I understand as much as I can. I've never lost a military member. I've never had a folded flag given to me. I don't mean to be insensitive to that and if it's how I came across then I apologize for that. Not here to ram my point home and kick up dust when I get pushback. I've experienced oppression and profiling. That's how I can see things from Kaepernick's point of view. I don't believe folks should take it as an affront to the fallen military. To be perfectly honest I feel like it's a bit of a cop out to generalize it that way like folks did with BLM and "Blue Lives Matter". They weren't even close to the same thing yet people wanted to treat them like a similar problem.
I thought the symbolism of the kneeling is not divisive. You kneel when you pray. You kneel before a master. It's submissive and passive. Veteran below
I have a question: I haven't been following the NFL side of things on this, but Pops said this at the end of his media day response to all this stuff ... "This is an individual who actually thought that when people held arms during the game, they were doing it to honor the flag. [long pause] ... That's delusional. Absolutely delusional. But that's what we have to live with." I'm not following. What did Trump say about holding arms as honoring the flag?
To be fair, shortly after the first picture was snapped, be put his hand over his heart. In the second, Melania nudged him and then he put his hand over his heart.
I have no doubt the flag means a lot to those people. The flag means a lot to me and at yesterday's Vikings' game I stood up and took my hat off during the anthem. What is more important though the flag or the ideals it represents? If we believe in the ideals of what this country how much do those ideals matter if push them on people through threats of loss of livelihood or public scorn of sports fans. To me I think someone who conscienciously and thoughtfully chooses to kneel during the anthem is far more representative of the ideals of this country than someone who just stands up and puts his hand over his heart just because that is what everyone else is doing.
As I said before this is all a distraction. If we really want to show love for this country the fervor spent getting worked up over athletes during the anthem should instead be directed towards helping fellow Americans. Whether an NFL player kneels or stand isn't going to rebuild a single house or get a watt of power to PR. It isn't going to guarantee a veteran get's the healthcare they need or not. A pro-athlete standing or kneeling isn't going to make much difference materially in our lives.
It's just a Trumpanzee game. A do nothing, know nothing President who is accomplishing the Trumpanzee goal of trolling millions of Americans so that angry Trumpanzees can feel better about themselves. This guy has accomplished nothing but that and unfortunately it's all his voters really expect from him. The bar for this buffoon could not be any lower and his ignorant supporters will drag us all down the rabbit hole with them.
Nothing but respect for Villanueva, but I wonder if all the fast food patriots (thanks, @fchowd0311 ) will cancel their jersey orders now lol. Villanueva: Standing alone wasn't intentional "I see that picture of me standing by myself and I'm embarrassed to a degree, because unintentionally I left my teammates behind," Villanueva said. "It wasn't me stepping forward. I never planned to boycott. ... At the end of the day, whether I want it or not, whether it was my intended plan or not, the reason I went out there by myself is the reason it's causing all this distress." ... Villanueva's place in the spotlight helped him learn more about a divisive issue that he believes shouldn't be divisive. People should realize taking a knee is not a direct protest of the flag or the anthem, said Villanueva, one of the first critics of Colin Kaepernick's method of protest.
If you think he only apologized because he was forced to (and made up a story about talking to Roethlisberger and Cam Heyward in the tunnel beforehand), then you are disrespecting Villanueva by thinking he wouldn't truthfully stand up for what he believes in. I'd call you a disgusting fake patriot, but you're a Russian troll, so it makes sense.
It's amazing how much people have lost their souls over someone who is, by his words and actions, a bonafide creep. Hillary Clinton would have been light years better than this disaster. This is only year 1, folks. Pathetic.
He lost his soul over a creep. A creep who, in any other context, we would all agree is a complete ass. A creep who, even 10 years ago, would have been laughed out of the primaries. Amazing.
Dale Hansen (Vietnam vet) dropping truth bombs. The Trumpanzees/fast food patriots aren't going to like this.
I love hearing people whine about "overpaid athletes" when these same people are first in line to praise capitalism. I mean, you can't make this stuff up.
