Curt Schilling Isn't Mad, He Just Thinks ESPN has Some of the "Biggest Racists in Sports Commentating"

Curt Schilling went on something called "Breitbart News Patriot Forum" on something called "satellite radio" yesterday and continued to talk about the real racists and bigots, who, in case you were wondering, are not Curt Schilling. No, Curt Schilling just has opinions, and because his opinions are "conservative" he was fired from his job as a baseball analyst while liberal opinionators have the run of the place. If it isn't already clear to you by now: Curt doesn't know what the hell he's talking about.

Same, Curt. Same. Like, just a couple months ago, some guy compared Muslims to Nazis. And then just a week or so ago, some guy posted a disgusting picture on his Facebook wall purporting to show a transgender person who wanted to use a bathroom, making the point that people wanted YOU dead if you didn't want this weirdo in your daughter's bathroom.

(It was Curt.)

(These are also not opinions, they are factually dubious memes.)

Curt kept going, and you know he's in a bad spot because he's comparing himself to Stephen A. Smith.

Off all the terrible things Stephen A. Smith has said and done on that program, this is like, the most reasonable thing he's ever said. Curt is referring to early last NFL season when we were still debating whether RGIII should be the starter and Stephen A. made the point—a point that was made in print and on radio at the time as well, which he referenced—to question whether Kirk Cousins was getting the benefit of the doubt because he is white, and RGIII is black. Which is, like, a legitimate point to make in all walks of life, including sports. But this is the classic old racist white guy gambit: I'm not racist, you are reverse racist against me.

Curt then turned to Tony Kornheiser. I'd like to just pause here and note that Curt is talking about examples from guys who are essentially paid to be gas bags on television and not actually, you know, analyze anything. They are paid to elicit a reaction. Anyway. Kornheiser compared the Tea Party to ISIS in a segment last October on his Washington, D.C. radio show.

I'm not mad, I actually don't care at all. I'm just on this radio show talking about another radio segment from seven months ago. I actually think it's funny. Kornheiser did make a comparison between ISIS and the Tea Party. During the course of a wide-ranging discussion on politics—which included the difficulty Paul Ryan faced in working with the Tea Party because they have essentially refused to work with anyone because of an ideological objection to, essentially, government—Kornheiser asked his political guest whether the Tea Party was like ISIS, trying to establish a caliphate in Washington. That is, is the Tea Party trying to infiltrate D.C. politics and obstruct governance? His guest says "yes, yes, that's a very good analogy, without the violence of course."

Now, yes, this is political opinion, and it disparages a group with which Curt Schilling identifies. I understand how that would be troubling to him. But to compare Tony Kornheiser and a political journalist discussing politics to Curt Schilling posting an image macro that is factually inaccurate to the point of incoherence (not to mention offensive) is a false equivalency not dissimilar to the ones featured in the various memes Curt Schilling is fond of posting.

Curt Schilling's shared "opinions" are not opinions. They are talking points crafted from a position of ignorance and, often, hate. Posting a picture of a man grotesquely depicted as women trying to sneak into a woman's bathroom is not starting a "conversation" that "need[s] to happen." It is specifically designed to be passed around to like-minded folks and used as a zinger. the final say. "Oh you think transgender people should be allowed in different bathrooms? Well look at this guy. Boom."

If Curt had just simply posted his penises-are-meant-for-men's-bathrooms comment, he would not have been fired. That is, in fact, an opinion. And he knows this, which is why he continues to hide behind it. But he also knows he posted that picture. And the Muslims/Nazis image. He has routinely laughed in the face of ESPN's desire to avoid just these sorts of things.

This is where we get to the heart of the issue, and the hearts of many similarly minded folks: the persecution. Curt thinks he was singled out because he was conservative. There are currently entire presidential campaigns crafted around this very sentiment, campaigns that will almost assuredly lose because it's simply not true that conservatives are under attack in America. Curt was not singled out because he was conservative. He was singled out because he was posting dangerously false information from sources unknownl and it began to reflect poorly on ESPN. The company did a cost benefit analysis and determined that the benefit of keeping whatever Curt offered them was not as great as the grief his continued insubordination cost. That his insubordination skewed conservative was only coincidence.