Few also matched Hillary for auto-descriptives like polarizing, divisive, irritating or annoying.
Enter LeBron, Le Decision and Le Cirque.
Does it surprise that Ohio is still awash in Bronhate 3 weeks after The Decision? No. In fact, if anything, Bronhate seems to be growing, spreading, spilling into toxic vats of accumulated frustration stirred by a national media with no scruples or accountability for the resulting vomit.
Even less surprising, no one and no place is immune, including Akron, where the 1st attempt to run James out of town can be found on a billboard which would deny LeBron his "home."
And this is news because?
Because a single (as far as we know) convergence between "vast right wing conspiracy" and vast Bronhate kookocracy has emerged to exploit or encourage such hate.
Because James, unlike Hillary, is not entitled to 24/7 Secret Service protection that would deter kooks inspired to act; kooks who could, at any moment, express their kookiness in less benign ways.
Because hating Bron has become a reliable scratch for media outlets itching for relief from summer news doldrums.
Because we are all witnesses, for better or worse, to hopefully better though likely worse.
WEWS (Cleveland):
Less than a month ago, billboards and signs posted between Cleveland and LeBron James's hometown of Akron implored him to stay. Now one local marketing company wants to make sure James, who was born and raised in Akron, knows he may be welcome there, but he's no longer home.
A billboard says "Welcome Home LeBron," but there is a big red 'X' over home. The second line poses a question: "How does it feel to be a sidekick?," a reference to James' decision to join Dwayne Wade on the Miami Heat. Sidekick is underlined in red. The message then ends with "Go Cleveland!" in gold letters.
The Omada Group, a marketing company in Akron, paid $3,000 for the billboard. [The billboard,] which is on Route 18 eastbound between I-71 and I-77, about two miles from James' estate in Bath, will be up for about a month. Matthew Palumbo, one of the principals at the Omada Group, said he hopes the billboard sparks a grassroots campaign to let James know exactly where he stands in his home state since his decision to leave.
James is scheduled to return to Akron for his annual bike-a-thon charity event next weekend. He could pass the sign on his way home from Cleveland-Hopkins International Airport.
Who is Matthew Palumbo? Don't know, don't care.
But for clarity's sake, there's a slam-dunk chance the Palumbo mentioned above is the same Palumbo co-credited with "Marketing & Developing" Hillary: The Movie, the would-be cult classic of Clinton bashing financed by right-wing activists that became the subject of an FEC lawsuit ultimately decided by the Supreme Court.
In other words, James isn't just being hated by average fans irate at his defection, he's being hated, coincidentally, by professional political operatives well-familiar with celebrity athletes who've publicly or financially supported the other side.
Take a bow King James. But also & always watch your back.
