understandable he would say something stupid like this.

Carlin taught us that and more, BTW.

He taught us language isnt the enemy, the user is.

I wish I could use the "p" word to describe rump and the "c" word but I bet I cant around here, which is silly.

Aussies and Brits know the value of that word and it isnt the same meaning as here, I like their version.

And I he probably claims to be a Christian.

The substance is about what a symbol stands for now based in relation to its past.

In that sense a symbol can be a form of dogma that is then utilized to justify behaviors that are contrary to the original meaning. Informed, vigilant citizens of a country cannot rest on shibboleths and outdated references. Nor can they resort to rhetorical form of nostalgia if the want to keep a democracy and not yield to perversions that come under the cover of various symbols.

it surely is.

Don’t let people protesting the deaths of unarmed black people at the hands of the police bother you while you’re masturbating to Old Glory.

You piece of shit.

It is widely understood that those who retort to "Black Lives Matter" with "All Lives Matter" are obtusely missing the point (no one EVER said they don't) or simply trying to disguise overt racism with word games or equivocations.

When does a "I respect the flag..." in response to taking a knee during a forced national anthem become similar in substance or tone?

Or does it?

Are the symbols of the flag and the anthem supposedly so sacrosanct today that they are inviolate?

The original tradition of playing the anthem was started in WWI and popularized further in WWII...do we have to remain on a permanent war footing forever now?

Am I wrong, personally obtuse for not considering positions like Brees' to have merit?

I thought that Abdul Mahmoud-Rauf (nee - Chris Jackson) was right back in the 90's too, so I harbor an admitted bias AGAINST forced adoration or the flag or the anthem in general, so maybe I am just not going to see this the same way as others might...

I would simply prefer to see the entire military fetishes and forced pseudo-patriotism be swept aside for good. America does not need honoring before every single event, what it needs is every single citizen to inform themselves and to vote accordingly...what it needs is a Congress that is darker, poorer and more reflective of the ACTUAL population FINANCIALLY as well as ETHNICALLY.

But I could be wrong...

what I hate the most, I guess, is how the Right Wing assholes always seem to get to define what we 'respect' and how we show our respect. Kneeling IS a sign of respect.

Knights kneel down to their kings, Christians supposedly kneel down to their god.

I didn't swear an oath to defend a stupid flag, I swore to defend the Constitution that defends people rights to honor-or not-that flag how they see fit.

His uncles fought in WW2, also.
When they got back, they couldn't eat at lunch counters with white people, could not collect on the GI Bill to get good housing or education and were treated as a part person.
What does Brees think that flag represents to those war veterans?
Basically what he said was his feelings on this is all that matters.
Now, he's backpedaling like a circus clown on a unicycle.

privilege.

He has no idea about economic inequality since he never experienced it.

Or doesn’t that count?

the Saint's locker room, and among Saint's fans coming up.

Why does 1% of the population have half the wealth Drew?

The rest of us have to fight over the scraps they leave behind. Does the flag represent and completely unfair system?

I say yes.

Sorry Old Glory. Hopefully we can fix this mess before it is too late.

Perhaps he suffers from one of those NFL closed head injuries?

Kaepernick was accused of disrespecting the flag by a bunch of phony patriots who cynically wrap themselves in the American flag while violating the very principles it's supposed to represent. Kaepernick was kneeling during the national anthem to call attention to police violence. And Brees is protecting his future brand.

"New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees reportedly has his post-retirement plans in place. According to Andrew Marchand of the New York Post, Brees will sign with NBC Sports...as part of a deal that will go into effect when he retires from the NFL...the plan is for Brees to 'be groomed as the potential replacement for Cris Collinsworth on Sunday Night Football.'"

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2886070-report-drew-brees-signs-nbc-sports-contract-over-espn-for-career-after-saints

So Drew can STFU!

I may be wrong, maybe there are instances I am not aware of but every occassion I know of, where kneeling to 1 knee is involved, it is not considered a sign of disrespect, in fact it is the exact opposite.

FDT

I slay me.

kneeling was never considered disrespectful in the entire history of ever until the right wing decided they needed to distract from the message.

kneeling before your intended to ask their hand in marriage. disrespectful? hardly!
kneeling at the altar before your god or religious symbols of choice. disrespectful? hardly!
kneeling before royalty as you get knighted. disrespectful? hardly!
kneeling before royalty when delivering a message. disrespectful? hardly!

if that super christian quarterback guy kneeled during the anthem and said it was because god jesus something something, everyone would have said that's awesome and a lot of them would have done the same thing. the people now (still!) complaining about kaepernick would never have thought it was disrespectful and they certainly wouldn't have set about ending his career over it.


that's because what he did that they thought was really disrespectful was *complaining about black people getting killed*.
*that* is what pissed them off so much.


kneeling? disrespectful?
only if you're doing in on someone's neck.

scoring a TD.

blanked on his name.

yeah, no one thinks for a moment he's being disrespectful. in fact, he's doing it precisely to show respect.

would they really have a problem if tim tebow kneeled during the anthem and said he's praying during the anthem or something like that? would they really have said hey, that's disrespectful, let's end your career?

Link to tweet

Kneeling isn’t disrespectful to veterans or our country. That is pure BS and anyone who believes it has handed their brains over to the propaganda.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones came across to me as an old plantation owner in the South when Kap started the kneeling movement and Jones threatened to fire any of “his” players who “disrespected” the flag, country, veterans, etc.

that the values that are ascribed to and by a symbolic flag of those values have been, continue to be, a mythology of thought and behavior that is increasing with blatant public approval of leadership and embedded to the point of unconsciousness within those beneath at every level. That Liberty and Justice for all, that ethics and morality have ceased to have a place in America, needs a wide-scale reform in our hearts and, at very least, an true apology in what spills from our mouths or impacts our behaviors by the rich or the not so rich needs called out to the silently complicit! I cry MERCY to the Heavens and, thank you, I'll sit, pray if I choose, kneel at a CIRCUS show display of the Red, White & Blue that results when the People fear their civilian safety, where their votes and Congressional votes are politically suppressed and/or manipulated, where the public welfare hinges on fear of unequalness or differences that rule of law once sought to protect from tyranny and oppression. It's my 2 cents, my liberty, my choice that hurts no one else nor commands anyone to do likewise, and I'm sticking to it!

the ego, the self-righteousness, and the arrogance. He likes to lend his name to organizations like Focus on the Family, and then is offended when he is questioned about his allegiance. It's so unfair that the left picks on him. Because he is wealthy, and can give millions of dollars to different causes, he can say anything he wants about any one he wants, and anyone who doesn't like it needs to stfu, because he goes with God.

does something with the flag that one has chosen to disapprove of is a cheap and easy way to claim the mantle of super-patriot. But it cuts zero ice with me...

You want to be considered patriotic? Do something to uphold the rights the flag represents. Start with free speech, since that is enumerated in the First Amendment.

Hope he loses every single game.

🤮

Flying the Confederate flag disrespects the flag of the USA

It always is beyond my comprehension how so many of the 'Murica 1st dipshits, have no problem what so ever displaying proudly the most traitorous flag in the history of the United Sates of America.

JUST CAN'T FIX STUPID - or at least it seems.

FDT

I had an interesting childhood. My mom, a disgruntled Wild West frontier Catholic from Mormon country, was a Jehovah's Witness. Then we were Quakers.

In my family we are pacifists by necessity, not by any natural inclination. The Berserker is strong in us.

My dad and my father-in-law both served in the military at the time of the Korean War. It was just dumb luck they never went to Korea. My dad was a nearsighted Army medical clerk like Radar O'Reilly. My father-in-law was a Navy corpsman serving with the Marines. Both refused arms.

One of my grandfathers was a conscientious objector in World War II. He got beat up by the police protesting the internment of his Japanese neighbors. His moral compromise was to build and repair Liberty and Victory ships for the Merchant Marines. He was a welder. He built ships, not weapons.

My other grandfather was an officer in the Army Air Corp. He wanted to fly, see the world and flirt with the ladies, but the Army mostly kept him on the ground as a mechanic, and later as the handsome young officer with a driver and a big black military car carrying a get out of jail free card for miscreants deemed essential to the war effort. He also did something in Alaska. But he never talked about that. During the war he'd mysteriously picked up some knack for exotic metals and was later an engineer for the Apollo Project. Bits of his metal took men to the moon and back. He'd always talk about that.

I had some interaction with the Navy. Turned out I wasn't fit (asthma and some mental health issues) but they did offer me a great civilian job which I turned down, choosing instead to be a science teacher in a big city school district for less pay, and much less prestige. (I was going to save the world, Welcome Back Kotter style!) That's how I met my wife, who was also a science teacher.

Anyways, there are two kinds of patriots in this world -- the goose stepping authoritarians, and those who think their nations really can make this world a better place.

I saw Obama as someone who makes the world a better place. I saw that in Jimmy Carter as well and campaigned for both. I never saw that in say-anything-for-a-blow-job Reagan or Trump.

Anyone who sees Trump as a man who has ever honored this One Nation under God is a self-fucking idiot.