But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods, or no God. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg…Reason and free inquiry are the only effectual agents against error. Give a loose rein to them, they will support the true religion by bringing every false one to their tribunal, to the test of their investigation.
– Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia
Here’s a prediction. Right-wing snowflake culture will expand exponentially in the coming years, and its rise will be cynically and intentionally fueled by Donald Trump himself. Having proved himself a fake populist on most issues that actually matter, Trump has no choice but to move more enthusiastically into the culture war to deflect away from his obvious betrayal on economic populism and keep his diehard supporters in heat. In other words, he’ll do exactly what mainstream Democrats and Republicans have been doing for decades, which is distract the public and keep it fighting while oligarchs grab what little is left. This works out just fine for billionaire Trump and the Goldman Sachs guys running his administration.
If I’m correct, how should we respond? How do those of us who see a creeping right-wing snowflake culture emerging push back? Rule number one is don’t act like a snowflake in response. Exposing hypocrisy with incisive rational arguments and humor is the best way to push back against right-wing authoritarianism, just like it’s the best way to push back against left-wing authoritarianism. The authoritarian mindset is the enemy of freedom loving people everywhere irrespective of your specific views on health care, taxes, etc. There are far bigger things at risk to us as a people if we allow ourselves to be divided into two separate authoritarian gangs fighting for power.
Unfortunately, this is exactly what seems to be happening with far too many people, and I ask that you not play this dangerous game. People are vulnerable to autocratic cults when they lack real principles based on freedom; when they know what they’re against, but don’t really know what they’re for. Standing for something as empowering and ethical as liberty is what keeps you grounded and sane in the midst of a society-wide mental breakdown.
A perfect example of the emergent right-wing snowflake mindset comes courtesy of Donald Trump himself. In his commentary on NFL protests last Friday in Alabama, the president showed a degree of thin skinned outrage quite reminiscent of the hordes of college cry bullies I’ve criticized so harshly over the years. Let’s revisit that comment, which is what sparked everything that followed.
“Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now, out, he’s fired!’ You know, some owner is going to do that. He’s gonna say, ‘That guy disrespects our flag, he’s fired.’ And that owner, they don’t know it. They don’t know it. They’re friends of mine, many of them. They don’t know it. They’ll be the most popular person, for a week. They’ll be the most popular person in the country.”
If you take a step back and honestly analyze the emotional sentiment at play in the above rant, you’ll see it’s quite similar to that of a 19 year old Berkley leftist dressed like a ninja hyperventilating about Milo Yiannopoulos giving a speech. For left-wing snowflakes, right-wing trolls is where they draw the line, while for right-wing snowflakes it’s the act of refusing to stand for a song or salute a flag. It’s one thing to have a strong opinion on your own personal behavior, but it’s quite another to demand your fellow citizens behave in the same way you see fit. The mindset of someone obsessed with telling you how to live or behave in your everyday life is the mindset of an authoritarian.
It doesn’t matter if that person is marching with antifa, wearing a MAGA hat or draped in the American flag. The true enemy of freedom is, and always has been, the authoritarian personality. A left-wing snowflake gets triggered by Milo or Ben Shapiro, while a right-wing snowflake gets triggered by a millionaire athlete kneeling during the national anthem. Each side will argue their position is more enlightened, patriotic or whatever, but at the end of the day, if you feel emotionally harmed by a fellow citizen exercising free speeches rights, you should probably start by examining your own demons.
When examining the authoritarian personality one thing becomes clear. Authoritarian types can typically be divided into two camps, leaders and followers. The leaders tend to be opportunistic, power hungry and manipulative. In many cases these people are highly intelligent when it comes to the ways of human nature, which is how they were able to propel themselves into a position of leadership in the first place. Such people typically aren’t even genuinely offended by the taboo act they demonize, but they are instinctive enough to know it can be used to corral and manipulate a certain segment of the population. They only care to express outrage over the action in question to bolster their own power. Donald Trump and his high profile cheerleaders tend to fall into this camp. Creating outrage boosts their careers.
Importantly, it’s the followers of authoritarian leaders who ultimately hold the real power. Without followers, leaders would fail to exist since the power and social capital of the leader depends on a willingness to follow that person. Most people who fall for authoritarian signaling do so out of deep insecurity, which the authoritarian leader instinctively grasps. It is the insecure and ungrounded person who most easily falls prey to the authoritarian leader.
Take the national anthem for example. Why does someone not standing for it bother you so much? If you feel standing is a patriotic gesture that’s your right, but why do you care so much if a fellow citizen fails to see it the exact same way you do? Moreover, what does a patriotic gesture mean if it isn’t voluntary? If Americans are cowered into standing for the anthem out of fear of being deemed unpatriotic, then the gesture itself no longer has any meaning. It merely becomes a ritual act of symbolic dogma, more appropriate for a society like Nazi Germany than the U.S. Republic. The fact so many Americans stand for the national anthem voluntarily is precisely what makes it a powerful gesture.
In this sense, right-wing snowflake culture employs the same tactics as left-wing snowflake culture. Left-wing snowflakes are quick to categorize anyone with a different political opinion as a Nazi in an attempt to shut down political debate via intimidation. Right-wing snowflakes do the same thing with superficial patriotic gestures, and then call those who won’t stand or salute “un-American.” Both tactics are destructive, wrong and the antithesis of a freedom loving person.
Our culture is one of extreme superficiality. This is exactly why so many people lose their minds over NFL players taking a knee, but could never be driven to such burning outrage over a war launched based on falsehoods that killed hundreds of thousands of Iraqis. Politicians and oligarchs encourage such superficiality, because if the public can be kept extremely ignorant and stupid then those who actually call the shots and craft the legislation can be left alone to steer society in the way they deem fit without the general public interfering. The end result is the rabble fights about the national anthem, flags and Milo, while the country continues to get looted.
Going forward, I expect Trump to pull many more stunts like the one he did this past Friday. He knows he’s a fraud on the populist issues so many of his voters cared about, so his only option is to rally the troops by further inflaming the culture war. A culture war between right-wing and left-wing snowflakes, each promoting their own brand of authoritarianism. This works just fine for a politician like Trump. His Goldman Sachs advisors can do as they please as a distracted public shrieks over the cultural supremacy of their particular brand of self-indulgent, self-rightous outrage.
So what’s my advice? First of all, don’t become a snowflake. As Martin Luther King, Jr. noted, hate doesn’t drive out hate. Similarly, snowflakes don’t drive out snowflakes. You don’t battle back against left-wing snowflake culture by becoming a right-wing snowflake, or vice versa. If you truly believe in freedom, don’t compromise that core principle just because you got triggered.
Are you a proponent of liberty, or do you want a society based upon whatever type of conformity makes you feel most comfortable? Don’t react based upon emotion, or simply because you want to give the other team a black eye. If you believe in liberty, act like it, and please do not become a snowflake.
If you liked this article and enjoy my work, consider becoming a monthly Patron, or visit our Support Page to show your appreciation for independent content creators.
In Liberty,
Michael Krieger
Donate bitcoins: 35DBUbbAQHTqbDaAc5mAaN6BqwA2AxuE7G
Follow me on Twitter.
It’s all Late Stage Imperial Dementia.
As if on queue, here’s Dennis Prager’s perfect embodiment of right-wing snowflakery. He even manages to bring same sex marriage into it, just to add to the victimhood checklist.
And the tools in the commentariat bleat in compliant unison.
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2017/09/26/whos_divisive_–_the_president_or_the_players_135097.html
Great piece Michael, but I only see this getting worse not better. 2020 will be a bloodbath. “We The People” have proven to our overlords how easily — and willingly — we can be manipulated with contrived, shallow misdirection. They would be fools NOT to keep us on this path.
Yep, I fear you are probably correct. Still, I feel a need to warn about it ahead of time. Maybe I can help prevent a few people from losing their minds during this time.
s/emption/emotion/
Thanks Greg, I fixed. I’m terrible with typos.
I don’t think this will do it – “incisive rational arguments”. Followers don’t want to think… the leader makes them ‘feel’ good, i.e.,superior to the other guys. Plus, they cannot leave their ‘group’ … it is their only sense of identity/status. (See John Dean’s book ‘Conservatives without a Conscience’, based on psychological research about the ‘authoritarian’ personality (done by a Canadian, I think).
I think the only tactic that might work is to try to understand the other guy…”Hmmm…. what led you to believe that?…. so what is your take on this situation?…. did you always feel this way?” We all want to be understood…. this MIGHT open a slight door to sharing of some mutuality. This probably only works on a 1-1 basis… but…. I did hear an interesting discussion between an NPR reporter and a Charlottesville organizer…. the origins of his blazing insecurity and anger were very interesting. But trying to understand is soooooo much less ‘dramatic’… and media must have drama, if not melodramatic tears.
i agree with a fellow gardener: just doing rational life is a protest, tending to family and friends, do stuff by hand, share. she does not listen to the news
What Trump said and what the Left does is not quite the same. Being a snowflake is more than expressing one’s disagreement. It is the Left snowflakes that are trying to force their way on others. He was merely expressing his and other’s pleasure if the players were fired. Nobody is forcing them to or forcing the players’ demonstration to stop.
What people are seeing wrong is that the players can be fined for excessive celebration in the end zone but not for this.
What you are getting wrong is the we are the customers and are paying their salaries. Most of us are seeing this as not just disrespect to the flag, but disrespect to us.
This is not a Left or Right issue, at least to the Right. We just want to be entertained. We do not want any political demonstration on the field.
I for one have given up on broadcast news and prime time entertainment because of the disrespect it shows me. It looks like now I will giving up football. Many people are doing the same as me and that is without an organized boycott.
This whole situation shows how stupid the Left is. They are on the losing side of this. They make Trump look like a genius. This only makes him stronger
@The Other Kevin,
“It looks like now I will giving up football.”
Maybe you should give up on life as well? You’re an odious human being who despises anyone that isn’t a carbon copy of you. You blame everything on minorities, yet the only minority destroying America are the rich.
“Being a snowflake is more than expressing one’s disagreement.”
There’s no such thing as a ‘snowflake’, unless of course we are talking about the naturally occurring ice crystals. ‘Snowflake’, along with ‘SJW (Social Justice Warrior)’, ‘Cultural Marxism’, ‘Alt-Left’, ‘Un-American’, ‘Regressive Left’, ‘Campus Crybabies’, and so on and so on, are fictional labels invented by thugs like yourself. There really is no such thing as ‘cultural Marxism’ or ‘regressive Left’ or ‘snowflakes’. They were labels invented by the likes of you to label someone, anyone, who disagrees with you about anything. Hell, if we went to the same restaurant and ordered toast with butter, you felt the toast was too burned and I thought it was just right, you’d call me an ‘SJW’. And the thing is, people like you actually think labels like ‘SJW’ or ‘snowflake’ or ‘commiefag’ are clever. They’re not, they actually show off a bankruptcy of creativity and failure of imagination.
“They make Trump look like a genius.”
No it doesn’t. Nothing can make President Trump look like a ‘genius’. He may be the most idiotic person ever to be POTUS. He’s arrogant, a megalomaniac, a pathological liar, he’s a tangerine buffoon. A tangerine nightmare.
“What people are seeing wrong is that the players can be fined for excessive celebration in the end zone but not for this.”
False equivalency. While I do think it’s dumb that players would be fined for ‘celebrating’, no one should be pressured or forced to say the pledge of allegiance, salute any flag or honor any anthem.
“He was merely expressing his and other’s pleasure if the players were fired. Nobody is forcing them to or forcing the players’ demonstration to stop.”
Wrong. He was saying that if he had it his way, these players would be kicked out of the NFL. He promotes a Christ-fascist version of ‘civil religion’, which combines Christian fundamentalism with capitalism and ‘ultra-nationalism/Americanism’. Even though Christianity has nothing to do with capitalism or America (or Americanism), and I would argue about Christianity being incompatible and out of place and out of time with ideologies (pseudo-religions) like ‘American exceptionalism’ and ‘Americentrism’.
None of these has anything to do with with ‘freedom’ or ‘democracy’, which are loaded words that have become meaningless set dressing.
“Most of us are seeing this as not just disrespect to the flag, but disrespect to us.
…..because of the disrespect it shows me.”
You’re worried about football players disrespecting you? Yet you’ll happily call me (or college students, or Antifa, or BLM, or anyone who disagrees with you) a ‘snowflake’? You call those who don’t want their ‘feelings hurt’ snowflakes and yet here you are complaining about how you don’t want your feelings hurt . . . by football players.
You are despicable trash.
“He who slays a king and he who dies for him are alike idolaters.”
-George Bernard Shaw – from Maxims for Revolutionists
I agree about many on the right morphing into snowflakes and I agree that a lot of the emotional outrage over this anthem garbage is silly when there are far more important things people should be concerned about. Having said that, you are missing the main point of it which is that people don’t want to see social justice or political crap being introduced at sporting events. People pay to watch these games so they are customers like any other business has customers and I think many (possibly including you) aren’t grasping the fact that the NFL is a business. Just like I wouldn’t want to go to my dentist and have him spewing forth unsolicited political/social commentary, I wouldn’t want to go see a football game and see something similar which is exactly what this is.
Now the answer of course is just like every other business issue which is if the customers truly don’t like what a business is doing then they need to vote with their dollars. If that happens and nothing changes then the NFL deserves what it will get but if people don’t boycott yet keep bitching then they need to shut up because bitching while not actually doing anything about it is moronic and is being a snowflake.
Another thing is that this is just another example of the incessant whining that comes from the left and people are sick of it. I mean come on, it’s bloody ridiculous to have black athletes being paid millions of dollars trying to claim they (by extension of being black) are being oppressed. This also started out over the belief that cops are just killing blacks like it is nothing which is absurd. Cops shoot more unarmed white people than they do blacks. People are just sick and tired of this continual white guilt crap that keeps getting pushed. I mean the country just had a black president for 8 years and the two main pro sports leagues are 75+% black along with numerous blacks in various high level/respected jobs. It’s time people quit this “America just oppresses blacks” garbage and accept that if black people truly want to make something of their life then they can and will. Slavery was abolished well over a century ago and segregation was dealt with decades ago. It’s time people move on.
Also, if they TRULY are concerned about things they feel are problems then they should DO SOMETHING about it. Taking a knee before playing a game isn’t doing something about it. Do they think cops who are watching are going to say
“wow, that player making 10 mil a year feels we treat blacks poorly. We need to change!”
I mean come on.
They could go meet with police and politicians. The knee garbage is just a “look at me” gesture which is now common in this current era we live in.
Basically, people “on the left” caused this like they generally cause most of these social issues and many are just sick and tired of the bitching they do over EVERYTHING. If you refuse to accept that then all the power to you.
Oh and one thing that is sort of funny is you seem to have been triggered by these people being triggered.
Read what Jay above says about me for saying close to what you said. For that I (and I think he would include you) am “odious” (extremely repulsive) and “despicable trash”. I was even called a “thug” for using the term “snowflake”.
He goes so far as to make assumptions about what I think, that I despise anyone not a carbon copy of me and that I blame minorities. BTW, I am married to someone of a different race.
Then he goes on a rant about Christianity and capitalism.
Michael, excellent article! Right on!
A quibble on the title. The title is biased or inflammatory towards the right wing as it singles them out and in my mind contradicts the article. “Don’t Become A Snowflake” might be better?
Here is another take on the president’s emotionally immature behavior on this issue.
I think draft dodger Don the Con Trump has small penis syndrome/anxiety (SPS) and he is angry and mentally unsound.
This is a condition that can be a side effect of using Propecia (Finasteride) which he used excessively to try and stop his thinning hair.
https://www.nhs.uk/news/medication/rooney-hair-loss-drug-can-shrink-mens-genitals/
The fact that he is ignoring the deaths of American citizens in Puerto Rico and instead spending his time on anal compulsive tweeting about the National Anthem and black sports athletes disrespect for it is a sure sign he is very unbalanced. This is after all America and we all do have a right to speak our minds.
Maybe it is time that we question the wealthy secessionist and traitorous corporate sports owner’s misuse of the National Anthem as a ruse to make them look like they are patriotic and too draw more customers to their ill gotten franchises with their over priced state alcohol and tobacco cartel drugs. People that own barber shops and hair salons do not require their employees to sing the National Anthem or recruit for the military before they cut or style hair.
Excerpt;
“We have come up with the term “Inverted Narcissism” in our attempts to try to characterize the nature of the developmental delay we’ve perceived occurring in Small Penis Syndrome. To understand what we mean by inverted narcissism, it is first important to understand the psychological term “narcissism”.
Fundamentally, narcissism refers to a person’s excessive interest in their self and in the way they look. The narcissist displays a grandiose way of thinking about their own talents, beauty, masculinity or femininity and intelligence. While they have an inflated sense of self-worth, they are generally devaluing and dismissive of others. In fact, to the narcissist, other people are generally not treated as peers, but instead as mere objects to be exploited for selfish motives. A very clear example of a male narcissist would be the “Casanova” who promises women everything in order to exploit them for sexual favors and who abandons them after having gotten what he wants from them.
Inverted Narcissism is a form of narcissism where the roles of exploited and exploiter are reversed from their classical position. The inverted narcissist views himself as nothing more than an object – in this case a penis – to be exploited by others. Other people – in this case potential sexual partners – are seen as all powerful, beautiful, exploiting and derisive. Women are believed to want nothing from a man except a large penis. Women, always cruel and capricious in this view, will abandon men if their penis fails to satisfy. Women will reject any man with a small penis in the most derisive way possible.”
http://www.amhc.org/1-anxiety-disorders/article/24026-small-penis-syndrome-characteristics-and-self-help-treatment-suggestions
I have also noticed that Don the Con’s wife Melania (has anyone seen her birth certificate, green card, or citizenship papers yet?) seems to be dissing him lately and appears depressed as she has taken up gardening and is going on solo road trips.
Why isn’t the corporate media covering the recently revealed Don the Con and Howard Stern tapes?
https://www.salon.com/2017/09/25/i-think-ivanka-is-much-better-looking-than-her-15-hours-of-donald-trump-with-howard-stern/
This is more than likely also why I have heard Don the Con referred to as. “Chapstick”.
A timely post. Kunstler has written on the topic, but I think that you have captured the essence just a little bit better. : )
I must say that the comments thus far make me think that many missed the point of the post.
If you are referring to Fatsolio and me, please respond to what part you disagree.
Matt,
Yes it is amusing that some folks just cant turn “it” off, LB is the only place I have found that is attempting to raise consciousness above the regurgitation level and yet it still draws them. Picking a side to defend when the entire point is these sides are totally fabricated
I guess groupthink makes minds immune to the irony of their own argument
Very Good article. Very good point you make.
didnt know where to drop this, but why is there no response tag on some posts? do enjoy your work Micheal. makes me think
Patriotic gestures at a sporting event are like a Ford commercial because it comes out of the military recruitment budget. I draw the line when Taps are being played at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Some things ARE sacred.
Good article. Glad to see some balance
Great point. This is actually a psychological warfare tactic known as splitting, see how it applies to all of society here:
http://actualanarchy.blogspot.com/2017/09/splitting-society.html
“Exposing hypocrisy with incisive rational arguments and humor is the best way to push back”
Got it covered:
https://ronaldthomaswest.com/2017/09/27/september-notes-knuckle-dragging/
^
Kevin, Michael’s point was made very clear right here:
“You don’t battle back against left-wing snowflake culture by becoming a right-wing snowflake, or vice versa. If you truly believe in freedom, don’t compromise that core principle just because you got triggered.”
Apparently you and fatsolio got triggered and fell into the same old left versus right dialectic.
What I and Fatsolio are merely doing is expressing our opinion that we do not like political statements made where we are the customers. They have many other places of doing so and we would not have a problem.
For that, Jay above says I am “odious” (extremely repulsive) and “despicable trash”. I am even called a “thug” for using the term “snowflake”, which I remind you was used by Michael.
Despite what he says I have no problem with free expression, even that which I disagree with. I can ignore it or refute it.
What I understand is “snowflake” is reserved for those that do not want to ignore or refute. They want to shut down dissent.
This is behavior seen mostly on the Left. I do not see anything comparable from the Right in which Michel refers.
Other Kevin and Fatsolio
Those that simply say they do not like waht Kapernick is doing, are NOT snowflakes. Those who say he should be fired, ARE snowflakes. The NFL and team owners are private businesses. They are free to fire who they want, and also free to ignore their own rules on fines. Your option is to cease being a customer.
Also remember, Kapernick’s action were not the start of the BLM movement. Nothing was happening, so he choose a controversial method to express his opinion because he knew it would get attention.
I issued the following simple question to Dennis and Nik the other day, but they could not answer it:
“Understandably, you should respect the Flag *and* the Constitution. However given a choice between putting your support behind (1) those that respect the Constitution but not the Flag, or (2) those that respect the Flag but not the Constitution, who do you support?
Do you support the powerful man who gives up some of that power to help the powerless, or the powerful man who manipulates the powerless to aquire more power?”
I am a totalitarian, so I disagree with a lot of stuff in that article. However, I just posted, on my own swear-word-filled blog, that right-wingers are just as much of a bunch of snowflakes as left-wingers, if not more so; they just have different issues that trigger them on each side. I’m happy to see that someone else is noticing the same thing.
Amen Michael!
Regarding the NFL thing, you are correct! It’s not worth the hubbub: 1st amendment rights notwithstanding, NFL players are not qualified to educate Americans with their social justice nonsense:
• Less than half of them complete their degree, despite getting a free university education.
• Many of these kids even believe their universities should pay them a salary (in addition to their athletic scholarship).
• Most go broke after retiring from the NFL.
Bottom line: these guys have every opportunity to rise (rather quickly) to the upper 1% — and change America for the better. But most of them don’t value it; and blow it instead. Now they’re using their 15 minutes to whine like entitled SJW’s.
By the way, isn’t it funny how their narrative keeps changing from day to day? It’s a classic progressivism smokescreen.
A couple things to keep in mind:
1. It’s true that NFL players are employed by private corporations (with one exception: Green Bay).
But the venues where they play — and earn their money — are not private. NFL stadiums were built with American taxpayers’ money (again with one exception: The Razor).
2. If we, as American citizens, don’t like the conduct we’re seeing on the field, it is our prerogative to vote with our feet and with our wallets. Even when watching from home, we can change the channel or shut off the TV.
Fewer eyeballs = less revenue. The team owners will get that message — and it won’t take long to trickle down!
How many digital trees had to die so this nonsense article could be written ?
Michael Krieger slanders the people offended by millionaire football players disrespecting the flag by comparing them to antifa and says they should be “examining your own demons.”.
The majority of Americans do not support the disrespectful behavior shown at the NFL games, that doesn’t make them right wing snow flakes.
Donald Trump is a football fan who expresses his outrage at the people disrespecting our flag, and some how Krieger feels Trump is being manipulative Unlike the loser Hillary who is 100% manipulative Donald
Trump speaks clearly and plainly and you know where he stands. That does not mean he is manipulative. That means he speaks his mind, and like all Americans he is exercising his First Amendment right.
Michael Krieger you sound like a left wing snow flake when you tell people being offended by the NFL players disrespect that makes them just like antifa or makes them right wing snow flakes.
You’re the one who is a snow flake by feeling emotionally harmed by people not putting up with people disrespecting the flag.
Michael Krieger you should be “examining your own demons”. And stop being so manipulative comrade.
Marcus, I hope you live in a very cold climate because you’re going to melt very quickly. I say that because your comments identify you as a right wing snowflake. Michael wrote nothing that could be construed as him feeling “emotionally harmed by people not putting up with people disrespecting the flag”.
Conversely, you appear to be very emotionally distraught over what you perceive as people somehow being “disrespectful” because they decided to exercise their Constitutional right of free speech and expression by kneeling during the national anthem. While at the same time your defending the Presidents right of free speech.
So you have inadvertently proved the point he was making.
Let me also add “respect” and “disrespect” to the words that need to be removed from the modern lexicon, along with “hero” and “patriot”. Anyone who concerns themselves with people who they perceive as not respecting them, is suffering from a vastly overblown sense of self-importance.
I could give a rats ass about who does or does not respect me or my personal views.And that is a two way street. Because I also don’t give a damn if someone feels (due to their perception) that I am not respecting them.
What is important in any society is civility, politeness, and therefore proper manners when dealing with our fellow human beings in day to day life. Always be civil and polite towards people and if that is not returned in kind then quietly move on with living your life without any whining about whether or not you felt “disrespected”. Because if you do whine or get angry and emotionally distraught about what you perceive as being disrespected, then it makes you look like a self-important pantywaist in need of a hug from their mommy.
Which by the way, does not make you look very heroic. Something either the President or his PR people might want to consider before calling people “son of a bitches” because he doesn’t agree with them about an issue. Try to keep it civil, Donald. This isn’t a cheesy reality show.
I’m playing a tiny violin for poor downtrodden players who make $20 million a year to play with balls.
Are they making a stand against the rich white one percenters who own them or evil racist America?
America is so evil and racist there will never be black president.
Poor Oprah can’t make a dollar in evil racist America.
Bull Connor is waiting by the segregated fountain with a firehose just in case.
Meanwhile while the partisans on the left and the right are arguing over which songs they want the band to play to play on the Titanic while it’s sinking, I read over Trumps new proposed “tax cut” plan last night.
I can think of two Democrats who really love it, named Lloyd Blankfein and Jamie Dimon. (Aka/ Obama’s “savvy businessmen”).
It is an atrocity.
But let’s get back to exerting tons of energy and time over football players rather than focusing on our President’s desire to further grease the skids for the rent seekers at the expense of the peasants.
For those that want to define snowflake as any over reaction to someone’s free expression, I believe those reacting to the critics of the NFL count as bigger snowflakes. A good example is to read Jay above.
Again, all Trump did was say that it would look good if the owners said to the players they were fired. He did not call on them to do so nor does he have the power to do so.
We see the NFL as a business. The players have signed a contract stipulating proper behavior on the field. I believe that includes the flag ceremony. We see the owners enforcing that contract for minor things, but not for this.
I do not believe the players even know what they are protesting. I believe part of the reason they are doing this and the owners are allowing it is because they have fallen for the propaganda of the corporate/Leftist media. They believe the public has turned against Trump.
Earlier, I said the Left makes Trump look like a genius. I meant that to illustrate how stupid they are. But, I he understand what he is doing, he is a political genius.
Other Kevin,
“all Trump did was say that it would look good if the owners said to the players they were fired.”
… and called the moms of said player ***bitches*** – that is the step too far IMHO.
Also, you have to realize that the words of a President should have different standards than the words of a citizens. That’s why Obama never called Trump a son of a bitch for claiming that he wasn’t born a US citizen.
Civil:
“I don’t think people should kneel during the national anthem because it disresepcts soldiers. If they are protesting a just cause, they chould find a less disrepectful way of doing it (even if the less disrespectful ways were already tried and ignored).”
Uncivil:
“(I’d) love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘get that son of a bitch off the field right now.’?”
Now, repeating the question that the RIght is afraid to answer:
“Given a choice between putting your support behind (1) those that respect the Constitution but not the Flag, or (2) those that respect the Flag but not the Constitution, who do you support?”
You can keep dodging such a simple question, and I’ll keep pointing out your hypocrisy.
I am not afraid to answer your question. I just do not believe it is relevant to the discussion. But, if you insist, I choose (1).
As to your other points, “sonofabitch” is commonly understood to be an insult to the person addressed and not to the mother. I believe it is inappropriate, but I am not triggered by it. Also, the context of audience (a political rally) should be considered. It is different then if he said it to the general public.
I have not found anything I said hypocritical. Everything I have stated has been consistent with all my values
Marcus,
Michael barely mentioned Antifa and it is only in a certain context of freedom of speech:
Antifa is trying to prevent conservative Speakers their viewpoints.
Trump is trying to prevent NFL football players from expressing thier viewpoints on LEO attitudes towards African Americans.
“Trump is trying to prevent NFL football players from expressing thier viewpoints on LEO attitudes towards African Americans.”
I don’t really think Trump cares about NFL players expressing their viewpoint about the relationship between cops and black people. He’s just using that issue as a venting platform for what happened with Stephen Curry rejecting him by refusing to go to the White House.
That sounds really petty. But that is what malignant narcissists do when they have been rejected. Especially if that rejection is public. To them it is a major public humiliation, and the only way they know to deal with it is to project and strike back.
Look at how Hillary is dealing with the public rejection and humiliation of losing the election by projecting blame away from herself by aiming it at multiple targets. Obama (yet another malignant narcissist) is doing the same thing because her defeat was also a public rejection of him. Only Barry is hiding behind his wife. As always, he’s slicker than Owl shit.
Kevin, I have no idea why you care about what Jay wrote? Jay is obviously just another unhinged partisan. So you need to consider the source and let it roll off your back.
There is no reply button for Jay; therefore, I will do it here.
Snowflake is not a word I normally use, especially to describe Antifa and BLM. The terms I use is Anitfa is a domestic terrorist group and BLM is a racist hate group.
There is no reply button for Genaro; therefore, I will do it here.
Do not worry about me. My feelings are not hurt and I do not care about what Jay says about me. The common theme in my posts is that the overreaction is in the response to the critics of the NFL. I bring up Jay because that is a good example of it.
Other Kevin,
I’ll agree that the NFL and their owners may (I have not read the contracts) be within their rights to fire kneeling football players. You are also within you’re right to stop watching NFL games if the NFL allows politcal actions in their game. However, it is *still* within the players’ right to express their support for others less fortunate than themselves in a non-violent way, as long as they accept any conswequences for their actions.
So I guess the line is whether someone is saying that the NFL players should not kneel – or wheter they are saying that players should not be *allowed* to kneel (ie putting respect of the flag above respect of the 1st amendment). And when you are the President, your tweets will anturally be interpretted in the second context more often than not.
Also, as some have noted, kneeling in every other circumstance is seen as a sign of great respect, which is why Kapernick switched to kneelign instead of sitting. Think of the situation when people kneel in Church vs when they are standing, for example.
As for the profanity, even if you want to apply the insult directly to the players, his tone is still quite different compared to the “very fine people” marching side-by-side with neo-Nazis in Charlotte. It’s simialr to the way the Right treats the LV shooter as a crazy one-off, but any Muslim mass murderer is treated as a representative of the Billions of non-murding muslims worldwide.
Also, Antifa *is* a domestic terrorist group, but can you provide any evidence that BLM is a racist hate group?
While some intepret their slogan as “(Only) Black Lives Matter,” it really doesn’t take much to figure out that they really mean “Black Lives Matter (so stop tretaing them as thety don’t” Now I do agree that some of the “victims” that BLM prop up are poor examples, but it takes a high level of ignorance to beleive that the US justice system treats white and black people equally.
BTN you said “can you provide any evidence that BLM is a racist hate group?”
You can go to their web site and see for your self the kind of hatred they are promoting based on lies.
Black Lives Matter is in Fact Anti-Black
The Black Lives Matter movement sends a very wrong and dangerous message to blacks that only increases crime in the black community.
There is not one single word on their entire web site about black on black violence. Just rants about state violence against blacks and their anti-family nonsense. For example in 2016 in Chicago 99.6% of the shootings were civilian on civilian and 80% of those were black on black, Less than 1/2 of 1% or 0.4%, were police involved shootings. In other cities the black on black violence is just like Chicago. The biggest danger to blacks, is other blacks not the police.
See Former Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy video at
Chicago records 762 homicides in 2016, up 57 percent from previous year
Published January 01, 2017 FoxNews.com
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/01/01/1-chicagos-bloodiest-years-ends-with-762-homicides.html
From the BLM web site it sounds like 100% single motherhood is their ideal goal when in fact it is a terrible problem. Not a goal to be aimed for. Right now there is 70% single motherhood in black communities The BLM movement is controlled by the globalists who are using blacks to further the globalist goal of civil disorder in the US and keeping them distracted from what their real goal should be, and that is improving their communities. The text on their web site sounds like it got lifted right out of a communist handbook. Black people are being played by this fake black organization.
*** Here are direct quotes off the BLM web site and you will see what I mean. ***
“We are committed to disrupting the Western prescribed nuclear family structure requirement by supporting each other as extended families and “villages” that collectively care for one another, and especially “our” children to the degree that mothers, parenting and comfortable are comfortable.”
“Black Lives Matter is an ideological and political intervention in a world where Black lives are systematically and intentionally targeted for demise. It is an affirmation of Black folks’ contributions to this society, our humanity, and our resilience in the face of deadly oppression.”
http://blacklivesmatter.com/guiding-principles/
“What Does #BlackLivesMatter Mean?
When we say Black Lives Matter, we are broadening the conversation around state violence to include all of the ways in which Black people are intentionally left powerless at the hands of the state. ”
#BlackLivesMatter is working for a world where Black lives are no longer systematically and intentionally targeted for demise. ”
http://blacklivesmatter.com/about/
*** End of BLM Quotes ***
Under this page the “Black Villages” panel clearly states their anti-family message.
http://blacklivesmatter.com/guiding-principles/
The Black Lives Matter organization is a perfect example of how the globalists use the legitimate anger and frustration of people to further their globalist goals, while directly undermining the people they pretend to represent. And the globalist controlled main stream media plays right a long by ignoring the truth born out by crime statistics and sensationalizing every police shooting of blacks. Instead of promoting race hatred against the police BLM should be working hard on promoting harmony in their own communities.
People have been fooled for a long time:
http://www.thestate.com/ article135987178.html
The Confederacy was a con job on whites. And still is.
No wonder:
https://consortiumnews.com/2015/06/04/how-reagans-propaganda-succeeded/
How Reagan’s Propaganda Succeeded