Style Points

Point/Counterpoint: Barack Obama and James Harrison by Saberhagendaaz

Recently, Steelers linebacker James Harrison made headlines by choosing not to accompany the Steelers to the White House for a visit with President Obama. To get to the bottom of this controversy, Style Points invited President Obama and Mr. Harrison for a gentlemanly debate on the topic. Here is a transcript of the exchange:

President Obama

My fellow citizens:

I stand here today humbled by the actions of a certain Pittsburgh Steeler, yet grateful for the thoughts and wishes of a nation.  I thank President Bush for his previous recognition of the Steelers, as well as the generosity he showed throughout the transition in offering to give me several key pieces of memorabilia.

Forty-four Steelers have now accepted the Presidential invitation to attend the White House.  The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of the post-Super Bowl hangover.  Yet, every so often the invitation must be taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms.  At these moments, Steeler Nation has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those on the gridiron, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forefathers: the Bradshaws and the Francos and all the ghosts of glories past.

That we are the midst of crisis is now well understood.  Our nation is at war, and one of the shining beacons of hope in Steeler Nation has refused his invitation to attend the White House.

Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real.  They are serious and they are many.  But know this, Steeler Nation, they will be met.

James Harrison

This is how I feel — if you want to see the Pittsburgh Steelers, invite us when we don’t win the Super Bowl.  As far as I’m concerned, you would’ve invited Arizona if they had won.

President Obama

I can no more disown the Cardinals than I can disown the entire football community.  I can no more disown them than I can my white grandmother – a woman who helped raise me, a woman who sacrificed again and again for me, a woman who loves the National Football League as much as she loves anything in this world, but a woman who once confessed her fear of passing Anquan Boldin on the street.

The Cardinals, like the Steelers, are a part of me.  And they are a part of America, this country that I love.

James Harrison

Let me ask you a question.  Why is it a big issue now that I’m not going if it wasn’t a big issue the last time?

President Obama

As William Faulkner once wrote, “The past isn’t dead and buried. In fact, it isn’t even past.” We do not need to recite here the history of Presidential invitations in this country. But we do need to remind ourselves that so many of the disparities that exist in the National Football League today can be directly traced to the mistakes passed on from an earlier generation that suffered under the brutal legacy of Paul Tagliabue.

But I have asserted a firm conviction – a conviction rooted in my faith in God and my faith in the Steeler Nation – that working together we can move beyond some of our snubs and wounds, and that in fact we have no choice if we are to continue on the path of a more perfect union.

James Harrison

They’re making a big deal out of this: “Oh, my, James Harrison is not going to the White House, he must be a devil worshiper!”

President Obama

Well, I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about now. God bless America.

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