Disaster On The Professional Football Field!

FAMILY OF BILLS SAFETY DAMAR HAMLIN REMAINS RELEASES STATEMENT FOLLOWING ON-FIELD CARDIAC ARREST

by ARMANDO SALGUERO about 10 hours agoupdated about a minute ago 7Comments

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CINCINNATI — Moments after Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest following a hit on Cincinnati Bengals receiver Tee Higgins, CPR was performed for over seven minutes on the field to restore his heartbeat, and soon the 65,000 people at Paycor Stadium who watched it all unfold stood in numbed silence.

But soon all hell was breaking out in both the Cincinnati Bengals and Buffalo Bills locker rooms and at the NFL offices in New York.

Damar Hamlin tackles Tee Higgins during the first quarter of the Bills-Bengals game Monday night in Cincinnati. (Getty Images)

Hamlin was taken by ambulance to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center where efforts to save his life continued into the night. He is listed in critical condition according to the NFL.

Hamlin’s family released the following statement Tuesday just before noon ET:

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The Bills said Hamlin’s heartbeat was restored on the field following the administration of CPR for nearly eight minutes. There were other life-saving measures as well. Hamlin was sedated at the hospital, the Bills said.

Bills Return To Buffalo

Hamlin stayed in the hospital while the Bills’ traveling party boarded their Delta Airlines charter at 1:20 a.m. for their 84-minute flight home to Buffalo. The NFL said all other Bills players were expected to leave with the team but multiple sources told OutKick some Bills players wished to remain in town to support their teammate.

These grown men had cried openly on national television as their teammate fought for his life. They spend countless hours lifting weights to increase their strength. But this moment left them powerless.

So it makes sense some wanted to stay with Hamlin. Because they feel the need to do something.

While the Bills were boarding their equipment and passengers to go home at the Cincinnati airport — which is actually in Kentucky — Bengals coach Zac Taylor was seen entering UC Medical Center. Taylor did not stop to speak with reporters.

On Tuesday around 12 p.m. ET, Bengals owner Mike Brown released the following statement:

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Bills Fans, Staff, Coaches Visit The Hospital

There were between 30 and 50 Bills and Bengals fans camped outside the UC Emergency room entrance and main entrance. They talked among themselves. And they prayed.

All this combined as a picture of the NFL’s worst nightmare scenario come true:

We saw a player who routinely risks injury on each play reaching that unthinkable moment when the risk he takes is to his life.

Fans gather for a vigil at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center for football player Damar Hamlin of the Buffalo Bills. (Getty Images)

That’s what was at stake on that field as Hamlin was surrounded by medical people, some performing CPR, some connecting him to an IV, all trying to keep him alive.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and executive vice president for football operations Troy Vincent saw Hamlin collapse as they watched on TV. During their conversations to figure out what to do next, it became obvious the league’s nightmare moment was before them.

“Obviously he was devastated,” Vincent said of Goodell. “This was an occurrence we haven’t seen in our time. And the concern was, he kept asking, ‘What’s the latest update? What’s the latest update on Damar?’ “

Updates were scarce Monday night into early Tuesday.

There’s no telling, for example, what the league will do with this game and its playoff seeding implications.

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NFL Has Not Considered New Game Date

“That’s not even a consideration right now,” said NFL executive vice president for communications and public affairs and policy Jeff Miller. “Our concern is for the player and his well-being. At the appropriate time I’m sure we’ll have a conversation around the next steps regarding the game.”

The first step for the league after Hamlin’s immediate care at the stadium was figuring out whether to play on. Or not.

But it was never about saving this one game, Vincent said. During his telephone conversations with Goodell, referee Shawn Smith, and the two coaches, Vincent said saving the player first and doing right by everyone else afterward were the priorities.

“Obviously we saw the coaches and players and, frankly, those that were tuned into the game, all traumatized,” Vincent said. “Myself personally, just thinking through what is actually happening, what is taking place in real time, and as emergency care was taking place on the field, I’m in communication with Shawn, who’s the referee tonight, and making sure he was in constant communication with both coach Taylor and coach [Sean] McDermott.

“And what was most important tonight wasn’t proceeding with the game. Frankly, the competitive aspect never crossed my mind, never crossed our minds internally.”

Not long after Hamlin was taken away, the Bills defense actually went back onto the field. They lined up as if ready to play. The Bengals offense never returned to the field.

But soon referee Smith spoke with Taylor and McDermott. Everyone agreed the teams should go to their locker rooms and the game was “temporarily suspended.”

Situation In Locker Rooms ‘Volatile’

That’s where it apparently got a little hairy as the teams spoke among themselves about what should happen next.

“It was fluid and things were changing by the minute,” Vincent said. “Emotions, as you can imagine, in both locker rooms. And I commend both those coaches. It’s a tough situation to go back and look at 53 men and ask, not that they asked, but to just to try to calm people down.

“It was obvious on the phone with them that the emotions were extremely high. It was a very volatile situation. I thought the coaches, they led tonight. They led their locker room.”

Not just the coaches. Captains from the Bengals visited the Bills locker room as players discussed their situation. Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow was among those to make the walk between locker rooms. He wore his full uniform.

Bills quarterback Josh Allen, out of his uniform a full hour after the game was called, walked back to his team’s locker room after a visit in the Cincinnati locker room. Someone said Allen went to the Bengals to thank them for supporting he and his teammates.

After the game was postponed and the crowd was gone, the Bengals changed the lighting in their home stadium to Bills blue. It was done out of respect to Hamlin and the Bills.

And while all this was happening, ESPN apparently reported the teams were told they had five minutes to warm up and resume play.

Five-Minute Warmup Story False

“I’m not sure where that came from,” Vincent said. “Frankly, there was no time period for the players to get warmed up. The only thing we asked was for Shawn to communicate with both head coaches to make sure they had the proper time inside the locker room to discuss what they felt like was best.

“I’m not sure where that came from of five minutes warmup. That never crossed my mind, personally. And I’m not saying I to be selfish but I was the one communicating with the commissioner.

“We never, frankly, it never crossed our mind to talk about warming up to resume play. That’s ridiculous. That’s insensitive and that’s not a place we should ever be in.”

The sensitivities of the Bills fan base is famous around the NFL because they consider their team and the players as, well, family.

So it wasn’t surprising when these fans showed up outside the hospital — in a cold and constant rain — despite having zero hope of actually being allowed inside.

“Why not?” Bills fan Ryanne Clingersmith said. “That’s the question. Why not? We show up to the airport when they win games and when they lose. We show up. Because we’re Bills Mafia and we’re family. And that’s why we decided we had to come down here.”

Clingersmith drove 11 hours from Virginia Beach, VA. to watch her team play on the road. And she’s driving back Tuesday knowing she probably spent the night outside a hospital and got no relief for what she was feeling.

“Yeah, we’re hurting,” she said. “We’re not hurting because of football. We’re hurting because we don’t know what’s going to happen to him.

“Is he OK? That is what we care about. What it comes down to is, is he going to walk out of here? Is he able to go be that father, son, brother, uncle to his family. Will he be OK, and that is what matters most now.”

“weaken Mr. McCarthy or whoever the new speaker will be.”

January 3, 2023

The House Speaker Vote — Embarrassment, Indeed

By Paul E. Scates at American Thinker:

Yesterday the NY Times printed an op-ed by communications consultant Brendan Buck, who previously worked for former Speakers of the House John Boehner and Paul Ryan.  You think Mr. Buck has a vested interest in seeing Kevin McCarthy named speaker?

Before I comment on Buck’s essay, a word about “communications consultants” — several decades ago I worked for a large southern utility in their Communications Office.  I was among several selected to be a Media Liaison, the person who issued information to the public/media in case of a catastrophic event that impacted the electrical grid, a nuclear plant, etc.  One of the top communication consultant organizations in the nation was brought in to train us in how to communicate with the media.  

The training covered not just the language we used, but heavily emphasized our appearance, our facial expressions, etc.  One point emphasized heavily was that we were to never look at a questioner to our right or left simply by shifting our eyes toward that person, but to turn our head to look directly at the questioner.  To do otherwise, we were told, “makes you look shifty.”

We were given several catastrophic scenarios wherein we practiced using “positive” language in a calm, controlled manner “in order to create the sense that everything is okay.”  I asked a simple question, “What if everything has gone south and things are not okay… are we supposed to lie?”  The trainer (actually, the head man of the famous company) practically exploded, advising me in no uncertain terms that my job had nothing to do with the truth, but everything to do with creating the impression that everything was under control, in order to spread a sense of calm and that public safety was assured.  Being a bit of a hardhead, I insisted “But the truth is what matters most, isn’t it?”  Suffice it to say that I was not this “communication consultant’s” favorite pupil during this three-day session.  He was positively livid that I refused to abandon a concern for the truth in favor of accomplishing the mission of assuring the public that all is well.

So that’s my experience with what was, at the time, one of the most well-known and celebrated “communications consultants,” Buck’s profession.  Buck begins his essay with the admonition that the “fleeting promise that this Congress will work better than the last” would be immediately dashed if the House fails to elect Kevin McCarthy on the first ballot.

Apparently, Buck hasn’t been outside Washington, D.C. much in the past couple of decades, else he’d know that few Americans still have faith in such a “promise.”  But Buck goes on to state that “electing a Speaker is a responsibility given the House by the Constitution,” clearly oblivious to the responsibility that House members have to uphold the oaths they take to said Constitution, which many (dare I say ‘most’) have repeatedly and flagrantly failed to do.  Failing to give the speakership to McCarthy on the first vote would, according to Buck, “destroy Americans’ confidence in the new Congress.”  I know of very few Americans who have confidence or faith in Congress, new or old.

Then Buck has the gall to say that “a self-serving power play by a small group of Republicans threatens to make a mockery of the institution.” (Italics mine) No, Mr. Buck, the self-serving GOP establishment has long since made a mockery of the institution, by denying individual members the ability to legislate by using House (and Senate) rules to place most of the legislative power in the hands of “leadership” such as John Boehner, Paul Ryan, Nancy Pelosi, and, Buck obviously hopes, Kevin McCarthy.  Just look at the items requested by the Freedom Caucus who oppose McCarthy: the right to remove a speaker who is not responsive to the will of the people, the right to have adequate time to read/analyze proposed legislation prior to a floor vote, using stand-alone bills which must pass or fail on their own merits, etc.  The fact that “leadership,” including McCarthy, resists such common sense (and constitutionally intended) positions is exactly why those few brave House members are balking at “just going along in order to get along.”  And it’s high time they did so!

Buck continues that a failed vote would “weaken Mr. McCarthy or whoever the new speaker will be.”  As if that’s a bad thing?  Good grief, we’ve seen exactly what transpires when the House speaker is little more than a despot, dictating to the other elected members what will and will not be done.  The Constitution gives equal power to the House members, and doesn’t place them in servitude to the “leadership,” be it Democrat or Republican.  But that has been the situation for far too long now.

Buck then says a failure to elect McCarthy on the first vote “will make very clear from the outset they cannot be counted on to fulfill the body’s basic responsibilities, such as funding the government or preventing a credit default by lifting the debit ceiling, both of which will be required later this year.”  Oh, my… he said the quiet part out loud here: the basic responsibility of the House of Representatives is to carry out the will of “we, the people,” and not to prioritize funding a government that currently costs almost $2 trillion per year to operate!  And note that Buck, a Washington insider, insinuates that the only way to prevent default on the national debt is by lifting the debt ceiling (i.e., creating even more debt)… that’s exactly how House “leadership” has thought about it for decades now, instead of… oh, I don’t know… how about spending less money!!  

Buck claims that a failure to elect McCarthy on the first ballot would leave the Republican majority hopelessly damaged, “…along with the institution of the House itself.” (Italics mine) Only a confirmed D.C. insider is blind to the fact that the House (and the Senate) are already hopelessly damaged.  But that damage has been done in large part by the “leadership” which has set the rules and the processes by which all manner of unconstitutional legislation is routinely passed, including omnibus spending bills that no member has actually read.  

In the 50s and 60s, House Speaker Mike McCormick used to greet freshmen Congressmen with the admonition, “Boys, in order to get along, you must first go along.”  Meaning they had to kowtow to “leadership” direction and control to show their loyalty; only then would leadership then extend campaign funds, committee assignments, etc., that would help in re-election.  That a few GOP members of the House are finally bucking the “good ol’ boy” GOP establishment is encouraging; but that it’s only about 12 of the over 200 GOP members tells you all you need to know about so-called conservative Republicans.

The Majority Of Our States Are NOT AS FASCISTIC AS BIDEN’S DICTATORSHIP!

JANUARY 1, 2023 BY JOHN HINDERAKER IN FEDERALISM

THE COMING CRISIS OF FEDERALISM

I probably should have given up making predictions after 2016, when I called the presidential election correctly. I don’t think I have gotten one right since then.

But I do have one prediction for 2023 and years to come: I think the federalism issue—the relationship between the federal government and the states—will become the most vital question in our political life.

Currently, we have at least two large states, Texas and Florida, that enjoy strong, effective leadership, while our national government flounders. States like Texas and Florida are plenty big enough to go it on their own, and one wonders how long they will chafe under the yoke of an inept and destructive central government.

The most immediate issue dividing these states from Washington is illegal immigration. The Biden administration has not just failed to secure our southern border, it has repudiated any intention of carrying out its constitutional responsibility. In the presence of such a vacuum, the states have no choice but to act. And they can reasonably ask, why should they continue to owe allegiance to a national government that will not carry out its most basic duty of protecting them against invasion?

Another wedge issue is monetary policy. Both Texas and Florida are well-managed and fiscally sound. In contrast, Washington is a spendthrift mess. The federal government’s trillions in deficit spending have caused inflation that devastates citizens of Florida and Texas, along with the rest of us. And the national government levies onerous taxes to support its profligate spending. Residents of well-managed states like Texas and Florida—and also a number of smaller states, South Dakota is a paragon—will reasonably conclude that they aren’t getting their money’s worth. And Texas and Florida are populous enough to issue their own currency, either separately or jointly.

Then there is the issue of freedom. In recent years, the federal government has encroached on its citizens’ rights to an unprecedented degree, and in a way that is particularly hostile to residents of the well-run states. Why should citizens of Florida and Texas—and North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Tennessee, South Carolina, and so on—put up with a government that leans on social media companies to limit their freedom of speech? Why should Florida, for example, continue to recognize the authority of the FBI if it deems that agency to be hopelessly corrupt? And why should energy-rich states like Texas, North Dakota and Louisiana allow their economies to be suppressed by an unholy alliance of misguided environmentalists, greedy politicians, Big Wind and Big Solar?

I don’t think disunion will happen during my lifetime. But I do think that the potential for disunion will play an increasingly important role in our national debates. It would be relatively easy to establish a contiguous nation, based on our current Constitution, that reaches from North Dakota to Texas, then includes the entire Southeast as far as Florida, and extends north to include, at a minimum, Indiana and Ohio. Other states would no doubt choose to join. Such a nation would be vastly better governed than the current United States, it would contain our most important natural resources, and it would include most of the territory from which our armed forces are drawn.

There are strong reasons for the states to re-assert their sovereignty, and, given how poorly our national government is performing, that can only be a good thing. Perhaps the prospect of disunion will concentrate the minds of the political class in Washington. Or perhaps disunion will become a reality, maybe sooner than we can now imagine. Either way, I think the issue of federalism will come to dominate our political debate before long.