# Trump Magically Turns NFL Games Into Anti-Trump Rallies **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 24, 2017, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216 "2017-09-24T20:34:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 38
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216/741 "2017-10-13T14:54:54Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > They do not give up their right to criticize others for being weenies. They can criticize Kaepernick for kneeling during the anthem. They can call it unpatriotic and they have every right to be offended. People can be offended by whatever they want. I just get sick of the “WAAAAAAAAHHHH! People aren’t acting the way **I** think they should! This flag is MINE! This anthem is MINE! They’re disrespecting ME! It’s all about MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” They just can’t fucking let anything go. Some veterans think the whole fucking world revolves around them. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216/742 "2017-10-13T15:00:41Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Why do so many idiots keep suggesting that the flag and the anthem somehow belong to the military and to veterans? Neither the flag nor the anthem is a symbol of the military, and neither belong to veterans alone. It might have something to do with the military honor guard carrying the flag at games. But is flag burning generally a reasonable thing for the military and veterans to get offended by? > [@](#): > > As for disrespect for the nation: well, that’s sort of the point. They’re asking why they should respect a nation that claims to honor values of freedom and equality, while continuing a long history of treating some of its citizens as inferior by allowing things like police brutality directed disproportionately at blacks people. It’s about protesting the police violence, but in some measure it’s also about protesting the society and the nation that allows it to continue. So you would agree that it is a form of flag burning. Protesting the country. And I agree that trump’s involvement in this changes things wrt the guys that started kneeling after his comments. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216/743 "2017-10-13T15:02:27Z")
> [@somepumpkin](#): > > I have fallen and I can’t get up. Wow… I would have never expected even a glimpse of \*reason \*from that guy. > \ Nobody likes tyranny. And Trump would if he could. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216/744 "2017-10-13T15:08:16Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > Maybe or maybe not. It seems that actually burning a flag is going to have a far more visceral reaction than simply refusing to honor one. Burning suggests more than just mere resistance or silent protest; it’s a form of protest in which hostility is highly visible, and thus the reaction is likely to be intense as well. If one of the players grabbed his package and give the flag the finger, then I’d probably be inclined to agree with you. But just kneeling or refusing to put your hand over your heart is not the same as actually torching or peeing on a flag. There’s a difference in degree. Yes, there is obviously a difference of degree, but not of kind. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216/745 "2017-10-13T15:09:11Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > Its a form of flag burning (without actually burning a flag) and reasonable people can be offended by that. Making that connection is \*not \*the thought process of a reasonable person. Do you have a cite for anyone but you making that claim? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216/746 "2017-10-13T15:11:11Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > …So you would agree that it is a form of flag burning. Protesting the country… Well, sure. Wagging your finger at someone while you scold them is disrespectful, as is shooting them in the knee. Same thing, really… ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216/747 "2017-10-13T15:12:47Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > And the difference is intentional, it is a deliberate effort to protest without being an asshole about it. Which is why it is so important to insist that it is deliberately disrespectful, to insist that taking the knee is the same thing as burning the flag. If they accepted it as polite protest, they allow that the protestors are mindful of the feelings of others and making an effort to respect that. I see the connection between boycotting buses and sitting at lunch counters to protest segregation. I see the connection between making salt and fighting British imperialism. I even see the connection between burning draft cards and flags and protesting the Vietnam war. Kneeling during the national anthem seems attenuated from police brutality. > [@](#): > > Can’t have that. That would be admitting that maybe something is wrong that needs our attention. That something needs to be changed. Pearls are clutched, horrified gasps issue forth. Are we under the impression that no one was paying attention to issues of social justice? Man is Baltimore going to be pissed. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216/748 "2017-10-13T15:15:53Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > The poster claiming that the kneelers are offending veterans and the military was _you_. Gonna tell us why you brought them into it if you think it’s out of control? Because I can see how veterans could be offended without lionizing them. > [@](#): > > Get a grip, man. Then answer the earlier question about what form of protest against racism and police brutality you would consider acceptable. Is there one? Protest outside of police stations maybe? ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216/749 "2017-10-13T15:17:28Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > People can be offended by whatever they want. I just get sick of the “WAAAAAAAAHHHH! People aren’t acting the way **I** think they should! This flag is MINE! This anthem is MINE! They’re disrespecting ME! It’s all about MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” They just can’t fucking let anything go. Some veterans think the whole fucking world revolves around them. Wait, so Kaepernick has the right to kneel but anyone that criticizes him or gets offended is a whiny brat? ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216/750 "2017-10-13T15:21:48Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > Wait, so Kaepernick has the right to kneel but anyone that criticizes him or gets offended is a whiny brat? It’s pretty hard to characterize getting offended by such conduct as other than the actions of a “whiny brat.” If someone is a snowflake, they’re a snowflake. Not much we can do about it. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216/751 "2017-10-13T15:24:52Z")
And if they have to claim he’s actually burning the flag in a way, or disrespecting veterans :rolleyes: , they’re liars too. Not much we can do about that either, beyond pointing it out. ---
**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:** [October 13, 2017, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216/752 "2017-10-13T15:49:15Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > Kneeling during the anthem is a variant of flag burning (only without actually burning a flag). You have the right to burn the flag, but you can’t tell others not to be offended by it. Tell that to these [flag burners](https://youtu.be/7zLP82f2P20?t=228). ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216/753 "2017-10-13T15:50:29Z")
> [@Wolf333](#): > > “Donald Trump doesn’t play three dimensional chess, as his supporters insist. Sometimes, even the rules of checkers seem to elude him.” > . Shit, the rules of ‘Peek-a-Boo’ elude Trump. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216/754 "2017-10-13T16:03:44Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > Wait, so Kaepernick has the right to kneel but anyone that criticizes him or gets offended is a whiny brat? If Trump supporters (and opponents of the NFL kneelers) criticize Trump for things like his recent disrespect (out of ignorance) for the flag-lowering ceremony at a military base as harshly as they do the NFL players, then maybe it’s reasonable to assume their anger is genuine. But most of them haven’t. And I don’t expect them to. What most of them have demonstrated that they care about is angering liberals, maintaining ‘traditional’ hierarchies in terms of the behavior of minorities, destroying the legacy of Barack Obama (no matter the issue or results), and letting out a primal scream against the progress of modern culture. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Economist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c89c15/32.png) [@Evil\_Economist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Economist)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216/755 "2017-10-13T16:15:19Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > If Trump supporters (and opponents of the NFL kneelers) criticize Trump for things like his recent disrespect (out of ignorance) for the flag-lowering ceremony at a military base as harshly as they do the NFL players, then maybe it’s reasonable to assume their anger is genuine. Case in point: remember when \*\*Okrahoma \*\*went into hysterics at the thought that free speech rights of Nazis might be infringed? And then remember when Trump threatened to pull NBC’s broadcast license because they said something he didn’t like, which is an actual, literal infringement of rights, and **Okrahoma** suddenly forgot his commitment to people’s rights? It’s a pity Trump wasn’t threatening to infringe the free speech rights of Nazis. I would have enjoyed seeing \*\*Okrahoma’s \*\*head explode. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216/756 "2017-10-13T16:29:16Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **Damuri Ajashi** : > > Wait, so Kaepernick has the right to kneel but anyone that criticizes him or gets offended is a whiny brat? Not all complaining is whining. It’s only whining if the complaining is out of proportion to what’s being complained about. What Kaepernick is complaining about is people getting killed, and his complaints are, if anything, way under what’s proportional to that. What the snowflakes are complaining about, however, is someone choosing to eschew virtue-signalling by showing respect in a different way than they do, and almost any complaint is out of proportion to that, so they’re whiners. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216/757 "2017-10-13T17:27:44Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > If Trump supporters (and opponents of the NFL kneelers) criticize Trump for things like his recent disrespect **(out of ignorance)** for the flag-lowering ceremony at a military base as harshly as they do the NFL players, then maybe it’s reasonable to assume their anger is genuine. Emphasis added. I think the lack of intent might matter to some people. > [@](#): > > But most of them haven’t. And I don’t expect them to. What most of them have demonstrated that they care about is angering liberals, maintaining ‘traditional’ hierarchies in terms of the behavior of minorities, destroying the legacy of Barack Obama (no matter the issue or results), and letting out a primal scream against the progress of modern culture. And I don’t think everyone booing at the football games when someone takes a knee is a Trump supporter or a racist. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216/758 "2017-10-13T17:31:45Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > And I don’t think everyone booing at the football games when someone takes a knee is a Trump supporter or a racist. Maybe they just like to mindlessly go along with the crowd. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216/759 "2017-10-13T17:42:29Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > Emphasis added. > > I think the lack of intent might matter to some people. It doesn’t matter to them (apparently, anyway) about the NFL players – they aren’t intending to disrespect anyone or anything; just to show their great concern over mistreatment of black people. > [@](#): > > And I don’t think everyone booing at the football games when someone takes a knee is a Trump supporter or a racist. Me neither. I think it’s likely that many or most of them are one or the other or both. ---
**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:** [October 13, 2017, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216/760 "2017-10-13T17:47:29Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > Emphasis added. > > I think the lack of intent might matter to some people. So, suddenly intent actually matters to these people? When did that start? Those kneeling during the anthem have expressed specifically what their intentions were in doing so, but were told that they were wrong, and that what their intent is is to piss on our military. But, suddenly, out of no where, intent is suddenly important. The president of the united states was just too ignorant of military protocol that his disrespect of actual military people should be excused, because he didn’t intend to disrespect the military, but instead just didn’t have enough respect for the military to not be ignorant of simple and common ceremonies. If these “some people” are going to read intent into one action, but not into another, what does that make them? > [@](#): > > And I don’t think everyone booing at the football games when someone takes a knee is a Trump supporter or a racist. No, they hate our country and our troops, not to mention apple pie. You heard them booing during the national anthem, didn’t you? Some are racist, and some are trump supporters, but they all hate America. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216.md?page=37) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216.md?page=39)