Trump kept up his attacks on athletes who “take a knee” during the playing of the National Anthem, as a protest against racism or a protest against Trump. And he urged fans to boycott their games.
Some teams stayed in their locker rooms during the playing of the Anthem. Some took a knee. Some didn’t.
On Twitter, there is a hashtag #takeaknee
As usual, Trump used his loose lips to sow dissension and chaos. That is his specialty.
Everything is all about him.
Some of the teams like the Seahawks and Steelers are staying in the locker room during the national anthem. This is the perfect response to Trump’s assertion that those that “offend” our flag should be fired. This action makes the president look foolish if the whole team sticks together on what is really a free speech issue. Teachers, take notice; if you protest, stick together. We did it in the seventies, and you can do it now, unless you prefer to be lead like sheep to the slaughter.
This has only been going on in the NFL since 2009: http://www.snopes.com/nfl-sideline-anthem/ It’s just another corporate jingoistic scam.
The bigger question, that I have yet to see anyone address, is why we even play the national anthem before sporting events at all. To me this is a major part of the trivialization of love of country (I despise the term patriotism). The only place that the playing of any national anthems at sporting events is appropriate is when national teams are represented or at the Olympics. The same holds for the reciting the pledge of allegiance, especially with its Cold War revisions, before school or at any public function. At least that’s my opinion. I go to the bathroom whenever there’s a national anthem recited at inappropriate public events and then come out when it’s over.
From what I understand, it didn’t used to be a thing. It started in the 80s after the NFL and other sports leagues got lots of money from the Pentagon to do it. That was also the time the Pentagon started giving Hollywood lots of money to make pro-war, pro-military movies. It followed the sixties and seventies when, justifiably, war and the military fell out of favor in the country and people actually stopped to think before reflexively “supporting the troops”. The idea was to gin up “patriotism” (nationalism). USA! USA! Worked too.
GregB
As usual on point 2 likes
The roots of the pledge would shock the typical Trump supporter .
Well, yes, the pledge was written by a socialist, and there was no mention of God in it. The “under God” phrase was added in the 1950s.
The Pledge didn’t even exist until 1892 when Francis Bellamy, a Christian socialist, wrote it. It was many decades later before it came into wide usage and virtually mandatory in many situations. America is one of the few nations that has a pledge of allegiance. This country has so many patriotic litmus tests: the national anthem, the Pledge, the protocols that go along with those two rituals; were you standing, did you put your hand over your heart, etc. A country that wages so many unnecessary wars needs compliance and obeisance; these rituals are designed to bolster obedience to the national agendas of the moment.
This is not a free speech issue. The players are using the company’s platform to express their political views. The company has a right to allow that or not.
Amazing that people are thinking of the NFL as some sort of force for good. They are a BUSINESS. They did nothing about the concussion data and players’ health. If ratings fall, then owners will can the protests.
If anyone is looking to millionaire football players for moral guidance, you need help.
I don’t look to millionaire football players for any moral guidance. However, if they are protesting against Trump they are doing some good for this country.
There was a photo of the Indiana Colts kneeling for the national anthem that was shown in the NYT. Here is a quote:
“..many of the Indiana Colts knelt for the national anthem, the exact protest action Mr. Trump demanded players be fired for.”
The platform they are “using” would not exist without the players, and no one gives up their right of free speech to their employers on issues not directly related to the responsibilities of their job. Even then, only speech directly related to company operations and information may perhaps be limited. Those in the stadium paid, those watching on broadcast TV did not, so it is a public event by that measure. The players have every right to respond to the anti-constitutional remarks made by Dumpsterfire who once again shot himself in the foot.
Jack,
Absolutely incorrect. First, players come and go. The average NFL career is 3 years. The owners, stadium, and tv contracts provide the platform.
Second, most workers can be fired “at will”. And yes, companies can and do limit free speech:
http://www.kktv.com/content/news/Home-Depot-slams-its-workers-America-Was-Never-Great-cap-380168731.html
“Atlanta-based Home Depot Inc. says workers aren’t allowed to wear items reflecting political statements.”
Also, after Charlottesville, some people identified as white supremacists lost their jobs even though the rally was done on personal time:
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Berkeley-white-supremacist-electrician-out-of-a-11824760.php
In short, employees are free to speak, but then companies are also free to fire.
Sheep to the slaughter prevails in too many situations. Even the “union people” have been complicit, placing self interest above children and teachers. In NYC chapter leaders had two choices: pay homage to an incompetent and ruthless principal or go out on a limb for your members, knowing you would not get union support most of the time.Now that Trump is in ugly power, people are protesting, for the very idea of a union is slammed by him.
Reporters should start following up with any Republican politicians to ask them about displaying the Confederate flag which represents people who hated the American flag so much that they replaced it. They should go on record saying that anyone who displays that is not “honoring our flag” or be forced to defend their hypocrisy.
Exactly.
I don’t understand how taking a knee during a song is unpatriotic, but flying the flag of a country that DOESN’T EVEN EXIST ANYMORE and was created in OPPOSITION to the U.S., is not.
Good point.
Trump believes we should show respect for those who were traitors to our flag. How is that “our heritage”?
Damn good point!
Yet another reason that Trump is, in some perverse ways, a blessing in disguise. Do you think these teams would openly come out in favor of “taking a knee” if they didn’t have to react to the awfulness that is Trump? Simply by being as odious as he is, Trump is forcing a lot of people to openly and actively take more liberal positions than they would otherwise just to distance themselves from him.
If Trump keeps it up, everyone will soon be taking a knee. Perhaps he should stop trying to get ESPN personnel fired, and athletes fired, and insulting women, and defending white supremacist hate groups, and start governing our country.
So here is what is really happening.
Whenever there is truly bad news about to break, Trump creates a massive diversion.
The news tonight is that Jared Kushner has been using a private email server to conduct government business.
Trump doesn’t want to deal with that.
So he does what he usually does.
He creates a nonsensical diversion so we don’t notice that Jared Kushner did exactly the same that he criticized Hillary Clinton for.
Guess we should start chanting: “Lock him up!”
Is Helena an option?
Hillary had a secret server connected to Putin ?????
Yes that was sarcasm
Your right….but is it Kushner or is it that he wants to shut down the Federal Govt over not getting a health care repeal. My husband is a Fed employee, and we have prepared for a shutdown.
Kushner used private email to conduct White House business
…The use of personal email accounts in the Trump White House has been somewhat common, even though the president has been a harsh critic of Clinton’s private email habits, frequently leading “lock her up” chants as he traveled across the country on the campaign trail.
“It was an incredibly effective attack,” said Evan Siegfried, a GOP consultant. “He did a great job of injecting the emails into the mainstream.”…
http://www.politico.com/story/2017/09/24/jared-kushner-private-email-white-house-243071
Steve Bannon and Renee Preibus also used private email servers for government business.
Don’t expect an outcry from Republicans or any demands for an investigation.
Right on, Diane. Dump is a master of DECEIT…and may I add also dump is a master of promoting pure SCUM and half-baked truths (lies).
I just had lunch with one of my best girlfriends. She made the comment about how Trump has expressed religion more than any other recent president. [She knows that I can’t stand him. How can a compassionate, educated person believe that tRump cares anything about religion? He certainly doesn’t demonstrate anything religious in his personal life or public life. Grrrrr!!] It feels great to blow off some steam. Thanks, Diane!
Therlo,
Because he doesn’t know how to do that!
The pres shouts inflammatory rhetoric that gets his proverbial base all worked up.
Then he backs off, changes his mind, delays, or back peddles.
However, his base never learns about that because they do not watch the news (probably not even fox) – – they only read his tweets.
So – he keeps the angry mob all riled up and can still hide his ineptness (health care, wall, budget, etc. etc.) and back peddling.
And comment above is on target. Any need for distraction, he goes to the crass, angry white man routine to fire up the base and distract the news.
Just wait and see if that was the scenario when WikiLeaks released Podesta’s and the Secretary’s emails 6 hours after his hideous “grab women” video came out… and if he knew.
Take the media off the story of healthcare as he bribes the senators. Take the media off the story of Russia investigation as his former workers roll over and spill the beans.
And yes… Kushner email story as well. It wasn’t as bad as Hillary… blah blah blah liar.
hy·poc·ri·sy
NOUN
the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one’s own behavior does not conform; pretense.
synonyms: dissimulation · false virtue · cant · posturing · affectation · speciousness · empty talk · insincerity · falseness · deceit · dishonesty · mendacity · [more] (from Bing)
Here’s the state of Ohio oversight process for charter schools:
“In an e-mail to the 19-member state board, DeMaria explained, “Both the school and the sponsor have to sign the application for the Dropout Prevention and Recovery Program designation. The sponsor’s signature indicates that the sponsor has verified the mechanism by which students meet the eligibility requirements to be enrolled in the Dropout Prevention and Recovery Program. The Department relies on these representations. The Department validates that a majority of students meet the age requirements for eligibility, but does not collect other student level information relative to eligibility.”
The sponsor, which is paid by the school because they get a cut of every charter dollar, submits information to the state. The state doesn’t verify or check the information.
Essentially the schools regulate themselves. The sponsor has an incentive to enroll more and more and more charter students, because the more charter students there are the more the sponsor makes.
This is AFTER the much-hyped “charter reforms” last year, where we were promised they would start regulating these schools.
“Aldis added that ECOT didn’t create the problem because it didn’t write the law or rules, and the legislature may want to reconsider allowing schools and their sponsors to confirm their own compliance.”
Aldis forgot to mention that Fordham DID write the rules – these are the rules that Fordham wrote 2 years ago when they “reformed” charter regulations.
http://www.dispatch.com/news/20170923/state-board-wont-check-if-all-ecot-claims-are-accurate
DeVos is going to Harvard where she’ll be surrounded by charter cheerleaders and not a single advocate or supporter of public schools will be invited.
Another “rigorous” ed reform debate! Limited to the echo chamber. Completely ignores the 90% of US students in public schools.
They should call these conferences what they are- promotions for privatization. They’re completely irrelevant to 90% of families.
The meeting is sponsored by Harvard’s Program on Education Policy and Governance, which is led by the Father of School Choice, Paul Petersen. They cheerlead for vouchers, charters, mayoral control–anything but public schools and elected school boards. By the way, PEPG is part of the Kennedy school, not the graduate School of Education.
Harvard is primarily a big hedge fund – look at the size of its endowment and how its managed if you question that – with a higher education subsidiary that happens to specialize in grooming young members of the Overclass. Given that, it’s no surprise that their school of education, along with the Kennedy School of Government, devote much time and energy to the hostile takeover of public education.
Diane nailed this. Another attempted distraction.
Mr. President, we’ve seen this routine how many times before? If Trump Knows Best doesn’t get new writers soon, it’s not going to last out this season, much less be renewed. Cumonyamakinmikrazyhere!
Whether intended or not, let’s not let this distract from the Republican attempt in the Senate to take away health care from and kill people.
Dear Mr. or Ms. bpollock42. Surely you recognize that all those who will be killed by the new healthcare [lol] bill are proles. No one who matters will be affected, except by the concomitant tax “relief.” I hope this alleviates your concern.
Dear Ms. Ravitch:
It has recently come to our attention that you have been using the terms freedom (TM), truth (TM), and justice (TM) in violation of the intellectual property rights of our client, Apple-Alphabet-Microsoft-Amazon-Berkshire Hathaway-Exxon-Facebook-JPMorgan-WellsFargo-Lockheed-Boeing-BAE-Raytheon-GeneralDynamics-Northrop-BOA-Citi-Goldman-USBancorp-PNC-TDGroup-CapitalOne, Inc. Being yourself an owner of intellectual property rights, you will understand our concern and doubtless heed our gentle call for you to cease and desist immediately to avoid further action. We wish you continued success with your charming “blog” and look forward to hearing from you no later than 9/24/17 (yesterday).
Sincerely,
Makem, Squirm, and Squeal, Attorneys at Law
Trump only likes the first amendment when those excercising their right of free speech say what he wants to hear. Or something he doesn’t care about. He cares naught for the constitution or the rule of law. Before all that, this has nothing at all to do with disrespecting the flag, that is a diversion away from the truth, a denial of the truth being spoken by those taking a knee.
Of greater interest and significance than this latest distraction is an old hypocrisy which I urge you all to consider asking for a public response to from both politicians and church leaders. Many so-called conservatives and “patriots” become apoplectic when they confront the fact that the first amendment guarantees the right to burn the flag, and that people choose to do so. At the same time these same people, for decades, for generations, have been utterly silent when the most basic symbol of Christianity, the cross is burned as a symbol of hate, burned for the purpose of intimidation. Such fine Christians they are……NOT! You can’t get much more anti-Christian than burning a cross in support of values and policies that are the complete antithesis of the teachings of Jesus, of the core ethos of Christianity. Impinging on and attacking the right to the pursuit of happiness as stated in the constitution is also blatantly anti-American. The KKK/neo nazi/white supremacist/etc. haters are vulnerable on this point (among many others) even though they have decided that for the time being, it doesn’t look good to keep burning crosses. Donnie Dumpster will never defend Christians and Christianity from the insult of cross burning because he needs his shock troops “loyalty”.
Remember, the Borowitz Report is a JOKE! It just sounds real. Borowitz has the Orange IDIOT’s verbiage down pat.
…………………….
Trump Invites Russian National Basketball Team to White House
By Andy Borowitz, The New Yorker
25 September 17
One day after rescinding his invitation to the Golden State Warriors, Donald J. Trump invited the entire Russian national basketball team to celebrate with him at the White House.
Trump said that he looked forward to welcoming the Russian team, calling them “much, much better basketball players than those Golden State losers.”
When reporters pointed out that the Russians had won only a bronze in the 2012 Olympics and failed to qualify for the 2016 event, Trump was dismissive, calling the Olympics “rigged.”
“You ask anyone who knows, Steph Curry is nowhere near as good as Vladimir Ivlev,” Trump said.
But Trump’s plan to replace the Warriors with the Russians hit a snag just hours after he issued the invitation, when the Russian team released an official statement declining the offer.
“We feel that appearing with Donald Trump at this time would be bad for our brand,” the Russians’ statement read.
The NFL Takes a Knee in Protest of Trump: The Daily Show
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
Published on Sep 25, 2017
At a campaign event for an Alabama senate candidate, President Trump called for the NFL to fire players who take a knee during the national anthem.
Quartz: Trump can’t win a war on race with the NFL
A week ago, just four professional football players knelt when the American national anthem played to protest against racism and the oppression of people of color in the US. But once president Donald Trump waded into the matter, more than 130 players in the National Football League (NFL) sat, knelt, or raised their fists in protest in a single day.
The unprecedented show of defiance hammers home what the NFL’s owners know all too well: No matter how much Trump has gained from fomenting racial tensions elsewhere, he can’t win that game with the NFL. African-American men make up 6% of the US population, but nearly 70% of players in the NFL. These players are the lifeblood of the league’s billions of dollars in sponsorship, merchandise, and ticket sales. Simply put, without the allegiance of black players to the game, the NFL’s business model would collapse.
Its business is already under stress. Thanks to Colin Kaepernick, the NFL quarterback who months ago kneeled at the national anthem to spur debate over race and police brutality, the league has put off many fans who believe the NFL isn’t doing enough to fight inequality. It’s also been fending off damning research on player concussions, and accusations of domestic violence and sexual assault among players…
https://qz.com/1086253/trump-doesnt-stand-a-chance-in-a-war-on-race-with-the-nfl/
This one is GOOD!
……
Trump Attacks Protesting Athletes: A Closer Look
Late Night with Seth Meyers
Published on Sep 25, 2017
Seth takes a break from breaking news to check in on how President Trump spent the weekend attacking athletes for peacefully protesting police brutality.
Trump has caused a nationwide movement of #taketheknee, as we edge closer to war with North Korea and revelations come out that Jared, Ivanka, Bannon and others useprivate email servers to conduct government business.
One of my best friends yesterday made the comment yesterday about how Trump is standing up to N. Korea, unlike his predecessors. The US needs for this to happen. She also said that Trump is the only president in recent times who speaks a lot about religion. That was something she admired.
This woman is educated, upper middle class. My only thought is that she spends too much time watching Fox. Just what is Faux spreading? She also claimed that Iran isn’t following the nuclear deal and supports Trump.
Unfortunately, there were three of us at the luncheon. The third lady, who is educated upper class, agreed. Fortunately, the discussion moved onward to other topics.
I feel overwhelmed when confronted with people like this. They are so far off from the truth. Both are compassionate people. How can they support Trump?
I guess, Carol, I would have been tempted to say, “I can’t wait to see what happens when we send a nuclear bomb to North Korea, and they send one to California. Come to think of it, I heard his ICBMs reach Chicago. Won’t that be fun to watch!”
I did make the comment that we can’t bully N. Korea. That resulted in my friend’s happiness comment about standing up to N. Korea. We all live within an hour or less of downtown Chicago. Probably wouldn’t be “fun to watch”.
North Korea is a horrible dictatorship. It should be economically isolated, even more than now.
Dropping a bomb on North Korea will unleash a nuclear holocaust that will destroy South Korea, Japan, and possibly large parts of the U.S.
Trump is not the master of “the art of the deal.” the book was ghost written by Tony Horowitz, who says Trump is a fraud. He is the master of the art of the con.
As North Korea and the United States continue to trade threats, we have little idea how the war of words is perceived to the people of North Korea because the regime of Kim Jong-un maintains an iron grip over the population, carefully controlling access to the outside world.
The country is often depicted as isolated and thoroughly out of step with the 21st century. Statistics are hard to get and often based on estimates, but what can they tell us about life in the North?
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-41228181
Watch Frontline North Korea, produced in March 2017.
It is a repressive dictatorship. Brutal.
I traveled on a tour group through S. Korea. One night was spent 25 miles from the Korean demilitarized zone. I was horrified at being that close to N. Korea. The only other place that scares me that badly is Saudi Arabia. I once was on a flight to Europe that stopped briefly in Saudi Arabia to pick up passengers. I was wearing capri pants. I knew that if I had been on the ground I would have been put in jail.