[Beren]

A lot of you weren't saying that when Barack Obama and Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid, were weighing in on the Redskins "controversy" about whether they should change their name. Indeed, when Democrat political appointees at the Patent & Trademark office cancelled the Redskins trademark, many of you were applauding.

As a matter of fact I haven't even known about it until recently.

Anyways: viewtopic.php?p=14846340#p14846340

[jimjam]

jimjam has it from a reliable source that in next chapter of Donald's soap opera,"As The Trump Turns", Donald, wearing his cute little Make America Great Again baseball cap, will make the American people aware of the clear and present danger to all citizens posed by terrorist connections between the Y.M.C.A. and ISIS.

[Drlee]

As a twenty year veteran of the U.S. Army, I also feel offended and disrespected by any action that disrespects our Nation, National Anthem, and Flag, which I proudly saluted during my service. If they wish to make a political statement, they could do it in a more appropriate time and place without offending so many people. Their actions are not bringing people together as some seem to think. It is causing division and hatred to surface.

Get over yourself.

As a twenty year veteran of the US Army myself I am proud to have served so that the citizens for whom we worked can exercise the constitutional rights we swore to defend. And not defend only when we agree with them.

I do not disagree with the fact that this is divisive. It is. My personal opinion is that these players are strengthening the opposition with this ill conceived demonstration. I would be very happy if the football players, on their own time, chose to speak out for better training for the police.

[Rancid]

Ratings are up apparently.

[Hindsite]

Get over yourself.

As a twenty year veteran of the US Army myself I am proud to have served so that the citizens for whom we worked can exercise the constitutional rights we swore to defend. And not defend only when we agree with them.

I do not disagree with the fact that this is divisive. It is. My personal opinion is that these players are strengthening the opposition with this ill conceived demonstration. I would be very happy if the football players, on their own time, chose to speak out for better training for the police.

I don't see how kneeling should be considered protected free speech when wearing logos on the helmets of the Dallas Cowboys to honor those assassinated Dallas police officers is prohibited.

Do you also agree with the Commissioner that kneeling at the singing of the national anthem is not "conveying a personal message" and is not intended as a political message in support of "a political activity or cause" and also regard this disrespect for the National anthem and the flag as completely "acceptable and noncontroversial" as the Commissioner does.

When I was a young soldier I was assigned to a unit near Nuremberg Germany. It was a combat arms unit populated with Vietnam returnees and well trained others. Suffice it to say we were not pussies. So.

A local college heard that we were having an open house at our Kasserne and challenged us to a rugby match. We thought we would dispose of these local yokels and go have a nice day. Seriously. I got the shit kicked out of me. And they don't stop every 30 seconds for Gatoraid and a rest. There is no suit of armor. When we saw the other guys come onto the field we knew we were in for it. They looked like about five miles of bad road. There was one little skinny guy on their team who picked me up (I was about 185 at the time) and stuffed me like a rag doll. We did OK and got in a few good licks but in the end I would have much rather played against the Dallas Cowboys that that crew from near Schwabach.

[Bulaba edit: warning for Rule 2 issued]

In my time in Europe, I competed in two of the yearly track meets against the other NATO allies and I came away with three gold and one bronze medal. Praise the Lord. HalleluYah.

[AFAIK]

When Obama visited the UK he talked over our anthem whilst giving a speech in front of the Queen. Of course we let it go since our politicians didn't need to distract from their inability to pass any legislation whilst controlling every aspect of government.

Mitt Romney's gaffe was funnier though.

Also, playing the anthem and waving your flag is a political act so I'm not going to criticise the players for protesting during a shallow, jingoistic display of idolatry that passes for patriotism.

[Heisenberg]

When Obama visited the UK he talked over our anthem whilst giving a speech in front of the Queen. Of course we let it go since our politicians didn't need to distract from their inability to pass any legislation whilst controlling every aspect of government.

If I recall correctly, that was an honest mistake on his part, because he didn't expect the band to start playing while he was giving his toast to the Queen.

Of course, the very existence of the United States is an insult to Her Majesty the Queen, so he is not forgiven.

[Beren]

The Obamas made some mistakes with monarchs, they are the worst kind of Americans who don't have a clue how to deal with them properly.

[Hindsite]

When Obama visited the UK he talked over our anthem whilst giving a speech in front of the Queen. Of course we let it go since our politicians didn't need to distract from their inability to pass any legislation whilst controlling every aspect of government.

There were also times when Obama showed no respect for our soldiers, flag, and National Anthem too. He certainly showed disrespect for Jesus and the Christian religion, but bowed to the Saudi King and gave praise to his Islamic faith. Saluting and honoring the flag is a sign of Patriotism for our nation, whether one is Democrat or Republican, so I don't see it as political at all. All U.S. citizens should honor the national flag regardless of politics.

[Drlee]

I don't see how kneeling should be considered protected free speech when wearing logos on the helmets of the Dallas Cowboys to honor those assassinated Dallas police officers is prohibited.

You don't?

Do you also agree with the Commissioner that kneeling at the singing of the national anthem is not "conveying a personal message" and is not intended as a political message in support of "a political activity or cause"

No I do not. The commissioner is punting. (No pun intended) It is very much a political activity. Especially now that the president has made it one.

...and also regard this disrespect for the National anthem and the flag as completely "acceptable and noncontroversial" as the Commissioner does.

I do not believe they are disrespecting the flag. I do not believe their behavior is "noncontroversial". It is, obviously, quite controversial. All the more so since the president weighed in on it in an equally obvious attempt to score points with his base.

Speaking of my playing rugby, Hindsite said: "That is because you were the pussy."

Hindsite went on to say: In my time in Europe, I competed in two of the yearly track meets against the other NATO allies and I came away with three gold and one bronze medal. Praise the Lord. HalleluYah.

I am not surprised you are good at running.....

That said, You would not have done nearly so well had the French been part of NATO.

[SpecialOlympian]

If only these athletes would do the responsible thing and not use the moment when they have the most eyes upon them to bring attention to the issue of police violence.

Personally, I find it odd that the same genius right-wing posters who were defending the free speech rights of violent nazis who run people down with cars can't find a reason to defend a football player taking a knee during the national anthem. Unless there's some other underlying issue I'm missing here, one that might cause them to give a pass to nazis while condemning Kaepernick.

[Hindsite]

What were the players kneeling about?

Donald Trump, right? It was an anti-Trump demonstration, or at least an anti-getting-cussed-out-by-a-sitting-president-for-political-activity demonstration.

No, wait. It was about free speech. Or maybe solidarity? Team owners locking arms with their players must mean solidarity.

Or maybe it was about being ungrateful, disrespecting our troops and hating America.

Kaepernick was never specifically protesting about Trump. Kaepernick had harsh words for Hillary Clinton, too. He said his protest was about African-Americans getting shot by police officers, profiled by law enforcement and labeled as dangerous thugs by society. That's a crisis that predates the Trump presidency by decades.

Then Trump insulted protesters and challenged the NFL to do the right thing concerning respect for our National Anthem and our Flag. Nobody like to be called out for the wrongs they do. It was now Trump vs. the NFL: a clash of two cultural titans known for reflexively squashing anything that stands in their way.

Owners, always careful to play both sides toward what remains of the middle, issued vague condemnations of "divisive" remarks and campfire-song affirmations about freedom and equality.

Sunday's protests were a case study in the Law of Unexpected Consequences. A protest which becomes all about the protest itself.

[colliric]

There are few times, by tradition, that our national Anthem is sung ahead of sporting competition in Australia. In Australia rules football it is only sung during the Finals series and before the Anzac Day round matches.

Your countrymen set a bad fucken example for the rest of the sporting world to the point where us foreigners are now concerned this disrespectful shit will happen during the Olympics and during any other national or international sporting event where a National Anthem precedes the match.

In Australia with our limited performances it is likely to be emulated on Anzac Day or during the Anzac Round. The AFL is already having it's own punishing backlash for it's wading into politics to promote the "YES"(for Gay Marriage) vote.

Fuck the NFL.

[Hindsite]

Bill O'Reilly: Anthem protesters disrespecting flag, country

Here’s what the NFL Game Operations Manual says regarding the national anthem, according to an NFL spokesperson:

The National Anthem must be played prior to every NFL game, and all players must be on the sideline for the National Anthem.

During the National Anthem, players on the field and bench area should stand at attention, face the flag, hold helmets in their left hand, and refrain from talking.

The home team should ensure that the American flag is in good condition. It should be pointed out to players and coaches that we continue to be judged by the public in this area of respect for the flag and our country. Failure to be on the field by the start of the National Anthem may result in discipline, such as fines, suspensions, and/or the forfeiture of draft choice(s) for violations of the above, including first offenses.

[The Immortal Goon]

The flag itself, as we use it, is an eighteenth century device used in a nineteenth century manner.

It is, in reality, a piece of cloth and whatever you project onto it, is how you feel about it. There are those of us that like to see the flag waving when smashing Confederate slime and killing Nazi scum; and we tend to think it reduces the meaning of the flag to insist that it’s only masturbation fodder before a football game in exchange for cash so rightwingers can cum about how awesome they are through their sad tears.

But you have a right to get all choked up while choking; and if seeing a company get bribed to show it does it for you more than the men and women that died killing Nazis and smashing the Confederacy, I can’t stop you.

[SpecialOlympian]

I, too, am more outraged at flag decorum than the issue of people's civil liberties being trampled. That flag stands for those civil liberties you know, you gotta respect it.

I didn't see anyone here bitching about nazis using flagpoles as weapons at Charlottesville, but to be fair their use didn't violate flag rules in the Nazi Fascist League charter.

[Hindsite]

I, too, am more outraged at flag decorum than the issue of people's civil liberties being trampled. That flag stands for those civil liberties you know, you gotta respect it.

I didn't see anyone here bitching about nazis using flagpoles as weapons at Charlottesville, but to be fair their use didn't violate flag rules in the Nazi Fascist League charter.

You must be delusional. There were no Nazis using flagpoles as weapons at Charlottesville.

[Finfinder]

Patriotism has been a marketing strategy for the NFL for a long time

"We've become the winter version of the Fourth of July celebration," said the commissioner of the NFL, Paul Tagliabue, in response to a question Friday at his annual news conference, known as the football equivalent of the State of the Union message.

"It was a conscious effort on our part to bring the element of patriotism into the Super Bowl," Pete Rozelle, the former NFL commissioner, said yesterday, about past Super Bowls.

*Many other sports use a patriotic motif to sell their products, in contrast to other entertainments (if anyone stood up to sing the national anthem before a movie or a play or a ballet, he'd be hauled out of there by security before he could finish three bars), but no sports outfit has done it quite as blatantly or successfully as the NFL."

read more it too long to post
FROM 2014 [b]The Flag and the Shield: The Long Alliance Between the NFL and US Military
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2029 ... s-military
[/b]

[SpecialOlympian]

You must be delusional. There were no Nazis using flagpoles as weapons at Charlottesville.

Wow hindsite is there some reason you refuse to believe nazis are incapable of committing violence, even thought violence against the flag, when they were carrying around the flags of nations that fought against the US?

From Unicorn Riot's articles on the preparation for the Unite the Right rally.

Link: https://www.unicornriot.ninja/2017/data ... nt-intent/

Discord users also discussed how to bring various kinds of weapons to the rally, with some of them giving instructions on how to embed screws into flagpoles or sign handles that could later be used as a stabbing weapon.

[Bulaba Khan Jones]

There were images posted in the Charlottesville thread of guys using Nazi and Confederate flags to try to impale people, and images/video of people beating the counterprotesters with their flagpoles.