Direction required.
Nearly two weeks ago, the western world was brought to a standstill after Kansas City Chiefs’ kicker Harrison Butker delivered a commencement speech at a Catholic university wherein he posited that some of the graduating women would be happier having children than grinding it out in the workforce and referred to the most famous woman on earth, one Taylor Swift, as “my teammate’s girlfriend.”
Condemnation rained instantly from many corners, though surprising allies popped up almost just as quickly. Whoopi Goldberg expressed support on The View, stating, “Listen, I like when people say what they need to say. He’s at a Catholic college, he’s a staunch Catholic, these are his beliefs, and he’s welcome to them.” The staunch leftist and atheist Bill Maher shocked his audience on HBO’s Real Time saying, “I can’t express how much this guy is not like me. He’s religious. He loves marriage. He loves kids… And he’s now history’s greatest monster. Again, I don’t agree with much with this guy, but I don’t get the thing. He said… ‘Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world.’ Ok, that seems fairly, like, modern. ‘But I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world.’ I don’t see what the big crime is. I really don’t.”
Hours ago, Taylor Swift’s boyfriend Travis Kelce expressed, “When it comes down to his views and what he said at Saint Benedict’s commencement speech, those are his. I can’t say I agree with the majority of it or just about any of it outside of just him loving his family and his kids. And I don’t think that I should judge him by his views, especially his religious views, of how to go about life, that’s just not who I am.”
And now all eyes turn to Kelly Slater.
The world’s greatest surfer has never been shy about sharing his learned opinion on the widest array of subjects, from crypto currencies to simple joys of not voting and, now, his double-barreled thoughts on both traditional gender roles and free speech are required. But where do you think the 11x world champion will fall on the issues? Also, what do you imagine Joel Tudor feels?
Currently more questions than answers but, hopefully, Slater appears on a podcast soon and Tudor stops lashing deadbeat college graduates to focus on these broader issues.
Story. Develops.