Is it possible to manufacture outrage as a profit strategy? Yes.  Brand imagery is part of the overall business model for any business. Begin with an ideological executive office; consider a manufacturing model dependent on a China/Asia supply chain; add a dose of political calculations into the mix; turn loose the actuaries and a unified CFO and CEO could easily find a way to turn market grievance into profit.
I’m not saying that NIKE is manipulating their market price.  However, I am saying if they were to consider their brand scale to enhance financial results, and buying back shares of their own stock to be timed with coordinated media events, you could see a benefit behind the controversy.
It just strikes as too coincidental the latest NIKE “issue” happens at the beginning of a new financial quarter.  Nah, probably nothing.

(Via CNBC) Nike is pulling sneakers featuring an early American flag after former NFL football player Colin Kaepernick told the company it shouldn’t sell a shoe that he and others consider offensive, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday evening, citing people familiar with the matter.
Nike shares were falling less than 1% in premarket trading Tuesday following the news. Shares had closed Monday up nearly 2% and have rallied 15% this year, bringing the retailer’s market cap to about $134.2 billion.

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Megan Rapinoe is the co-captain of the U.S. women’s national soccer team and a rabid hater of President Trump.  Ms. Rapinoe refuses to sing the U.S. national anthem; kneels during ceremonies to make her hatred for America visible; and grabs every microphone to tell the media about her politics in an effort to increase her resistance credentials.
The age-old axiom is: ‘be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it”. Today, President Trump brilliantly responded to Ms. Rapinoe.  First, by calling out her arrogance in declaring victory before she even played the World Cup matches; and secondly, by inviting the entire team to the White House “win or lose”.
The pressure is now upon Ms. Rapinoe. That pressure overlays a preexisting, unstable and tenuous psychological condition related to her tribal self-identification and commercial aspirations. This dynamic is a recipe for implosion. It will not end well for her.

(Tweet Link)

During a White House event to announce the “Second Hiring” initiative, President Donald Trump took a moment to thank departing White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders [Video and Transcript]

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[Transcript] […] THE PRESIDENT: Thank you.
And I thought maybe I’d just a take moment. So, at the White House — and been with me now three and a half years, before I won, before the election — is a person, a friend, a woman — a great, great magnificent person, actually — named Sarah Huckabee Sanders. And she’s very popular. She’s very popular. (Applause.)
And — and she’s done an incredible job. We’ve been through a lot together, and she’s tough but she’s good. You know, you also have tough and bad, right? (Laughter.) She’s tough and she’s good. She’s great.
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When fifteen world leaders were all given the opportunity to sign the united D-Day Proclamation all the leaders put their names on the bottom of the document… Not Trump.
President Trump boldly penned his signature on the top of the proclamation.  According to reports (likely tongue-in-cheek) his reasoning was simple: ‘America Is The Reason The Rest Of You Aren’t Speaking German Right Now’...

(Axios Source)

Gotta love our President !  Always putting America on top.
Trump really is like General George S. Patton.
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Journalists Sara Carter and John Solomon sit down for a lengthy discussion of the multi-year weaponization of the DOJ, FBI and intelligence apparatus to target Donald Trump and his administration. This is the biggest political scandal of our lifetime.

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The conspiracy to stop, undermine and overthrow the presidency of Donald Trump is also the greatest opportunity in modern political history to confront corruption within the U.S. federal government. There can be no ‘moving on’ until every measure is taken to hold these participants accountable for their unlawful and unconstitutional effort.
Every person who has read the extensive research into this conspiracy MUST contact their representatives and let them know that We The People are fully aware of the actions that took place; and we will NOT accept any effort to cover-up what has happened. That notification is our first step. This is what we can do. ‘A republic if we can keep it’!
If we do not raise our voices, today, tomorrow and for as long as it takes; and demand a full reckoning of the uncovered corruption over the past three years; the administrative state will simply bury it. There is no doubt the weaponization of our government will happen again; only the next time we will not be as fortunate to have a President that can withstand the onslaught on our behalf….
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Please Mr. President, please close the U.S-Mexico border.  It will be painful, but economic pressure is the only pressure likely to create change.  Force Mexico to take action.

EL PASO, TX — On Wednesday morning, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin K. McAleenan hosted a press conference in El Paso, Texas to discuss the impact of the dramatic increase in illegal crossings that continue to occur along the Southwest border.

(Tweet Link)

“CBP is facing an unprecedented humanitarian and border security crisis all along our Southwest Border,” said McAleenan. “And nowhere has that crisis manifested more acutely than here in El Paso Sector. Here in El Paso, we have almost 3,500 migrants in custody this morning, in facilities designed for many fewer. We had over 1,000 apprehensions on Monday. The vast majority are families from Central America.”
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Mrs. Michelle Malkin delivered a strong call-to-arms at CPAC surrounding the insufferable Big Club’s republican corporate agenda toward immigration.
Wolverine Speech and Transcript Below:

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[Transcript] Good afternoon. Thank you to CPAC for the invitation. My name is Michelle Malkin. I identify as an American. A proud, unhyphenated, unapologetic, fully assimilated American. My pronouns are U.S.A.
America is good and America is great. Of these basic truths, there is or should be little dispute among us here. But two questions loom large: 1) For how long will the America we grew up in remain good and great? And 2) To whom shall we entrust the existential responsibility of securing the goodness and greatness passed down peacefully for generations?
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The protests, turned riots, are named ‘Yellow Vest’ after the high-vis jackets that are required in all French automobiles.  The protestors wear the vests amid their fury over rising fuel prices;  However, the protests have now evolved into a direct confrontation to the presidency of Emmanuel Macron.

According to media reports over 5,000 police were deployed as angry protestors began breaking stuff, smashing store windows and battling with government riot squads.

Despite the show of force by police the crowd overwhelmed their positions and set up barricades to block any effort by the French government to break up their protests.  Check points along the Champs Eleysees and Arc de Triomphe were taken over by the scale of the crowd.   However, it’s not just Paris – disruptive protests are happening throughout France.

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President Trump has empowered South Korean President Moon Jae-in to be the tip-of-the-spear for friendship-based face-to-face negotiations with North Korea with the goal of a denuclearized peninsula.
Though it was a very unconventional approach, President Trump created the foundation for stability and amicable regional relationships by fracturing the controlling influence of Beijing, China over Chairman Kim Jong-un.  Amid many international accomplishments, the results in North Korea are a truly remarkable exhibition of how the Trump doctrine uses economic power to achieve national security objectives.
During the public bilateral discussion, President Moon Jae-in carries a message to President Trump from Chairman Kim Jong-un; and President Trump announces the likelihood of a second summit with Chairman Kim in the “not-too-distant” future.

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President Donald Trump Delivers Remarks and Participates in a Signing Ceremony for H.R. 5515, the “John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019” at Fort Drum, New York.  Start time 2:30pm EST
UPDATE: Video Added

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