America, Land Of The Free? Only For Those Who Exercise "Correct" Rights

"Ultimately, Kaepernick critics are pitching a well-worn trope: that there are correct and incorrect ways in which our rights can be exercised. The right to bear arms? Correct. The right for a gay couple to marry? Incorrect. The right to practice Christianity freely? Correct. The right to practice Islam freely? Incorrect. The right to show your patriotism by standing during the national anthem? Correct. The right to show your disappointment at systemic racism in the US by not standing during the national anthem? Incorrect."  - Christian Christensen on smirkingchimp.com

As we approach a full slate of NFL games tomorrow (15th anniversary of 9/11) watch out for the "dog whistle" types to be on the lookout for any politically incorrect moves - especially by NFL players to kneel down for the national anthem. While these over-sensitive brats bellyache about "political correctness" or "PC" instincts among liberals, they have no qualms about invoking their own perverse forms of PC in support of an unthinking nationalism, outright jingoism, or pure racism. "Hey, I got my rights, fucker! And if I wanna piss on you and call you an 'ape' you better deal with it - but don't you dare kneel for the national anthem!"

But this is how American liberty has come to be embedded in free floating hypocrisy, as some rights (as Christian Christensen notes in the quote above) are accepted by the majority but other rights are scorned, even while the dog whistlers often admit the right exists. But they always add on the warning: "Just be careful of unintended consequences".

This emerged again in today's Denver Post letters section, after Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall knelt down for the anthem before the game with the Carolina Panthers on Thursday night.   One letter writer named Mark Dickehage wrote about how his father and four uncles "fought overseas in World War II and Korea"  adding "because of them Marshall is free to do this". But then spits on that right by proclaiming it in "poor taste" (hmmmm.....how about all the Tea Baggers that brought their guns to Obama's health care forums? Huh?) and accusing him of a "lack of respect for the flag."  Thereby putting the importance of a piece of fabric above Marshall's freedom to exercise his 1st amendment rights

Another letter writer, Richard Kuberski, belched:  "Brandon Marshall is WRONG! Standing for the flag does matter!" as if the flag is a god unto itself. Again, placing an inanimate object  above the rights it is supposed to represent. How fucked up is that? Well, pretty much so!  He then adds this confounding two cents:

"While protest is Marshall's right he should be careful how he does it and be wary of unintended consequences".

Ahhh, there we see it again. The veiled threats that okay, this may nominally be the "land of liberty" but boy, you better had watch out which rights you exercise and look behind your damned back if it's the wrong ones!  Carrying this to outrageous extremes was a  self-proclaimed "World War II and Korean War vet" named Chris Cator who confided to Denver Post sports writer Mark Kiszla that:  "I will buy a one-way ticket for Marshall to any foreign destination he wants".  Wow! That's really magnificent of you,bubba. But why the hell should Marshall have to leave his country on your impecunious dime when he has the right to express himself under the first amendment?  A right Cator fought for but evidently forgot. (Cator, incredibly, also admits to Kiszla being on a "reduced income.")

The same obnoxious, self-righteous jingoism came up 15 years ago when then University of Colorado prof Ward Churchill wrote an essay "On Roosting Chickens" about the 9/11 attacks in an obscure journal.  Some collegian with too much time on his hands found the essay then circulated it widely on the web, and it ultimately ended up in the hands of U of C honchos who declared Churchill unpatriotic and also, unfit to teach.

A special university "panel" was convened which rummaged through all of Churchill's  existing drafts, academic papers and communications - which they did to no other prof. They then pronounced their "verdict":  finding hum guilty of "plagiarism".   In the wake, every little anti-free speech dunce in Colorado went batshit crazy calling for Churchill's head,  with the university - and The Denver Post - complying in full.

The Post hung Ward Churchill out to dry in a number of editorials and op-ed columns, The guy was convicted and hung, drawn and quartered before he could ask 'why'.  The whole episode showed the "free speech" meme for the hypocritical bollocks it was, because while someone could depict Muslims as "ragheads" in cartoons, he couldn't dare call into the question the U.S. role in inciting blowback - as Churchill did. (A good reason also for many dog whistle types to get hold of Chalmers Johnson's excellent book, 'Blowback')

Equally pernicious and vile reaction has followed Brandon Marshall's kneel down before Thursday night's Broncos' game. In today's Denver Post Sports section, Marshall referred to the barrage of hate email and tweets he's received from the dog whistle brigade. He said:

"I had so may comments on Twitter and Instagram I couldn't go through them all.  I saw a lot of negative, racist comments. People calling me the N-word and using a lot of other derogatory terms. There's a lot of hate out there."

Again, the message is: "Yeah, bud, you have rights but be careful which ones you choose to exercise and how. In this country we only approve of some.....like carrying our loaded weapons to Obama health care speeches!"

So it will be interesting tomorrow to see how the rabid, dog whistle faction reacts when a number of NFL players kneel down for the anthem on the actual 15th anniversary of 9/11. In fact, I hear that the entire Seattle Seahawks team has pledged to kneel down in support of Kaepernick before their home game with Miami later in the afternoon.

We will see what happens in the wake, and how many of our fellow citizens truly believe in free speech rights.....without issuing warnings about "unintended consequences".

See also:

http://smirkingchimp.com/thread/christian-christensen/68877/welcome-to-your-local-nfl-stadium-home-of-the-sensitive-and-easily-offended

And:

http://smirkingchimp.com/thread/pierre-tristam/68887/the-national-anthem-s-false-notes



Post script:

It now appears the Seahawks will locks hands and stand for the anthem.

Reeptard Right Still Spewing Hate Over Kaepernick And Conflating Issues of Speech

Generally, I have tried to keep a straight face as well as ignore most of the fulminations of the Reeptard, lunatic Right over Colin Kaepernick's refusal to stand for the national anthem. The way these Right loonies and hate mongers are going at it, you'd think Kaepernick had committed a federal crime, as opposed to merely exercising his first amendment rights - as I noted in my previous post on the issue, see e.g.
http://brane-space.blogspot.com/2016/09/the-kaepernick-kerfuffle-why-all-fuss.html

But as the Right has now adopted the Kaepernick flag issue as a hate totem, more scrutiny is needed to slap down this cockamamey BS for the hate- inciting bollocks it is. Perhaps the most pernicious aspect has been the pseudo-calling out of "libtards" as "hypocrites" because we defend Kaepernick's 1st amendment rights but didn't do so for pseudo-pastor Terry Jones when that asshole was burning Korans on youtube.

But the two cases are as different as chalk and cheese. The one, sitting for a national anthem, is simply the rejection of a national symbol in the exercise of free expression (which despite some of their bombast, many Right bloggers agreed years ago that burning a flag was allowed speech. How short memories are!) But the fact is that burning a sacred religious book is not the same, but bare faced hate and incitement to violence.  That the Right's paranoiacs (who are obsessed with posting every pose of  Kaepernick's as sending some kid of "message") can't see that, is beyond belief.  But then, when we recognize this same lot as resolute Trumpies it all falls into place. Who else can rival Trump as the main voice of hate in the country now, even as he fake poses with African -Americans (e.g. in Detroit) to try to get them to enter his plantation.

Anyway, six years ago  then Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Gen David Petraeus, and the Vatican and Pope, among others – all pleaded with Jones to stand down and back away from his hateful act.  By contrast, Prof. James McWhorter observed this morning ('AM Joy') that Kaepernick "is trying to make a very important statement and I am glad he's doing it".  Adding, "what was he supposed to do, send out tweets?"  Implying the latter would have been a wasted action, garnering no attention.

Indeed, Kaepernick has chosen a national platform and stage to make his point, but the Right - always looking for grievances -  have again turned a speech issue into 'World War Three' in their blogs and radio talk shows.   All this is even more pathetic, as well as amazing, when - as Joy Reid pointed out - this song for which Kaepernick refuses to stand wasn't even adopted as our national anthem until 1931.  So why are the Right's little victims getting their panties into such a twist? Well, because they can exploit it as a vehicle for Islamophobia to help their boy Trump, or so they believe.

Prof. McWhorter probably hit the nail on the head  by observing that many whites - especially on the Right-  would have taken Kaepernick's actions as "scolding his country".  Hence believed him uppity for doing so. But as McWhorter put it: "If you love your country of course you are going to scold it sometimes."

Prof. McWhorter added:

"As for the Star Spangled Banner, I don't care what anyone says, most people have not liked that song very much. It's difficult to sing and in a style that's frankly outdated  And all of a sudden it becomes this totem of being a moral American human being. when one poor man makes a statement about the most important racial issue of our time."

And as Joy Reid noted, "it was written after the War of 1812 and has nothing to do with the founding of the country"

But see, for Trumpies, black people are supposed to be only seen (even barely then) and not heard, and take their cop beatings quietly. NO slurs, no acting out and no talking back!  "And they better damned well stand at attention and sing along- but hey, we can burn their Korans and call it free speech"!

But leaving out all the distracting  BS, the core reason for jumping on Kaepernick's case is because he is the mixed race adopted child of two white parents. So his free speech actions now provide the haters a platform for thinly disguised racial invective and stirring up anti-Islamic nonsense. Let's note, for example, that Right wing hate radio and media have been responsible for spreading the rumor of Kaepernick's "conversion to Islam" (even if true, so what?) and based it more or less on the quarterback’s personal life. Thus, the architects of the “Kaepernick is a Muslim” narrative attributed his conversion to his romantic relationship with Hot 97’s Nessa Diab – a Muslim American from the SF Bay Area.

To bolster their conspiracy theory they have then posted all kinds of Kaepernick kneel down poses as "proof":  "See that! He's a raghead! I told ya so! And those damned libtards won't admit it!"

No we won't because it's a bunch of stupid, fucking nonsense and only meant to stir up rage and anti-Muslim hate even as we approach the 15th anniversary of 9/11.

If the Reeptards want to soak in their noxious tub of slime so be it,  but decent folk need to call them on it and expose their hate mongering for what it is. That includes stripping away all the patriotic window dressing exploited to distract from the hate beneath.  As Samuel Johnson once put it:

"Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel".

But make no mistake, the Right will have no problem using it to further conceal their true motives in their unhinged fulminations and conspiracy theories against Colin Kaepernick.

Meanwhile, Denver Post sports columnist Mark Kiszla had this take on Kaepernick's anthem protest:

"My initial reaction to quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s decision to sit during the playing of the national anthem before San Francisco 49ers’ games was irritation, even a little disgust. But, after hearing him talk about it, I’ve moved 180 degrees, and I now support him 100 percent. I don’t believe Kaepernick is unpatriotic or in any way intends to disrespect anyone. What he intends to do is draw attention to America’s insufficient efforts to live up to its own ideals. He is using his celebrity to ask us to examine how we practice our values in the way we view and treat African-Americans."

See also:

http://smirkingchimp.com/thread/christian-christensen/68877/welcome-to-your-local-nfl-stadium-home-of-the-sensitive-and-easily-offended