{"id":873,"date":"2018-05-25T09:54:21","date_gmt":"2018-05-25T13:54:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/?p=873"},"modified":"2018-05-25T09:54:21","modified_gmt":"2018-05-25T13:54:21","slug":"love-it-or-leave-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2018\/05\/25\/love-it-or-leave-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Love It or Leave It"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Love It Or Leave It<\/p>\n<p><em>I don&#8217;t think people should be staying in the locker rooms, but still I think it&#8217;s good. You have to stand proudly for the national anthem or you shouldn&#8217;t be playing, you shouldn&#8217;t be there. Maybe you shouldn&#8217;t be in the country. \u2013 Donald J Trump 5\/24\/18<\/em><\/p>\n<p>What is American patriotism?\u00a0 According to our President, patriotism is showing respect for the flag: \u00a0\u201cstanding proudly.\u201d\u00a0 What does the flag represent?\u00a0 According to our President, it represents the military; so to \u00a0disrespect the flag, is in fact disrespecting those who serve us in the military.<\/p>\n<p>The Department of Defense paid the National Football League over $5 million between 2011 and 2014 (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/nation\/defense-department-paid-5-4-million-nfl-honor-troops\">PBS<\/a>) and a total of $53 million to various sports to honor \u201cservice men and women and veterans.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0It was a good deal for both sides:\u00a0 the NFL was able to brand itself as supporting \u201cthe troops,\u201d and the Defense Department got a great recruiting tool, hitting their key demographic.\u00a0 The agreement was first reached in 2009, and it was at that time that NFL players were required to stand on the sidelines for the National Anthem.<\/p>\n<p>The NFL has made itself \u201cpatriotic\u201d for the right price; with giant flags, B-1 Bomber flyovers, and returning soldiers family reunions. On the other hand, a true hero, Arizona Cardinal linebacker Pat Tillman, left football after 9-11 to join the Army.\u00a0 He was killed in Afghanistan, and the NFL (rightly) continues to honor his service.\u00a0So there\u2019s a mix in the NFL, of true patriotism and marketing.<\/p>\n<p>Flag ceremonies and the National Anthem have also been an historic event for political and religious protests.\u00a0 From the 1968 Mexico Olympics (the raised fists of Tommie Smith and John Carlos) to the kids who refused to recite the Pledge of Allegiance in high school during the Vietnam War, to the religious groups that see honoring the flag as worshiping a false idol; \u00a0flag ceremonies have been used to make a point.<\/p>\n<p>The United States has always honored the freedom of speech of those who chose flag ceremonies as a place of silent protest.\u00a0 By allowing these kinds of demonstrations, we honor the true values of the US; freedom for diversity of opinion.\u00a0 The fact folks can protest during flag ceremonies is what makes America a different (and better) place.\u00a0 Protestors hope, in their own way, to improve America.\u00a0 They are Americans representing their view of America, not folks who should be exiled, as the President suggests.<\/p>\n<p>So personnel in the NFL have to make choices.\u00a0 As employees of NFL teams, they are reasonably required to participate in the marketing schemes and strategies of their team.\u00a0 They wear uniforms, pink towels and socks, and customized shoes.\u00a0 They receive a generous salary for their cooperation (and certainly for taking the risks that pro football entails, perhaps a topic for a different essay.)<\/p>\n<p>The question then, is do they check their Constitutional rights at the door as well?\u00a0 Can NFL players be required to \u201cstand proudly\u201d during the National Anthem, rather than kneel respectfully, as the Kaepernick protest movement has done?\u00a0 The NFL has tried to give them an out, they can stay in the locker room (as was done by most NFL teams prior to 2009) during the anthem, then come onto the field.\u00a0 Is that enough?<\/p>\n<p>The National Basketball Association has reached a different agreement with their players.\u00a0 While they do either stand or go in the locker room for the anthem, they are allowed to make political and social comments through messages on \u201cshooting shirts\u201d and shoes.\u00a0 The difference:\u00a0 the NBA found a way to cooperate with its players.\u00a0 They have agreed to the National Anthem rules, in return for other means of expressing their views.<\/p>\n<p>The NFL owners have chosen to arbitrarily make this rule, without agreement with the players or other personnel.\u00a0 Many Americans would agree that it is in fact Un-American to deny someone their right to express themselves on issues of great concern.\u00a0So it\u2019s not as simple as standing or kneeling.\u00a0 It\u2019s about another great American tradition:\u00a0 bargaining with employees to reach solutions to problems.<\/p>\n<p>Patriotism isn\u2019t always black and white; or red, white and blue.\u00a0America is complicated; a nation of diverse opinions, ethnicities, and religious beliefs.\u00a0 The simple \u201c\u2026stand proudly\u2026\u201d does not address any of those complexities, it simply tries to force compliance.\u00a0 This isn\u2019t and hasn\u2019t been, what the United States is about.\u00a0 So let\u2019s honor the country and the flag by honoring what it really stands for: \u00a0a \u00a0complex nation of many views and opinions. \u00a0 That is what America is really all about.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Love It Or Leave It I don&#8217;t think people should be staying in the locker rooms, but still I think it&#8217;s good. You have to stand proudly for the national anthem or you shouldn&#8217;t be playing, you shouldn&#8217;t be there. Maybe you shouldn&#8217;t be in the country. \u2013 Donald J Trump 5\/24\/18 What is American &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2018\/05\/25\/love-it-or-leave-it\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Love It or Leave It&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-873","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Love It or Leave It : Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2018\/05\/25\/love-it-or-leave-it\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Love It or Leave It : Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Love It Or Leave It I don&#8217;t think people should be staying in the locker rooms, but still I think it&#8217;s good. 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