Conservative Catch-All

Of course, but I don't see why they play the National Anthem at all.  It has nothing to do with the football game.  And if they feel like the "fans" really want to hear it - they should play it before the teams come on the field - problem solved.  But then Fox News would need to find another faux scandal/ distraction involving ungrateful blacks so people don't focus on the Con Artist/ Money Launderer in Chief and his grifter family profiting off of the White House

FOX NEWS DIVERT ALERT.

Thank you @scrubologist. I had no idea. 

Imagine that. Fans like the Star Spangled Banner to be played at sporting events.



I'm just gonna say it right here and right now. It's incredibly rude for people to continue to bring their hate to this thread when there are endless other sources for them to spew.

I totally agree.

Imagine if all the black players sat the entire season out until legislative changes were made to address police brutality and the killing of unarmed/innocent black citizens. A lot of angry white men wouldn't you say and even if you don't wanna outwardly agree you know the last thing the universe needs is MORE angry white men.

I think football is barbaric but if it must exist I would love for every black player to leave the league and join a team owned by a black person. There is no reason why the NFL should have 100% white ownership but more than half of the "talent" come from the black community. P. Diddy talked about buying a team recently.

www.chicagonow.com/politics-now/2018/05/is-the-nfl-is-enabling-white-contempt-for-african-americans/


Universal you.

What a great protest, if they all sat out in solidarity!  Another option is for every single player to take a knee for the anthem at every game.  Every single player.  That would be wonderful.  Would defeat the purpose of the fines as well.  Yes I understand that employers can make rules for their employees but employees are also allowed to make a stand if rules are stupid.  This rule is stupid.

Anybody seen Olan?

I disagree. And those that have said exactly what I've posted would (or if they're honest, should) disagree with you also.

In the interests of full disclosure, I did say on an NFL thread yesterday that at that moment, I hated people who voted for Trump, or didn't vote at all. In reality, that was heat of the moment anger and not actually true.

In retrospect, what I feel for those people is more akin to puzzlement and pity at how people can be so blind as to overlook his words and behaviors and apparently oblivious to the threat he poses to our political system. It was plain to old apolitical me in the summer of 2016 that he was going to be a disaster for our country, because he showed what a loathsome creature he was on so many occasions.

Well, you are certainly free to attempt to read my mind, but I can assure you, I really sat and thought about Lefty calling what the newborn poster said "hate" for a while, and it was interesting to me as I explored it last night.

I have seen many instances of this on this board since the Trump presidency, but it never really sank in, I think. What it seems to me to be is that people on both sides of the Two Peas aisle are doing is failing to separate their beliefs from their personhoods. I may vehemently disagree with people's beliefs on this thread, but I accept that they are children of God and flawed human beings, just like me.

But that doesn't mean that I'm going to sit there on my hands and not speak up when I see something I consider problematic. In fact, these past few months have been an exercise in learning when TO sit on my hands and when NOT to, but these are decisions made for my personal psychological health, and not a desire to engage, which in most cases is futile, and leaves everyone feeling bad.

So while I think you are doing a great job of moderating this thread, I am truly perplexed at how you get from "conservatives only getting their news from Fox" to "hate". 

If this past year has taught me anything, it's that ultimately, it doesn't and it won't matter whether a "lot of people in this country" think, or how Congressional majorities have acted/not acted. History will not be kind to them for their words, actions and inactions as it has impacted our political system. Just because "all the kids do it" is, we recognize, once we move on from elementary school, is not a valid reason for justifying bad behavior.

Has anything in America allowed more men of color - of any color - to lift themselves up out of obscure poverty up into the upper echelon of society both economically and culturally?

No. Nothing comes close.

The nearest is the even more rarefied status of music or tv/movie superstar.

Asking men to step away from this extremely rare opportunity to drastically improve their lives and the lives of their families is the same thing as asking them to enslave their own futures to mediocrity because you don't think they should succeed while others struggle.


You want to know what makes people take notice of someone's abilities and throw the notion that they are somehow less than in their face? 

Sports.



That's a photo of Jesse Owens on his way to earning 4 Gold Medals during the 1936 "Nazi" Olympics held in Germany and overseen by Adolph Hitler. 

Nothing says "In your face Aryan supremacy!" quite like it.

Where have you been for the last year and a half?

When was the last time you saw someone politely disagree with anyone they disagreed with who was less liberal than they were?

Pay attention to the word choices that have been used and you may begin to see things slightly more objectively.