The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) has Cowboys owner Jerry Jones saying that any players who protest during the anthem will be disciplined and not allowed to play. The NAACP has denounced the policy as “unconstitutional.” While one can certainly disagree on the merits over the protests, teh NAACP is wrong on the constitutionality of such a policy. An employer can clearly bar political protests during work hours. Moreover, the First Amendment is primarily directed to limiting government interference or regulation of speech. While a public university qualifies as a state actor, it does not necessarily mean that protests are protected. Even on college fields, school are giving considerable leeway in setting such rules, including the recent dismissal of a college quarterback for kneeling.
Jones said
“I want [the players] to have the ammunition to tell anybody that asks them to do anything otherwise or demonstrate during that period of time, that ‘I don’t get to play if I do that. This is a workplace issue. I don’t want there to be any misunderstanding as to where I want the personnel of the Cowboys to be when we’re at the No. 1 workplace we have, which is the field and the sideline on gameday. I want to do everybody a service, as I should in leading the team, and let’s be really clear about what our expectations are.”
I have been critical of the protests but the ultimate decision of what occurs at a private business in terms of political protests is left to the owner. Notably, the owners only recently began to suggest the enforcement of the long-standing policy that no protests are allowed during the anthem. Indeed, the NFL has a rule that players during the anthem must “stand at attention, face the flag, hold helmets in their left hand, and refrain from talking” or face discipline. That does not, however, appear in the 2017 version of the NFL official playing rules. Now, as both attendance and viewership continues to fall (in part, according to polls, due to the protests), the owners appear to be changing their initial decision. As always with Roger Goodell and the owners, there seems little principle but a lot of profits in the mix on this decision. Goodell has repeatedly shown an insatiable desire to squeeze fans and sponsors alike for any profits, even as fans have left the game in droves. Now that money is at stake, the owners are suddenly calling for the respect of the flag. It is reminiscent of the scene in the Goodfellows where Pesci explains it always comes done to the dollars, “Always the dollars.”
However, while the motivation may be questionable the means is not. It would be bizarre if business owners could not prevent employees from protesting in the work place. Customers go to Starbucks for frappuccinos and fans go to the NFL for football.
Nevertheless, Tony Covington, a former NFL safety and an executive with the NAACP, declared “Jerry Jones’ comments are more than tone-deaf, more than misinformed and misguided — they are a public commitment by an NFL owner to violate his players’ Constitutional right to free speech — one of the principles on which our nation was founded.”
If NAACP pursues this as a constitutional matter in court, they will fail. The best option in such cases is a contractual claim but the NFL rules establish the right of owners to dictate such conditions. Neither the constitution nor the contract is likely to support the right of employees to engage in protests during games in my view.
NAACP = PURE RACISM
“Black Supremacy”
Gee, can the NFL get along without black players? Maybe we’ll find out.
You fancy a mass resignation? Just who is going to pay them the salaries they are getting, and for what? Commercial endorsements can bring in some revenue, provided you haven’t hopelessly trashed your own brand.
You, JT and the others blogging here don’t understand the issue, which is not disrespect for the country, not disrespect for the flag, not disrespect for veterans, not disrespect for military personnel or any of the other lame arguments that taking a knee is un-American or not patriotic. Taking a knee is a statement against black people getting killed by police with no accountability and no justice. NFL players have a unique platform to make this statement, and they have every right to do so. In fact, veterans fought and died for the right to peacefully protest, which is what they are doing. If you think you can bully them into submission, you may well be very mistaken, so the NFL might ask itself whether it can get along without black players. Yeah, maybe some of them will knuckle under, but I don’t think most of them will because this issue touches their soul.
As is typical of your other responses, you, once again, reveal yourself to be an ingrate. You really want us to worry whether the NFL can manage to survive without these big, dumb, uneducated and unskilled beings? Try, instead, asking yourself. . .can these morons get along without the NFL? Who wants them? What skills, education and training do they offer any company, anywhere? Without the NFL and the enormous checks with which they supply these dolts, these thugs would be back in the streets, of their respective ghettos, dealing drugs and pimping out women. They shouldn’t be kneeling. . .they should be flat, on their fat bellies, kissing the ground of this great nation. A country, which has given them every possible opportunity and chance to advance themselves and their families. A country, where generations of brave souls before them, have fought and died for the freedoms that they so ignorantly ignore. A country, which has granted them more blessings and gifts than they could ever imagine.
The better question would be. . .can the US manage to get along without blacks? You won’t like the answer to that one.
Oh, so the issues is the United States versus Blacks, because black people aren’t part of the US? Is that your perception? You also think all blacks are “big, dumb, uneducated and unskilled…morons….dolts,…thugs… who….pimp out women”, who were “…given every possible opportunity and chance to advance themselves and their families.”? So no black player in the NFL has any talent, education or intelligence, and their job was “given” to them by white people? Your post doesn’t seem to comprehend that black military personnel also died for your right to express these outrageously racist views. You are so deeply racist and ignorant that you should be on a government watch list.
Oh, so the issues is the United States versus Blacks, because black people aren’t part of the US?
Bam bam is not obligated to respond to your inventions and your lying about what he said.
It seems slavery will be with us forever. My question is about Equal Employment Opportunities. I thought we measured percentage of US and then demanded organizations meet those requirements. Thank goodness I am not alone! Within the NFL, representation percentages are completely ignored. Rounding off, let’s say 15% of total population is black. Certainly they have an over representation in NFL. Every commercial I see has at least one black or several, not none. Now I’m officially a racist. My percentage of total population is far greater than white represented playing football. Now has anyone made a fuss over that? Sports announcers are predominantly black (I can’t get used to women on the field as commentators on football.
Sandra, Modern Liberalism represented by H. Clinton and Obama exists to create racial, sexist, religious, etc. discord. That seems to be the major reason for their existence.
So true. In fact, here’s an interesting experiment you can use that supports your point. Take any given LBJ speech (but make sure it is one in which he isn’t using the “n” word; LBJ was fond of the “n” word). Take any given Obama or even better, any given Hillary speech from her 2016 campaign, and compare the texts side by side. If you omit the individual name at the top (and anything that identifies the date of the speech such as a reference to Vietnam or Iraq) you won’t be able to tell who said what in which speech.
Today’s Democrats are saying the same things they were saying 50 years ago while always reminding us “there is more to be done.” In essence, they don’t want to actually do anything because they know they need various isms to sustain power.
The Democratic Party is not what it was 50 years ago. It’s a conglomeration of various activist groups. Abortions with no questions. Transgenders have found their home for future transgenders. Equal Opportunity Employment. Merit pay is racist. Rioting and looting is their right. Police officers killed by minorities are OK. Chicago, bastion of all liberal thought is just fine. And they give us Nancy Pelosi (master litigator), Maxine Walters (crying for impeachment as soon as the oath was taken)? Sheila Jackson Lee. On the Senate side we have Chuck Schumer who blames everything bad on Republicans and takes credit for Democrats on anything good.
When black players and a black organization, like the NAACP, come out in support of disrespecting the flag, then yes, it is a problem having to do with blacks in this country. Damn straight, it’s a problem. When the black players and the NAACP either kneel during the anthem or voice their support for the contemptuous actions, what part of your mind prevents you from comprehending that they are also denigrating black men and women who have served honorably in our military, where many have lost their lives in support of this nation? Disrespecting the flag and showing contempt for this great country has now morphed into a symbol of black pride. I didn’t cause this bizarre behavior, and I don’t support it. You, on the other hand, do. It’s a problem that is fostered and encouraged by these players and the NAACP, where, suddenly, supporting one’s country has become taboo. Supporting the United States of America is racist. Don’t like this country? Fine. Leave. Go find your utopia elsewhere, lije in one of the hell hole African countries. See how great life is in one of those rat holes. And, yes, as I said, these players are, for the most part, with few, if any exceptions, imbeciles. Very little, if any education or skills, where teachers and professors have been forced to pass them for one class to the next for the express purpose of allowing them to play football. I make no apologies for that remark. It’s the truth. Try it once in a while. It’s refreshing.
Your problem is that you don’t understand that they are NOT disrespecting the flag or what it stands for. The flag stands for the RIGHT to peaceably protest against injustice, like the killing of unarmed black men with no repercussions. Police officers who unjustly kill black men are rarely charged and almost never brought to justice. A core value of this country is equal justice for all, and the killing of unarmed black men by the police is contrary to American values. So what can people do? They can riot, or peaceably protest. They chose the latter. This doesn’t mean that they or I don’t like this country or that we are unpatriotic. They are taking the platform they have and using it to bring awareness to the injustice they see over and over again. Now, if they gave the flag the finger, or dropped their drawers and wagged their bare asses, that might be different. Taking a knee is symbolic and peaceful. The imbecile, is you, bam bam.
Yes, I am the imbecile, and you are the one supporting the disrespectful antics of un-American and ungrateful dimwits. Dimwits who, by the grace of God, along with the vast opportunities offered them by this great country, have a job that pays them exorbitant amounts to run around on a field and crash into one another. Yes, I am the imbecile, for believing that this is the greatest country on earth and that our flag is to be treasured and revered. Yes, I am the imbecile for believing that despite any flaws or weaknesses in this country’s system–flaws and weaknesses which I am free to spend my time attempting to correct or change–it is unconscionable and beyond disgraceful to ever–ever–not show the flag, and those who fought for our freedoms, the respect and gratitude that they deserve. You see, Natacha, it is an honor and a privilege to be considered an imbecile by you, for, if you ever agreed with me, that would mean that I was like you. A loser. A malcontent. A dissatisfied and disgruntled drain on our society. Why not just pack up and leave for greener pastures? Surely, you and your ilk can find your utopia elsewhere? We’ll all help you pack.
For the last time, they do not have a First Amendment RIGHT to political speech in the work place. The NFL chose to allow the protest – which is different than having the 1A right. I hope the NAACP sues and finds out just how wrong they all are.
Maybe it’s splitting hairs, but their job is to play football, period. Who says that the national anthem has to be played before every single athletic contest, from preschool soccer to the NFL, anyway? It’s a tradition, but not the law. Athletic contests are just that–they are not patriotic rallies. Trying to force players not to take a knee over an issue they feel strongly about smacks of totalitarianism, not democracy. They are right, of course, to be upset over the unjustified killing of black men by police without any repercussions. That’s the issue here, and trying to turn it into a forum on respect for the country and respect for the flag is misplaced. Why don’t you respect their right to protest unjustified killing of members of their race by the police?
That is not the issue here. Do you believe that the Eric Holder’s DOJ Civil Rights Division cleared the police officer in the Michael Brown Ferguson shooting because they were pressured to find him not guilty? Or do you believe that if Eric Holder could have found ANYTHING to nail that police officer he would have? He couldn’t and the police officer was cleared. ‘Hands up don’t shoot’ was a media-fabricated lie.
There are unjustified police shootings of both black and white suspects to be sure, but if there is anyone a police officer does NOT want to shoot today, it is a black man. There are many outrageous settlements paid to families of victims of police shootings that may or may not have been justified. Some of these utterly useless drug dealers and drug addicts’ families, like that of Freddie Gray in Baltimore, are being paid highly questionable tax-free settlements that number in the millions.
So by your reasoning, if a UPS driver feels just as strongly as Colin Kaepernick about what he sees as the ‘unjustified killing of black men by police without any repercussions’ and wants to wear his Black Lives Matter t-shirt to work while delivering packages, does he have a 1A right to do so? Or is this UPS worker expected to wear the brown uniform required by the company for all employees to wear while at work?
It is the same deal with NFL players. They may feel very strongly about a political issue, but as employees of the team or NFL, each player is expected to dress as required, act as required, show up on time as required, and stand for 30 seconds of the national anthem on game day IF REQUIRED by their private employer OR THEY CAN QUIT.
These players have NO 1A RIGHT to bring their personal political views onto the field as employees in a league that requires otherwise. Period.
You, Natacha don’t understand that they ARE disrespecting the one unifying symbol of our country, the flag – only you see it as being done in a respectful way. Respectfully disrespecting something is still disrespecting it.
And wearing socks depicting cops as pigs, as Kaepernick has, is pretty much in-your-face disrespect for cops who are our Thin Blue Line between civility and all hell breaking loose. NFL is on the losing side of this issue and so is the NAACP.
They are protesting police killing black men without repercussions. Protest is not disrespect, except to those of you who try to turn it into that. Wiping your butt with the flag is disrespect. Taking a knee is protest. There is a huge difference. Cops who kill people without justification don’t deserve respect–they should pay for their crimes, just like everyone else must. That is respect for the rule of law–applying it to everyone, which is what our country is supposed to stand for. By kneeling, they are protesting the lack of justice for unjustified killing of black men by police. If you were a black man, you might feel the same way.
Natacha:
“They are protesting police killing black men without repercussions.”
***********************
They (and you) are arguing a myth. Every police shooting is scrutinized administratively and judicially. This is especially true for cop versus unarmed suspect. You just don’t like the results of the scrutiny which most often reveals the cops had legitimate reason to fear for their safety.
What Mespo said. You, Natacha, are wrong.
Btw, Natacha, I am mixed race and I still feel exactly the same.
The flag stands for the RIGHT to peaceably protest against injustice, like the killing of unarmed black men with no repercussions. Police officers who unjustly kill black men are rarely charged and almost never brought to justice.
Strange as it may seem to you, Natacha, coroners, prosecutors, and IAD investigators whose work it is to examine these claims are not impressed with what your feelz tell you. They’re impressed with what the actual evidence is.
Boy, are you naïve.
You fancy your fantasies about others amount to sophistication.
What people can see about you that you cannot is that the space between your ears produces absolutely nothing of value. Not one observation that instructs or that anyone not ‘Natacha’ would wish they’d made. Just continual and repeated displays of an inner ugliness.
Pray tell then how do you explain grand juries and petit juries composed of both black and white Americans in every case except one and after hearing ALL the evidence still refusing to indict or convict the officers in these high profile cases like Michael Brown or Tamir Rice or Philando Castile . Are they all racists? Are they all corrupt? Do you not respect the judgment of your fellow citizens both black and white? Is there any evidence that could change your mind?
If they aren’t disrespecting the flag, then do this kneeling elsewhere.
Damn straight. If these massive, uneducated, overpaid and unpatriotic behemoths are not being disrespectful to the flag, then they should, indeed, save the kneeling for some other time and some other place. . .like their locker rooms, where these seemingly macho and straight guys, routinely, get down on their knees for their fellow teammates.
If they really wanted to have skin in the game, they’d spontaneously kneel for 2 minutes at some dramatic point in the middle of their game.
Thousands of white people marched for Civil rights. Some were beaten, as were blacks. But they stood together. Those marches caused many changes, letting black athletes play in Major League Baseball, NFL football. Then came phenominal salaries. Maybe too much too soon, but this behavior hurts the hearts of those marchers. The NAACP, is looking for donations.
Try, instead, asking yourself. . .can these morons get along without the NFL? W
Kaepernick’s the issue of the business school at the University of Nevada. Likely lower or middle management at a hotel.
Working at a hotel, in any level of management, especially a hotel owned and operated by a large corporation, requires that an individual possess certain skills. Yes. Skills. Abilities. What skills and abilities? The ability to abide by the corporation’s rules and regulations, regardless of one’s personal beliefs. The ability to follow directions, regardless of one’s personal beliefs. The ability to make positive, and not negative, changes in the workplace. The ability to get along with others and to keep one’s personal beliefs outside of the workplace. The ability to refrain from antagonizing the paying customers by acting in a disrespectful and repugnant manner. And, last, but, surely, not least. . .the ability to present oneself in an appealing and professional manner–you think that a major corporations is going to make him a front man with a hairdo that makes him appear as though he just emerged from the gutter after a three-day binge? Nah. No hotel work for him. He doesn’t even rise to that moderate of a level. A failure on all accounts.
No. I think if he hadn’t been a football player, he’d have been something else. What the something else might be is suggested by his degree.
A degree will only take one so far. Lots and lots of people with degrees. . .lots and lots of competition. His apparent inability to follow corporate rules, his penchant for being a sh@t disturber and troublemaker, along with his unappealing appearance and manner of presenting himself, would not bode well for him in the real world and the real workplace. As I suggested, a degree will only take someone so far. He would never survive in the corporate world. Ever.
But remember, Kaepernick got himself fame and recognition and his own section in the new African American History Museum in Wash, DC — before they gave Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas a spot of honor in the museum! That’s what discrimination based on political beliefs and disrespect for real accomplishment and contribution by an African American looks like. It’s a disgrace.
In 1997, there was a public meeting called in the Bushwick school district in Brooklyn about test scores. Hardly any members of the general public were in attendance. There was a well-attended meeting in that school district (called on short notice by a principal in response to parent complaints) with many in attendance quite agitated. The issue? A white schoolteacher had read the book Nappy Hair to a class of elementary school students. (The teacher in question was a self-described ‘multicultural freak’). Priorities.
You know, counter-factual speculation is not that difficult. You’re carrying around in your head this notion that a man who spent his 20s in a supervisory position in a hotel would have the same disposition as and NFL star.
Natacha – money talks, bulls**t walks. The players will fold when it hits their wallet. CK has even folded for God’s sake. He is willing to stand for the anthem if somebody will let him play football.
“I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,” — that’s what Kaepernick said. Sure sounds to me like he’s saying he will not show respect for the flag of a country that oppresses black people. No matter how you try to spin it, that is called disrespecting the flag and the country.
Kapernick’s a meathead. Blacks are not oppressed in this country. To some extent they’re neglected. Kapernick isn’t advocating that neglect be addressed. Neither is Natacha.
Black unemployment under Obama was about 14%. Right now under Trump black unemployment is at 7%. That is real progress in the right direction. Obama did nothing to help blacks over his eight years – he had record numbers unemployed, on food stamps, rioting in the streets tearing up their own neighborhoods and small businesses. And yet these NFL idiots have now turned this into a ‘we hate Trump’ protest when the guy is actually helping the black community far more than Obama ever did. Trump is trying to help the NFL save itself from self-destruction by telling them to knock it off.
The race-baiters and those that can only see the past and not the future are the problem for the black community.
The unemployment rate’s a function of the business cycle and miscellaneous acts which render the labor market more sclerotic or less sclerotic. BO and minions promoted policy measures which made things worse than they would be ceteris paribus but how much worse it is difficult to gauge.
Taking a knee is a statement against black people getting killed by police with no accountability and no justice.
That’s a stupid gesture. What you’re complaining about is not happening. Any case you find has to be evaluated according to the granular features of that case. That task is assisted not at all by showboating by football players.
Can we just be done with “Affirmative Action Privilege” and generational welfare?
Right on with the right on , Nat
Natacha – they have a right to say whatever they want or kneel whenever they want. The police won’t arrest them for doing so. But the owners have a right to fire them for engaging in political activism on the field, alienating fans, and hurting their profits.
They may think that they are kneeling to save the whale, help kittens in shelters, or for equality. But refusing to stand during any nations national anthem is universally regarded as rude. The players may not like this rule. They may not agree with this rule. But that’s the custom in most nations around the world. Just like if the Queen’s cavalcade passed by, you were right in front, and you turned your back on her as she waved at you. That would be rude, no matter if you thought it was for animal rights or to save the trees. If your friend waved at you, and you turned your back on her, that would be rude, even if you thought you were protesting her poor choice in boyfriend. If your friend was singing on a stage, and everyone was standing in support, and you took a knee, turned around, or left, that would be rude.
Look. The fact is that studies have shown that the US is actually one of the least racist countries in the entire world. There is absolutely no comparison. Slavery still exists in African nations, for example. The Left lost elections at the federal, state, and local level. They are just searching for a cause, and their voters have fallen for it. They needed to resurrect the Civil Rights era so they could have a platform. The only problem is that our country is one of the least racist in the planet. So what do they do? Convince their followers that it’s one of the most racist countries in the planet. That all cop shootings are racist. Convince people that a double standard is entirely reasonable.
We already have laws on the books against discrimination and hate crimes. It’s already done. Whites are actually shot more often than blacks by cops. There is no real issue. They are just pawns in the Game of Thrones of politics.
I think it’s more like, gee, can the country get along without the NFL? Maybe we’ll find out the answer is yes.
TBob – last time there was a player strike we learned to get along without the NFL. The world kept spinning, the sun kept coming up and going down. And a lot of honey-dos got accomplished.
You are dumber than dirt, naïve, or both.
Did you MISS the fact that the dumb arse who started this whole charade (I won’t type his name) has come begging back to his former paymasters, NFL owners, and publicly announced he would stand at attention if someone hires him? (Which has as much chance of happening as you growing a brain.)
What an idle stupid racist threat to suggest blacks are so stupid they’d toss $10M per year in the toilet to agree with your progressive Dip S ideology.
Did you also miss the fact that viewership is down, which directly translates to lower pay for the blacks to which you refer?
The players are not on commission.
Ken – with performance bonuses written into their contracts, some of them are working on commission.
Seriously? You just asked that. Do you have any idea where the NFL came from; its origins. How about basketball, I mean, did they even have baskets in Africa? You may want to review NFL, MLB and NBA histories. Can you say Jerry West – great example? There was a time when only Americans played sports.
Translation: “We want more free stuff, so we’re gonna keep protesting mindless irrelevant topics to distract you from realizing how little the free stuff we already get has helped us!”
JT:
Save your breath. There’s no arguing with stupid no matter how long their acronym is.
After dropping around $800 [family] to attend, we’re there to see a sporting event, not the players’ political speech.
Perhaps the players association would be better served by buying a 60-second spot and make a cogent argument for their position. I’m pretty sure the networks would agree to make it the last spot before the start of the game.
Kneel during your mother’s funeral. Don’t kneel when the national anthem is played. That is a special time and moment.
Fans should boycott the kneeling teams and let them go broke.
“While one can certainly disagree on the merits over the protests, teh NAACP is wrong on the constitutionality of such a policy. An employer can clearly bar political protests during work hours. Moreover, the First Amendment is primarily directed to limiting government interference or regulation of speech. ”
Since NFL gets tax breaks, for example publicly funded stadiums, therefore they are not entirely private, not in essence anyways. The public ( government) is helping them out $$$, therefore they cannot and should not be bale to dictate the rules the way an entirely private business is.
So, Kim Davis can refuse to do her job as a government official and violate the 14th Amendment rights of tax paying citizens, but African American football players can’t GENUFLECT during the national anthem because it’s a sign of DISRESPECT?
I’m afraid, I just don’t get what passes for Evangelical logic.
So, Kim Davis can refuse to do her job as a government official
“Her job” in your understanding being to be a submissive puppy dog to appellate judges who invented a ‘right’ out of whole cloth contra democratic decision-making.
Claiming a “religious belief” – not even a sincerely held one – is now a universal scam for manufacturing rights to discriminate against anyone. You have that great scholar Jeff Sessions to thank for that. I suggest you complain to him about that massive corruption of the law.
All laws make distinctions between different parties and behaviors. Purveyors of identity politics utter the words ‘I want’ and fancy everyone else is obligated to hop to. The gaystapo are the worst offenders.
Well said Bam Bam.
And now we interrupt this program fro some govt. censorship! “Update (10:10 am ET): Continuing the theme of attacking NBC for spreading “fake news” and hearsay, President Donald Trump in a tweet accused the network of making up yet another unflattering story about Trump and his relationships with his most senior advisers. He blasted NBC’s report as a work of “pure fiction” invented “to demean.”
And, ratcheting up his feud with the network, Trump questioned if it might be appropriate to revoke the network’s broadcasting license, adding that the network’s shoddy reporting is “bad for the country.”
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-10-11/trump-once-asked-pentagon-tenfold-increase-uss-nuclear-arsenal
I think this is a major flaw of our Constitution and it is part of the reason it is failing right now.
The founders were mainly wealthy men. The Constitution protected them from the one entity which could overpower them at the time, the state. Thus as we see large corporations acting much like a state would, there is no recourse for people against that injustice.
The NAACP is giving an incorrect analysis. If players exercise their conscience they will be punished or dismissed. So if the players feel strongly about this, they will need to take the hit for it. This is what resistance based on conscience requires.
The founders were mainly wealthy men. The Constitution protected them from the one entity which could overpower them at the time, the state.
Jill, do people have freedom-of-contract or do they not? If they do, there are terms of employment they can agree to or walk away from.
SOT,
I think this is an important question.
As things now stand I already answered it. If the players do this they will take the hit. The deeper aspect of your question would need a very long time to answer as it would involve an extensive analysis of our society and whether people in it are “free” or not.
Jill, you’re confusing being ‘free’ with a franchise granted to your preferred clientele to appropriate someone else’s time, someone else’s brand, and someone else’s premises. You make them ‘freer’ by making someone else less free because you do not like that someone else.
SOT,
You aren’t reading what I”m saying. This will be the third time I’ve stated that if the players perform this as an act of conscience they will take a hit for doing so. I also said the NAACP has this wrong. I don’t know how to be more clear so I’ll just stop there.
I’m reading what you’re saying. It has implications you do not wish to acknowledge.
“we see large corporations acting much like a state would, there is no recourse for people against that injustice.”
Jill, I think your error is that you see large corporations acting much like the state would. That is true to the extent that the owners of corporations set the rules for the corporation. But the employee can opt out of those rules by working elsewhere. The citizen cannot opt out of the rules of the state except by leaving his home, place of birth, etc.
David Letterman performed the perfect model for protesting the shameful performances of our representatives and public servants. After the Sandy Hook massacre, the vast majority of Americans polled in many states wanted stricter gun control laws. When it came to a Senate vote the spineless Senators turned their backs on their constituents and voted down new gun control legislation. They knew that their political careers would be over as the NRA and the gun industry would smear them and back their opponents. Letterman featured a ‘Stooge of the Night’ by explaining how in the state that the nightly ‘Stooge’ represented polled 89% 90% for new gun control regulation but the Senator voted against. For several minutes Letterman exposed the disgusting example of oligarchy which rules our nation.
These football players, if they had any spine, should leave the flag, anthem, and other interpretable elements out of the issue and focus on the cops and public officials that disgrace said emblems. If a cop shoots a black man and gets off, then advertise it. Instead of forfeiting salaries, spend the money to advertise the examples of the disgraces. ‘Disgrace of the Moment’, on billboards and other mediums would do far more to stop the abhorrent treatment of minorities by police than kneeling at a game where they make hundreds of thousands of dollars an event, sometimes just for showing up.
The flag and anthem that leads Americans to greatness is the same flag and anthem that leads them to deplorable and sometimes criminal acts, like Vietnam, Iraq, etc. Protest the perpetrators, not the cloth and music. These players are spoiled, spineless, and perhaps just not too smart.
You are absolutely correct. When I think of the concept of shameful behavior, I think of David Letterman. A duplicitous and unscrupulous individual who, allegedly, chased and had affairs with multiple women while, simultaneously, feigning undying devotion to and monogamy with his trusting live-in girlfriend for decades. . .ultimately, impregnating her and, finally, marrying her. Yeah. He is definitely one who should be lecturing the public about shameful and deceitful behavior.
Not sure Letterman ever ‘lectured’ anyone or that Regina Lasko was who you say she was. (Supposedly, he took up with Lasko on the side while he was living with Merrill Markoe. Sometimes you benefit and sometimes you lose from such arrangements). Letterman did have a 20+ year history of bad behavior which incorporated seducing employees (though the two whose names are known were happy participants).
Read the comments to which I responded. Yes, Letterman’s little performance was meant to lecture to us. . .lecture to us with regard to what he believed was inconsistent, cowardly and hypocritical behavior. My response was simple–he is no one to give sermons about inconsistency or cowardice, unless, of course, he cares to instruct us on ways to achieve those objectives.
One could also cite that de-facto polyandrist Kim Davis who got knocked up by her husbands regardless of the order of marriage. Now, you support her depriving others of their civil rights based on her superior morality. You and she are hypocrites.
No one has a civil right to a marriage license. Whether or not an association is recognized in law and given a certain dignity is properly a community decision, not Anthony Kennedy’s decision.
What is truly amazing is how some people fail to grasp the concept of a statement and instead allow themselves to be distracted by something totally irrelevant. The substance of the post focused on how protesting should be done, not who suggested it. Ya’ll must be Trump dupes.
IF, in fact, the top brass at the NAACP had the even the slightest bit of wisdom or insight, it would recognize, quite easily, that backing and supporting this offensive and nauseating behavior–where overpaid and undereducated pieces of beef, kneel during the national anthem–is serving to set back its progress and goals by decades. Decades. Rather than promoting its alleged platform of the advancement of blacks in this country, it is, instead, stoking the flames of animosity and, yes, hatred. Perhaps, that is, in reality, what the NAACP is truly all about, and, if that is the case, then I should be declaring that it is accomplishing its goals, with flying colors. Those, who may have been sympathetic to its cause and motivations and apt to support its platform, are now repelled and disgusted by the condoned antics deemed as disrespectful, divisive, unpatriotic, un-American, sickening and repugnant. Rather than viewing these black players as progressive freedom fighters, the general public views them with disdain, disgust and contempt, perceiving them as ungrateful traitors to their country. A country which, while not perfect, has given them opportunities and wealth beyond their wildest of imaginations. Way to go NAACP! The saying, never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity, fits the organization perfectly.
When Bruce Gordon resigned, the NAACP’s was loud in insisting that they were a ‘civil rights’ organization first-last-always. Problem: a deficits of ‘civil rights’ is not a problem blacks qua blacks have faced in this country in 40-odd years or more and (in any case), they spun off their litigation arm in 1957.
IOW, it has no purpose. It’s a donation collecting machine.
I thought it was unconstitutional for the government to interfere with such manifestations protected by the first amendment. So far we have heard the President tell the owners to fire the participants. The Vice President, under orders from the President, the law enforcement officer in chief, take umbrance with the protests by spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to stage his own public protest while on the job. Does this not smack of government interference?
Jones may have to fire half of his team, or more. Then what does he have? Must be his team isn’t winning.
The NFL is not an organ of government, bettykath. Neither are any of the team owners.
The President of the United States is pressuring the NFL to do so. That is a violation of the First Amendment, Sot.
Because you fancy it’s a violation of the Constitution for an elected official to promote a particular viewpoint.
I cannot fix your stupid, RFP. No one here can.
The President like any American has a freedom of speech. Where is that a violation of the First Amendment?
bettykath – most of those players have performance riders in their contracts. If they don’t get enough playing time, they will not earn their bonuses. The contracts also come with a boilerplate penalty clause that can be used to fine the players as well. So, they can be hurt on both ends.
The “protest” is misdirected. Disrespect of the flag or national anthem as a protest against national policy, such as an unjust war, is honorable free speech. To do so as a protest against some social condition which is not national policy is not proper or justifiable. Aim your protest at the subject of your anger, not at a third party merely because it presents a larger audience.
The protestors are aggrieved that their protest is misunderstood. It is they who invited the misunderstanding by the nature of their protest. I have no sympathy for their feelings of being misunderstood, and am annoyed by their thoughtless display of disrespect.
Disrespect of the flag or national anthem as a protest against national policy, such as an unjust war, is honorable free speech.
No, it isn’t. You live here or you don’t.
And there have been no unjust wars during anyone’s lifetime in this country.
Considering that the Supreme Court ruled in 1948 that students didn’t have to stand to salute the flag I think you might want to reconsider. (When “under God” was added to the pledge I stopped. I didn’t have the courage to remain seated but my hand didn’t go to my heart and didn’t say a word. My lack of courage was influence by the bruises the teacher left on my arm because I didn’t know that I had a specific place in line. She moved me to it. I might not have said the pledge before that but I’m not sure.) I don’t go places where the pledge or the national anthem are featured. I did get some flag stamps at one point and they all ended upside down on the envelop.
Fans are leaving the NFL in droves. What do these players expect to accomplish by their on-going disrespect of the anthem and the flag? Now many are raising a fist in the black power salute. One black player did this after tackling a white player. I read that the Oakland Raiders offensive line (all black), let the white quarterback be sacked because he stood for the anthem. He ended up with a vertebral fracture in his lower back. I think about 1 in 7 NFL players have committed serious crimes. The league is reported as about 70% black so they cannot claim discrimination. If these players feel so oppressed, then go to another country.
“97-year-old WWII vet goes viral after ‘taking a knee’ to support NFL players”
by Kevin Kaduk
https://sports.yahoo.com/97-year-old-wwii-vet-goes-viral-taking-knee-support-nfl-players-041427597.html
NFL players have the support of a member of the Greatest Generation.
John Middlemas, a 97-year-old World War II veteran from Missouri, went viral on Sunday after his grandson Brennan Gilmore tweeted a picture of his grandfather kneeling on the ground.
“Those kids have every right to protest,” Gilmore quoted his grandfather as saying.
My grandpa is a 97 year-old WWII vet & Missouri farmer who wanted to join w/ those who #TakeaKnee: “those kids have every right to protest.” pic.twitter.com/LurCj7SLUB
— Brennan Gilmore (@brennanmgilmore) September 24, 2017
The image of a World War II veteran defending the rights of Americans to peacefully protest quickly struck a chord with an online audience. As of Sunday night, the picture had between retweeted more than 100,000 times and “loved” almost 300,000 times.
Middlemas’ local paper caught up with him on Sunday to ask him about his newfound fame and why he decided to back NFL players when many others cite the sacrifice of American soldiers as one of the reasons players are “disrespecting” the flag.
“I wanted to communicate what I always told to my grand-kids and everybody else,” Middlemas, a farmer, told the Springfield News-Leader. “When they’d go to bed at night, we’d tell the kids we wanted to be like Jesus.”
“I’m trying to say that you have to love everybody. We don’t kill people. We want to make people live.”
Middlemas made no bones about his dislike of President Donald Trump, calling him “garbage mouthed.”
The paper reported that Middlemas has always been about the pursuit of justice. A stout admirer of Dr. Martin Luther King, Middlemas participated in an equality march in Springfield, Mo., in 2013 that he said was the most important march of his life.
But there’s no doubt the image of Middlemas showing his solidarity with NFL players has reached a much wider audience across the world. Middlemas says he hopes his view will resonate.
“My grandpa, my hero,” Brennan Gilmore tweeted on Sunday.
The NAACP should be investing its resources in things that matter: education and jobs training for inner-city youth. Squandering its resources on over-paid, crybaby professional athletes is not likely to impress potential donors to that organization, nor do anything to advance its credibility.
Some years ago, the NAACP did something out of character and hired a retired Verizon executive as its staff director. He wanted to re-orient the organization toward practical social work projects (more like the Urban League). He ended up resigning after two years. He offered a complaint that the president of the board (Julian Bond) had been an officious nuisance the whole time and the board having hired him was offering continuous complaint about his objectives. Mr. Gordon was a man of some accomplishment, who with scant doubt was shirty about taking orders from a no-account like Julian Bond. After his departure, they hired a 33 year old ‘social justice professional’ and committed themselves to a new priority: a federal hate crimes bill. Mr. Social Justice Professional is now running for Governor of Maryland.
Put it in neon: the organization hasn’t any serious institutional mission (and really hasn’t for a generation or more – embarrassments and scandals go back at least to 1983). It’s a donation collecting machine.
You think the NAACP’s press agency is in the hands of fools or poseurs?
Both.
Getting sick of the petulance…..
If I believe it really, really hard it will be true.
Everything that I don’t like is unconstitutional.
Very correct.