The Myth of the Moderate

Welcome again to the Bill Bradley Collective, where this week your hosts channel their combined furor in the direction of the elected political moderate of 2021. Manchin. Sinema. Romney. Collins. Murkowski. Chances are you’ve been inundated with the names of these five U.S. senators through the Trump/Biden presidential news cycles, but why? Because they allegedly straddle the lines of left and right, of liberal and conservative, much to the admiration of modern news outlets and political journos, merely to fulfill the false narrative that “moderates” broker deals and “moderates” bridge the gap between the opposed sides of the political aisle. A complete fallacy, and one your noble hosts aim to explain this week, but not before submitting a pair of somewhat collective rants aimed at two principals: an enigmatic pariah who formerly ran the Brooklyn Nets backcourt and the NFL’s most influential scribe/hypeman. Join us, as Zak and Andrew break down the details of and fallout from Kyrie Irving’s removal from the Nets’ 2021-’22 campaign amidst vaccine refusal and nonsensical explanation via Instagram; and Ed brings us home with a takedown on of ESPN’s Adam Schefter in the fallout of the Jon Gruden termination and recently brought to light editorial malfeasance performed at the seeming behest of the Washington Football Team’s upper management.