# It's a Pretty Lame Protest if No One Gets Upset **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 24, 2017, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-pretty-lame-protest-if-no-one-gets-upset/797186 "2017-09-24T16:38:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Airbeck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/airbeck/32/6574_2.png) [@Airbeck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airbeck)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2017, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-pretty-lame-protest-if-no-one-gets-upset/797186/181 "2017-09-25T19:58:54Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > Do a search…or just ask around…but some liberal dick around these parts did just that… And a conservative dick in the White House is doing the same thing right now. Funny how only one of these dicks bother you… ---
**Author:** ![raventhief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raventhief/32/4_2.png) [@raventhief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raventhief)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2017, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-pretty-lame-protest-if-no-one-gets-upset/797186/182 "2017-09-25T20:09:06Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > Do a search…or just ask around…but some liberal dick around these parts did just that… Or…cite your story. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2017, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-pretty-lame-protest-if-no-one-gets-upset/797186/183 "2017-09-25T20:24:46Z")
> [@raventhief](#): > > Or…cite your story. Do a search. Ask around. ---
**Author:** ![Airbeck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/airbeck/32/6574_2.png) [@Airbeck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airbeck)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2017, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-pretty-lame-protest-if-no-one-gets-upset/797186/184 "2017-09-25T20:28:57Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > Do a search. Ask around. no ---
**Author:** ![raventhief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raventhief/32/4_2.png) [@raventhief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raventhief)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2017, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-pretty-lame-protest-if-no-one-gets-upset/797186/185 "2017-09-25T20:31:06Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > Do a search. Ask around. Do your own homework. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2017, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-pretty-lame-protest-if-no-one-gets-upset/797186/186 "2017-09-25T23:46:14Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Again, your post was excellent, **manson1972**. Hey thanks! ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2017, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-pretty-lame-protest-if-no-one-gets-upset/797186/187 "2017-09-25T23:54:25Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > You think people expressing political views at their work should be fired? What about people expressing their religious views at work? Should they be fired too? Sounds fair to me 😃 But only if it applies to the bosses too. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2017, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-pretty-lame-protest-if-no-one-gets-upset/797186/188 "2017-09-26T00:03:57Z")
> [@The\_King\_of\_Soup](#): > > Too few people have ever been to a real, old-timey New England town meeting. > > I don’t get what limitation people are working under when they don’t realize that the people who stand for the national anthem, and the people who don’t, are doing _exactly the same thing_, engaging in the same political speech/act, for reasons that are either praiseworthy or not (though I bet more standers are doing it out of habit or fear of being marked as “different” and more non-standers are doing it after at least a moment’s thought), just as the people who speak on both sides of an issue at a town meeting are exercising the same rights, regardless of how much you don’t like them. > > The folks who want to silence (I mean suppress: they’re already silent) protesters who have repeatedly made it clear that theirs is a loyal, humble (kneeling silently to protest is about as innocuous as it gets) demonstration against grotesque racism in our policing and criminal justice system, are cowardly bigots who, afraid to out themselves as such, weakly pretend that this is about the flag and patriotism instead. > > I don’t invite these people to my home: they’d be arrested for trespassing, not bigoted ignorance. That’s the thing. The football player who started all this took a knee over racial issues. He was not disrespecting the flag, he was making a quiet nondestructive protest. Freedom of expression. We can argue about an employer’s right to apply some sort of “stern talking to” or discipline on the job, but once again the Orange Racist In Chief had to go and make it all about him again, to deflect from the real original message. People need to think about who is so outraged at this disrespect to the flag, the country, the military, and to veterans (but I’m one vet who fucking hates him and doesn’t need his “protection”). [ul] [li]This is the guy who attacked Gold Star parents.[/li][li]This is the guy who attacked McCain and POWs in general, for being a loser who gets captured.[/li][li]This is the guy who brags about not paying taxes.[/li][li]This is the coward who had some very convenient bone spurs that were too disabling for military duty, but never hampered him in sports.[/li][li]This is the traitor motherfucker who sold us out to the Russians.[/li][/ul] He doesn’t give a flying fuck about the flag, the country, or anything else. Finally, these guys are sons of bitches who should be fired… but Klansmen and Nazis are part of the “FINE PEOPLE”. So fuck him in the ass with a chainsaw. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2017, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-pretty-lame-protest-if-no-one-gets-upset/797186/189 "2017-09-26T00:07:11Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > …But only if it applies to the bosses too. You can’t fire bosses, bosses are pushed aside by younger and more ruthless reptiles. Its tradition. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2017, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-pretty-lame-protest-if-no-one-gets-upset/797186/190 "2017-09-26T00:27:54Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Just saw a quote: > > “Thinking that these football players are protesting the flag is like thinking that Rosa Parks was protesting public transportation.” > > I guess if the president is stupid enough to think that, then it makes it OK for others as well. Stealing it. We have people at work who are not only white but also older than me, an elderly hippie, and they (she) thinks it’s disrespecting the flag. Our favorite four-time loser, WHO HAS REALLY TURNED HIS LIFE AROUND AND I RESPECT HIM AND EVEN MY COMPANY FOR GIVING HIM THE CHANCE, disagreed. I won’t suggest that I’ll pay more attention to her opinion when she sells as much as him, but I won’t, as having been born with a foot in the endzone isn’t impressive. Note: He’s unapologetically South Side and is calling corporate officers, the whitest of the white (actually, the top berths aren’t nearly so pale; America has made strides). I admire the shit out of him, and told him, and y’all know how hard I am to impress positively. Much less say something nice about them. To their face. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2017, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-pretty-lame-protest-if-no-one-gets-upset/797186/191 "2017-09-26T09:26:35Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > No I’m happy actually. > > I’m like the asshole you always hated that lives next to you that won the lottery. More like the asshole who shoots holes in the bottom of the boat we’re both in and then points and says “Ha ha! You’re going to get wet!” You lost too. You’re just too stupid to realize it yet. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2017, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-pretty-lame-protest-if-no-one-gets-upset/797186/192 "2017-09-26T16:02:05Z")
Companies can fire employees who make them look bad. See Google guy, Nazi hotdog guy. I can withhold my support for such employees/companies or increase my support for such employees/companies. Personally, I would greatly prefer decreasing the weird fixation we have on the flag and the anthem. I don’t stand for them out of respect. I stand to avoid blowback that isn’t worth it (and to avoid embarrassing my husband who doesn’t feel as I do). I don’t subscribe to a generic “patriotism” or “respect for the flag” or “support our troops” or anything similar. I’ll support things when I agree with them, and not support them when I disagree. I’m under no obligation to support things I don’t agree with, which is why I am perfectly fine boycotting companies that piss me off. In this particular case, I can’t boycott NASCAR because I don’t follow it (funny how Trump didn’t mention NASCAR’s ratings), and I can’t support the NFL because I don’t follow it (and consider it too dangerous to support). I’ll stick with supporting the Oakland A’s and their kneeling player. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2017, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-pretty-lame-protest-if-no-one-gets-upset/797186/193 "2017-09-26T16:06:39Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > No I’m happy actually. > > I’m like the asshole you always hated that lives next to you that won the lottery. > > Snowflake. You certainly don’t sound happy. You don’t even watch football, and yet, here you are being triggered into crying just thinking about the fact that there are people out there doing things that you disapprove of. Things that you wouldn’t even be aware of, if it were not for the fact that your friends in the right wing outrage machine keep telling you about it. They are the ones who keep triggering you. They are the ones who keep upsetting you, by telling you that you should be upset about things that otherwise, you wouldn’t even have heard of. You call others snowflakes, and yet your entire being is threatened by a person silently, peacefully, kneeling when you think he should be standing. To be fair, the thought of players kneeling for he national anthem get me a little choked up to, but for the opposite reasons to you. You get upset that there is someone out there is not honoring the flag in the way that you feel people should be required to honor it. It brings you to tears to know that there is someone out there exercising their right to free speech in a way you disapprove. I get a bit choked up when I realize that, as well, that there are those out there exercising their rights and freedoms, but I get choked up because I think that’s a good thing, that it’s an american thing, that it is a patriotic thing for people to protest and exercise their freedoms, even if I disagree with their message. Those freedoms that you want to take away are the freedoms that those who you claim to honor fought to protect. You are spitting on the graves of veterans when you fight to take away people’s freedoms, so to claim that your actions are honoring them is a blatant lie, and the only thing I don’t know is whether or not you really are stupid enough that you don’t realize that, or dishonest enough to continue it on even knowing that you are full of shit. It could be a mix of both, in that you are dishonest enough to continue on a lie that you know, and stupid enough to think that others won’t notice. You’re like the neighbor who everyone hates, but claims that one day, he’ll win the lottery, and leave all the haters behind. You ain’t won the lottery yet, bub. You aren’t even playing it. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2017, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-pretty-lame-protest-if-no-one-gets-upset/797186/194 "2017-09-26T16:08:37Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > Companies can fire employees who make them look bad. See Google guy, Nazi hotdog guy. > > … I think the NFL players union might have an opinion about this. Also, this is not some typical company. The players are not just delivering a service, they are the service. They are the product. Nazi hot dog guy was just there to hand you the hot dog you purchased. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2017, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-pretty-lame-protest-if-no-one-gets-upset/797186/195 "2017-09-26T16:27:20Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > I think the NFL players union might have an opinion about this. Also, this is not some typical company. The players are not just delivering a service, they are the service. They are the product. Nazi hot dog guy was just there to hand you the hot dog you purchased. Yes, they may be stopped by their union. They aren’t stopped by the first amendment and they aren’t stopped by a generic sense of ethics. I don’t think I’ve ever met a person who didn’t think companies should be able to fire people for things they say. It’s just that people don’t agree with what those fireable things should be. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2017, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-pretty-lame-protest-if-no-one-gets-upset/797186/196 "2017-09-26T23:57:26Z")
> [@SpoilerVirgin](#): > > Can you explain a little more? Why exactly are you thinking this? If they continue to do their jobs, which is to play the game of football, why should they be fired for exercising their right to protest in a peaceful and non-disruptive manner? Because they are all sons of bitches. Now if they were wearing brown shirts or hoods, and waving confederate and Nazi flags and sieg heiling all over the place, then they’d be “fine people… both sides…” Which is more disrespectful??? Which is more offensive??? Also remember, doxing Nazis and getting them fired was a terrible thing, but demanding the firing of nonviolent protest types is patriotic. Oh fuck it. Die Fahne hoch Die reien fest geschlossen… Heil. Fuck it all. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2017, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-pretty-lame-protest-if-no-one-gets-upset/797186/197 "2017-09-27T23:05:57Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > I plan supporting the NFL players and enacting my own form of protest, which will be to stand for the anthem but I’ll stand really slouchy. Also, I don’t place my hand over my heart. WTF is up with that shit? Does no one remember John Carlos and Tommie Smith? [Mexico City, 1968](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1968_Olympics_Black_Power_salute)? Two courageous heroes who paid dearly for their protest for civil rights. They were serious and showed true devotion to their ideals by raising the Black Power fist salute on the medal podium during the anthem. A white Australian who medaled with them wore a human rights badge, and though he didn’t raise the Black Power salute, he was ostracized too, just for _agreeing_ with Carlos & Smith. The black guys got very much the worst of it, of course: expelled from the games and the targets of death threats at home. The asshole who punished them, Avery Brundage, had no problem with the Nazi salute being thrown all over the place in Berlin, 1936. He was a known Nazi sympathizer. Finally, Carlos & Smith were given the Arthur Ashe Courage Award 40 years on. But in Munich, 1972, two more African-American athletes on the podium, Wayne Collett and Vincent Matthews, acted out on their medal podium in their turn. But instead of making a strong, clear, disciplined protest for civil rights, they just slouched (like you said), looked around randomly, fidgeted, and scratched themselves. They made a mockery of Carlos & Smith’s protest. They just acted out because they were disgruntled with the coaching staff. So **Bo** , don’t do it. Make a clear, meaningful protest. The guys kneeling are representing the best of America. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2017, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-pretty-lame-protest-if-no-one-gets-upset/797186/198 "2017-09-27T23:10:40Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > Does no one remember John Carlos and Tommie Smith? [Mexico City, 1968](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1968_Olympics_Black_Power_salute)? Two courageous heroes who paid dearly for their protest for civil rights. They were serious and showed true devotion to their ideals by raising the Black Power fist salute on the medal podium during the anthem. A white Australian who medaled with them wore a human rights badge, and though he didn’t raise the Black Power salute, he was ostracized too, just for _agreeing_ with Carlos & Smith. The black guys got very much the worst of it, of course: expelled from the games and the targets of death threats at home. The asshole who punished them, Avery Brundage, had no problem with the Nazi salute being thrown all over the place in Berlin, 1936. He was a known Nazi sympathizer. Finally, Carlos & Smith were given the Arthur Ashe Courage Award 40 years on. > > But in Munich, 1972, two more African-American athletes on the podium, Wayne Collett and Vincent Matthews, acted out on their medal podium in their turn. But instead of making a strong, clear, disciplined protest for civil rights, they just slouched (like you said), looked around randomly, fidgeted, and scratched themselves. They made a mockery of Carlos & Smith’s protest. They just acted out because they were disgruntled with the coaching staff. So **Bo** , don’t do it. Make a clear, meaningful protest. The guys kneeling are representing the best of America. :rolleyes: It was a joke, **Johana**. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2017, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-pretty-lame-protest-if-no-one-gets-upset/797186/199 "2017-09-27T23:17:52Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > You can’t fire bosses, bosses are pushed aside by younger and more ruthless reptiles. Its tradition. I like that image. Reptiles (in suits) in a pit, attacking and eating each other. Let’s get that shit up on pay per view! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2017, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-pretty-lame-protest-if-no-one-gets-upset/797186/200 "2017-09-27T23:21:58Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > You call others snowflakes, and yet your entire being is threatened by a person silently, peacefully, kneeling when you think he should be standing. > > … > > You get upset that there is someone out there is not honoring the flag in the way that you feel people should be required to honor it. It brings you to tears to know that there is someone out there exercising their right to free speech in a way you disapprove. > > … it’s an american thing, that it is a patriotic thing for people to protest and exercise their freedoms, even if I disagree with their message. > > Those freedoms that you want to take away are the freedoms that those who you claim to honor fought to protect. You are spitting on the graves of veterans when you fight to take away people’s freedoms, so to claim that your actions are honoring them is a blatant lie, and the only thing I don’t know is whether or not you really are stupid enough that you don’t realize that, or dishonest enough to continue it on even knowing that you are full of shit. … > You’re like the neighbor who everyone hates, … . I approve. Well done. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-pretty-lame-protest-if-no-one-gets-upset/797186.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-pretty-lame-protest-if-no-one-gets-upset/797186.md?page=11)