who are already multi-millionaires, but what about the fans? What about the average working people who subsidize all of this game playing and funny money? When do we get cut any slack? Since the teams are going to be getting all of this additional income, do you thinks the fans could at least get a freeze on ticket prices for a couple years, dare I say even a decrease in prices? And how about knocking those concession prices at the games down a bit? I don’t think anyone has a problem with a business making a fair profit, but some of these concession prices border on the ridiculous!

Before we go any further, let’s get one thing straight: the owners don’t pay these exorbitant players’ salaries, we (the fans) do.

We pay for the tickets to go and see the game. (NFL avg. = $95, NBA avg. = $55, MLB avg. = $60, for one ticket.)

We pay for parking or transit to get to the game. (Avg. = $15 per game.)

We pay for food and drink at the games. (Averages = $5 a hot dog, $7 a beer and $4 a soda.)

We also pay in hidden ways whenever we buy some beer, buy some soda, buy some soup, send a package, use a credit card, order a pizza, buy insurance, run out for some fast food, buy a car, buy a razor, buy some tires, buy a phone, purchase a phone usage contract, or buy a candy bar.

All of these companies pay to advertise their products during broadcasts of these games. They pay quite a bit. And the cost of this advertising gets passed right on down the line to us…, fans or not!

Everything these teams and leagues have, including the palatial stadiums, the decadent arenas, the millionaire commissioners, the fancy league headquarters, and the significant charitable gifts donated in their names, were bought and paid for by you and me.

So before these owners go throwing around all of this newfound money, please give the fans a little respect and a little consideration.

Gee, I don’t know. Maybe because since Bill Clinton was President, the Democrats have learned not to admit to anything, and to let the biased mainstream media have their backs and cover their tracks.

Could that possibly be why?

Could it be that she is trying to cover her boss’ rear as well as her own?

Could that possibly be why?

Avril Haines, who served as deputy national security adviser in the Obama administration, made her dismissive comments during an exclusive interview with the Yahoo News podcast “Skullduggery.”

In her first interview since leaving government, Haines also said she had been “very concerned” in 2016 about the degree to which Russians might have gained “influence” within the Trump campaign.

And why would that be? Is that what your “spy” told you, or was that the narrative the Obama administration intended their “mole” to advance?

The woman who oversaw the Obama White House’s response to the Russian election attack (Did they have a response to the “election attack?) said she was never briefed on the FBI’s use of an informant to investigate the Trump campaign and that it was “ridiculous” for President Trump to claim that the matter amounted to “one of the biggest political scandals in U.S. history.”

Well Ms. Haines, it has been pretty widely admitted now that an “informant/spy/mole” was used in the Trump campaign, so I guess “the woman who oversaw the Obama White House’s response to the Russian election attack” was little out of the loop, huh?

“No, absolutely not,” Haines said when asked if she was ever told about the confidential FBI informant who made contact with three members of the Trump campaign. “We didn’t even know at the time there was an [FBI] investigation as such,” she said. Haines said the FBI briefed the National Security Council “on a regular basis” about what she termed “counterintelligence issues” but that it had not told the council that any formal probe of the Trump campaign had been initiated.

So the FBI was just going rogue on this one?

These people are throwing each other under the bus so fast (mostly unintentionally because they’re not as good at keeping their lies straight as the Clintons are) that it is hard to keep any of this straight.

Maybe that’s their plan.

Haines has also previously served as deputy CIA director under John Brennan.

We continue to see that “the swamp” is a swirling, incestuous, murky and mucky, cesspool of liberal bureaucrats.

“Honestly, we could have done better from the policy perspective,” Haines said. “In thinking that through, I think we all have a piece of that to live with. I do think, though, even knowing that, I’m not sure our reactions would have been any different.”

Those words may actually be true.

Thanks for some input to this article from Michael Isikoff of Yhaoo News.

Dear President Obama,

I have to admit that I didn’t vote for you in November of 2008, but I wasn’t really a big fan of John McCain at the time either, so I was willing to give you a chance.

In general, I didn’t support many of the democrat’s policies, but I also recognized that electing our country’s first African-American president was a significant event. You could see everywhere how proud so many of our Black brothers and sisters were that a Black president could get elected. A lot of Whites and Hispanics had to vote for you as well in order for you to win. Maybe this was an indication that race was becoming a side note to character.

There was admittedly a lot of hope, potential and possibilities when you took office in January of 2009.

I think that election actually was a high point as far as race relations goes. But sadly, it all went downhill from there. Those of us who were disappointed that your actions didn’t match your words were immediately labeled as racists. Although race, honestly, had nothing to do with it.

First we got the “stimulus bill,” which was really only a big pay-back to the unions and government workers that supported you.

You decided to look the other way regarding the immigration issue and your promises in that area, putting it on the “back burner” again.

Then you and your friends shoved ObamaCare down our throats, preceded by a bunch of out and out lies to the American people. “If you like your doctor you can keep your doctor. If you like your plan you can keep your plan. Period.” Do you remember saying that over and over again? Did you really believe that was the truth?

Along the way, it seemed like whenever a racial incident arose, you chose to open the wound further rather than try to heal it. Race relations definitely got worse during your tenure, in my opinion, and that is sad.

Later we learned that the IRS was used unfairly against conservative organizations. Do you remember Lois Lerner sitting there, lying to Congress and everyone and getting away with it? Do you remember her boss, and your head of the IRS, smugly testifying to Congress, while seeming to question anyone’s right to question him? Do you remember denying that anything improper happened here? Did you really believe that?

You used the federal government against your political enemies. This is not the American way, but you got away with it.

There were the disgraceful problems over at the VA, the appeasement of ISIS (or ISIL like you prefer to say), the Syrian “red line” that wasn’t a “red line,” the sale of uranium to the Russians, Benghazi, Hillary’s emails, and the pathetic Iranian nuclear deal, which only ended up funding more terrorism in the Middle East, thanks to your arranging for billions of dollars in cash to be flown there in the middle of the night, in an unmarked plane. Again, you got away with it.

You used the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) to seize property from Americans, and the proliferation of regulations under your administration forced American business to operate with both hands tied behind their backs, in many cases. Also, you almost managed to put the whole coal industry out of business. And what about the Keystone pipeline? Do you really believe it is more dangerous to transport oil via a pipeline than it is to transport it via the railroad or trucks?

Let’s not forget your embarrassing “apology tour” either, when you travelled around the world and bent over for any country or world leader that was gracious enough to accept your apology for our awful behavior in the past. It’s a good thing you got elected so you could set all of that straight.

We also had the case of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl. Even though Sgt. Bergdahl deserted from his unit and was a traitor, upon his release by the Taliban, you chose to bring him to The White House and treat him like a hero. For some reason you chose to participate in a “cover-up” in his case, hiding the truth, and allowing him avoid prison time for his crimes. I still haven’t figured this one out.

You then took it upon yourself to open up our border with Mexico, instructing our agents to “look the other way,” while choosing to not inforce our existing immigration laws. Was that actually legal, or just something else you managed to get away with?

I would also like to mention that I really didn’t appreciate being “talked down to” all of the time either. I would respectfully suggest that it was not your place to scold us treat us as inferior to you if we chose to disagree with you. You weren’t elected to be our “daddy,” you were elected to represent us and act in our best interests.

Now, to top it all off, we are learning about how departments in your administration, either with or without your knowledge, chose to spy on the Trump campaign and are trying even now to undermine his presidency. The spying, of course, wasn’t anything new for your administration. In 2013 it was learned that your Department of Justice spied on reporters from the Associated Press and Fox News who were not particularly kind to you.

I feel as if I have sufficiently made my point(s), although there are some that would say I just scratched the surface.

I’m sorry Mr. President, but I feel it is actually a real shame that the administration of the first Black president was also such a misguided one. With all due respect, you really frittered away a great opportunity in my opinion.

You took the oath of office (twice) and you said (with you hand on The Bible), “I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

I suppose that “with the best of my ability” part does leave you some wiggle room. Having been a professor of constitutional law at the University of Chicago though, you really should have known better.

Sincerely,

MrEricksonRules.com

Note: To anyone else who may happen to read this letter, if your first inclination is to try and defend President Obama because he is Black…, well then maybe it’s you who are the racist. Just sayin’.

Yes it could Mr. President, and I think it actually already is.

The President then went on to tweet:

“Look how things have turned around on the Criminal Deep State. They go after Phony Collusion with Russia, a made up Scam, and end up getting caught in a major SPY scandal the likes of which this country may never have seen before! What goes around, comes around!”

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 23, 2018

You’re right again Mr. President. Sometimes these slimy “swamp dwellers” try to be too smart for their own good.

Let’s take a step back though, my friends, and survey the landscape for a moment.

BELIEVE ME…, if this “Spygate” scandal had taken place during President Obama’s election in 2008, and was perpetrated by the Bush administration’s FBI and Department of Justice, the biased mainstream media would be losing their minds. They would be like packs of wild dogs, relentlessly probing, harassing, and reporting about this 24/7.   

Instead, what we have is the biased mainstream media “looking the other way” in a lot of instances, being apologists for many of the individuals implicated in the scandal, downplaying the significant nature of the scandal, and even attempting to justify these illegal and unconstitutional actions by their “swampy” friends.

The implications of “Spygate” are already a hundred times bigger than “Watergate,” which led to President Nixon’s resignation. Some “swampy” heads are going to roll with this one. The only question is how deep into “the swamp” are we going to get?

“Spygate,” right now, is centered around an FBI “informant,” Stefan Halper, who assisted in the agency’s (alleged) investigation into Russian attempts to influence the 2016 election. It was Halper who took the initiative to reach out to several Trump campaign staffers in 2016 to talk about foreign policy. Hmmm.

I wish “the swamp” could get its story straight. One day they are denying anything ever happened, then the next day they admit to the spying, but say it was appropriate.

The biased mainstream media is spinning the whole situation as President Trump’s attempt to distract from special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into his campaign, when in fact, the whole Mueller investigation is an attempt to distract us from what the democrats did during the election and the Obama administration.

Former FBI Director James Comey defended the agency’s use of “informants” Wednesday morning (there’s a red flag), which he said “is tightly regulated and essential to protecting the country.” Please be reminded that neither he nor “the swamp” has any interest in protecting the country. The only thing they are interested in protecting is their subversive agenda…, and their own backsides.

“The swamp” is on high alert right now, and they will resort to almost anything, at this point, to keep their secrets secret, and their asses in one piece.

Stay tuned…, because this is just starting to get good…, if you’re on the outside of “the swamp” looking in.

Don’t feel bad, you’re not alone!

And of course, MrEricksonRules.com has and answer to your problem!

Go to Amazon.com and order a copy or two of my new book, “How I (the correct way to) Perceive the World!” The Greatest Hits from My Blog Vol. 1, from my website MrEricksonRules.com, 2017-2018.

MrEricksonRules’ pen name is G.R. Erickson, in case you want to search by the author.

Order a couple copies for those friends of yours, or family members, that you want to bring up to speed.

From the back cover:

“Check! But not checkmate.

Intellectually sparring with the purveyors of anti-American propaganda will never afford us the option of ending the game, winning, or declaring checkmate. The best we can hope for is keeping “the swamp” in check, by challenging their hypocrisy and dragging it out into the sunlight.

Join me in looking at our world with some conservative common sense, compassion, and a sense of curiosity. I’m expecting you to find my blogs informative, entertaining, and thought provoking.”

And remember, stay thirsty my friends, but don’t drink the kool-aid!

The democrats and the biased mainstream media have recently been trumpeting (no pun intended) “what a good thing” it was that President Trump had someone looking after him, referring to the spy…, oh, I mean the “informant,” that the FBI chose to assign to him, for no legal reason that can be substantiated. Some say it may even have been more than one “informant.” Will wonders never cease?!

So…, the obvious question is: If having a spy in your campaign is such a good thing, why didn’t Hillary warrant her own spy…, oops, there I go again, I mean “informant?”

Hillary should be outraged that her campaign was not afforded the same considerations as President Trump’s campaign. I mean, c’mon, fair is fair!

She could even make the case that this “informant” (see, I’m catching on) might have kept her out of trouble by “informing” her that it might not be a good idea to delete all of those emails, destroy her own personal server, or trust any other classified information with Anthony Weiner’s wife, aka Hillary’s sidekick, Huma (I’ve seen too much to ever live a normal life again) Abedin.

The “informant” might have also informed her that funding and feeding a phony Russian dossier about Donald Trump might come back to haunt her.

I’m sure it won’t be long before this “spy/mole,” which evolved into “informant,” will further evolve into a “guardian angel!”

God, help us all.

So what am I talking about here?

I’m talking about the Democrats’ defense of the Trump campaign being spied on by the Obama administration’s DOJ and FBI.

At first, all of the “swamp monsters” denied that spying ever took place. Then when it was proven spying did occur, their message quickly evolved into one of dismissal.

Next, I have noticed that “the swamp” was quick to change the word choice from “spy,” or “mole,” to “informant.”

I’m sure because an “informant” appears less nefarious.

In either case, regarding this “informant/spy/mole:”

I’ve heard democrats and liberal talking heads say, “There is nothing to be concerned about here.”

I’ve heard democrats and liberal talking heads say, “The FBI was completely within the scope of their investigation.”

I’ve heard democrats and liberal talking heads say, “This was completely within the framework typically utilized in this type of operation.”

I’ve even heard democrats and liberal talking heads say, “The President should be happy that the FBI was “monitoring” Russian involvement in his campaign.”

Give me a break. And that’s just a few examples.

Ok. So I guess the democrats and liberal talking heads won’t have a problem then with the Trump administration spying on the democrat candidate prior to the 2020 Presidential election…, right? I mean, who knows what type of collusion the democrat candidate might be involved in? We have seen how easy it is to initiate contact with some low-level campaign worker and then extrapolate that uninvited contact into some grand collusion conspiracy theory.

Can you see the problem with choosing to play that game?

The problem is that once that line has been crossed it cannot be uncrossed.

Once we have managed to twist the rules, and manipulate the laws, our concepts of justice and fairness begin to fall apart.

The problem is that if no one suffers any consequences for this type of behavior, we are setting the precedent for more of this bad, and illegal, behavior.

You democrats and liberals can keep your “swampy” cake. I’ll have a piece of good old American apple pie instead!

What the hell did the Obama administration allow to go on during the 2016 Presidential campaign?! And why isn’t the media all over this 24/7?!

It’s because we’re talking about the BIASED mainstream media here, lest you forget.

Harken back to an article I posted on January 2, 2018; “What happens when the investigators need to be investigated?”

It’s a serious, and an honest, question that our government does not seem to have an answer for…, at least so far.

When President Trump tweeted in March of 2017 that the Obama administration “had his wires tapped” during the 2016 presidential campaign, the biased mainstream media laughed at him, and laughed-off the story.

Well…, earlier this week the New York Times published a story revealing the FBI was not only spying on the Trump campaign, but had at least one FBI informant embedded within it! (Please note that this story was not published because they performed any actual investigative journalism, but because someone at the FBI fed it to them for their own purposes.) The story went on to say that the FBI didn’t have enough evidence to open a criminal investigation into members of the Trump campaign, or obtain subpoenas, so a “counterintelligence investigation” was launched instead.

A “counterintelligence investigation” is basically a way for the FBI to do whatever it wants, for any reason.

Two former FBI officials said, they were concerned that anything the FBI did publicly, “would only give fodder to Mr. Trump’s claims on the campaign trail that the election was rigged.”

Oh. They were trying hard to “rig” it alright, but not for Trump!

The FBI obtained phone records and other documents using national security letters (which are a secret type of subpoena… to go along with their “secret type” of investigation no doubt!) officials said.

The Washington Post published a similar story.

These stories are coming out just ahead of the expected release of a Department of Justice Inspector General report about how the FBI handled the criminal investigation into Hillary Clinton’s mishandling of classified information on her personal email server. Hmmm.

Some of those who have been following this shady FBI saga had some other thoughts to add:

In self-serving desire to get a sympathetic story about its actions, DOJ/FBI leakers are willing to provide yet more details about that “top secret” source (namely, that spying was aimed at Page/Papadopoulos)–making all more likely/certain source will be outed. That’s on them

— Kimberley Strassel (@KimStrassel) May 17, 2018

It’s not just that DOJ would push this narrative but that reporters would be so unintelligent in carrying that water for them… https://t.co/JvTP3QBgcm

— Mollie (@MZHemingway) May 18, 2018

The only people sharing sensitive details about the source with reporters are DOJ and intel officials. It’s like watching the boy who cried wolf demand to know how people came to believe a wolf was nearby. https://t.co/ZprLE4xu4I

— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) May 18, 2018

Stay tuned as we find out more about all of these “special,” double top secret, FBI and DOJ investigative meanderings!

Thank you to Townhall and Katie Pavlich for some input into this story.

Is anyone really surprised something like this has happened again?

We shouldn’t be. Congress did what they normally do. They wring their hands, attack law-abiding gun owners, spew out a bunch of hot air, and do nothing to address this problem…again.

The following is a re-post of what I said on 2/16/18, following the school shooting in Florida. Please check out the related blogs on 2/20/18 and 2/26/18 as well.

What can we REALLY do about these school shootings?

First of all, let’s acknowledge that there is no easy answer.

Next, let’s understand that there really is nothing we can do to guarantee there won’t be another school shooting.

It’s hard for us to accept that we are kind of helpless here, but to a certain extent we are. That is just reality.

Passing another law will not solve this problem. Unless I’m mistaken, murder is already against the law. So now what?

All we can do is take positive steps in many areas, that when combined, may swing the odds of more shootings in our favor.

One – We have to get serious about school campus security. ALL SCHOOLS need an outside perimeter fence before you even get near the school that has one main gate or entrance. This gate should have armed security personnel that only admit individuals that should be there. Metal detectors would also need to be installed. Money for these improvements could be incorporated into the new infrastructure spending bill.

Two – Background checks when purchasing a weapon or ammunition need to be more extensive and more comprehensive. Social media should be checked and the community where the purchaser lives should be canvassed for input as to whether anyone has objections to this individual owning a weapon. The Second Amendment gives the people “the right to keep and bear arms.” It doesn’t say we have to be stupid about it or make it too easy.

Three – Access to mental health resources has to be greatly enhanced. When people are experiencing issues or are aware of others with issues, assistance needs to be available right then, not a month or two, or three, down the road when a psychiatrist’s or a psychologist’s schedule has an opening. Mental health, in general, has to be just as much of a consideration as physical health.

Four – The President should establish a component agency that would fall under The Department of Homeland Security and deal solely with the issues that affect school security.

If we can do these four things, for starters, we will be on the way to making some real positive changes that could make a difference. Will these things be cheap? No. Will they be worth it? Yes. Ask the families of the latest shooting victims.

If we don’t begin to take real, effective, steps towards dealing with this problem we will be doomed to watching and experiencing the reoccurrence of these horrible shootings again and again. It may be your family that is directly affected next time. I pray that isn’t the case.

Praying for God’s help and God’s comfort for the victims, their families, and all of those involved is good, but they say that, “God helps those who help themselves.”

Let’s help ourselves and praise God for giving us the wisdom to do so.