Today's Daily Schadenfreude: Matt Hasselbeck and Mack Strong

Who, you say, are Hasselbeck and Strong? Well, they're two members of the Seattle Seahawks, who are preparing to host "my" Tampa Bay Buccaneers this Sunday in the teams' NFL season opener (see how neatly I made this post relevant to America's Wang™?).

They're also wingnut assholes*, which of course makes them perfect for schadenfreude. (Hmmm ... kind of a football-heavy day here at Blast Off!, eh? Anyway ...)

It seems that Hasselbeck (#8) and Strong (#38) were invited to appear at an August 27 fundraiser for Rep. Dave Reichert (R-ight of Attila) of Auburn, Wash., about midway between Seattle and Tacoma. Also appearing at the fundraiser was one Drunky McStagger. As you might imagine, Drunky doesn't get out to blue states like Washington very often, let alone the very blue area around Seattle (except, obviously, for Reichert's skillfully gerrymandered district).

So, off go Hasselbeck and Strong to meet their hero and to present him with a #43 Seahawks jersey. Only they didn't think about the fact that the majority of their fans aren't exactly big fans of Drunky:

Maybe in really red Republican states, it would not have been a big deal. But Washington is a blue state, and deep, deep Democratic blue in King County. So objections were raised, and Hasselbeck heard them and read them. He got nasty voice mails, e-mails and text messages.

"I had no idea," Hasselbeck said.

One guy told him: "I hate you, I'll never wear your jersey, I'll never like the Seahawks again."

"Huh?" Hasselbeck thought. "Seriously?"

"Politics can be very mean and dirty," he said. "The things politicians say about each other, and what activists say, I had a brief glimpse of that for a couple of days.

"If I ever had any questions about whether I wanted to run for office, I now know the answer -- I don't."

As a quarterback, he's used to getting booed. "But this was a whole new level," he said. "I was very surprised how mean (they were)."

As evidence were these responses to Angelo Bruscas' blog posting on seattlepi.com:

"How dare Hasselbeck declare Bush an honorary Seahawk," wrote one. "Who is Matt speaking for? Bush is no Seahawk. He is the worst president of my lifetime, and I'm almost 60. Shame on you, Matt."

"To learn that two of the most popular Seahawks are strong (Bush) supporters ruins the season for me and my family," wrote another.

And Timothy P. wrote: "Just goes to show you that being a great athlete doesn't make you smart."

Among the right-wing rebuttals: "Amen! It's about time that someone broke through the liberal haze in this state. I don't know about anyone else, but the Seahawks gained another fan and ticket buyer."

And this: "He's the president of the United States. You liberals are the nastiest, most hateful people I know. I'm ashamed of Seattle."

Yes, we liberals are nasty and hateful. Now, as someone once said, go fuck yourself.

Anyway, where was I? .... oh, yes, the Seahawks love Drunky. Or ... maybe not.

Though the Seahawks invited their players, they did not want to be associated in any other way with the fundraising event.

"Our philosophy has always been, don't mix these things (politics and sports)," Wright said. "We try to be neutral. With individual players and their preferences, it's up to them."

But when asked if the jersey presentation made it look like it was connected to the team, Wright said he could see how someone would conclude as much.

So, while the Seahawks as an organization certainly deserve a dose of schadenfreude, it's Hasselbeck and Strong who got an edumacation about what the real world is like. And Hasselbeck thought it would be a "thrill" ... heh. Congratulations, guys -- today's Blast Off! Daily Schadenfreude is for you!

(h/t Eschaton commenter notaboomer)

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* No, now that you ask, I don't suppose I'd say that to their faces.

Well, maybe Hasselbeck. He seems like kind of a wuss. Or is that his goofy sister-in-law Elisabeth, co-host of The View? Sometimes I get my batshit crazy wingnuts confused.