Unless the "next guy" is a black NFL football player - then the "son of a bitch" either needs to be PC or be fired. If you don't see that, you don't get it.

I would venture a guess that looking back on this in 30 or 40 years, the American public will have a much different view of these protests. Let's remember that most Americans did not approve of Martin Luther King, Jr. or the Civil Rights movement in general. Just because "mainstream America" (again, whatever that means?) doesn't like something in the moment doesn't mean it isn't right.

Race has NOTHING to do with this. It drives me crazy when pundits keep saying that. Trump, and most Americans, don't care whether it's a black or white player that kneels. That doesn't even weigh in the thought process unless you're a vile racist. It's about respect for the country, the flag, your team and your fans.

Problem is the person who is complaining about taking a knee and yet decry's the PC culture, is in fact contradicting their own values. Because standing for the anthem is a PC thing to do. hmmmmm

I did not know that. I was under the impression that those folks were OU ROTC. Since that is the case, it begs the question of why was this happening during halftime of a college football game? The continued militarization of our sporting events is something that I don't understand. Why are we "inducting" these folks as opposed to inducting first year teachers in Athens County into the service of teaching. I just don't get it.

I'm withholding judgment on the individual kneelers, because #1 I don't know each and every individual's reasons for kneeling, and #2 I find nothing inherently disrespectful about kneeling. (Kneeling as a form of protest seems kinda dumb to me, since kneeling is very frequently a form of reverence, but whatever. You be you.)


My primary thought on this that the NFL, as an organization, sucks. I'd like to enjoy their brand of football, but I can't, because the NFL's #1 objective right now is to "protect the shield," not to produce a quality product. I give the league and owners no credit for its response here, because as soon as the brouhaha has died down, we'll be back to penalizing players for excessive pelvic thrusting in celebrations and fining players who want to wear pink dreadlocks to support breast cancer.

Lighten up, NFL. If players want to skip the national anthem, so what? If players want to wear custom cleats honoring 9/11 victims, so what? If players want to use goal line pylons as a part of touchdown celebrations, so what?

Fun football is better than argumentative football. The NFL isn't fun anymore, and it's only tangentially related to Colin Kaepernick.

(I do miss Kaepernick in the NFL, because that 49ers offense with him at QB and Harbaugh as coach that almost won a Super Bowl was fun. But that's not ShieldBall, so we can't have it.)

Oh, I thought the NFL did disallow voicing opinions in the workplace: http://www.foxsports.com/nfl/story/nfl-denies-cowboys-req...

It DOES But here here you go

Unless the "next guy" is an NFL football player - then the "son of a bitch" either needs to be PC or be fired. If you don't see that, you don't get it.

Bob Costas has a great presentation on the matter - http://www.upworthy.com/bob-costas-offers-a-powerful-look...

This isn't about the flag and respect for our country - it is about respect for each and everyone of us. It's easy to wrap oneself in the flag, stand during the national anthem and cheer at the end of the 1st quarter for the men and women in uniform who did the fly over - that's easy and it has become the lazy "bumper sticker" definition of patriotism. The flag is reduced to a colorful cloth and the anthem a (sometimes) catchy little ditty IF we do not all stand up for and fight for each of us to have the rights, liberties, freedoms and opportunities afforded by our constitution. It is more patriotic to stand up (or kneel) for those rights for all than to salute the flag because it is a symbol of what we, as a country, continue to strive for - but have not yet achieved. I have the utmost respect for the men and women in uniform. I recently spent the day with the Golden Knights doing a publicity program for them. I'm in the midst of working with MWR at Ft. Bragg on a promotional program for them. And NOT ONE of the men and women I work with enlisted because of the flag. They are there because of love of country and the ideals and principles our nation stands for. It is a challenge and responsibility for each of us to uphold those principles and fight for what our service men and women risk their lives for and not simply wave a flag and feel good about our country... or denigrate (and call "son of a bitches") those that feel we need to do more - even if you disagree with their approach.

REALLY? Before Trump opened his big mouth, what color were the sob's who were kneeling? White?
Take your blinders off my man.
Do you think all those confederate flag waving folks who are on your side are upset about the flag?

No - there was no one "Good" on the side of those chanting "Jews will not replace us" and "Death to niggers" and "soil and blood" - simply no. By definition...no!

If Trump had called the tiki protesters "Son of a bitches" I would have more respect for him - and as I said before, had Obama called the tiki trash "son of a bitches" the right would have exploded.

And if you know anyone who lives in Charlottesville - you would know they did not want the protestors to be there - it was a call to white action, not a protest about a statue (that is why so many were from out of state). It all started days earlier when early arrivers blocked the entrance to a black church and did not let the congregation leave until the police showed up. It of course ended when citizens of Charlottesville tried to barracade the protestors from going into a house project because they were ransacking homes of the residence (mostly black) - the car plowed into those folks. No there were not "good people" on the side of the tiki trash.

Guarantee it. You'd have some confused looks like the old Leno shows.

The issue with the "good people on both sides" thing is that one side was full of avowed white supremacists. They carried torches -- which I'm sure everybody here can understand the significance of -- wore Nazi armbands, shouted old Nazi political slogans, and used the Nazi salute.

That was the point of the Charlottesville rally. It was a white supremacist rally. If you were a minority, how would it feel seeing that transpire and then hearing your President say that there were good people amongst those Nazis?

Also: Trump was sued for racially discriminatory housing practices by Democrats several decades ago, and his father's affiliation with the KKK has long been something Trump's had to deal with. The notion that he's just now been accused of racism is false.