45 advocates forced ritual in NFL...

[Brian37]

Is Americas finest value freedom, or not? Does it include freedom to, as some see it, disrespect our national symbols? Of course it does. Does it include the freedom to boycott those people, and even call them names? Completely. That is your right. Have at it.

Average people have every right to piss and moan about anything they want, without fear of persecution by government or other powerful organizations. But that is the point. This isn't about kneeling, or boycotting, or who's the most patriotic, the kneeler or the boycotters. It is about how the highest office in the land, a man who has the freedom to also not watch any games, or invest his private money in organizations that don't uphold his supposed private ideals btw, is instead choosing to use his public office to encourage officially penalizing people for simply excercising this right.  That's the problem here! Kneel, don't kneel, it's all the same freedoms. But neither group should be officially punished, either by law or by an employer. And certainly the person who supposedly represents our highest ideals shouldn't be encouraging the curtailing of YOUR rights. Right?

^^^^^^This right here is what is so fucking irritating to see morons demand blind loyalty and read this and completely ignore what the sane are saying.

And for a believer to bitch and moan and cry about how we are the bad guys after YEARS of posting here is not only ironic, but hypocritical. If atheists here hated freedom so much the admins here and the owners of the website would ban every believer at the first hint of theist claims.

The ability to speak to power, no matter what side of any issue you are on is what a free society values. The Nazis demanded ritual homage to their flag. North Korea forces it's citizens to grovel to their flag, and to the Kim family. And it isn't just atheists whom support the players, I have no doubt Martin Luther King Jr, if alive today, would also be on the side of the players. I have no doubt if Ann Frank were alive today she too would be on the side of the players.

I am an American, not a communist, and I hate dictators as much as anyone else. But I am not blind to the fact that America has despite ending segregation, I am not blind to the inequality that unfortunately still exists. Nobody saying that, no black person or white person who accepts this is demanding a nanny state. What we are saying is that this needs to be addressed, and it is not being addressed to a great enough degree.

Liberals would love nothing more than for race to be left out of it. We would love nothing more than for cops and blacks and whites to get along. We would love nothing more than for urban and suburban and rural Americans to ALL have stable lives so they don't have to choose between food, medical bills or utilities. We would love to not hear about blacks dying in the custody of police. 

The only way America is going to solve the divisions is to stop ignoring them or over simplifying them to "what is your problem" and "just do it". The GOP for decades has successfully brought race issues up as bait to keep those divisions. Now they claim we are the ones making it about "identity politics". No, responding to what you did not start is not the same as starting it.

The real problem has always been for both poor urban blacks and poor rural whites and the middle class as well, has been lack of economic stability. But it still remains ON AVERAGE, that minorities are affected more negatively ON AVERAGE. So when the right complains about how everything is liberals fault or blacks fault this simply shows their ignorance. I am not a "social justice" warrior. I am not a Commie. I do not want a one party fascist state.

But yea, I am fucking tired of the right falsely vilifying liberals and minorities for pointing out real problems that do exist.

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Most of the time I hate Jerry Jones, the Cowboy owner, but seeing the clips of last night seeing ALL the Cowboy's players along with him basically telling 45 to fuck off, was a thing of beauty.

So at least until the Cowboys play my Skins, I am a Cowboy fan as well.