A Few Thoughts On The NFL Player Protests

There's been a discussion about free speech in this country lately.  Actually, there are always things that happen that spark the debate.  The latest is the NFL player protests during the National Anthem.

When this country was founded, the First Amendment dealt with free speech.  It was first and foremost on the minds of the founding fathers.  Why?  Before this country was founded, the government could have you jailed or killed for saying things they didn't agree with.  Just offering an opinion about the monarchy could get you killed.  The First Amendment isn't there to protect speech people agree with.  What would be the point?  If we all agree, what's the problem?

The current protest has many levels, because they are being used as part of a bigger agenda to divide this country and spark a race war.  Divide and conquer is the oldest trick in the book used to control the people.  When you are employed with a company that pays you for your services, you can get fired for conduct they feel is negative towards the company.  Companies will fire people for comments made on their personal Facebook pages on that person's free time.  To me, that's questionable.  If you are abiding by company's rules on their time, what you do on your own time should be off limits unless you are committing a crime.

The NFL has a code of conduct.  They are constantly fining players for wearing articles of clothing in games that are not allowed.  People are even fired for opinions expressed off of company time, which again I feel is questionable.  But when the players take the field, they are on company time.  That includes when the National Anthem is played.  If the NFL allows protests during that time, this means the league sanctions it.

The sad part of all of this is that we are still not having any discussion about what the protests are about.  It's about these player's concerns over police brutality towards minorities and the way minorities are treated in this country.  Some people feel there is no real problem and disagree with that message, so they won't even entertain the discussion.  There ought to be concern over police tactics and military weapons in the hands of the police that can and will be used against the people.  One day, the people may be forced to rise up in the event that the government goes too far.  It's a good bet that some of these people who complain about the NFL player protests won't be blindly patriotic then.

Unfortunately, the opposing view has decided to try and rebrand these protests as disrespecting the flag and country.  President Trump has helped frame that narrative, as if all of the players are saying to hell with our flag and country and not protesting to make a statement.   It's dishonest, and Trump is smart enough to know that.  It was another Republican, President Nixon, who branded anti war protesters the same way when they used the flag to make a political statement.  As the leader of the country, Trump is simply doing the same thing he accused Obama of, ignoring the concerns of voters who didn't vote for him.

We need to be very careful when we brand other people's free speech as bad and somehow unpatriotic.  We should not invalidate the concerns of the opposing view.  At some point, the shoe will be on the other foot, and it will be your opinion being misrepresented by those who don't agree with you.