I have to make some corrections to my previous gagablog due to misconceptions I had when I wrote it - I thought the boycott was to protest the NFL for criticizing the players / not hiring Kaepernek when in fact it was Trump Nazis boycotting the NFL for allowing the protest. My bad. Also I thought Trump had called the players “pieces of shit” when he in fact had called them “sons of bitches.” I now have the benefit of all the memes I’ve seen in the past two days that point out all the flaws in racist thinking regarding this issue so I will try to make this easy by incorporating them.
For instance I said Trump was the “real piece of shit” when I should have said he was the “real son of a bitch.” The way facebook shows one comment on a post before you click for comments, well, I posted about this and the one they showed was someone who said “it is well verified that Trump’s father and mother were in the KKK.”
It’s pretty well obvious to me and I think most people that Trump and his supporters are KKK - maybe “unofficially” in many cases but the same beliefs and thinking.
And that thinking, and cover for that thinking in other guises, is on full display during this NFL protest discussion so it’s the perfect time to address it, like a clear day for some pitch and catch.
Here are some of the issues a good meme can sort out for you, lately:
One objection to the protests is that they are disrespectful to “The Flag”: Trump Nazis object to disrespecting the Confederate Flag AND the US Flag while the Confederate Flag represents armed rebellion against America and taking a knee is peaceful protest against Anti-American (ideals) Police Brutality and Injustice.
So the thing Trump Nazis are REALLY holding sacred is the way that the Confederate Flag represents their right to be racist against black people and the way the American Flag represents their right to be racist against black people.
They aren’t standing up for the Flag as a symbol that stands for EVERYONE but only for their entitled, racist, Amerikkkan CLAN. They always talk about disrespect for the Military as if the flag was MORE theirs than anyone else’s, than EVERYONE’S. NOT OUR FAULT the government traumatized you into this condition against every warning and effort that pacifists and protesters tried to save you from it. You simply don’t want to blame the government for it’s ACTUAL evil - wars, racism, poverty, pollution, drugs, etc - so you try to blame someone else - you blame the hardest hit victims of it.
The GOOD things the Flag represents are Unity, Freedom, Equality, Justice - for EVERYONE and Free Speech and protest are the hallmarks of it. The BAD things the Flag stands for are War and Exclusion and Force and THOSE are the ideals these “Flag”-loving Nazis believe in.
And they are WRONG. It’s NOT their flag it’s Everyone’s Flag EXCEPT those who would deny Freedom to others - it’s open to all except those who exclude themselves by ideas of exclusion - IDEALLY -this is why I see Oz as the Future Prophecy of the world INSPIRED by American IDEALS - because this is a Good Place for Heaven to break out - if we live UP to it!
Essentially the Nazis in America are objecting to us using the flag as a symbol for what it really can mean - Equality and Freedom - and taking it away from their meaning - Privilege and Force.
They want to force the players to stand for the National Anthem - Trump wants to threaten the owners so that they fire the players. A few memes have pointed out the law that this is illegal for Trump to do, to use his office to pressure someone to fire someone, and he can be impeached for it, fined for it, and sent to jail for 15 years. So this is an example of this mentality and anger making people so stupid they cause problems for themselves - not that anything will come of it, legally, but you never know, and it least the memes are getting around.
Protest IS Freedom of Speech and I spent hours in the car yesterday and I think for the first time in my life tuned in to listen to Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity and this was all they were talking about. Freedom of Speech is very important here and one hypocrisy of Trump Nazis is how they stood up for the freedom of speech of the Nazis in Charlottesville but against the NFL players - many scathing memes about this.
Or how there wasn’t a big outcry about Dylan Roof burning the American flag but is about players kneeling during the Anthem.
I failed to credit how many players and whole teams in the NFL -and other sports and arenas - have joined the protest. I can’t pretend to mention enough of them now but I saw a lot of pictures of Cowboy’s owner Jerry Jones kneeling with the players - and this in response to Trump being such a strong-arming asshole as well as a response to the player’s concerns, I hope - but we know he was both a big Trumper and also said something about how he WOULD fire players who did not respect the flag, or whatever, BEFORE Trump tried to force them too with his Bully Pulpit.
This is how FORCE backfires on you and FREEDOM wins.
Kaepernek lost his job over his protest but is emerging as the Hero of this version of it. There is a good meme of him with a surprised face “You all wanna take a knee NOW???” but you know he is happy about what is happening even if it took a while to really catch on. This is the turning point, now, and it IS all turning around.
Meghan Linsey is a country singer who took a knee after singing the anthem and was talking about it on NPR today. She said she was surprised to be getting death threats which just shows how sheltered and privileged Whiteness is even amongst those of us who are trying to care - of course she is getting death threats! It’s terrible but these people are terrible- their beliefs are terrible and while much of the country is always aware of them becuase they are the victims of these beliefs it IS time for everyone to wake up to how bad the beliefs are -they WILL have people threatening to kill people because they are all part of this Genocide, Nazi mentality.
Rico Lavelle, I see, is at least one other singer who took a knee after singing the anthem, but the protests are growing in every direction.
I have to say why I misunderstood the boycott of the NFL, thinking it was boycotting them for cracking DOWN on the protests - I was prejudiced because I think of Football as being very cozy with the Military, very pro-military - from the fighter jets to special commemorations to all of it, to the fact that they didn’t used to play the anthem at games and it developed around war time, I think. And the culture of the NFL and Military, sexism, etc, seem very similar to me.
So I was prejudiced and it made me wrong -I should have watched the football games in Solidarity!
That is one thing that is so awesome about this: watching football becomes a Revolutionary Act while assholes who LOVE football but love racism more don’t get to enjoy it, or maybe have to reconsider their commitment to racism while watching it.
That is the “inconvenience” they don’t want.
There is a meme with Trump saying “It’s not about race - But these black people need to do what their owners tell them.”
The NFL has a long way to go to reveal and expunge it’s own internal racism, from the way the games are announced to all the language around players and all the backroom stuff that hints at.
But the NFL is NOW getting on the right side of history - The Future -and will be much better for it. Our coach in Denver, Vance Joseph, was recently quoted saying he was taught to stand for the flag so he believes in that, personally, but also in the right to protest. He is black and that’s a pretty Denver answer, the mainstream culture here does not appreciate black culture in any noticeable way. Half the team took a knee so I posted on facebook how proud I am of half of them for doing that.
Someone asked why it is mostly black people in the NFL taking a knee and the pundit’s response was “well the NFL is 70% black” - but that doesn’t explain it, really, as well as “the players are almost as racist as the nation as a whole, except that they overcome some of it from knowing each other and teamwork.”
So there are white players who are racist - maybe without knowing it!!! - who won’t protest and there are white players who care, somehow or other, for their teammates, for justice, and will join the protest.
With all the talk about this people will realize they MUST “choose up sides” soon so I predict we will see EVERYONE (just about) protesting within a month -
In the 60’s Vietnam was the issue that galvanized all the other protest movements into One Massive Revolution. This is going to be it, this time - and we will end and avoid War as a “by-product”: by changing the government so much along our way.
It’s going to be a continuous and widespread enough protest to get everyone involved, either for it or against it. I ran across some people on facebook who consider this protest a “distraction” or a false choice but they are being just like the Trump Nazis who simply can’t address the actual issue.
They just can’t even think about it, can’t even look at the problem. They are using the flag as a blindfold.
And they admit they are incapable of thinking about it in their own words. I listened to some more Sean Hannity today and he had a guest on, a girl who also works for FOX News. She said she “couldn’t understand what the protest had to do with the flag” and that “the flag is for All Americans” and “they have to respect the military that makes it possible for them to play football”. And Sean Hannity said she was absolutely correct - he can’t figure out what it is about, either.
Maybe listen to the protestors? If you WANT to understand it? Because since they don’t want to understand it so instead they say it’s all made up, or don’t even talk about the actual issue of police brutality. I heard one of them, Hannity, I think, repeat over and over that “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” is a “myth” - as if that is the only incident of police brutality and if he can refute that story then it all just disappears.
If you want to understand it it is very simple: Some people in the military are black and suffer the hardships and horrors of war and military life and then return to a world of police brutality. That Sniper who shot those cops - angered over how many cops were killing black people and getting away with it - he was a Vet. You were disrespecting VETS by killing him, etc - see how this works?
No one is “sacred” like they pretend the military is - no one is MORE sacred than anyone else. A job is a job and frankly murder is murder.
Another thing one of the Talk Radio assholes said was that the Left was trying to Destroy the NFL and was succeeding. I LOVE this idea, and not because I am Anti-NFL - because I am Pacifist, anti-military.
Like I said, I always thought of the NFL as “like the military” and connected “at the top” as well as culturally similar. If THIS is the “rift” between the Military - not Vets but the System - and The NFL (and Vets) then it’s GAME ON -
We’ve got a football game on our hands, now, folks.
The Football Players and Vets will WIN against the Military and Trump Nazis and “Military Families” - because Vets are PEOPLE and while SOME of them are traumatized into this “Never Question The Military” mindset, you only HEAR from THEM since they are Pro-Military - but most vets aren’t like that!
Most vets families aren’t like that!
You just don’t hear from them, you only hear from the asshole Pro-Military “Military Families”.
Because they are promoted - and the NFL promotes them more than anyone.
Is that “partnership” over? Are the NFL and Military going to Break Up?
If Trump TELLS the Military to Break Up with the NFL - would they do it?
Or would the MILITARY end up opposing Trump, too?
I think if the Football Game is between The NFL, The Vets, The People AND The Military, versus Trump, the Trump Nazis, and “Military Families” then WE win, easy - blowout.
But even if Trump doesn’t piss off the military so much that they come over to our side, we will STILL win.
The NFL may not actually schism with the Military but I LOVE that outcome -
I LOVE that watching Football and keeping their ratings up, increasing them, becomes an act of rebellion - talking about it, too, always supporting the protest.
It’s like We, the People, TOOK the NFL back from the Military-KKKomplex - and all we wanted was a few protestors but we got the whole thing.
The NFL may not be as “powerful” in terms of money or Killability as the Military.
“Is there anybody here who’d like to challenge King Barbarino?” Kotter just said “We shall do this the Democratic way, let’s see a show of hands” - and they just dangled them all like Occupy Wall St voters. Washington beat Barbarino and is the new leader of the Sweathogs - this is all on TV as I write this, if you havent read the gagablog before I do that a lot, it’s media magic -I should say We do it a lot, it’s techno fairies, Art fairies.
But the NFL is MORE powerful than the Military - culturally, influentially, with people’s hearts and imaginations and aspirations -and its a game, for fun, instead of killing people.
Vinnies quitting school, “Up all your noses with rubber hoses!” since he lost the election…
If it comes down to “NFL vs Military” the NFL will win - I’m talking about survival as an entity in the future.
If the Military can turn into some kind of Disaster / Oppression rescue squad and we just deal with bad government diplomatically then it can stick around.
It’s just that the world is about to change - the Old World “Powerful” who still control the way we hear stuff are grasping at their fleeting power and revealing themselves more and more in their desperation.
Power, in the new world, is with The People - not “certain” people but All of Us.
I don’t really think it is about “NFL vs Military” but Im just saying I am personally happy about weakening that connection and feel like the same kind of revolution that is happening IN the NFL, thanks to this protest, as well as sparking more awareness and protest outside the NFL, well, that same kind of revolution can happen in the Military, too.
And Trump and the Trump Nazis just lay their beliefs out their, over and over, as the Targets, te goals or hurdles we need to overcome, to reach that revolution. They are making it easy for us if we proceed with Joy towards an Ideal world that’s waiting for us.
People claim it’s all a “distraction” from other issues and dealings by the government - but to people who are the victims of police murder and brutality the most high-profile stories about this ever is an important accomplishment - because the depth and extent of the injustice means that once this stuff really starts to be known everyone will demand change.
This is THE issue - Justice for ALL people not only “Justice” for a few - and as legitimate as all other protests are, this is the one where we are clearly opposed to / by Donald Trump and all the KKK Injustice he stands for so This is where we really start to take over and change this culture.
We need more awareness of Vets who are supporting the protest.
We need more cops to come out in support of it - hard for them if they are breaking some code but necessary.
We need everyone and WILL have everyone because this is essentially Justice -and we have enough folks making memes, comments, and most importantly more brave acts of protest, Non-Violent but Turning this Country Around - THIS IS HOW WE DO IT.
There are plenty of other issues and we should always be focusing on ALL of them but this is a movement that already connects with so many essential issues - if we can all do our part to help sort this out and get justice for oppressed people then we can shift the system enough that it will be that much easier to get justice on every front.
Kim Jong Un is highlighting the essential injustice of Nuclear weapons. Nature and Hurricanes are highlighting the essential injustice of the fossil fuel industry and global warming. It is up to us to help highlight the issues related to police brutality, institutional racism, and now military brainwashing in the mix - and once we fix those, in a few weeks, I hope, the rest will come easy.
Almost like a chain reaction.
A friend on facebook - Thanks Priscilla! - sent a video of Gaga performing Come To Momma and the speech she gave before it - and it is this message, too, I had to edit in since I thought it went without saying, Unity -I feel like I’m coming back to you, my Love, my Goddess!
Thank you!
3 more things about how this works: I want to repeat about Jerry Jones kneeling with locked arms with his team. He’s the owner of the Cowboys and had said he would fire players who didn’t stand and he is a supporter of Trump. Maybe Trump ordering him changed his mind - more likely, that could have been part of it but most likely he just became more aware of the player’s concern, of the actual issue of racism and police brutality and injustice, and is in solidarity with them over the issue, not just team solidarity.
I had to look it up to make sure the picture wasn’t fake, ha ha, and saw another story that a team owner had ordered the players to stand for the anthem and called them “patriotic super heros” as the reason why they had to.
Soon people will see that it is because players are the REAL kind of Patriotic Super Heros that they DO take a knee.
Mike Tomlin, coach of the Steelers, had his players stay in the locker room for the anthem as a team statement but one player went out and saluted. The right is making a big deal about him and how he was in the military and then I saw a story that they are upset that the coach got onto him for it, which I don’t know if it is true but the same people would be supportive of any other coach discipline action, on principle. And then I saw another story about an fire chief who made the news for calling Tomlin the N-word and disparaging him for this choice - which shows how these actions will end up teasing out racism everywhere.
Because that is what is behind the objection to the anthem protests, no matter whether they claim it or not, racism is always part of it. All the comparisons bear this out and make it obvious to everyone - it’s fine for neo-nazis and KKK to terrorize Charlottesville but not for NFL players to non-violently, non-threateningly take a knee?
And the third thing is how this whole story teases out “compassion” and criticism in other ways - since Trump tweeted 30 times (or more) about the NFL and only once about the hurricane destroying Puerto Rico he had to make up for it when the criticism came. He had to say he was not preoccupied with the NFL and then said “I have plenty of time on my hands -all I do is work.”
Opposing non-violent protest for justice will eventually reveal SOME kind of stupidity, we just have to see how long they keep this up.
Everyone who is capable of caring right now is turning against those who just can’t care - but the issue is opening up everyone’s eyes, thanks to everyone talking about it and protesting in whatever way we do, and there will be less and less uncaring people until the few that remain will have to realize they are just the last to realize they have been duped by bad ideals.
The good ideals will come through - for all of us - and we will come out of it as a country we can All be proud of and feel welcome to share with others.
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