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However, your anger is misplaced if that is your beef. The players didn't create capitalism.
Originally Posted by RoadKing 2014
Here's a thought, let's pay soldiers and first responders six & seven figure salaries and pro athletes minimum wage ! Then we would be getting our money's worth.
I have no issue with players kneeling. A Soldier suggested that KP kneel vs sit to show some respect. Soldiers died for their right to exercise it. They're doing it for the many poorblack AND white people often abused by the justice system. It's actually noble. They aren't harming anyone or anything.
The funny thing is, paraphrasing, I may not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it.
I have every problem with the false narrative this spreads. People that claim this is a First Amendment right do not understand what the First Amendment says. For the sake of argument I will include it here:
"Congress shall make no law regarding an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or of the right of the people to peaceably assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."
What does the First Amendment have to do with these protests? Anyone who can read and concentrate more than 30 seconds can see not a damn thing.
The kneelers argue that they do not mean to disrespect the flag, or those who have fought and died for this country, or America as a whole. Of course, their actions certainly disrespect all of those things and suggesting otherwise should be ridiculous.
Those kneeling assert that there is an epidemic of white police officers who work their beat every night with the explicit intention of murdering innocent black people. They are suggesting that there is an epidemic of institutional white racism in this country going unaddressed and that the only way to draw attention to this, the Black Lives Matter narrative, is to kneel during the National Anthem at pro football games.
The aforementioned "free speech" argument touted by defenders of the NFL and the protesters fails on another front beyond the immediate substance of the First Amendment. That is, the NFL is quite comfortable censoring free speech, though its unmistakable that the speech they choose to prohibit runs afoul of a leftist ideological impulse. In 2016, the NFL threatened to fine teams who decorated their cleats with a "Never Forget" logo commemorating the 15th anniversary of the September 11th attacks. Last year they prohibited the Cowboys from wearing helmet decals honoring the five police officers killed by a Black Lives Matter advocate.
Yet while stifling this "free expression," they have no problems whatsoever with the Rams players taking the field with the "Hands up, Don't Shoot!" gesture, which was based on an entirely fictitious and dangerous narrative that led to five Dallas police officers being slain and numerous others shot while sitting in their cars or shopping at stores. And now, when players choose to disrespect the flag and our nation on the fans time and the fans dime to perpetuate that very same narrative, the NFL is equally conciliatory in allowing it.
The NFL has the audacity to suggest that the current politicization in football was created by Donald Trump? Though I don't agree with him using his platform as president to call for the firing of kneeling players or for a boycott of the NFL, these are certainly not circumstances of his design.
On Monday Night Football this week, the Cowboys and the Cardinals both locked arms and knelt before the National Anthem, acknowledging the protesters' position. Then they stood and locked arms during the National Anthem. It was a charade all too obviously meant to placate fans, while still giving a platform to espouse the dangerous and entirely untrue Black Lives Matter narrative. "Unity" was the theme but more "division" is what you can expect.
I for one will no longer be watching the NFL. F' THEM [/RANT]
EDIT: Capitalism is exactly what these teams and owners understand. I hope that this country can create enough "unity" to impress on these fools that we want to see football, not demonstrations and we won't pay with money or our time for the latter.
