More than a year ago, San Francisco 49er Colin Kaepernick took a stand. Or rather, he took a knee. Kaepernick decided to undertake a simple act of civil disobedience by simply sitting out – and then later taking a knee – during the National Anthem at the beginning of all of his football games. He said his act of protest was mostly about civil rights and police brutality, and it was especially resonant after several months full of stories of cops killing unarmed black men. Kaepernick’s act was massively controversial, and players, other athletes, journalists, team owners, etc, all chimed in on whether they thought it was “right” or “justified.” He kept doing it. People are still talking about it too, although I tapped out of covering Kaepernick soon after I learned that he refused to vote in the 2016 election. I’m fine with his civil disobedience, I want him to keep working in the NFL and I respect his stand (or his kneel), but I still think he’s a gigantic a–hole for not voting.
So, considering that we’re still talking about Kaepernick, I guess Donald Trump thought he would chime in, all of these months later. At a rally for Luther Strange in Alabama (literally, a Strange Rally), Trump said this:
“Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, you’d say, ‘Get that son of a b—h off the field right now. Out! He’s fired,” Trump said. “For a week, [that owner would] be the most popular person in this country. Because that’s a total disrespect of our heritage,” Trump continued. “That’s a total disrespect for everything we stand for.”
He added that if offended fans would “leave the stadium” when players protested that “I guarantee, things will stop.”
On Saturday morning, NFL commissioner Roger Goodman, responded to Trump’s comments.
“The NFL and our players are at our best when we help create a sense of unity in our country and our culture,” Goodman said. “There is no better example than the amazing response from our clubs and players to the terrible natural disasters we’ve experienced over the last month. Divisive comments like these demonstrate an unfortunate lack of respect for the NFL, our great game and all of our players, and a failure to understand the overwhelming force for good our clubs and players represent in our communities.”
So… a black athlete who peacefully and respectfully protests the National Anthem because of police violence against communities of color is a “son of a bitch.” And those neo-Nazis who violently assaulted peaceful protesters in Charlottesville were “very fine people.” It’s clear where Trump’s loyalties are. He will always side with white supremacy. Trump wasn’t done either – like a child who found a new target to scorn and bully, Trump also tweeted this on Saturday:
If a player wants the privilege of making millions of dollars in the NFL,or other leagues, he or she should not be allowed to disrespect….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 23, 2017
…our Great American Flag (or Country) and should stand for the National Anthem. If not, YOU'RE FIRED. Find something else to do!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 23, 2017
Arrogant, foolish bully. He’s basically telling athletes to stay in their lane… as if he wasn’t a D-list reality star who committed treason, colluded with a foreign government and went full-tilt racist to “win” the White House. As for “disrespect”… he disrespected Barack Obama for years and NBC still kept him on the air and let him make millions of dollars. Ugh. Some assorted tweets about this situation.
Why didn't Trump call nazis sons of bitches? #TakeAKnee
— Scott Dworkin (@funder) September 23, 2017
Trump has now attacked Jemele Hill, Colin Kaepernick, & Stephen Curry. All have something in common but I can’t quite put my finger on it.
— Ryan Lizza (@RyanLizza) September 23, 2017
I have no doubt that Stephen Curry, LeBron James & Colin Kaepernick have not committed treason. I can't say the same about Donald Trump.
— Roland Scahill (@rolandscahill) September 23, 2017
The White House is again urging the firing of people who exercise free speech to fight for equality and justice. Shameful.
— John Legend (@johnlegend) September 23, 2017
If you're not upset, you're not paying attention! #TakeAKnee pic.twitter.com/UqJOaUOTQy
— Stephanie (@EvansMatriarch) September 23, 2017
If peaceful protests did nothing, the powerful wouldn't try so hard to silence them. #TakeAKnee pic.twitter.com/0aONI66gJF
— NYCLU (@NYCLU) September 23, 2017
Photos courtesy of Getty.
Kaepernick’s mom probably had the best tweet. Something like, Then I must be a proud bitch! LOL
Today is my babies first birthday and I anxiously await the arrival of she and her siblings with their dad. Yes it is Sunday and yes this is a gossip site….but I am surprised how much more attention Kylie Jenner’s pregnancy is receiving over this thread. This story to me is so compelling and paints the perfect picture of a monster and how he is dividing us, in no uncertain terms. Kylie will have that baby and more Kardashian drama will pursue, but what is our fate with this tyrant at the helm. AH, I hear voices, outta here…..everyone have a happy weekend and bend, don’t stand at the National Anthem, we have to have to protest the injustices somehow.
Happy birthday to your babies. I think it’s far easier to gossip and judge the Kardashians vs thinking about real, legitimate issues-and what we can do about them.
What a sweet post Mama Nancy. Happy Birthday to your dumpling.
This subject is more difficult but far more important.
Oh magnoliarose: Thank you sweetie. You touched my heart. My mom always called little ones dumpling and referred to herself and other mothers as “mama.” I want to give you a big hug!
You missed his mom’s response:
Teresa Kaepernick
Teresa Kaepernick @B4IleaveU
Replying to @JamilSmith
Guess that makes me a proud bitch!
Best response. That and Lebron calling him a bum.
Stevie Wonder performed at a festival, over the weekend, where he took a knee. His son came out on stage to help him. How’s that for wonderful?!
So, if a player wants the privilege of making millions of dollars in the NFL he should immediately ignore racism and how it affects him and his fellow Americans?
The exact moment an African American sportsman has got a platform to make a difference they should STFU!!
Got it.
Blatant dog-whistle racism. What he really means is:
These black men should be grateful that they have jobs at all, that we surperior white folks are allowing them to entertain us. They should count their blessings and stfu.
Man, he’s so f*cking mad that a black man had the audacity to be president, isn’t he? It colors everything he does. His final words will be “I was wiretapped by Barack Obama, the Kenyan Muslim terrorist who divided the country simply by being black.”
This isn’t a dog whistle. It’s straight up, naked racism. He attacked black athletes at a rally in Alabama. His entire purpose was to lean in on white supremacy. I am so disgusted with America. So disgusted.
And Luther Strange should be ashamed.
Sorry for the mischaracterization. In the instance of that specific tweet, it sounded like he was still using coded language. But you’re completely right. He is leaning in to white supremacy and pure, naked racism. It’s horrifying. There aren’t words strong enough.
Its wanting to “put them in their place”. Had a coworker, white man, come in blapping about how they weren’t “grateful”. Asked him if he was black/mixed/anything but lily white (he is super pale). Then told him to shut it if not, no one wanted to hear his opinion on how black people were misbehaving, including me a a biracial person. He turned sheepish and walked out. I’m tired of being silent with these people and tired of their constant bit&hing about everything wrong with their perfect white America. F them, seriously f them.
I know this isn’t the main issue, but I think your post perfectly explains how the GOP, right down to their core, think having money automatically means you have leadership, class and knowledge, and each in spades. One need only look at Trump to see how untrue that is.
Reminds me of the old saying: “If you want to know what God thinks about money, look at the people He gave it to.”
Chris Paul was right—Trump wouldn’t have the nerve to say that to any player’s face. Trump continues to use baited dog whistle language to shore up his base. The man is a Nazi loving white supremists and so are his supporters.
How is the Dotard different from Nazis?
Nazis knew how to dress.
Bwahaha!
Nazis had nice haircuts.
So hard to believe this is reality. A President speaking in an open, public forum this way. This “man” is absolutely Abhorrent!!
Orange jello will be donzo soon and only a laughing joke in history. Russia will eventually end up sinking his bloated fat arse.
For all our sakes Isabelle I hope you’re right but I fear that there is much worse to come.
I think something huge and nasty, probably Russia-flavored, is going to drop this week, because Dotard always stokes the fire on controversial social issues when he’s trying to hide something. He’s so transparent and predictable.
More importantly, we have a president who calls peaceful black protestors “sons of bitches” and calls literal Nazis “very fine people.” That’s all you need to know about him, full stop. This is one of those moments when I’m still bewildered that Donald Trump is running our country. Donald Trump!!!! What!!??!? What the f*ck!?!?! How can this be real life?
From your keyboard to God’s ears. I bet we get a Manafort indictment within a month. I thought December would be the earliest date but Mueller is playing hardball at lightning speed and he knows Manafort being indicted would help them build any even bigger case against bigger fish because he will do anything to save himself. We haven’t heard much about Flynn lately so I wonder if he is ~cooperating.
I think it’s a distraction from the deathcare bill.
@Shambles is right in about Trump making noise to distract from other things. And while I wish it was Russian-hack related, I think you’re more likely to be right @Lima Bean, he knows that horrible bill is in real trouble of not passing.
And I’ll add that there is a very strong likelihood that the Alabama primary candidate he’s backing is going to lose. He knew that going into the rally.
This week could give him two embarrassing and very public losses. So he’s trying to score racist culture points against the loss of legislative and political points. He’s disgusting.
We have a president who just called a group of American women “bitches.”
I can’t find this, what happened???
@Shambles, he referred to the players who kneel as “sons of bitches”. Thereby referring to all their mothers as bitches.
Ohhhhh, of course. Sorry, Sunday brain. Didn’t even connect the dots. Too true. So the mother every player who kneels is a b*tch? Disgusting.
Some lose the literal meaning of SOB. Years ago, an elderly man in our family said that most of a certain profession were ‘SOBs’. His own son was in that profession. I was a kid, and my Dad used it as a learning opportunity. The guy was basically calling his own late wife a ‘b’, and didn’t realize it.
Words matter. We cannot lose the true meaning of that phrase.
Eric Garland on twitter had a funny (funny sad, given the subject matter) recap of how many huge news bombs dropped this week. Another twitterer said, rather succinctly: “imagine how bad next week’s going to be.”
Yup.
It already feels like they’re trying to soften us to how bad the treason was; how complete the GOP’s complicity was and is. And that Hillary Rodham Clinton actually won.
Agreed!
Teresa Kaepernick’s response was perfect. Once again though we’re seeing just how little respect this administration has for the first amendment after all, and what they and their supporters prioritize. Employers exercising their right to fire people for racism and homophobia is apparently peak oppression to the ‘free speech!’ narcissists, but the White house calling for employees to be fired just for pointing out white supremacy or not being patriotic is fine.
We’re also seeing just how little respect they have for black people, though it’s nothing new or shocking at this point.
not new, but still shocking to me the mental gymnastics people must be doing to justify supporting this madness.
Birdix, I don’t know, seems like lots of people are still supporting him…he’s reinforcing what they’ve always believed but didn’t really have the guts to say until now. Trump is despicable.
What I’d really like to see is a big English Northerner give your twat of a president a Liverpool kiss. It won’t knock any sense into him, but still…
Loved Mrs Kaepernick’s response, as well as that of NYCLU.
Cannot wait until this horror ends for all the good Americans. Over to you, Mr Mueller…
Ha! I had to look that term up, but it would be glorious for someone to knock that ignorant, orange “son of a bitch” flat on his fat a$$! I’d pay to see that on pay-for-view!
Perfect Annakist. LOL
So as I see it ,a white President supported by white nationalists tells predominantly white owners to fire black NFL players protesting police violence against black people. This is very disturbing.
You left one just one word… PEACEFULLY protesting.
You know who’s not distracted by this latest stream of racist bile?
SPECIAL COUNSEL MUELLER
You mean Mueller’s investigation is moving forward without delay and that sometime and the next few months we will have indictments on some of DT’s associates and family memebers?
Here’s hoping Mueller has headed into his 4th quarter.
<—–
NAILED IT
Orange One is determined to create such a hostile environment that nobody feels safe and everyone complies. I think they call that national socialism.
I detest jingoism so my solution to this would be for the US to stop playing the national anthem every whip stitch so Americans weren’t forever standing up and down like a game of nationalist musical chairs.
Ha! I agree with you. Why do sporting events need to include a “patriotic” element?
And thank you for the twitter ref on hedgehog rescue–she loves it.
Welcome!
Lol @ nationalist musical chairs.
If we ditch the anthem, can we scrap the pledge of allegiance, too? I get uncomfortable thinking about my younger self standing there, robotically reciting some nationalist jargon and something something about The Judeo-Christian God that I don’t even identify with anymore.
The original pledge didn’t have any God reference. That was added in the McCarthy/”Red Scare” era. Time to take it out, IMO.
Some of us consider pledging allegiance to a flag as idolatry, no matter what the wording…
I suppose President Tweeter doesn’t realize that. Or else he thinks Quakers and Jehovah’s Witnesses and whoever else has the same belief should all be fired.
I totally agree about the jingoism. What’s even worse is that taking a knee during the anthem has been widely criticized as disrespecting the military. When did the military become so enmeshed in the playing of the anthem?
Thank you! THIS. My Air Force vet husband’s been saying this for YEARS. He’s a huge European soccer fan. Play it when nations compete.
That’s how it works here. Before international sporting events. Why on earth it’s ever present in the US defeats me. It’s just indoctrination into nationalism. I’ve only been somewhere when our national anthem was played about a dozen times in my forty years of life and I’ve never stood or sung. Stupid thing is a hymn about an old lady!
I never stand for our national anthem, either. That’s my silent protest for the horrific, inhumane and illegal treatment by our governments of those seeking asylum and refuge here. In the second verse: “Beneath our radiant Southern Cross/We toil with hearts and hands/To make this Commonwealth of ours/Reknowned of all the lands. For those who’ve come across the seas/We’ve boundless plains to share…” We’re not sharing. I object, and I don’t care what others think.
The only time I stand is when the Acknowledgement of Country and Its Traditional Owners takes place.
Good for you.
Oh! Thank you, Sixer. My sentiments exactly! Never really understood the connection between patriotism and sport, myself.
Not a Trump voter here, but I am genuinely curious. How does Trump fit the “socialism” part of Nazi?
Actually, good point. National socialism generally includes welfarism for the in-group. Trump certainly doesn’t!
But this is a wider pattern of the US dominant philosophy hyper-individualising any system of political thought it adopts. Most American Marxists are individualists, which confuses the hell out of me!
I can understand the anthem being played in an nternational match, or for the gold medalist at the Olympics, or even at the biggest event in that sport, eg in England the FA Cup Final. But it’s odd and unnecessary to play it at every match. As usual, what trump said was just terrible.
This is just so embarassing at all levels!
I am embarrassed beyond words about the current POTUS. He is an arrogant, spoiled, petulant, self-righteous, lying, unfair, biased man-child, racist, nationalist, supremacist person I have ever seen.
I know I should be numb by now but drump’s deranged, theatrical comments dictating how Colin Kaepernick should act makes me ill.
I hate drump.
You shouldn’t be numb. Then you’d be normalizing it. Be outraged. Every. Time.
…poor Colin…turning into the Tommy Smith of the 2010s…hope he finds work soon…
Oh hey-ya, take your faux concern elsewhere. Once again, you’ll probably find people aren’t buying what you’re trying to sell.
Well, at least CK likely isn’t facing big legal bills and needs a ‘campaign’ to fund it for himself and close family (despite being mega-wealthy…allegedly).
Quarterbacks get pretty beat up so need to be replaced frequently, he’ll have no problem getting on another team. And he’s is not “poor Colin”, he’s “brave Colin” and his kneel has taken off. The Steelers stayed in their locker room during the anthem. More than a dozen Baltimore Ravens and Jacksonville Jaguars players knelt during the U.S. national anthem at Wembley Stadium. The kneeling players then stood for the singing of the U.K. national anthem. The Ravens and Jaguars coaches stood with the players during the anthem. The New England Patriots owner said “I am deeply disappointed by the tone of the comments made by the President on Friday,” “I am proud to be associated with so many players who make such tremendous contributions in positively impacting our communities. Their efforts, both on and off the field, help bring people together and make our community stronger.” Even Tom Brady stood and locked arms while 20 or so of his teammates kneeled. All of the Texans stood and locked arms.
This is just the tip of the iceberg and Colin Kaepernick should be lauded for taking such a brave stand.
Every time Mueller gets too close in the Trump Russian investigation, the Dotard and his buddy Stephen Miller try to start a culture war. When Mueller raided Manafort’s house, The Dotard took to twitter to announce that he was banning Transgenders from the military. Now the attacks on NFL, Colin, and Steph Curry. The bots were upset because people were agreeing with KJU that Trump is a dotard and now you have The Dotard calling NFL players who bend the knee, SOBs?
Colin’s mother responded to The Dotard calling her son a SOB.
What does ESPN have to say all about this? In this day and age with a person like The Dotard in office, you can not keep ignoring this.
WS: “very fine people”
Judge A: pardoned him and is trying to get his conviction overturned because he is a good man
Ken F: insulted him after he left council
Jemele H: “fire”
Colin and those who bend the knee: ” SOB, fire them
Steph C: “uninvited” after he said he wasn’t planning on attending
In my dream world, every NFL player takes a knee today. It will never happen but…
Some players have been protesting in other ways over the past year.
Here you go.
https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/09/24/sports/nfl-trump-anthem-protests.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage
This makes me teary.
ETA: JK. Not teary. Full-blown weeping.
Thank you for posting that. I was just about to do so.
Good for them. Although I wish they would have let the scantily clad cheerleaders do so, too, but they have like zero power at their job.
This is truly touching. I am appalled by what “your” president is demonstrating. I have never seen an even remotely close to this lunacy at such a high position. Even Hitler, the monster he was, had brains and charisma (unfortunately). And to top it, Dump is so out of touch that he went to Twitter to approve what the players can do and what not… OMG This one cannot be normal, I’m sorry.
Actually in London all players either took a knee or linked arms to be united. Even one of the owners stood on the field and linked arms. Haven’t watched espn yet this morning but NFL network talked about it. Tore tRump apart and talked about what a great show of force and how United teams were and how this would remind everyone. That this was never about disrespecting the military but this was about calling out the social injustice rampant in our country and how this movement would become huge now and that they wouldn’t be silenced.
I cried when I saw the players. I really hope that it continues across the league today. (Go Hawks!)
It’s stunning how openly racist he is. He really thinks the deplorables are gonna grab their guns and save him from himself. This is what his version of the culture wars is about. That’s the endgame. He gives not a single solitary f*ck about anyone but himself. He doesn’t care if people die in order for him to hold onto the presidency. He’s that crazy and the situation is that serious. He’s evil. He’d prefer war and the slaughter of the opposition over quietly facing the consequences of his treasonous behavior.
Russia has exploited America’s vulnerabilities brilliantly in a supervillain kinda way. Smh…
This is not to belittle what these athletes are doing or what they believe in but why does 45 insist on making this an issue at this time? With the devastation that hurricanes Irma, Maria and Harvey have caused. Then with North Korea pissed off at the US/ threatening to hit the mainland and now Iran testing long range missiles. Shouldn’t he be focused on those issues ? Let’s face facts if war breaks out there will not be any White House to visit or athletes for him to fight with on social media. If 45 was a toddler, I would send him to his room for nap time.
Those things are boring when it requires more thought than we’re gonna fire them, blow them up, or ignore them.
Because he committed treason – arguably the hugest crime a person can commit – and he’s hoping we don’t notice all the news about that.
Reminds me of my all-time favorite protest sign against Gulf War I, when the first George Bush was indulging in actually uncharacteristic (for him) Trumpian rhetoric against Iraq and Saddam Hussein, to try to justify relentless bombing of people who were not Saddam Hussein:
GEORGE BUSH
SADDAM HUSSEIN —
GO TO YOUR ROOMS!
I’m glad he’s letting his true colors show. His poll numbers had crept up a bit because he handed out food at a hurricane relief shelter and did some work with the Dems. People need to be reminded what a true bum he is.
Also, that phrase he used: “disrespect of our heritage.” Classic white supremacist.
Here are some things that disrespect the American flag:
– Pure unbridled racism
– Murdering citizens for no reason other than the color of their skin
– THE F*CKING CONFEDERATE FLAG ITSELF
Anyone who thinks “a guy quietly kneeling” should go on that list is clinically insane.
He’s not telling athletes to stay in their lane. He’s telling BLACK PEOPLE to stay in their lane. Sorry. I’m Thelma and Louise in this bitch.
I said the same thing, he wouldn’t have the balls to say that to someone’s face with no security. That speech in Alabammy was just hideous good ole boy cock stroking. All the white guys who own the teams, tv stations and advertising CEOs he like to golf with will not like his talk of boycott. No scoops for you.
all I have to say is: I’m EXHAUSTED! this conman is exhausting. And when I heard his followers applauding this sex offender referring to Ck as the “son of a bitch” it broke my heart ❤️ all I can say is, have they have no conscience.
Several players are demonstrating in London right now by taking a knee.
Stevie Wonder took a knee at his concert last night, then took two knees to kneel and pray for a stop to all this hatred.
I didn’t think I could love Stevie anymore than I do, but I cried when I saw him do that.
I’ve been playing Stevie all morning, loudly, with the windows open.
Haha and then some idiots called him, like, an ungrateful black millionaire.
Stevie Wonder has been performing, AKA working, since he was about 12 years old.
His unmatchable talent has led to his fame.
But sure, go ahead, mediocre white men, why don’t ya talk about how easy Stevie Wonder has had it.
This insanity where white people act like any famous and/or wealthy person is only that way because white people have given them sort of permission to is ridiculous.
Will do the same, LightPurple. His music is transcendent.
He took TWO knees actually 👍🏻
It’s a shame that the GOP, John Kelly, McMaster, and Mattis don’t have enough courage to stand up to The Dotard and stop this nonsense. They need to stop being complicit. The Dotard and Stephen Miller are starting a cultural war.
Someone just needs to directly tell the Dotard to “Shut up”. The Dotard seems to think that this is Celebrity Apprentice and the he is doing a stand up routine. Puerto Rico is dealing with the aftermath of the hurricane, they have no supplies and have lost cellphone towers, people are scared because they haven’t heard from their family members, but The Dotard is concerned with Steph Curry, NFL, Colin, and the NFL owners? What more proof do you need The Dotard is president in name only, Stephen Miller, Bannon, Jared, and Putin are making decisions for this country.
Now the bots are putting out “boycott the NFL” posts. Mueller needs to look into that as well. We already learned that the bots used FB to organize pro Trump rallies.
Kelly is a soldier. I honestly believe he is doing this out of sense of duty.
I thinking he’s f*cking it up royally because it’s impossible to control, but I do think he honestly feels an obligation to stay.
They’re talking about months with no power in Puerto Rico. There needs to be a massive federal effort to at least get the power grid and communications up and running.
I love the response by Kaepernick’s mother. So, the draft-dodging, short-fingered vulgarian calls a black, peaceful protester an SOB. I’m sure his base loves him for this. I hope I see a lot of athletes taking knees this week. One thing in his speech that hasn’t been widely-covered is that he criticized the NFL for trying to make the game safer for the players. Gotta have that violence, never mind the toll it takes on the athletes. Cheeto and his cult followers are real pieces of work.
He does not care about the violence, he’s looking at these strong young men as they did during slavery, MAGA, work them to death and whip them when they talk back or don’t comply. He’s racist and he’s a white supremacist. He was raised in a house with a racist father who was arrested at a kkk rally. He refused to rent to black people. He was find for racism by the nys attorney general years ago, look up his history.
I hope the #TakeAKnee spreads down here. We have a lot of Indigenous footballers. On the one hand, our football season is about to end, but on the other hand, finals season gets massive media coverage.
Donnie Five Deferments LOVES violence and patriotically standing for the flag.
Except, you know, for that time he was crippled by those pesky bone spurs when actually given the chance to serve his country.
We the people should demand to see the medical report that proves he was a true patriot. Make it the new “birther” movement!
He doesn’t even, actually. Remember that Melania had to nudge him to remind him he’s supposed to put his hand over heart dang heart?
And there’s a pic of him on the Republican candidate debate stage, the only one in view (it’s not all 16 candidates) not doing so. Donnie SmallHands is for himself alone.
Knee bending has spread to MLB and beyond. Bruce Maxwell of the Oakland A’s kneeled last night. I suspect more players will do so tonight. Baseball has a large percentage of players who are not from the US, so this should be interesting. Also, Stevie Wonder kneeled before his performance last night.
Not only has Goodell (whom I despise) spoken out against Trump on behalf of the league but many owners have come out last night and this morning in support of their players exercising their First Amendment rights.
I loved this tweet I saw regarding it being disrespectful kneeling as a peaceful protestor
“You know what’s actually pretty disrespectful to the american flag?
the confederate flag.”
“
Yeah, that tweet was one that really stood out to me as well.
This “love your country” bit that Trump is using to divide people is the biggest farce of all. If Trump supporters truly loved their country, they’d be plenty upset that Russia put such a big thumb on the scales for their lord and master Trump. Trump supporters are NOT patriotic no matter how many flags they hug and fly.
Spot on, robyn. They’re too thick to work that out, though.
The NFL has fired back, many players have just kneeled for the US anthem at a game in Wembley, London:
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/sep/24/donald-trump-defied-wembley-jaguars-ravens-nfl-kneel-anthem
Good work, lads! Thanks for the link, Digital Univorn.
This is off topic. The Dotard talks about loving this country by “respecting the flag and anthem”, but he and the GOP are trying to take healthcare and medicare from millions of people. This is why I like Joy. When the Trump supporters come on her show and spew their lies, she fact checks them right then and there and won’t let them lie. There was a woman spreading fake news: she said that Obamacare was in a death spiral, the worst healthcare ever, employment went down because of Obamacare, and premiums went up because Obamacare is bad. I wish that other hosts would do this and that the press reporters who sit in Sarah’s briefings would do this. Stop letting the Dotard and his enablers lie. The Dotard supporters go on these shows knowing that no one will challenge them and then they get caught off guard when Joy shows them the facts. Joy did this also with that Carrie woman who was spewing lies about DACA.
If this is not bullying, to curse professional athletes and then to go after another pro by name on twitter is wtf……where is Melania on her crusade against bullying, or is that prompted script of hers just for the peasants. There’s all kinds of crazy brewing right now and things aren’t going to end well. Will there be a body count? He doesn’t seem to care about the hurricane or earthquake victims. He is a spineless, cowardly sociopath. Like Chris Paul said, tell LeBron face to face he is a son of a bitch, see how that works out. Keyboard terrorist.
I gather that in Melania’s mind the “bullies” are anyone who criticizes Trump.
Would expect nothing else from this bum of a president, to be honest. Not to mention we’re about this 👉👈 close from entering into a nuclear war with N. Korea.
And a terrible health care bill is being rushed through this week.
Sorry, but when a physical symbol becomes more important than the ideals behind it, you’re in trouble. That’s not patriotism, that’s nationalism. And it has been the sacred relic of every right wing chest beater intent on dividing people so that they don’t notice that their rights are being scooped up.
Dictators everywhere embrace this, but in America it has become a positive fetish. I’m pretty sure people would voluntarily endure a Hunger Games scenario to win the the right to call themselves the most sincere patriot. Especially if it mean they got to screw over other people that had different color skin or funny sounding last names.
45 always goes back to where he’s going to find the most fertile ground and as usual, it worked.
“Wouldn’t you love to see one of these GOP senators, when somebody disrespects our Constitution, to say: ‘Get that bum— out of the White House right now, out. He’s fired. He’s fired!”
Decided to fix that ugly quote a bit.
I have a question for everyone? Why do people say disrespecting the anthem is disrespecting vets and active duty? Yes I understand they fight to defend the country, but the anthem and flag represent the whole country, not just the military. They play it at the Olympics, it’s played before sports games etc… so why is this suddenly disrespecting vets? That’s all I’m hearing all morning since many Ravens and Jags took a knee.
Also, the ONLY people I knew who were super triggered by Kaep and others taking a knee were Trump supporters (including some of my family sadly).
You guys, I am so proud of our Jacksonville Jaguars. Several of them kneeled with their owner, who is Mr. Khan, an Indian man. I’m sure he knows from exp how they are feeling. Love that he took a stand with them ! I love Jacksonville but there are some rednecks here. So, for these players and owner to do this is very brave
okay, so can i just ask. why is taking a knee seen as disrespectful? generally isn’t it more of an act of reverence or submission? I mean, how many episodes did dany tried to get jon to bend the knee?
anyway, my favorite tweets on the topic said:
– “you know what’s actually disrespectful to the american flag? the confederate flag.”
– “a great way to show respect for the flag is to refuse offers of clandestine election assistance from hostile foreign espionage agencies.”
This is typical President Tweeter. He really has never read the Bill of Rights and assumes that any protest, even a low-key respectful one like this (I hope all the athletes start kneeling, they can say they are praying for our country), disrespects The Flag or some such nonsense. No, it doesn’t disrespect anything. Instead, it shows great respect for our Constitution and Bill of Rights and our alleged belief in freedom and democracy.
Trump’s reaction is not unusual. When we oppose government actions such as stupid wars, we are told by many that we should shut up because “you couldn’t do that in xxx” (where xxx is the hated country du jour) and “the military is what made us free”.
Well, guns don’t make us free. Military action especially today can’t do that much, it is likely to kill more innocent people and destroy more property than it can possibly protect. The nature of warfare has dramatically changed due to modern technology but we are stuck in old ways of thinking, as though we are just stockpiling snowballs for a snowball fight. We have to find other approaches because there are such severe limits to the usefulness of military action, no matter how much of our hard-earned cash is poured into the black hole of the military budget.
What makes us free is acting free, in particular not going along with every damn fool thing our government wants to do. If I know that a war is foolish and immoral and counterproductive, my patriotic duty is definitely not to shut up about it. Any tinpot dictator loves people who shut up and let him do whatever he wants. The test of freedom is what happens when you don’t shut up and criticize the government and the status quo. Trump has repeatedly failed the freedom test.
I thought Colin’s decision to take a knee was absurd in that, really, you’re going to kneel for every national anthem for the rest of your career? There’s no out there. And then his not voting was beyond problematic. But he definitely had the right to do it, no questions.
I applaud the unity of all the players doing this now, not just against the violence disproportionately perpetrated against African Americans, but also united against our orange slumlord, our pretending “president.” This is our right as Americans. We are not and never have been perfect – slavery and the genocide of Native Americans being our two unique Original Sins, go from there to the one you dislike the most – but we CAN be good, dammit, and will WILL get better.
(Even though a small part of me wishes that they had any of this unity regarding the president’s mistreatment of women.)
CK is a “son of a bitch”. Or I guess more accurately, he’s a douche canoe. It has nothing to with him taking a knee and everything to do with his personality.
Signed,
Someone who had to deal with this guys almost every day in college
Hi nick, guess what, I’m a friend of a friend of yours and they told me you were a real sob in college and a douch canoe. What a small world.
Breaking news MSNBC: there was a mass shooting in Nashville. Eight people shot. Let’s see if 45 starts tweeting it’s a terrorists attack.
So my personal experiences with the guy are discounted because Trump spoke out against him? That’s a real screwed up “enemy of my enemy” mentality.
Guess he’s grown up now and decided to leave his college “douche-canoe” antics to people like you.
I thought he had grown up too. I actually started to respect him for taking a stand like he did. Then he followed up by NOT VOTING. Not even giving a decent reason for not doing so. Still the self absorbed jerk I remembered.
Nick; I don’t know CK but I can say he’s a man of conviction. He lost his job and has been blacklisted by the league for standing up for what he believes in. The league refused to give him his his job back. cK was making millions of dollars a year, LOST HIS JOB and he still has not back down. Would you give up millions for something you believe in? I don’t think sO. You have called him a “self absorbed jerk”, have you had a conversation the last eight years with him? How would you know what his thinking are now. IMO you are the one sounding like a jerk.
Not sure if you follow football or not but he was already in the process of losing his job BEFORE he started doing all this. Not only was he playing badly but he was sidelined due to injury. His replacement was playing better than him. He started kneeling after it became clear he was no longer the golden boy of the niners. Added to the VERY loud whispers of him wanting out of his contract. The league isn’t refusing to give him a job, it’s that no team has a need for a quarterback who can run but not throw. If he was a man of conviction, why didn’t he do anything when he was a starting quarterback? If he was a man of conviction, why didn’t he follow through by actually voting?
No Nick I don’t think your experiences are being discounted, just disbelieved. Or rather put in the context that they exist – an anonymous random online says he knows X person and they’re a douche. Well I know CKs college room mate (on what possible other basis would you have to “deal with him” every day?) and he was the biggest asshole on the planet. See, could be true but is most likely bullshit employed to push an agenda.
And what agenda am I pushing here? I’m not defending Trump at all. His comments were ridiculous and never should have been made. I’m not condoning the players that chose to take a knee. I applaud them. I even stated that I began to respect CK after he took a knee. But between the suspicious timing of CKs decision and his lack of follow through, that respect was lost. Maybe that respect was lost a lot quicker for him than it would have been for others because whether you believe me or not, I know the guy (or at least DID know the guy) and I don’t like him.
I don’t like Trump but so many people are falling in to this trap where a problematic person says something negative about him and now they are suddenly heros and great people. This website and its commenters went so far up Kat Von Dees butt after she disqualified a Trump supporter from one of her contest that they forgot that as a grown woman she accepted a marriage proposal from a Nazi “enthusiast”.
Jesus. America.
Trumps love of blind loyalty is disturbing. You can love your country and be a patriot while still protesting when you see wrong steps are being made. Thats how a country improves and grows. Trump is an idiot.
You can also dislike your country and not be remotely patriotic and that’s not only fine it’s damn reasonable in the circumstances. Americans in general need to stop fetishising patriotism.
The Dotard strikes again:
“Great solidarity for our National Anthem and for our Country. Standing with locked arms is good, kneeling is not acceptable. Bad ratings!”-The Dotard
They weren’t locking arms for the NA, they were locking arms to support their teammates who were taking a knee.
“Please to inform that the Champion Pittsburgh Penguins of the NHL will be joining me at the White House for Ceremony. Great team!”-The Dotard
Until they stand up and criticize the Dotard.
Pittsburgh Penguins have 8 Canadian players, 3 German players, 1 Latvian, 2 Swedes, 1 Russian, 1 Czech, 1 Dutch, and 8 players from the US.
The Dotard is trying to take away the protests by changing it into an insult. He is still tweeting about bending the knee and is now retweeting someone named Donna Warren, I hope it’s not another one of those bots he has been known to retweet. Puerto Rico needs help and this is what The Dotard decides to focus on?
“Courageous Patriots have fought and died for our great American Flag — we MUST honor and respect it! MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” The Dotard
They are not protesting the flag or the people who have fought for the flag. They are protesting police brutality and inequality. Someone exampled that when one of their teammates is hurt, the players will take a knee in support of him. This country is hurt and so they take a knee.
Not one single soldier ever, anywhere fought for a flag.
I had no problem at all with Kap or anybody else kneeling during the anthem. However, after he protested by kneeling all season and then said that he did NOT vote, he didn’t seem as honorable anymore. We all have the responsibility to vote, and it’s very important to do
It’s being reported that even the people who sang the National Anthem today, took the knee at the end of singing. The Dotard had nothing to say about this. The press are failing at their job. The re has been a man named Ben Ferguson making his rounds criticizing Colin and the NFL players for taking the knee. Why do the press keep giving people like this airtime because all they do is lie and misrepresent the facts. The crazy part is that the hosts don’t factcheck him, they let him tell his lies. This needs to stop.
This is from the hypocritic in chief, I mean the lier in chief.
**** Donald Trump tweet: “Burning the flag is a peaceful and respectful way for a citizen to voice their displeasure. Very powerful”. February 28, 2011.
Btw, I have to go back and check if 45 has voted in every election since he has been of age.
For every comment that The Dotard makes today, there is another one he made in the past to contradict it.
Why are the reporters not challenging his surrogates on tv with their lies. I.e., burning the flag “very powerful” And his not voting in several primaries and general elections. We can look up these things, why can’t the news people?
What is truly terrifying about this is that he honestly does not understand what the first amendment is. He literally thinks people should be fired or arrested for not respecting the flag, anthem, etc., in a particular way. (I would argue that they are absolutely respecting the flag and all it stands for by peacefully protesting this way about something they believe in.) It is our absolute right to peacefully protest those things, especially in the context of civil injustice and hatred. He wants us to be a society that forces all people to outwardly think and act in one certain, enforceable nationalist way. He wants punishment for those who are not going to be militaristic nationalists. It’s bad that he doesn’t recognize what the first amendment is for, but saying that people should lose their jobs for not saying or doing what HE feels like they should be saying or doing is a step way, way too far and out of line.
I just went back and checked 45 voting records. National Review:- #45 hasn’t bothered to go to the poll in half dozen campaign cycle.
He never bothered to cast his vote in the past six presidential elections – even in 2000, 2004, and 2012, The years when he floated the idea of running for the Oval Office. He skipped in 2002 General Election, failing to cast a vote. @Honey, does 45 appears honorable to you.
I wish they would stop playing the National Anthem in every game. Maybe playing it at opening day would be fine. I’d also like it if they stopped having military salutes in all the games. Putting the anthem and military stuff in there just distracts from the sport. It isn’t necessary. Why should it even be part of a player’s job to have to mediate this every game? That said, a player’s constitutional rights are not left at the door when they get to work. I do like that the NFL decided they will re-air their “Unity” commercial on primetime football tonight.
I agree. The beautification of the millitary at sporting events is something I could do without.
The Dotard continues his rant:
“Sports fans should never condone players that do not stand proud for their National Anthem or their Country. NFL should change policy!”-The Dotard
This is coming from the man who sold this country to Russia.
“Alaska, Arizona, Maine and Kentucky are big winners in the Healthcare proposal. 7 years of Repeal & Replace and some Senators not there.”-The Dotard
Obamacare did very well in Kentucky, so they won’t benefit from Graham’s plan.
It’s being reported that Jared used private email accounts to do WH business and this is why The Dotard has been trying to create a cultural war by trying to make taking the knee about the flag, National Anthem, and disrespecting those who fought for this country.
The Muslim travel ban also expired today so he issued a new ban and added North Korea and Venezuela
Nascar listened to The Dotard and threatened to fire anyone who took a knee.
Now you’re messing with a son of a bitch.
Too bad for 2scoops CK ain’t no fortunate son of a p-ssy grabber.
from Jason Kander (Member of the Missouri House of Representatives) on Twitter:
Patriotism isn’t about making everyone stand and salute the flag.
Patriotism is about making this a country where everyone wants to.