LongGone said:
Jo said:
LongGone said:
Twisted said:
LongGone said:
Twisted said:
LongGone said:
Fly Eagles Fly! I believe I may live long enough to see my team win the Super Bowl.
You can worry about players that are exercising the right the constitution gives to free speech if you want but you are also boycotting a number of players including both Eagles quarterbacks who use the platform given them to express their faith and make a difference in the lives of others.
I'm sorry, but protesting at your job is not covered under "free speech". But I agree I don't want to see expressions of faith, sexual orientation, etc. from players while they are at work.
I'm sorry but if your employer doesn't object it is covered under free speech.
Take some time and learn the Constitution.
https://menrec.com/fact-check-first-amendment-protect-nfl-players-kneeling-protests/
The players have the right to exercise their free speech. As an employer the NFL has the right to tell them that can not be employed and kneel during the anthem. If the NFL tells them they can not or they will be fired then they have the choice of whether being a player is more important to them or exercising their right to free speech at that particular time. They never loose the right to free speech.
I'm giving my opinion on this a bit late in the game [pardon the pun], but I just have not had the time to write down my thoughts.
It bothered me from the very beginning that a football player would "exercise free speech" by kneeling during the National Anthem. Personally, I'm amazed that the act is considered free speech at all. Why not learn to write or create some art work that expresses emotion that others might find distasteful? I can't think of very many employees who would be allowed to sit down on the job and expect to be commended for it. A postman? A teacher? A business owner who has religious convictions about being hired to create a wedding cake for a same sex wedding? The world is topsy turvy. I don't get it, but I'm just using my power of free speech to declare my thoughts. I'm happy for anyone else to do the same.
That is the beauty of free speech is that you and I don't get to tell someone else how to express it. I have said from the beginning that kneeling during the anthem would not likely be the way I would express myself but that doesn't change the right of someone else. I love the flag but the freedoms that the flag represents are far more important than the flag itself. If the NFL told employees that they could not kneel then the player would need to chose between that particular protest and their job.
You raise good points, and I must admit that while my intelligence is most likely fairly average, I am at least smart enough to listen and read articles written by people who are probably more intelligent. I've always enjoyed Peggy Noonan's writing. The link below will take you to an interesting read on privacy and free speech.
http://www.peggynoonan.com/noonan-what-we-lose-if-we-give-up-privacy/
I am quite sure that the fact that my father was a veteran in World War II influences my thoughts on the subject of free speech and the flag. I remember a conversation with a man from my father's generation. He was Jewish and escaped Nazi Germany when he was a young boy. He came to this country with very little in his pocket, but worked hard and became known as an honest and very respected financial investor. He spoke eloquently and sincerely about what a great country we live in. He had tears in his eyes.
I get it. Not everyone feels that way, and they have a right to express it. I remember seeing an Islamic flag flying high in my neighborhood. It was close to an elementary school. If a person dared burn that flag, what would the consequences be? I suspect there would be a large public outcry.
If it was a United States flag that was burned, would there be any consequences, or would we yawn because it has become common place?
Below is another link to an alarming trend. Former North Carolina governor, Pat McCrory is shown being shouted down by some in the LGBT community. I guess that's free speech, too? I'm not sure it's what the founding fathers had in mind.
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article128087744.html