“Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.” Rule 13, Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals

As the owner of ESPN, Disney is singlehandedly the most responsible corporation for the divisiveness in sports today. Disney seems to be directly following Saul Alinsky’s manual of political warfare, Rules for Radicals. In political warfare, Alinsky recommends adopting a symbol the community can unite behind. Former NFL quarterback, Colin Kaepernick, used kneeling during the national anthem as the symbol. And over the next year, as if directly from the manual, ESPN and Kaepernick seemingly worked in tandem implementing other Alinsky rules.

Rule 10: “The major premise for tactics is the development of operations that will maintain a constant pressure upon the opposition.” It is this unceasing pressure that results in the reactions from the opposition that are essential for the success of the campaign.

The ESPN analysts have covered “courageous” Kaepernick’s kneeling during the national anthem for over a year.

Rule 11: “If you push a negative hard enough, it will push through and become a positive.” Violence from the other side can win the public to your side because the public sympathizes with the underdog.

After a year of claiming free speech, many on the left now embrace kneeling during the anthem as a positive expression of free speech.

And culminating in the ultimate objective, Rule 13:

Rule 13. “Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.” Cut off the support network and isolate the target from sympathy. Go after people and not institutions; people hurt faster than institutions.

The original targets of the national anthem protests were police and “racist society.” However, those targets were too broad according to Rule 13. ESPN analyst Jemele Hill helped turn the target to President Trump when she called him a “white supremacist.” After President Trump called out ESPN for her comments and ultimately the NFL for disrespecting the national anthem, Alinsky’s Rule 13 was fully activated against President Trump. A battle has taken shape and as Rush Limbaugh said, “the once-great NFL was reduced to a tool of the left.”

I hope the public will remember how the once-beloved Disney took us down this path. As one of the top Democrat donors in the country, Disney has a political agenda, and they are implementing it at the expense of ESPN and their company’s stock price as viewers turn off ESPN. But more importantly, they are supporting the left’s agenda at the expense of the great pastime that used to bring us all together – sports.

Learn more at www.investpolitically.com

Carefully consider the Fund’s investment objectives, risk factors, charges, and expenses before investing. This and additional information can be found in the Fund’s prospectus. Read the prospectus carefully before investing.

Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal. Mid-capitalization companies may be more vulnerable to adverse business or economic events than larger, more established companies. The Fund is non-diversified, which means that it may invest more of its assets in the securities of a single issuer or a smaller number of issuers than if it were a diversified fund. As a result, the Fund may be more exposed to the risks associated with and developments affecting an individual issuer or a smaller number of issuers than a fund that invests more widely. This may increase the Fund’s volatility and cause the performance of a relatively smaller number of issuers to have a greater impact on the Fund’s performance. Index composition is heavily dependent on quantitative models and data supplied by third parties. Where such models and data are incorrect or incomplete, the composition of the Index will reflect such errors and likewise the Fund’s portfolio. Because the methodology of the Index selects securities of issuers for non-financial reasons, the Fund may underperform the broader equity market or other funds that do not utilize similar criteria when selecting investments. The Fund is not actively managed and therefore would not sell shares of an equity security unless that security is removed from the Index or the selling of shares is otherwise required upon a rebalancing of the Index. Real Estate investments are subject to changes in economic conditions, credit risk, and interest rate fluctuations.

Shares are bought and sold at market price (closing price), not net asset value (NAV), and are not individually redeemed from the Fund. Market performance is determined using the bid/ask midpoint at 4:00 pm ET when NAV is typically calculated. Brokerage commissions will reduce returns.

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Point Bridge Capital, LLC serves as the investment advisor, and Vident Investment Advisory, LLC serves as the sub-advisor to the fund. The fund is distributed by Foreside Fund Services, LLC, which is not affiliated with Point Bridge Capital, LLC or Vident Investment Advisory, LLC. TD Ameritrade, Edward Jones, E*Trade, Fidelity, and Charles Schwab are not affiliated with Point Bridge Capital, LLC, Vident Investment Advisory, LLC, or Foreside Fund Services, LLC.

ESPN deserves much of the blame for the national anthem protests at NFL games. Most people do not realize that Disney, the parent company (owner) of ESPN, is the third largest contributor to Democrats, behind only Google and Time Warner in the S&P 500 Index. Being a top Democrat donor might explain why Disney has infused football with left-wing, anti-American politics. The politicization of other sports is beginning, as ESPN pushes an open alt left stance on issues of race, causing a political divide that has polarized sports fans largely uninterested in politics. For over a year, ESPN has pumped dozens of stories praising Kaepernick’s “courage” for kneeling during the national anthem and continually praised his free speech rights. However, just last year, they were not concerned about free speech when they fired commentator Curt Schilling for a personal Facebook post ESPN did not like. This year, they chose not to fire journalist Jemele Hill after she called President Trump “a white supremacist” and a “bigot.” What was the difference in the two employees? One is conservative, and the other one is liberal.

Sports fans have been exercising their “free speech” by turning off ESPN. According to Nielsen and Outkick the Coverage, ESPN has lost 200,000 viewers so far in September, while other sports networks like Fox Sports 1 and NBCSN have gained 549,000 and 149,000 viewers, respectively. Disney’s stock is down over 5% this year, and ESPN is a big reason for the decline. As sports fans make their decision to turn off ESPN, they should examine if their mutual funds or other investments own Disney stock and other far-left companies. Companies are hurting their own share price to advance a political agenda.

Learn more at www.investpolitically.com

Carefully consider the Fund’s investment objectives, risk factors, charges, and expenses before investing. This and additional information can be found in the Fund’s prospectus. Read the prospectus carefully before investing.

Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal. Mid-capitalization companies may be more vulnerable to adverse business or economic events than larger, more established companies. The Fund is non-diversified, which means that it may invest more of its assets in the securities of a single issuer or a smaller number of issuers than if it were a diversified fund. As a result, the Fund may be more exposed to the risks associated with and developments affecting an individual issuer or a smaller number of issuers than a fund that invests more widely. This may increase the Fund’s volatility and cause the performance of a relatively smaller number of issuers to have a greater impact on the Fund’s performance. Index composition is heavily dependent on quantitative models and data supplied by third parties. Where such models and data are incorrect or incomplete, the composition of the Index will reflect such errors and likewise the Fund’s portfolio. Because the methodology of the Index selects securities of issuers for non-financial reasons, the Fund may underperform the broader equity market or other funds that do not utilize similar criteria when selecting investments. The Fund is not actively managed and therefore would not sell shares of an equity security unless that security is removed from the Index or the selling of shares is otherwise required upon a rebalancing of the Index. Real Estate investments are subject to changes in economic conditions, credit risk, and interest rate fluctuations.

Shares are bought and sold at market price (closing price), not net asset value (NAV), and are not individually redeemed from the Fund. Market performance is determined using the bid/ask midpoint at 4:00 pm ET when NAV is typically calculated. Brokerage commissions will reduce returns.

Median 30 Day Spread is a calculation of Fund’s median bid-ask spread, expressed as a percentage rounded to the nearest hundredth, computed by: identifying the Fund’s national best bid and national best offer as of the end of each 10 second interval during each trading day of the last 30 calendar days; dividing the difference between each such bid and offer by the midpoint of the national best bid and national best offer; and identifying the median of those values.

Point Bridge Capital, LLC serves as the investment advisor, and Vident Investment Advisory, LLC serves as the sub-advisor to the fund. The fund is distributed by Foreside Fund Services, LLC, which is not affiliated with Point Bridge Capital, LLC or Vident Investment Advisory, LLC. TD Ameritrade, Edward Jones, E*Trade, Fidelity, and Charles Schwab are not affiliated with Point Bridge Capital, LLC, Vident Investment Advisory, LLC, or Foreside Fund Services, LLC.