NFL Protests

lol. k.

lol, The National Felon League in meld down mode. I wonder how the voters in the electoral college majority red states feel about the issue.

The ironic part about all of this is that the huge full-field flag displays, the military participation, the flyovers, the wounded warrior events, the anthems, the camouflage added to uniform designs and the soldier homecoming events before NFL games is all paid for by millions and millions of dollars from the Department of Defense. It's nothing more than a massive advertising campaign for war and government. I don't think people even realize that's what patriotism has turned into. Why do they need to spend taxpayer money on this? The national anthem didn't start getting played before sporting events until WW2.

I personally watch sports to get away from the endless negativity the media shoves down everyone's throat continually. Save the patriotic ad campaigns for the 4th of July for those who wish to participate. Of course this won't happen because the NFL isn't going to give up their millions of taxpayer dollars.

I don't particularly like to see politics and sports mixed and I certainly don't view athletes in any sport is being the brain trust I'd want to follow. Nonetheless this is becoming huge and certainly will have more impact on coming elections than all the political advertising combined. So for me who doesn't watch football anyways, I'm pretty much laughing as I see it as driving a nail in the extremist left's position.

Attendance is dropping, people are cancelling their Direct TV and getting refunds, teams are being booed (including the Patriots), advertisers are cancelling player sponsorship contracts, people are burning their team gear and season tickets while Villenueva jerseys are the number 1 seller and it's only the start. It looks like it's likely to get a lot bigger before it gets any smaller.

Yes, players have the right to protest but people also have the right to use the n-word. I believe the 'majority' of voting Americans are going to end up viewing it as about equal. Just as polls showed the majority of American's being against tearing down historical monuments and agreeing with Trump's assessments after Charlottesville, guess which political party is going to come out way ahead here.

My dad used to say 'if you sleep with dogs you get flees'. Here's a factual look at the dogs the left are choosing to sleep with:

www.facebook.com/newlypress/videos/1897845940479778/

I'm pretty sure the right in America is going to be far more swayed by America than they are by these pieces of crap who have never done anything for their country. Enjoy Trump and Republican control for 7 more years, the red states are getting redder by the day.



Here's the protest their loyalty will vote behind:

www.facebook.com/excaliburnewsnetwork/videos/1187981057978096/



You folks are of course free to back whoever you chose to back, take whatever stand you chose to take. I'll chose to back this man who happens to be wearing the 1st Infantry Division patch, a patch and man I would have died for:



Wait and see what happens when the right starts to boycott NFL advertisers. We'll see who has more character, the left or right.

I think today's games are going to tell us where this is going to go. The players already know what the fan reaction will be. We'll also be seeing the same situation unfold soon as the NBA swings into action.

philsbosoxfan while your post is very eloquent and I do understand and respect the point you are making I believe that you have made a couple of errors in your analysis. The issue that drove Kaepernick to protest is not really a left vs. right one, but is the desire to call attention in dramatic fashion to the all too frequent killing with impunity of black Americans by police who then face no or minimal repercussions. Also the broader issue of racial injustice is an underlying item.

The use of the flag as a symbol is a long standing tried and true way to get that attention and has been often used by all sides in most any fraught political debate. In this instance, the right is using the "respect the flag" argument to disempower and deflect from Kaepernick's point of protest. In fact his action is no different than when a politician wears a flag pin (remember the strum und drang when Obama didn't sport one early in his campaign) or when the current White House occupant hugs a flag to show his alleged patriotism.

There is a famous quote, "Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel" that has been in existence in one form or another since at least the days of Samuel Johnson. It is used to end argument when suitable rejoinder is unavailable. I am saddened to note that your picture on the soldier missing his legs is an emotional appeal that falls into that category. The right and freedom of Kaepernick to do what he did is EXACTLY what every soldier is fighting for and in fact takes an oath to defend (whether or not they fully comprehend what they are swearing to).

You are equally free to disagree with what the players have done, but in doing so in the way you have you have fallen for the style and failed to address the substance. I know from your posts that you are a thoughtful individual and I was surprised that you took the position you did the way that you did. Not that I have any idea of your politics; left, right, center or none but you resorted to the kind of appeal that I thought was beneath you. There are a lot of ways to love your country and show patriotism and I think that if you reflect on it you will agree.

Never thought I'd see someone try to equate taking a knee to non-POC using the n-word, but here we are...

That article says it all, this is a non-issue.  Race is not the reason more people are shot and killed by police.  Police are gun happy regardless of race, that is an issue.  As a society no one should be shot and killed by police unless it just can't be avoided.  At the same time that won't solve this issue.  This is much more about culture and economics.  This whole issue is just looking at the end result and not the cause.  They assume race is the cause and it's not.

All you rich athletes if you want to make a difference give back.  Build and fund things like youth centers, community centers, better schools, college funds/scholarships and maybe most importantly jobs in the areas that need it.  Then help change the culture from my skin color determines my life to hard work does.  Making the right choices.

The Michael Bennett saga just proves how far we have to go.  The video clearly shows him do something no one else was doing.  It wasn't about race, but what he did.   So they detained him because he didn't get on the ground.  He even admits in video OK I get it.  Then launches an attack on police.  

For every Michael Bennett there is a Tamir Rice. And the fact I had quite a few names to pick from - just from examples in recent years - goes to show that this problem is more serious than 85% of the population thinks it is.

I didn't say that the country has failed black communities. The article you linked and agreed with said our country has failed the black communities. And I have no idea what anything else you said has to do with this conversation. 

I think it brings the question that if one side is misinterpreting the meaning behind the protest, then at some point it has to become the responsibility of the side that's protesting to know that their protest is going to be misconstrued. That's why this week was huge.

I tend to laugh at the uproar that the protesting has brought, particularly within the hypocrisy of people using free speech to denounce other people using free speech. (Something that applies to both parties) And of course the double standard with regards to being "for 'Murrica" and what constitutes patriotism (ie conflating protesting with not being American, conflating not supporting the President with not being American, and conflating waving the Confederate flag (you know, a state that left and was temporarily at war with America) with being American)

After a while, my stupid tolerance meter feels up and it just doesn't become funny anymore. I just think about these people protesting the NFL and it's sponsors (I think it's cute, albeit slightly annoying when people think they matter more than they do) and I think about them going and voting in elections and that scares me. I mean I can laugh at every Tomi Lahren rant or Fox News post but then it doesn't become funny when people are eating it up.

But hey, I mean the players can just as easily protest when nobody is watching so that nobody is inconvenienced or has to think about things.

It's great that some people have the talent and disposition to escape from difficult circumstances and make a good life for themselves and their families. But for every one of those folks there are hundreds working for less than a living wage because they are simply average people who happened to be born into circumstances where there is little money, poor schools and lack of basic services.

Meanwhile what do they see? Pirates in the financial industry crash the economy and walk away with millions, no one goes to jail despite committing massive fraud. Steve Mnuchin whose company was one of the worst offenders not only sold crap mortgages, but then ripped people off in the foreclosure problem sabotaging what little the government did even as it bailed out banks. And now he's the freaking Treasury Secretary who has the balls to say just today that the new tax plan won't benefit Trump although he won't (can't) supply the details.

You say only 1 in 22 black people are shot by cops as opposed to one another, what the hell do you think the ratio for that is if you're white? And how many of those shot by police were unarmed? Or maybe you're all ok that you can work full time at WalMart (and other minimum wage places) and make so little that you're still eligible for food stamps, you all ok with that? What about any business model that has people work full time and not be even at the poverty line let alone above it?

It's interesting that all those supposed lefty countries like France, Germany, Canada can provide health care for ALL their citizens, free college for those who qualify in many cases and a better overall quality of life than we have done. I'm not saying they are perfect and that the USA doesn't have a lot to recommend it, but I'd bet that if yo had a choice you'd all rather live under these left wing regimes than the oppressive right wing governments like Russia, China and the like where you don't have the right to a fair trail and the rule of law is pretty much nonexistent. And don't talk about the supposed left wing countries like Cuba or Venezuela because they are no country ruled by an autocrat can ever be considered a liberal, progressive state no matter how they try to dress it up with rhetoric.

If you're honest with yourself you can see that many folks that live in poor communities, especially those people of color, may feel like they live in conditions closer to Russia than to Sweden and when they feel that the rule of law doesn't protect, well sometimes they may just have to take a knee, sure beats taking up a gun.