Patriotism compliance police?

[SilverFang01]

An American president has casually suggested deporting/expelling Americans who refuse to not just stand for forcible patriotic displays, but do so “proudly.” Should they wear identical smiles to denote “pride?” Who will police the pride level to ensure compliance?

Trump says NFL players who kneel during national anthem 'maybe shouldn't be in the country'

[hazard]

Yeah, we are definitely well into nationalist dictatorship behaviour with this demand. Not that there was any doubt before, but just saying.

[robkelk]

We have a professional gridiron-football league in Canada.

Just saying. Not that I expect any pro players read this forum, but you never know.

[Dartz]

If you need to force people to be patriotic, you have a problem.

Radio free Albemuth is not a blueprint.

[Matrix Dragon]

Those footballers were more patriotic than the Orange Hobo will ever be.

[Inquisitive Raven]

Those footballers were more patriotic than the Orange Hobo will ever be.

Don't insult hobos by calling Cheeto Benito one. Hobos are willing to work.

[Rajvik]

Those footballers were more patriotic than the Orange Hobo will ever be.

Alright, how the ever loving hell do you figure that?

[Dartz]

Patriotism is not the blind unthinking worship of the symbols of the State. There's far more to it than that.,

[Rajvik]

Dartz, I don't disagree, but disrespect towards those symbols and their nation that has given much adoration to the person disrespecting them is not patriotism either.

There was a part of me that could at least accept the players who would publicly bend knee to the symbols of the nation, but Kapernick started all this by sitting on his damn ass in protest because Trump won the election. That taints the whole damn thing in my book.

[hazard]

Have you been following how Trump and his cohorts have been acting since taking office?

They talk a good game, but they just never quite seem to follow through with putting the needs of the nation over the needs of a select few people.

[Matrix Dragon]

Those footballers were more patriotic than the Orange Hobo will ever be.

Alright, how the ever loving hell do you figure that?

"My country, right or wrong, if right, to be kept right, and if wrong, to be set right."

Those footballers are protesting what they see as a problem with their country. They are doing it in a peaceful manner, without violence. Lining up and standing for the national anthem isn't some grand NFL tradition dating back decades. It's done because the american military is paying the NFL to do it as an advertising measure. (So I find their claims of this ban being out of respect for the flag hilariously disgusting but anyway...) And honestly, if you're speaking out on an issue you feel your country has failed on, doing it during your nations anthem is the best spot to do it.

Trump and his colleagues are demanding blind adoration of the flag, and now he's making statements about kicking people out of the country for daring to protest. This is after his failure to speak up after violent protests, after police shootings. This is after his claims of 'very fine people on both sides. That's why a bunch of people running around a field with a ball are more patriotic than him. They're actually respecting their nation by trying to look after it.

[robkelk]

Those footballers were more patriotic than the Orange Hobo will ever be.

Alright, how the ever loving hell do you figure that?

"My country, right or wrong, if right, to be kept right, and if wrong, to be set right."

...

With an addendum that the country is far, far more than just the last two people who have occupied the Oval Office.

[SilverFang01]

“Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president or any other public official, save exactly to the degree in which he himself stands by the country. It is patriotic to support him insofar as he efficiently serves the country. It is unpatriotic not to oppose him to the exact extent that by inefficiency or otherwise he fails in his duty to stand by the country. In either event, it is unpatriotic not to tell the truth, whether about the president or anyone else.”

Telling truth to power is a more patriotic act than meekly accepting things the way they are. The fact is that Kaepernick knew he would pay a price for what he was doing, and kept doing it anyway. The least patriotic are those who constantly berate them for calling attention to an important issue.

From: https://www.sbnation.com/2016/9/11/12869...rshall-nfl

Kaepernick began sitting during the national anthem this preseason. A silent protest to show support for people of color who are being oppressed in the United States, and to take a stand against police brutality. It’s an effort to use his voice and his position as a NFL player to effect change for the people who are suffering, and don’t have the same ability to create significant change.

"I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color," Kaepernick said, via NFL.com. "To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder."

Kaepernick started his protest on August 14, 2016 so asserting that he started his protest due to the election of the whiny misogynist racist man-child (AKA Donald Trump) is quite a stretch.

[Rajvik]

Then excuse me for being wrong, my memory is not perfect.

that said, if he really wanted to accomplish something, why doesn't he take those several millions of dollars he gets paid every year and actually do something about the situation instead of simply being disrespectful. The answer is, that an obscure player who had one more year on his contract likely, (I'm not saying this is fact, it is my own supposition,) thought he could raise his popularity and potential for retention by "making a stand" against a canidate that the polls said "everyone hates and is going to lose badly"

[robkelk]

He is doing something. He's drawing attention to the issue. And it's working, because you're talking about it.