National Anthem Protests and the Disappearing Democratic Party
Torch? Check. Pitchfork? Check. Victim mentality? Double check. Congratulations! You’re all set for your Democratic Party adventure. Bart Simpson’s principal once said, “Ah, there’s no justice like mob justice.” Too bad the Democrats already chose a new slogan because this one would have fit them perfectly. Whatever a small, angry, leftist mob screams, they scribble it on a post-it note and jam it into their platform. And the more they become the party of fringe groups and phony fringe issues, the more their power will evaporate into the political ether.
This weekend, we can add to that list the proliferation of national anthem protests by grown-ups who are paid enormous salaries to play a game. #TakeAKnee was trending on Twitter and the progressive Left was giddy over it.
The political Left is the sad little corner of American politics where 9th grade civics lessons go to curl up and die. Just spend a minute or two perusing tweets from the far-Left, pro-Kaepernick Twitter army. They cite the First Amendment, but they clearly haven’t read it. Here’s a quick lesson: No, the First Amendment does not protect you from NFL rules. No, the NFL doesn’t have to allow these protests. No, the First Amendment is not a magic force-field that shuts down everyone else’s free speech and makes protesters immune to criticism. The First Amendment does guarantee that Congress shall make no law stopping Kaepernick and Kaepernick copycats from taking a knee during the national anthem and that Congress shall make no law which stops the NFL from allowing whatever speech it chooses to allow. Conversely, the First Amendment guarantees that Congress shall make no law which stops President Donald Trump from criticizing those protests.
Thirteen years ago, Jake Plummer quarterbacked the Denver Broncos with a small “40” decal on the back of his helmet — a tribute to Army Ranger Pat Tillman who was killed in Afghanistan. The NFL essentially said, Hell no! We can’t let that fly! Plummer was forced to remove the decal. In case you thought the NFL cares about “the spirit” of free speech, they don’t.
The NFL has the power to fine players for protesting the national anthem just as they had the power to fine Jake Plummer for a 1-inch tribute to his former college teammate and friend. But they’ve chosen not to. Maybe they think this is the way to Los Angeles’ heart. Maybe they think this will help the L.A. Chargers fill up that tiny 27,000-seat stadium.
Keep it up, Roger Goodell. Keep it up, billionaire team owners. NFL ratings were down an average of 8 percent last year, and, according to a J.D. Power survey, a plurality of those who tuned out blamed Kaepernick and the anthem protesters. I am one of them. I have hundreds of channels, a blu-ray player, Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime. Pair all that with my identity politics fatigue, and it’s never been easier to change the channel.
The NFL may be on top today, but in the 1950s America’s most popular sports were baseball, boxing, and horse racing. Considering the CTE controversy, the national anthem controversy, the domestic violence scandals, and its lack of international popularity, the NFL’s current dominance feels about as permanent as hipster beards, skinny jeans, and pumpkin spice everything.
According to a YouGov poll (with a very kindly worded question), 85 percent of Republicans, 59 percent of independents, and 34 percent of Democrats disapprove of kneeling during the national anthem. That’s why office-holding Democrats equivocate on the issue and try to take both sides. They want to keep the far-Left, anti-American faction of the party happy, but they’re way underestimating the degree to which their pandering alienates the overwhelming majority of Americans.
This week’s Time Magazine cover story asks the question, “Can anything save the Democrats?” They lost the House in 2010. They lost the Senate in 2014. They lost the presidency in 2016. They lost the Supreme Court in 2017. They’ve lost over 1,000 seats in state legislatures over that same time period. They lost all the special elections to fill seats vacated by Trump administration appointees. The GOP is destroying them in grassroots fundraising. They’re almost certain to lose more Senate seats in 2018.
The reason is simple: Kamikaze politics. They’ve let America-is-the-problem, identity-politics-driven, leftist fringe groups become their voting base. Embracing anti-American attitudes — whether directly or tacitly — is political suicide. Smearing decent, hard-working middle-class Americans is political suicide. Democrats were once the party of hard-hat-wearing, flag-waving, working-class people. Now, they’re becoming the party of ultra-rich elites and leftist mobs.
So, “Can anything save the Democrats?” Yes! Stop embracing positions based solely on the volume of the person screaming them. Stop marginalizing the thoughts and feelings of people who aren’t on television, who aren’t millionaires, and who don’t have time for any political advocacy beyond voting because they work all day. Stop branding everyone who disagrees with you as a racist, white supremacist, homophobic, xenophonic deplorable. Stop pretending strong emotions are an acceptable substitute for facts and evidence. And, most of all, stop being afraid to stand up for America!
Eddie Zipperer is an assistant professor of political science at Georgia Military College and a regular LifeZette contributor.
http://www.lifezette.com/polizette/national-anthem-protests-disappearing-democratic-party/
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"According to a YouGov poll (with a very kindly worded question), 85 percent of Republicans, 59 percent of independents, and 34 percent of Democrats disapprove of kneeling during the national anthem."
Facts mean nothing to the emotional.
Torch? Check. Pitchfork? Check. Victim mentality? Double check. Congratulations! You’re all set for your Democratic Party adventure
Says the people bitching and moaning about some football players kneeling during the National Anthem, but could care less about some people flying the Confederate Flag!....Boy! The hypocrisy dense in this one!
“Ah, there’s no justice like mob justice.”
What is their new slogan, "We the mob"? It would certainly fit them perfectly. Not all Democrats are this way, but the party has been hijacked by the far Left and it doesn't look good for them in 2018 at all.
What are they even protesting? The anti-Trump hysteria has certainly overwhelmed whatever the original point of the protests were, that's for sure.
Now the protesters have managed to put Trump and the American flag on the same side against the protesters.
Trump wins.
He wins with this one big time! No nation cares more about their flag than do Americans
Exactly. trump put himself on the side of the flag and what it symbolizes.
No, being an asshole doesn't symbolize free speech. If you go to the mall and ridicule people for being fat, you are not a free speech warrior, even though you are exercising your right to "free speech."
You might be Donald Trump though.
I think Charlie Cook nails how stupid a tactic this is for the protesters, if they actually have some sort of goal in mind:
"The most successful movements in American history have elected to laud America and its ideals, and then to complain about exclusion or hypocrisy or a failure to consummate vows. This, eventually, was the course Frederick Douglass took. It was the course that MLK took, with his soaring talk of a defaulted-upon “promissory note.” It was the course taken by the suffragettes.
To appeal to America at the outset of an indictment is to ensure that skeptical listener hears the subsequent criticism as “we want in” rather than “we want out.” In taking the opposite path, Kapaernick and co. have made a serious tactical mistake — a mistake that will stunt any growth they hope to enjoy. Before the details of their charge were ever known, they were seen disparaging the core symbols of the nation — symbols for which many have died and bled, and which are often taken as proxies for the Constitution, the family, and even for God — and, in some cases, they were seen praising the dictator of a perennial American foe."
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They are clueless and now they have the sheep following them......
Here's something I read elsewhere:
To sports players who take a knee :
To the NFL players who took a knee during the playing of the National Anthem.
So, you want to take a knee?
Take a trip to Valley Forge in January. Hold a musket ball in your fingers and imagine it piercing your flesh and breaking a bone or two. There won't be a doctor or trainer to assist you until after the battle. Wait your turn while listening to the screams of pain from the wounded.
Then take a knee.
Go to Normandy where man after American man stormed the beach, dodging dead bodies and withering machine gun fire,...the very sea stained with American blood. Imagine that your fellow players are your dead brothers in arms.
Then take a knee.
Take a knee in the sweat soaked jungles of Vietnam. Over 60,000 Americans died in those jungles.There was no playbook or million dollar contracts for doing your job, but they understood what our flag represented. When they came home, they were protested by their fellow Americans.
Then take a knee while they spit on you.
Take another knee in the blood drenched sands of Fallujah in 110 degree heat..Trade in your pads for a Kevlar helmet and battle dress...You'll have to stay hydrated, but there won't be anyone to squirt Gatorade into your mouth. And watch out for those IEDs when you take a knee.
There's a lot of places to take a knee. Americans have given their lives all over the world. When you use the banner under which they fought as a source for your protest, you dishonor the memories of those who bled for the very freedoms you have. That's what the red stripes mean. It represents the blood of those who spilled it defending your liberty.
So while you're on your knee, pray for those that came before you, not on manicured fields striped and printed with numbers to announce every inch of game yardage...but on nameless hills and bloodied beaches and sweltering forests and bitter cold mountains...every inch marked by an American life lost serving that flag you protest.
Go ahead, take a knee,....BUT REALIZE, others BREATHE FREE, and they, NOT YOU, no longer live on their knees, because some of US sacrificed more than photo op and sports/play time.
No cheerleaders, no announcers, no coaches, no fans...just American men and women on the land, air, and sea, delivering the real fight against those who chose to harm us..so you would have the opportunity to dishonor their service by "taking a knee."
You have no clue what it took to get you where you are...but your "protest" is duly noted. Not only is it disgraceful to a nation, it points to your ingratitude for those who chose to defend you under that banner that will still wave long after your stats and game jersey are forgotten...
If you really feel the need to take a knee, come with me to church on Sunday and we'll both kneel before Almighty God. We'll thank Him for preserving this country for as long as He has. We'll beg forgiveness for both of our ingratitude for all He has provided us. We'll appeal to Him for understanding and wisdom. We'll pray for liberty and justice for all...because He is the one who provides those things.
But no protesting allowed. There will only be gratitude for His provision and a plea for His continued grace and mercy on the land of the free and the home of the brave.
May He continue to bless America, the ignorant and selfish sinners we all are. What an incredible gift He has given us!
I take NO credit for this post it was written by another man; the already edited version is in this post... I came across the edited version and felt the need to restate the brilliant words....
God bless America, her Veterans, and the men and women who defend the rights of others...
I think maybe YOU may need to take that trip to Valley Forge, because I don't see any sheep or clueless people kneeling on that field....now the person that wrote that opinion piece you're quoting.....well......
All due respect but I don't think y'all are very comfortable with a free society. The ability to take a knee, as it were, and protest are the very things our folks in the military have been fighting to protect.
Tex, you don't know me or much about me, but thanks for jumping in. Free Speech is what I spent my entire adult life in protection of along all the other rights guaranteed by our constitution. These folks are at work. They are there to do a job, not to make a political position. When they put their actions to use for good, like actually doing something besides posing for a camera? Then, maybe, I will take their protest seriously. Until then, it's just TV where they can pretend to be making a difference.
You bet Podjo!
I don't know. When you start seeing acute mainstreamers linking arms in solidarity you might consider that this is far deeper and stronger than a surface perusal would indicate.
I do not for one noo yark minute believe that there is a correct time for resistance and protest. There is nothing sacrosanct about a job, employment, employers, employees or capitalism. Which is kinda the point of resistance and protest. Strike where and when it will garnish the most power.
I do not like "free speech zones". Double speak and Orwellian much?
The center cannot hold.
Amen brother Tex, you nailed it!
What has the USA done to justify their actions? Nothing! It is not the USA, but some people! Go after those people if you like, but not our Country.
In my wildest imagination, I would never dream of disrespecting our Country this way. I would expect this behavior from our enemies, but not from Americans.
It is not going to end with this. Idiots right now are foaming at the mouth plotting the next protest "walking on their knees"!