Wednesday, May 23, 2018

The NFL And Patriotism


Progressive star, Afghan war veteran and former Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander had some thoughts last fall -- which he retweeted today --  as more and more NFL players knelt during the national anthem to draw attention to the epidemic of police shootings of unarmed African-Americans:

Apparently bullied by demagogue Donald "Rump" Trump (a.k.a. draft-dodging Cadet Bone Spurs), today's decision by NFL team owners to penalize teams for not standing will undoubtedly be challenged as a violation of the players' free speech protections. But what a disgrace that these plutocratic owners don't understand what Kander does -- and what he fought for.

BONUS: Friend Feline Mama points us to a former NFL player who has his comment on the NFL's hypocrisy.

BONUS II: Friend Diva notes that Jets owner Christopher Johnson has offered to pay fines associated with his players kneeling. Respect for the First Amendment still flickers in the NFL.

BONUS III:  Philadelphia Eagle star Chris Long --


BONUS IV:  The New York Daily News takes a stand (or a knee) --

4 comments:

FelineMama said...

Another quote coming from former NFL QB, Sage Rosenfels : "Forced patriotism is the opposite of freedom". Good post (Rawstory)

Hackwhackers said...

F.M. -- Thanks for pointing us there!

DivaNewYork said...

Jets owner will pay the fine for any player who wants to kneel.

Hackwhackers said...

Diva -- Hopefully his decent action will inspire some other owners. Not holding our breath.