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MSNBC's Martin Bashir: If Socialism Works for the NFL, Why Not Use It in Campaigns?

MSNBC's Martin Bashir: If Socialism Works for the NFL, Why Not Use It in Campaigns?

"That’s the America that all of us love and want to see even if it has been brought about by what some call socialism."

“It’s time now to clear the air and as Republican candidates continue to falsely accuse the president of wanting to transform America into a European socialist state, I’ve been particularly surprised that they haven’t targeted one of this country’s most popular industries,” MSNBC’s Martin Bashir said Thursday on a segment called "Clean the Air."

“An industry that has not only adopted the essential elements of Socialism, but is proud of it! It’s an industry in which all 32 franchises share profits for a common cause," Bashir said, failing to mention what that "common cause" is.

"This is no Economic Darwinism, no survival of the fittest – this is actually designed to ensure an equality of product for all consumers...The industry, of course, is the National Football League [NFL],” Bashir said.

Watch Bashir ponder the NFL and socialism via MSNBC:

Bashir went on to cite a 60 Minutes interview wherein CBS’ Steve Kroft asked NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, “I mean that’s socialism isn’t it?”

“It’s a form of socialism. And, it’s worked quite well for us,” Goodell responded.

However, what Bashir “forgot” to mention in his "See? Socialism works!" monologue is the rest of Goodell’s answer to Kroft's question:

So we try to combine socialism and capitalism. How can we socialize by sharing our revenue in a way that will allow every team the ability to compete?

It's not just socialism. The NFL is essentially a cartel, albeit a legal one, thanks to a limited exemption from anti-trust laws granted by Congress more than 50 years ago.

Ah, well, that is a little different from simply saying, “Yep! Socialism's the thing for me!”

“The NFL has a $6 billion revenue share deal with the television networks – one of which, our own NBC, will televise this weekend’s ultimate climax and this game alone is expected to attract the highest audience in television history,” Bashir continued.

“So if this works for sport, why can’t it apply to politics?” Bashir asked, ignoring the logical fallacy of assuming that a particular affirmative can universally apply to all situations.

“Why can’t the Republican and Democrat candidates for president each be allocated an equal dollar amount, from a central pool of money? Advertising time could also equally shared so that we’d never have a repeat of last week in Florida where Mitt Romney had 12,000 ads and poor Newt Gingrich played just 200,” Bashir said.

“Of course, politics can be just as aggressive as football but the candidates would be on equal footing. They wouldn’t have to be petrified by a shady Super PAC, coming out nowhere with millions of dollars for one particular candidate and then blowing everyone else out of the game,” Bashir continued.

“And don’t say that’s un-American or against the spirit of the game. Because that is the very essence of the most popular game that’s ever been played in this country. And this is probably why I’ve grown to love the game, myself, because it means that fans from Minnesota to Manhattan, from Medford to Miami, can wake up at the beginning of a new season and genuinely believe that their team has a change to be there on Super Sunday,” Bashir said.

“That’s the America that all of us love and want to see even if it has been brought about by what some call socialism,” Bashir proudly concluded.

Final thought: Given that several critics have also accused commissioner Goodell of running the NFL like a “dictator,” should politicians model themselves after that as well?

(H/T: Weasel Zippers)

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