General News Colin Kaepernick refuses to stand for the national anthem

I am Patriotic
I hope to go to the AF Academy
I stand and face the flag and put my hand over my heart
BUT.......
I see that if I am to be in the military, one of the basic rights I will defend is anyone's choice not to stand. So not all Patriots are fanatic!

 

I'm having a hard time understanding why this is such big news. Not standing during the national anthem is freedom of expression. I could care less if a football player sits during the national anthem.

 

Anybody else find it a bit weird that it's the "America's goin' down tha tubes because of dem librals, feminists, muslimbs and homosexuals etc" and "make America great again" crowd that are most pissed off about this? You'd think they'd be happy that Kaepernick is drawing attention to one of America's biggest flaws considering that they spend all their time whinging about the country.

Just to emphasise how idiotic this is, we've got football players over here that don't sing their national anthem at internationals (usually because they don't know the words) and nobody gives a damn.

 

I'll never understand the patriotic fervour and frenzy of Americans. I've only visited the country once, but to be honest the place terrifies me: Trump, NRA, trigger happy cops, ghettos, and all the rest of it. And then one person doesn't stand for the national anthem and the country gets all hot and bothered. Weird. It used to be such a great country which led the world in important social changes but now?

 

The stupidest thing is this qualifies as "news".

And I agree. Freedom of Speech is Freedom to Disagree. Why does everyone else care so much if he stands or not? (not to any of you, just in general)

 

How is it "unpatriotic" to hold your country accountable. No country is perfect for everyone and it's his right not to stand. The anthem was made in a time where black people were seen as inferior in society and I wouldn't be surprised if the author was a racist.

Why is Colin not standing an issue? Are we gonna act like all cops are perfect angels? No one is that. I salute him.

 

I don't understand why people care, to be honest.

 

I can careless. They can all sit if they want.

I don't go to many sporting events and when I do I'll stand during the national anthem but I never put my hand over my heart

 

It is not. In fact, some of the finest moments in US history, in the 20th Century, featured people doing exactly that. Some may recall that occasionally the persons acting suffered arrest and persecution for what later became the national consensus. In recent decades, we have lost the ability to engage in productive self-criticism, shown in part by the increasing polarization.

There are many "conventional wisdoms" in our nation that could stand some iconoclastic re-examination. The product of this can be progress. I am proud to stand up for those expressing unpopular opinions, even those I cannot agree with, because the core value of free expression has brought this country farther than those nations who have suppressed dissent.

 

I respect this. To add to that, how do we understand each other if we keep trying to silence one another? Every differing opinion isn't "hate speech".

 

He can do as he pleases. I'm American and fed up with half the people who live here. Anyone who wants Trump as president is crazier than I am and I have a mental illness. That's real crazy, wanting a president who is casual about dropping nukes. Shudder.

 

It's the reason he didn't stand up which pisses me off. you'll understand what I mean when you watch this video

[YOUTUBE]OGueTYN-Ve8[/YOUTUBE]

 

Both sides have so many double standards. So frustrating.

 

I don't see a point in doing the national anthem before a sports game at all.

 

I don't get why such a big deal was made out of this. Someone could even not stand without thinking about it. This stuff makes the news instead of real issues...

 

I don't see why.
The notion that you have to participate in national anthem recitals to be partiotic or a true member of a nation is pure nonsense.

---------- Post added 3rd Sep 2016 at 10:46 PM ----------

You're begging the question that he's being disrespectful period.

How exactly? Explain, don't just assert.

Again, your assertions do not constitute facts.

---------- Post added 3rd Sep 2016 at 10:48 PM ----------

---------- Post added 3rd Sep 2016 at 10:49 PM ----------

That doesn't mean however that said criticsm is rational, or free from hypocricy.

---------- Post added 3rd Sep 2016 at 10:52 PM ----------

Unless you can actually provide sound arguments for this position, it's a complete non-sequitur.

Except that this demonstrably not the case.

The US anthem isn't about just those things, moreover when some of those things aren't actually realised but continually opposed, it's seems perfectly fair to point out the hypocricy.

Neither is lack of support disrespectful to the military.

---------- Post added 3rd Sep 2016 at 10:55 PM ----------

The NFL analogy is ludicrous. That African-Americans aren't being disciminated in situation X, doens't mean they're not discriminated against in other sitautions and areas.

The rest is nothing but a hyperbolic rant against straw-man 'leftists'.

 

^Did I ever claim my opinion was "fact"? I don't think sitting for the national anthem is going to help anyone in a meaningful way. It's the sort of 21st century protesting that is useless.

 

Just because a claim is an opinion, doesn't mean it doesn't have to be justified.
Here you do it again, makin the claim that these protests are useless, can you actually demonstrate this to be the case.

 

As a member of the military, we hold that symbol to mean the greater good of the country is above any individual. So we put it up everyday on every base in the world and we salute the flag everytime we pass it. It represents the people that make up this country, including the people he says are oppressed. I think it is his right to sit, but I also think it is a cheap way to get attention. He already has a platform and he could pull a Marshawn Lynch and refuse to speak to the media about football and only talk about how his people are oppressed or whatever his cause is. It is his right to express himself. I see him as ignorant as the people who protest the military.