NFL National Anthem Controversy Summed Up

[Billo_Really]

A few here are inferring that it's no big deal. Maybe we shouldn't take all this so seriously - just partisan bullshit, huh?
.

Partisan bullshit is a big deal. It is destroying our democracy. Whatever happened to doing something for the sake of duty?

 

[martybegan]

Has this country not always been divided?

Not this divided. The past was more of a division based on location using the States as an identifier, and maybe your region.

What we have now is a further balkanization into penny packet identity groups. While Americans have always and an ancestry they harkened back to, it used to be more about how you lived your home life, what extra holidays you celebrated, and maybe what Church/community org/fraternal org you belonged to.

Now identity politics combines further sub-divisions with a "race to the bottom" to see who, in their eyes, is more oppressed, thus giving that group the most power when it comes to social and political issues and positions. It's become about revenge for some groups. On the Right, the white power idiots take the same position on identities, but they go with the "we are awesome, you suck" method of trying to gain power they did not really earn.

I also blame the internet for it's ability to spread information fast and far. Now dinky local issues can turn into national shitstorms in days. Also the internet via social media allows many more people to have their opinions voiced to a huge audience. That isn't bad in and of itself, but people used to the old media model give too much credence to these keyboard commandos.

 

[iceberg]

now - why do i feel it's changing? because under obama you could not speak out against people doing this. you were railroaded, the social justice warriors went out in force and came after you and flooded your pages with their hate. but when advertisers get into this, it simply tells you where the money. that is going to drive so much of this.

now - in the aftermath of the weekend, we have:

Von Miller Ads Being Pulled After Anthem Protest
will von miller still believe in the change he can effect by kneeling down after it costs him actual money? an NFL player has a limited lifespan and opportunity to pull in the big $$$. von miller is one of the best in the NFL to be sure but he just got taken down a peg. again, under obama no way would these ads be pulled.

NFL’s Sponsors Tiptoe Around Trump’s Latest Twitter Fight

before the advertisers would speak out loud and proud about the kneeling and support for minorities. now? ads being pulled, companies taking the "middle ground" to see what develops before it does in fact cost them $$$ to go one way or another. this in itself is a change.

the NFL is now losing sponsors.
NFL broadcasts lose Viagra, Cialis as major advertisers

some were losing their ad revenue last year - so it had already began:
This NFL Player Lost 2 Endorsement Deals for National Anthem Protests

to be clear - i DO NOT think trump should have said a damn thing. i hated it when obama had to weigh his nappy ass into every social situation so i hate it also when trump does it. *this* is where the divide comes from as we see our "leaders" argue, fight and divide and demand THEIR way - we reflect that.

the NFL has a serious change to make. the question is - how much power do SJW's still have today? that "power" is shrinking but rest assured these people spending millions on advertising will be conducting a no holds barred surveys w/o any care of predetermination. they just do not want to waste money or turn a bigger fan base away.

i think by now we know who the bigger base is. just not as vocal until you get them good and pissed off and politicizing the NFL has done it.

 

[G.T.]

Those who want to see us divided are winning, big, and we're just being willing, obedient sheep in the whole thing.
.

Exactly Mac, the whole system is turned upside down, the way things should work is that the common citizenry unite to fracture centers of power that become too dominant and thus threaten the life, liberty and property of the citizenry. Instead what we have is vast centers of political and economic supremacy that fracture the common citizenry into mindless herds and pit them against each other.

It's us against us and the political elite and the special interests that control them are laughing at us and why shouldn't they? We've demonstrated that we don't deserve to govern ourselves and are just the clueless sheeple that they believe we are.

Welcome to the United States of Oligarchy and its legions of pom-pom waiving, slogan slinging, partisan serfs.

"What I may call the messages of Brave New World, but it is possible to make people contented with their servitude. I think this can be done. I think it has been done in the past. I think it could be done even more effectively now because you can provide them with bread and circuses and you can provide them with endless amounts of distractions and propaganda." -- Aldous Huxley, A Brave New World

A few here are inferring that it's no big deal. Maybe we shouldn't take all this so seriously - just partisan bullshit, huh?
.

It is.

There's nothing going on that we havent seen in this country historically - its just that some are unwilling to accept that the information age makes one necessarily have to dig deeper into statistics and actually learn something, to figure this out.

Youre only looking surface level if youre one of the "err mee geeerd rome is burning" folks.

 

[Mac1958]

A few here are inferring that it's no big deal. Maybe we shouldn't take all this so seriously - just partisan bullshit, huh?

Partisan bullshit is a big deal. It is destroying our democracy. Whatever happened to doing something for the sake of duty?

That's simply not a priority at this point, period.
.

 

[007]

Partisan bullshit is a big deal. It is destroying our democracy. Whatever happened to doing something for the sake of duty?

America is a constitutional republic, not a democracy.

Haven't you ever said the Pledge of Allegiance?

 

[Mikeoxenormous]

I don't want to take away from the furious outrage that has once again gripped the country (this time over some guys in shoulder pads making a "statement"), but I'd just like to point out that this it's just another symptom of a much larger problem.

This country is fractured, it's in pieces, and it's a self-inflicted wound.

We can blame the "other guys" all we want, but our words and actions are our own. NO ONE is making us behave this way.

Those who want to see us divided are winning, big, and we're just being willing, obedient sheep in the whole thing.

We've become so controlled and paralyzed by our egos and our dogma and our rage that we've completely lost each other. And worse, we're willing participants. I wonder if we'll wake up before it's too late.
.

Pretty soon the National Football League will be the No Football League. Stupid uneducated players are going to lose out on the United States gravy train, when those they are insulting stop paying.

 

[BluesLegend]

We are at war with leftist scum intent on destroying our country, get used to it.

 

[jon_berzerk]

now - why do i feel it's changing? because under obama you could not speak out against people doing this. you were railroaded, the social justice warriors went out in force and came after you and flooded your pages with their hate. but when advertisers get into this, it simply tells you where the money. that is going to drive so much of this.

now - in the aftermath of the weekend, we have:

Von Miller Ads Being Pulled After Anthem Protest
will von miller still believe in the change he can effect by kneeling down after it costs him actual money? an NFL player has a limited lifespan and opportunity to pull in the big $$$. von miller is one of the best in the NFL to be sure but he just got taken down a peg. again, under obama no way would these ads be pulled.

NFL’s Sponsors Tiptoe Around Trump’s Latest Twitter Fight

before the advertisers would speak out loud and proud about the kneeling and support for minorities. now? ads being pulled, companies taking the "middle ground" to see what develops before it does in fact cost them $$$ to go one way or another. this in itself is a change.

the NFL is now losing sponsors.
NFL broadcasts lose Viagra, Cialis as major advertisers

some were losing their ad revenue last year - so it had already began:
This NFL Player Lost 2 Endorsement Deals for National Anthem Protests

to be clear - i DO NOT think trump should have said a damn thing. i hated it when obama had to weigh his nappy ass into every social situation so i hate it also when trump does it. *this* is where the divide comes from as we see our "leaders" argue, fight and divide and demand THEIR way - we reflect that.

the NFL has a serious change to make. the question is - how much power do SJW's still have today? that "power" is shrinking but rest assured these people spending millions on advertising will be conducting a no holds barred surveys w/o any care of predetermination. they just do not want to waste money or turn a bigger fan base away.

i think by now we know who the bigger base is. just not as vocal until you get them good and pissed off and politicizing the NFL has done it.

they should lose all sponsors i can drink coke over pepsi i can eat hardies instead of McDonalds

it is all quite simple really

 

[NightFox]

Those who want to see us divided are winning, big, and we're just being willing, obedient sheep in the whole thing.
.

Exactly Mac, the whole system is turned upside down, the way things should work is that the common citizenry unite to fracture centers of power that become too dominant and thus threaten the life, liberty and property of the citizenry. Instead what we have is vast centers of political and economic supremacy that fracture the common citizenry into mindless herds and pit them against each other.

It's us against us and the political elite and the special interests that control them are laughing at us and why shouldn't they? We've demonstrated that we don't deserve to govern ourselves and are just the clueless sheeple that they believe we are.

Welcome to the United States of Oligarchy and its legions of pom-pom waiving, slogan slinging, partisan serfs.

"What I may call the messages of Brave New World, but it is possible to make people contented with their servitude. I think this can be done. I think it has been done in the past. I think it could be done even more effectively now because you can provide them with bread and circuses and you can provide them with endless amounts of distractions and propaganda." -- Aldous Huxley, A Brave New World

A few here are inferring that it's no big deal.
.

Of course, overdosing on propaganda, fear, uncertainty and doubt has decoupled their consciousness from their capacity for reason and objectivity, they don't think anymore they just react in accordance to whatever their overlords have trained them to do.

The organ grinder plays the tune and the monkeys dance.

Maybe we shouldn't take all this so seriously - just partisan bullshit, huh?

It's more than partisan bullshit, it's the Hobbes versus Locke debate playing out again right before our eyes and Hobbes is winning.

 

[Billo_Really]

America is a constitutional republic, not a democracy.

Haven't you ever said the Pledge of Allegiance?

We have to be a well-informed nation to be a republic. You're not going to get that watching Fox News.

We are a corporate oligarchy.

 

[otto105]

The "divide" is clearly between those who love our country and those who love to PISS on our country.

The divide is clearly between those who understand our constitution and those who think we live on an authoritarian regime.

 

[SavannahMann]

Has this country not always been divided?

No. Rarely like this. FDR called Republicans “The Loyal Opposition” during the New Deal and the Second World War. Yet they came together even before Pearl Harbor to begin building the military we would need. They agreed to Lend Lease. They supported the nation. They negotiated and compromised to find a workable solution.

The closest we can see in history to where we are now is the inaptly named civil war and McCarthy.

There is no more compromise. Any suggestion of one is denounced as Treason. That word has never been used as much as it is now. Defeating the opponents in an election is no longer enough. You must destroy them. Not even in the arena of ideas, but physically destroy them. Gang warfare where wearing red in a blue neighborhood is cause for death. Now it is political.

 

[007]

America is a constitutional republic, not a democracy.

Haven't you ever said the Pledge of Allegiance?

We have to be a well-informed nation to be a republic. You're not going to get that watching Fox News.

We are a corporate oligarchy.

No, we are a republic, period.

There's no worse propaganda outlets spewing lies, hate, vitriol and division than the democrat propaganda machine.

 

[Mikeoxenormous]

Yet, you watch the Lame Stream, Lickspittle, Lapdog, FAUX news orgs like Communist News Netword(CNN), National Broadcast Communism(NBC), American Broadcasting Communism(ABC) or Communist Broadcasting System(CBS). And this is why you are a ******* moron. Remember this, when you lose your freedoms to Communism, there wont be an America left to champion you against the Commies. Are you really that stupid to want to lose your freedoms?

 

[Book of Jeremiah]

I don't want to take away from the furious outrage that has once again gripped the country (this time over some guys in shoulder pads making a "statement"), but I'd just like to point out that this it's just another symptom of a much larger problem.

This country is fractured, it's in pieces, and it's a self-inflicted wound.

We can blame the "other guys" all we want, but our words and actions are our own. NO ONE is making us behave this way.

Those who want to see us divided are winning, big, and we're just being willing, obedient sheep in the whole thing.

We've become so controlled and paralyzed by our egos and our dogma and our rage that we've completely lost each other. And worse, we're willing participants. I wonder if we'll wake up before it's too late.
.

You make an excellent point, Mac. The bigger picture in all of this is that we are a nation divided. I counted the poll numbers last night on what others thought about consequences to the NFL players and it was 25 - do nothing while the rest voted varying degrees - whatever they were - 26. That is pretty much a split down the middle and that is what I see happening to this country. A house divided against itself cannot stand. Neither can a nation. Here we are on the precipice of a war with NK which could ultimately lead to war with China and then Russia - worst case scenario - and the country is being distracted with bread and circuses. It would be wise to take a step back and look at what is at stake here. The NFL is just another indicator that our nation is in trouble and the people are clearly divided on multitudes of issues. America is facing formidable enemies and I'm sure they are noticing (if not even promoting) the divisive state our nation is currently in. Again a house divided against itself cannot stand. Clearly we are already there.

 

[Freewill]

Important things need protested and discussed, like cotton displays in craft stores.

I saw one of those yesterday, it was done all wrong!

I heard that next the football players will be taking a knee over cotton shirts.

 

[Mac1958]

I don't want to take away from the furious outrage that has once again gripped the country (this time over some guys in shoulder pads making a "statement"), but I'd just like to point out that this it's just another symptom of a much larger problem.

This country is fractured, it's in pieces, and it's a self-inflicted wound.

We can blame the "other guys" all we want, but our words and actions are our own. NO ONE is making us behave this way.

Those who want to see us divided are winning, big, and we're just being willing, obedient sheep in the whole thing.

We've become so controlled and paralyzed by our egos and our dogma and our rage that we've completely lost each other. And worse, we're willing participants. I wonder if we'll wake up before it's too late.
.

You make an excellent point, Mac. The bigger picture in all of this is that we are a nation divided. I counted the poll numbers last night on what others thought about consequences to the NFL players and it was 25 - do nothing while the rest voted varying degrees - whatever they were - 26. That is pretty much a split down the middle and that is what I see happening to this country. A house divided against itself cannot stand. Neither can a nation. Here we are on the precipice of a war with NK which could ultimately lead to war with China and then Russia - worst case scenario - and the country is being distracted with bread and circuses. It would be wise to take a step back and look at what is at stake here. The NFL is just another indicator that our nation is in trouble and the people are clearly divided on multitudes of issues. America is facing formidable enemies and I'm sure they are noticing (if not even promoting) the divisive state our nation is currently in. Again a house divided against itself cannot stand. Clearly we are already there.

There are people who say that this is essentially normal, that we've always been divided. Yes, there have always been divisions, but they're ignoring the significance of degree here. The divisions are deeper and wider right now, and clearly growing by the day. The bigger problem, to me, is that there is virtually no one trying to step into the breach and trying to promote healing.

Right now, all the energy is going into making things worse. I wonder how long that continues, and what remains at that point.
.

 

[Freewill]

Not sure why the Right would want to be as intolerant to opposing views as the Regressive Left.

You have no freedom of speech at work.

We could just live and let live, allow people to express themselves as long as it doesn't (really) affect us. Being "offended" doesn't count.

There's always an excuse to try to shut someone up.
.

You can not protest at your work place because you are not being paid to express your opposition to a policy or make a political statement. Owners set the policy their paid "employees", or players who work for them must follow during company time. You wish to protest I guarantee you the company you work for would ask you do it at your own time ... not in their place of business and definitely not to be associated with their company's views How many employees of a business do you personally see trying to make a public specticle by expressing what they feel needs to happen according to their own personal view? Name for me a few businesses that allow employee protests to occur to distract from, and impose their views contrary to what customers came there for? Contrary to what you might think, customers don't have to tolerate what you may personally think needs to happen out of protest, when they can take their business ... and dollars ... elsewhere.

It doesn't matter. What matters is the individual company. Jerry Jones took a knee with the Cowboys last night.
.

That fake lying POS. For once I was thinking positively about Dallas, what a fool I am.

But the reason he did is pointed out by Shannon Sharpe. It isn't over some "cause" it is because Trump drew attention to the shield and Jones and the rest of the owners are going to protect the NFL by any means. F.k them.

 

[Book of Jeremiah]

I don't want to take away from the furious outrage that has once again gripped the country (this time over some guys in shoulder pads making a "statement"), but I'd just like to point out that this it's just another symptom of a much larger problem.

This country is fractured, it's in pieces, and it's a self-inflicted wound.

We can blame the "other guys" all we want, but our words and actions are our own. NO ONE is making us behave this way.

Those who want to see us divided are winning, big, and we're just being willing, obedient sheep in the whole thing.

We've become so controlled and paralyzed by our egos and our dogma and our rage that we've completely lost each other. And worse, we're willing participants. I wonder if we'll wake up before it's too late.
.

You make an excellent point, Mac. The bigger picture in all of this is that we are a nation divided. I counted the poll numbers last night on what others thought about consequences to the NFL players and it was 25 - do nothing while the rest voted varying degrees - whatever they were - 26. That is pretty much a split down the middle and that is what I see happening to this country. A house divided against itself cannot stand. Neither can a nation. Here we are on the precipice of a war with NK which could ultimately lead to war with China and then Russia - worst case scenario - and the country is being distracted with bread and circuses. It would be wise to take a step back and look at what is at stake here. The NFL is just another indicator that our nation is in trouble and the people are clearly divided on multitudes of issues. America is facing formidable enemies and I'm sure they are noticing (if not even promoting) the divisive state our nation is currently in. Again a house divided against itself cannot stand. Clearly we are already there.

There are people who say that this is essentially normal, that we've always been divided. Yes, there have always been divisions, but they're ignoring the significance of degree here. The divisions are deeper and wider right now, and clearly growing by the day. The bigger problem, to me, is that there is virtually no one trying to step into the breach and trying to promote healing.

Right now, all the energy is going into making things worse. I wonder how long that continues, and what remains at that point.
.

Before responding, Mac, I should tell you that your OP is the first thread I've seen on this subject that focuses in on what is really happening to our country. You are the first person I've seen address it. You are right. This is not an ordinary event that has happened in times past. This is different and it is leading to our demise. As you stated the division is deeper and wider now and it's growing. As to how long it continues......the first thing that came to me when I read this - was a story I heard once from a minister I greatly respect. He said that he was at a children's fair with his daughter and there was a game where water was added to a bucket little by little and when it became full to overflowing an electronic arm would suddenly push it over and the water would all pour out at once. He said it was like a visual lesson concerning a tipping point. That there is a tipping point and when that tipping point comes it happens suddenly. Not gradually. It's one sudden outpouring of destruction for anything in its path and when it tips over and pours out - it is too late.