Posted on 09/24/2017 2:36:21 AM PDT by Zakeet
How the NFL responds to Donald Trump’s spit-foaming is hardly a test case for whether the republic will stand. Nevertheless, the league is a maker of manners in this country, so it means something that Commissioner Roger Goodell and others are getting it right, striking the perfect calm but resistant tone in response to Trump's gutter-mouthing, a tone that says, "We're not your personal WrestleMania, and don't use us for your sham body slams." The NFL, faced with whether to play to the basest instincts of the audience, declined. It adhered to civility.
The league is apparently unifying around the notion that, whatever side you may be on in the siege-controversy over NFL players kneeling during the anthem to protest racial injustice, whether you see it as a matter of patriotism, activism or some tangled intersection of the two, it is important to talk about it without calling each other "sons of bitches."
Who knows what Trump’s real gripe is with the NFL. Maybe he’s still angry that owners denied him entry to their club years ago. Or maybe Colin Kaepernick’s mute but unrepentant protest really arouses his spittle. Or maybe he's just creating an "Are you not entertained!" circus-maximus spectacle by bull-baiting a wealthy league that is easy to resent by cash-strapped, job-insecure fans.
Regardless, Trump misreads what Americans love about the NFL.
It's beloved not so much for its violence or crudity, but rather the skill that results in violence averted. It's a game, ultimately, of restraint. As opposed to this ...
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Then, there's this 5% fantasy "reality", that seems to exist in the minds of the DC cocktail circuit.
One where any conservative thought is obviously racist or bigoted. Where those 95% are truly "a basket of deplorables" -- white supremacists, racists, misogynists, "evangelical" Christians, homophobes. Where money is something the government takes from the people or borrows and never has to provide any in-kind services or pay back any of the debt because it isn't "real".
Where routinely, police officers just gun down black people for sport for no reason whatsoever. Where despite an endless string of wage discrimination laws hanging over the heads of employers, they really believe women make 77 cents on the dollar compared to men for the exact same work.
Where it's "socially hip" to wear a knit vagina on your head in public. Where it's socially acceptable, in fact encouraged, to kill babies in the womb or old people who how outlived their function.
That people who come to this country illegally somehow deserve the full spectrum of citizenship rights and benefits given to the disadvantaged poor. Where the Constitution is subject to interpretation, and proceed to "interpret" it beyond the meaning of the words on the page.
And if you think this is just liberals and Democrats, you couldn't be more wrong.
It will be quite interesting to see the ratings for this year's Super Bowl.
The irritation at the NFL was there before President Trump addressed the subject. The league and fake journalism industry are now angry because he has put a spotlight on the bad behavior.
Have The National Anthem continuously playing on speakers in the parking lot and stadium until the game starts.
Sally Jenkins should write about things she knows something about. Admittedly, that wouldn’t be much.
Goodell is a moron. Suspend players that kneel a game per incident. They do not have a first amendment right on company time on company facilities. In fact allowing it is a form of endorsement of their disrespect.
and halftime and exiting the stadium.
Once you’re gone, that’s it - the NFL is a waste of time and will look Kelly be a sideshow within 5 years. Really surprise “some” FReepers still sit around watching this crap
If NFL fans refuse to go to games until players stop disrespecting our Flag & Country, you will see change take place fast. Fire or suspend!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 24, 2017
...NFL attendance and ratings are WAY DOWN. Boring games yes, but many stay away because they love our country. League should back U.S.— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 24, 2017
And that is how it should be. Glad to hear this and thank you for posting it.
So the NFL “ declined to play to the base instincts of its audience “
You know . those instincts for working people to stand and honor the US flag and hold silent contempt for the black millionaires kneeling to protest racism
The damn deplorables again - good enough to pay for tickets, not good enough to respect
The NFL is Dancing with the Stars, only the “Stars” are large black men, many of whom are despicable creatures.
“...stop enjoying NFL games...”
I love it when a bad habit decides to quit me.
This is just like when Cap’n Crunch pissed on my crunch berries.
I’ve never been thinner.
And now I’ll be more available and productive than ever on Sunday afternoons.
What the NFL doesn’t get:
You are not doctors who save lives. You are not engineers who develop innovations to improve peoples lives. You are not oil field workers who deliver the energy we need to keep our homes warm and cars running.
You are a bunch of dancing monkeys who are put on that field to entertain us. AND WE ARE NOT ENTERTAINED BY YOUR CURRENT ANTICS!
True. I slowly lost interest in the NFL over the years but I started my own boycott in 2014 with the Kaperdick. The one exception was the Super Bowl. After this week no more Super Bowls.
Okay, now I have to chime in here. Are you saying that singing the National Anthem is a "satanic ritual"? Do they sing the German anthem from time to time in Berlin?
Perhaps I misunderstood, but holding your hand over your heart and singing the Anthem is definitely NOT satanic.
In fact, I would argue that America has been protected by God and has served the world very well. Were it not for President Reagan, for example, you would likely still have two Germanies; one, prosperous; the other, filled with long bread lines.
Here’s what the Wapo doesn’t get about the NFL: It is a collection of thugs playing a kid’s game making millions who think they are oppressed. They don’t look like America. With 75% Black members they have more Blacks than some Baptist churches down south. There are no transgenders there are no open homosexuals; there are no women that is not America.
The National Anthem is turned satanic at the places where people make a ritual habit of disrespecting it.
The whole idea is voided.
No.
So next they will demand we quit flying the American flag at the stadiums, then next, then next, then next . . . . . . . . .
GET IT? What is so friggin tough to understand about their agenda?
But, as the German Jews whose shops were first labeled and then closed by the Brown Shirts and subsequent Nazis, they kept telling their children, Don’t worry, it won’t get any worse than this . . . .
As they were loaded into the cattle cars on the way to the gas chambers, Don’t worry, it won’t get any worse than this . . . .
Geez! I guess it is real easy to take a principled Euro-weenie stand when you are surrounded by them!
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