Trump pushes for ‘no kneeling’ rule in NFL
President Donald Trump continued his defense of the flag, anthem and American national pride saying that the NFL should create a rule to prohibit unpatriotic and disrespectful protests by players.
“The NFL has all sorts of rules and regulations,” he posted to Twitter. “The only way out for them is to set a rule that you can’t kneel during our National Anthem!”
This came about 2 hours after a tweet saying that the Dallas Cowboys mid-field kneel before the anthem was “progress.”
“But while Dallas dropped to its knees as a team, they all stood up for our National Anthem. Big progress being made-we all love our country!”
While Dallas standing for the anthem is appreciated, it is also what is expected of every American. It wasn’t a heroic step, a potentially earth-shaking moment, or in any way equivalent to the bravery shown by Mr. Villanueva of the Pittsburgh Steelers who, by himself, rejected his team’s cowardice and left the locker room where they all hid so that he could stand at attention with his hand over his heart while the anthem played.
No, the Cowboys just caved to the ridiculous movement that is #TakeAKnee. The movement has a multitude of ill-defined goals (unity, equality, stop police brutality, etc) and it chose the flag as the target of its anger. Honestly, the whole thing started when Colin Kaepernick wore socks that had cops pictured as pigs while in uniform – a clear violation of NFL rules.
Why aren’t we talking about the black-on-black crime which kills far more black people by far than police shootings? Why aren’t we noting the circumstances during which shootings occur – almost always during or shortly after the commission of a crime. No, those dilute the terrible arguments being made for supposed ‘unity’.
Kneeling doesn’t symbolize anything, it doesn’t achieve anything – heck, it doesn’t even define anything. It’s “look at me” in the worst possible way. It’s also an intrusion into my sparse entertainment time and I, as many other former NFL fans, resent it.
NBA Coach Gregg Popovich threw out the white privilege card making the case for why athletes should piss off fans.
“Well, because it’s uncomfortable, and there has to be an uncomfortable element in the discourse for anything to change,” he said. “People have to be made to feel uncomfortable, and especially white people because we’re comfortable. We still have no clue of what being born white means.”
No Gregg, I don’t pay for a TV subscription that includes sports channels to be made uncomfortable. I don’t buy sports memorabilia to be made uncomfortable. And I certainly don’t buy tickets to a game and spend money on ridiculously-priced concessions to be made uncomfortable. We have tax time for that. This is an escape, like going to an action movie. Understand your part in this – it is not to preach to the fans what they should or should not believe while they visit your place of business.
Should the NFL adopt a no-protest rule as Trump suggests? Yes, just like every other reasonable employer in the nation and for the same reason – they don’t want their customers and other employees subjected to politics at a place of business.
Employees, as well as many employers, commonly but mistakenly believe that the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees “freedom of speech” at work. In fact, the First Amendment applies only to government action and neither limits the rights of private employers to regulate employees’ communications nor provides any constitutional right for those workers to express thoughts or opinions at work. As a result, there is no constitutionally protected right of “free speech” in the offices and factories of private employers. Although employees may be entitled to express their views freely on their own time or on a soapbox in the park, they have no such wide-ranging constitutional rights at work.
So these overpaid dolts should feel free to hold a rally outside of work. Start a foundation, group, activist panel .. whatever, but leave football out of it – it’s your place of work and the customers don’t want their free time taken up by your ill-defined moral outrage and undeserved righteous indignation.