Alright, the liberation to get back to writing political and social commentary! Perhaps I owe a debt of gratitude to the far left lunatics who tried cyber-bullying me in recent days. They obviously had no idea who they were dealing with.
Let’s start with what actually happened.
During Thursday night’s Philadelphia Eagles preseason game, backup quarterback Nate Sudfeld suffered a wrist injury, one that it was later announced would keep him out for awhile.
At the time, I was “live-Tweeting” a Philadelphia Phillies game for a site by the name of Phillies Nation” for which I had been the lead writer for more than a year. Basically providing updates of key moments in the Phillies game as those developed. I found out about the Sudfeld injury as it came across my Twitter feed.
In reaction to Sudfeld’s injury, I began to see a number of fans interjecting commentary on Twitter regarding the Eagles possibly looking at bringing in controversial former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick. There were many folks who were in favor of this happening, and many were also against it.
At my personal Twitter feed (@MatthewVeasey), I put out a message stating that if the Eagles were to actually sign Kaepernick, I would find it offensive and would stop watching and following the team until he was gone.
My feelings had nothing to do with race, and in fact, very little to do with football talent. I could care less that he hasn’t played in three years.
What I do care about is that Kaepernick has publicly come out against American police. As a three-decade law enforcement officer, supervisor and training instructor, one who still has family and many friends in the profession, I find his messages offensive.
Socks depicting pigs wearing police hats, framing police shootings as “lawful lynchings“, reactions to police shootings with statements such as “there are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.”
Kaepernick is no social justice warrior as he refuses to stand and respect the American flag and our national anthem. He is an anti-police, far-left radical activist. Here in America, I have a right to publicly stand against him and his positions.
That opinion did not go over well with those who support Kaepernick. Some among that group looked at my profile and saw that I was a retired police supervisor, which I am sure raised their ire even further.
Someone among the group chose to do a little research on this personal website of mine. They dug up a few old articles that I had written. Then they highlighted what they felt were controversial snippets pulled from pieces on racial and sexual preference issues (see those links for specific stories highlighted by the leftists), most of which I had written a decade or more ago.
No context was provided on these snippets, of course. They simply began an online campaign to brand me a homophobe and racist. A hater. They spread the message to many of their lefty friends, and hundreds began to pile on.
Phillies Nation became a target, with the attackers threatening to continue bombarding that site with negative comments, as well as to go after the advertisers, if the “hater” (me) was allowed to continue with the site.
Needless to say, Phillies Nation caved. I am no longer associated with that site. I was effectively cancelled. Shame on the owner for caving to obvious radicals. So, that is the truth of what happened in my leaving their site.
Now, to address the issues.
The fact of the matter is that I hate no one. Well, I have always half-jokingly said that I hate no one except “Nazis, Islamofascists, and the Dallas Cowboys.” I have no problem sticking with that statement.
This situation highlights perfectly, in fact, why I have a hatred for those Nazis and Islamofascists.
Fascists of any type want one thing, to impose their agenda, and to not only stifle, but to destroy all vestiges of dissent. If you aren’t with the program, then you are a threat, and you must be silenced. This “cancel culture” has been growing in many areas of life over the last few years.
As anyone who knows me well already realizes, you aren’t going to silence me. I don’t cow-tow to fascists, far-left or otherwise. There are things that I personally believe involving political, social, religious, familial and moral issues. There are things that I feel are right, and things that I feel are wrong.
Here in the United States of America, at least to this point in our history, I am fully entitled to those beliefs, and am fully entitled to write about those issues and opinions. That is, as long as I do not advocate violence against anyone else.
And also as anyone who knows me is well aware, and as I have already said, I hate no one. I do not advocate violence against anyone for their political, social, sexual or religious beliefs or practices.
I served for nearly three decades as a Philadelphia police officer, detective, and supervisor. I interacted with many members of the community of every race, ethnicity, sexual orientation and religious affiliation. Never had any complaints in these regards. Never. In fact, I went through that entire career without any formal complaints.
My website has existed in this form, right here at this mattveasey.com location on the web, for 15 years. That includes more than 13 during which I was with the PPD. My writing was well known to the department, read by many officers and higher-ups, and was never the subject of an investigation or discipline.
If you should ever run across someone trying to share one or two sentences or columns from one of my pieces while attempting to frame me as racist or bigoted, I would challenge you to find the full piece and read it in its full context. If you are having a hard time, get in touch with me and I’ll find it for you.
If you want to start your own website or blog and write in support of the issues and positions that you believe in, and against the things that you feel are wrong, go right ahead.
So, that is exactly what I will be doing. I will continue to write regularly about the Phillies, baseball, and Philly sports. But I will also be getting back to something that I had set aside, writing on political and social issues. Anything that I write will be linked at my social media feeds.
This website is sorted into topics at the above tool bar. There is an opportunity to search the blog with a search box at the right of that tool bar. At the bottom of each piece are “Tags” which link to other pieces containing that subject matter.
Nothing ever written here at my blog has been deleted, hidden or blocked. While I might not phrase something today as I did back in 2009, neither am I ashamed or embarrassed or afraid of anything that I have ever written.
Feel free to search for and read any piece that you want. You will find my opinion, my viewpoint, on many people, topics, and issues. What I challenge you to find is hate, or calls for violence.
Just as importantly, feel free to not read. Or simply choose what to read or not read. If you like my baseball or sports writing but disagree with my political or social views, stick to reading my baseball or sports pieces. If those don’t interest you, but you do like my other topical writing, enjoy that instead. Your choice. No one forcing you to read or care about what I write.
Looking forward to the freedom and liberation to get back to writing about those broader topics once again. So again, a hearty “thank you” to the Leftist bullies hiding behind their keyboards and anyone else who helped nudge me back in this direction. God bless America.
MATT VEASEY 