Trump versus athletes on NFL anthem protests. How does everyone feel about this?

[farmgal71]

I guess I can see the point of the protesting athletes. Sports and politics have always been connected.

What seems a bit more over the top are the crazy tweets by President Trump.

Is he just playing to his hardcore followers or does he think these protests and expressions of free speech are an insult to what the USA and their soldiers stand for?

[LEP]

Who knows. The guy is psycho.

I thought he was elected by the citizens of another country, so I thought whatever, their choice.
But this is too much. I think there is going to be an absolute free fall to the point where no one will work in the whitehouse.

Atleast it appears outside of executive orders that will get overturned in court there will be nothing accomplished while he is in office.

[15444]

Play to the base. Lots of people outraged when Kapernick took a knee and this is a late response to that. Some wanted him fired, some wanted him deported, some wanted him shipped off to front lines against ISIS, heck some wanted him put in front of a firing squad. If you don't fly the Stars and Stripes in your front yard, you really have no vested interest in this entire situation.

[Wheatking]

I would of thought Trump would of been fine with it. From his Twitter account on 01/22/17 "Peaceful protests are a hallmark of our democracy. Even if I don't always agree, I recognize the rights of people to express their views."

https://mobile.twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/823174199036542980

I have the exact same sentiment as Trump in this tweet.

[chuckChuck]

David Frum (Former George Bush speech writer)
"A great way to show respect for the flag is to refuse offers of clandestine election assistance from hostile foreign espionage agencies".

Remember when Trump encouraged the Russians to hack Hillary's email? Very patriotic!

It says something when the Russian foreign minister is the voice of moderation on the Trump vs Kim jong Un pissing match calling for the hot heads to shut up.

Trump is a little unfocused and has little self control. He seems to have mental age of about 10 years old.

What is scary is millions of americans still think he is doing a good job. Some canadians think that too.

Wholly shit is all I can say. We are in deep doo doo. Truth is stranger than fiction. You can't make this shit up!

[MBgrower]

why is the national anthem played at sporting events? perhaps for international tournaments when teams represent their country but when ny is playing ny or Calgary plays Edmonton, or Hamilton ticats play the argos??? its a stupid tradition that needs to end.

[Braveheart]

The Black players that won't stand for the anthem live in a country where they can play pro ball, their children can do anything, they are equal till they say they're not, and yet can't respect the country gives them that? They went from slaves to ascending the Presidency. Pretty fricken good. Try being a Sioux from Pine Ridge, SD and see how much equality there is.

Trump is right. The owners should fire their ass.

[Oliver88]

Playing pro football is a job and if the owner of the franchise ensures they stand and respect the national anthem they better do that. The Dallas Cowboys owner, Jerry Jones has already made it clear anyone who kneels will be removed from team.
So Trump's recommendation could happen if the owner agrees with him.

Politically Trump will win this battle.
The fans and military will take his side while some entitled players and Liberal journalists will oppose him.

[blackpowder]

Slightly unrelated. And yes Trump is overdoing the damn tweets.
But I did a slow clap when I heard his speech to UN. A room full of career diplomats who've made a life of playing hide the soap and a guy whose made a living of being an asshole and getting things done.
Its over in 2 years anyway wieners, turn the page.

[foragefarmer]

Oliver88

"So Trump's recommendation could happen if the owner agrees with him."


Robert Kraft owner of New England Patriots and a friend of Trump supports his player's who are kneeling.

Trump will not win this battle!!!

[Stampsguy]

Have to wonder if these spoiled brats have the guts to kneel in front of a vet with his legs blown off and tell him that the flag he fought for was meaningless. Why didn't they do this when Kappernick first did it. Have to think it's just an excuse to oppose Trump.

[danny W1M]

Let's get something clear right off the hop, Trump didn't say people shouldn't protest! What Trump is saying is don't disrespect the anthem or flag! If disrespecting the anthem becomes normalized, then what meaning does the anthem have anymore? Same with burning or desecrating the flag, if that becomes normalized, what meaning does it have anymore? It's not a far leap to, what meaning does your country have anymore. For ****s sakes, little kids are taking a knee now during middle school football games! That is normalizing disrespect.

LEP, you must watch a lot of CNN or late night T.V.,,,,Trump is not a psycho, he knows exactly what he's doing. "I thought he was elected by the citizens of another country",,,,if your referring to the presidential election and the inference that Russia played a roll in getting Trump elected, then why now, for over a year is there still not one piece of evidence that Russia proving such, especially with virtually every media person looking for the proof? You realize that the supreme court has ruled if favor of Trump every time, so far. You wouldn't know that I guess, if you continue to go to the same media stations and websites. They go out of there way to bury favorable news for Trump.

15444, this is more than a play to the base, this is a play to all patriots.
How long before some aggrieved group has a person in Canadian sports, and they start taking a knee here? Don't think if left unchecked, that it won't start happening in Canada.

Wheatking, Kapernick didn't have to take a knee during the anthem at football games,,,,he could have put on his jersey, got a limo ride out to the Golden Gate bridge and could have taken a knee there! Within 5 minutes every media outlet would have been on there way out there to "get" the story. It would have been on all the radio's, T.V. and in all the papers. There are so many other ways he could have protested and not disrespected the anthem.

chucky, "Remember when Trump encouraged the Russians to hack Hillary's email?" Snowden already had her emails at that point, it was more about revealing them. 30,000 deleted emails and the MSM couldn't give a **** about it. Your not interested in what they were about. If the same happened to a GOPer, you sure as hell would. Even after all the lies Hillary told, saying they were about wedding plans and yoga, lies, you and the liberal media still didn't care. Even after confidential and "secret" emails were revealed to be not kept secure. Even after it was found out she was using a private server, with backup in a closet in Colorado, you and the media still didn't care. Trump is completely focused, he's just three moves ahead of the media. Leftist and media have been saying he's out to lunch and wrong for nearly a year and a half, guess who's been wrong. BTW, nobody cares what a washed up speech writing RINO has to say, he's only trying to be relevant.
"What is scary is millions of Americans still think he is doing a good job." Ya, Trump was hitting very high approvals before his UN speech(if you believe MSM polling), likely gone higher after. We'll just see where he goes after these tweets. I certainly won't assume he's going lower, even though you do.

MGgrower, the national anthem is playing as a reminder of the freedom we enjoy to assemble numbers of people in a public place. There are many counties around the world where assembly is not allowed(for fear of organizing against the existing government. It's an expression of freedom. Those that kneel during the anthem have the freedom to do it, but don't be mistaken,,,it's disrespectful to the country. 168 hrs/week, plenty of other time to protest. Don't need to do it at work.

Braveheart, I agree with you. How much of the hundreds of millions made by black sports players go back to help the communities they're from. Some give, lots don't, I'm sure plenty figure that's what the government is for, still other likely think money would be wasted.

Oliver88, "Politically Trump will win this battle." I agree with you. Not many black athletes voted for Trump, and the blacks in the military likely will still vote for Trump.

blackpowder, Trump had an excellent speech at the U.N. Lots of applause(except when he attacked socialism), go figure! lol
Trump's speech was directed more to China and Russia than "rocketman". Since the speech, China has cracked down on Chinese banks doing business with the N.Koreans. A lot more has happened to restrict N.K. in Trump's 8 months, than in obama's 8 years.

grassfarmer, Trump will win this battle, that's why he picked it. Rich unpatriotic athletes, vs. a Rich patriotic President.

Stampsguy, "Have to wonder if these spoiled brats have the guts to kneel in front of a vet with his legs blown off and tell him that the flag he fought for was meaningless." Wow, wouldn't that been poignant. Could have snuffed it out right at the start.

All this kneel bs can be laid at the feet of obama, it's part of his legacy. He should have/could have, spoke out to the black community and told them the truth, that Trayvon Martin was a dope smoken' gangster wanna be. That he wasn't the little child in the picture that the media was showing for months. That the doctored audio that NBC,CBS and CNN were playing was false and a lie. Also that Trayvon was the attacker himself, and George Zimmerman had a right to stand his ground in Florida. But obama didn't do that.
obama also could have spoke to American to explain that the narrative regarding Michael Brown was also a lie. That Brown robbed a convenience store before encountering the police. That Brown attacked the police officer while he was in his cruiser causing the gun to go off. That Brown was not shot in the back, and that Brown did not have his hands raised in the air, as the lie that was told by his accomplanist in the robbery and repeated by media at nausium. The corner used science to prove all these things. Instead obama's few words were interrupted to mean, shoot cops to get your revenge.

[danny W1M]

Especially love the comments on this topic over here,

[URL="http://www.smalldeadanimals.com/2017/09/heh-32.html#comments"]http://www.smalldeadanimals.com/2017/09/heh-32.html#comments[/URL]

[sumdumguy]

A comment on National Post struck me, says the leader of a country is responsible to keep it's citizens safe, while Canada's leader is raiding the safe. Sad but true.

[furrowtickler]

Danny you are absolutely right . Almost No one including Oboma had the balls to stand up and stop that from getting out of hand .
There were a few prominent black people who spoke the truth and were embarrassed by what the Black lives Matter movement was doing . But the were very quickly forgotten about .
The Oboma administration remained very quiet and the Media told nothing but one side of the story that inflamed blacks all over the US.
With a black president in play I was amazed at the opportunity that Oboma just completely ignored and let get out of control .
Just to be Clear before I get kicked with a bunch of left legs , I am in no way defending Trump , so don't go there .