Not the Anthem, Not the Flag: This is About Labor Rights

And of course racism.  If professional hockey players were kneeling, the Orange Loser would give them all the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Dave Zirin at The Nation:

In what has to rank among the worst ideas in the history of the National Football League—alongside decisions to cover up concussion research and ignore the issue of violence against women—NFL owners have come up with a new proposal to deal with players who protest police violence and racial inequity during the National Anthem. According to Sports Illustratedfootball scribe Albert Breer, “Per sources, one anthem idea being discussed: Leaving it up to home team on whether teams come out for the anthem; if teams do come out for the anthem, potential that teams could be assessed 15-yard penalties for kneeling.”

This idea is so terrible that one wonders if it was leaked by another owner as a way of preemptively humiliating whoever proposed it from ever uttering the notion again. One can only imagine an official saying, “Exercising of constitutional rights. On the kicking team. Fifteen-yard penalty. First down.” That the idea is almost The Onion–worthy is not the only reason why penalizing players for protest is a nonstarter. NFL players have had the space to protest during the anthem not out of the noblesse oblige of ownership but because it is enshrined in the Collective Bargaining Agreement with the union.

SNIP

The idea that some owners would even propose this without speaking to the union is a sign of how drastically out of touch this group of aged billionaires is from the players in their league.

Charlie Pierce has another theory:

Or maybe none of this is about the anthem, but about fans being reminded—for less than two minutes—about how maybe the country isn't all great before they get to watch The Big Game. Maybe it has something to do with the complexion of most of those protesting, and the fact they've made many millions of dollars more than most of those watching will in their lifetimes—and they're still not "grateful." And maybe the owners are worried that embracing the social consciousness of their employees might cost them some money. So, after all, would closing the concession stands. The most important freedom in America is the free flow of dollar bills.

Recognizing Sacrifice vs Collaboration

Speaking of racist murdering cops, someone who made real sacrifices to stop it finally got some deserved recognition.

Think Progress:

Public appearances have been few and far between for Colin Kaepernick since he parted ways with the San Francisco 49ers in the spring, but on Tuesday night, he was in New York to receive Sports Illustrated’s Muhammad Ali Legacy Award for the movement he began in late 2016 when he took a knee during the national anthem at NFL games to protest police brutality and racial injustice.

The award was presented by none other than Beyonce, who famously paid tributeto the Black Lives Matter movement at the 2016 Super Bowl halftime show.

The performer thanked Kaepernick for his “selfless heart,” “conviction,” and “personal sacrifice” — alluding to the fact that despite his talent and history of success, the quarterback has not been signed by an NFL team this season because of the protest.

“Colin took action with no fear of consequence or repercussion, only hope to change the world for the better,” Beyonce said. “To change perception, to change the way we treat each other, especially people of color. We’re still waiting for the world to catch up.”

She also called out the people who have questioned Kaepernick’s patriotism because of the protest, and have tried to twist his message from being anti-police brutality to anti-military and anti-American.

“It’s been said that racism is so American, that when we protest racism, some assume we are protesting America,” she said. “So, let’s be very clear. Colin has always been very respectful of the individuals who selfless serve and protect our country and our communities and our families. His message is solely focused on social injustice for historically disenfranchised people. Let’s not get that mistaken.”

Kaepernick, who has not spoken publicly often this year, expressed his gratitude for the honor, and reinforced his commitment to continue following in Ali’s activist footsteps and fighting to end the systematic oppression of minorities in America, with or without a job as an NFL quarterback.

Kaepernick tweeted:

Though I never had the pleasure of meeting Muhammad Ali, he mentored me without ever meeting me. He in many ways laid the foundation of what I saw as the zenith of athlete-activism and perfecting the utilization of your platform as an athlete to force conversations about how America was not living up to what America professes to be. Lonnie Williams, the wife of Muhammad Ali was in attendance tonight. I am equally honored to share this space with her. She once said that, “Muhammad’s legacy is not just for me and his children and grandchildren, it’s a legacy for the world.” I accept this award, not for myself, but on behalf of the people, because if it were not for my love of the people, I would not have protested. If it were not for the peoples willingness to support me, I would not be on this stage today. Thank you very much to Sports Illustrated for the honor of the Muhammad Ali Legacy Award. I am humbled and honored to share this with the people. 

“I say this as a person who receives credit for using my platform to protest systemic oppression, racialized injustice and the dire consequences of anti-blackness in America,” Kaepernick said. “I accept this award not for myself, but on behalf of the people. Because if it were not for my love of the people, I would not have protested. And if it was not for the support from the people, I would not be on this stage today. With or without the NFL’s platform, I will continue to work for the people because my platform is the people.”

The 30-year-old is currently suing the NFL and its owners, alleging that the league has colluded to keep him unemployed during the 2017 season because of his protest during the national anthem. He’s also kept busy during his time as an unsigned free agent, continuing his million dollar pledge, which donates $100,000 a month to organizations fighting oppression, and running the Know Your Rights Camp, a free youth campaign that teaches participants about education, opportunities, self-empowerment, and their rights when interacting with law enforcement.

Unfortunately, some players are letting themselves be co-opted, while others are standing strong with Kaepernick.

DaveZirin:

NFL owners have, to much fanfare, offered to donate $89 million to “aid causes important to the African American community”—in return, although this is not explicit, they expect players who have been protesting racial inequality during the anthem to shut up and play. Instead of being received as a victory, this offer has caused very public divisions among these activist athletes. Some are describing this offer as a vindication and want to take the money. Others are rejecting the offer as “a farce,” and splitting from the “Players Coalition” that has been negotiating with ownership.

SNIP

On one side is the Players Coalition led by Malcolm Jenkins. Jenkins has been attempting to address criminal-justice reform by meeting with law enforcement, doing ride-alongs with police, endorsing small-bore legislation in Congress, and taking chummy photos in DC with Speaker of the House Paul Ryan. (After speaking to Ryan about criminal-justice issues, Ryan tweeted their photo with the caption, “That moment when half of your fantasy football team shows up at your workplace.”) This is the Players Coalition strategy for change.

On the other side are those like San Francisco 49er Eric Reid, Seattle Seahawk Michael Bennett, and Miami Dolphins Kenny Stills and Michael Thomas: players inspired to act by Colin Kaepernick’s use of the anthem space to protest racism and police violence. They see change coming from a willingness to organize outside the official corridors of power and look to support grassroots political action agitating for change. They don’t want to sit down with Paul Ryan and hear about his fantasy football team. They want to pressure him. It’s a disagreement about where change actually comes from: whether it is handed down from above or achieved from below. It’s the difference between calling for peace and calling for justice.

SNIP

First, while $89 million sounds like a big number, it is stretched out over a number of years and works out to roughly $250,000 per year per owner, or almost half the minimum salary for a drafted player.

This money is also not going to be just handed over to players to distribute as they see fit. The NFL owners—30 white billionaires and one South Asian billionaire—will have decisive say over where their funds flow.

SNIP

These speak to the different goals of the Eric Reid faction of players: They want to keep the spotlight on police violence, social justice, and aid organizations that help people navigate oppression. It’s the difference between philanthropy and activism.

It Matters Who's Kneeling

From Noah at Down With Tyranny:

It's Always the Same

Via Political Animal:

Black Aziz Ansari \uD83D\uDC4F‏ @Freeyourmindkid

Some things never change.

It's Still Happening, and NFL Owners Are Still Entitled Cowardly Motherfuckers

The kneeling is now and always has been about protesting the nationwide police brutality and murder against unarmed African-American men and women.

And the NFL is now and always has been about exploiting black bodies while denying them civil rights.

Damon Young at Very Smart Brothas:

Because men like David Derbish and Andrew Miller depend on the benefit of the doubt provided by their occupation and their whiteness to intimidate, threaten, assault, rape, paralyze and kill men and women like Leon Ford, knowing that juries will refuse to convict them.

Which is exactly what happened Monday in the federal lawsuit filed against them. Miller was cleared of assault and battery, and the jury was deadlocked on Derbish’s excessive-force charges.

That benefit of the doubt is how a kid with no criminal record is left without the use of his legs after a chance encounter with them. It’s how qualifiers like “no criminal record” are necessary, even though they shouldn’t be. Because a person’s criminal record isn’t—well, shouldn’t be—a pass for men with badges to break someone’s body with impunity. Just as blackness shouldn’t be. Just as being perceived as a threat shouldn’t be. Or being thought of as “scary” or “big” or “superhuman.”

But it is, which is why David Derbish and Andrew Miller are free to sleep in their beds and eat dinner at their kitchen tables today, while Leon Ford is reminded that justice is conditional, arbitrary and cruel.

And if justice is conditional, arbitrary and cruel, justice doesn’t exist.

But Roger Goodell and Jerry Fucking Jones don't care about that.  All they care about is jingoistic faux-patriotic displays and the billions of dollars it brings in from the rubes who tune in to watch black men get permanently disabled.

Seussian Protest

So glad Noah at Down with Tyranny put this into meme form.

-by Noah

The Trumpian worldview of African-American protest, Dr. Seuss style, courtesy of The Daily Show's Trevor Noah.

Veterans Know Kaepernick Is Right

Let's keep our eye on the ball.  Colin Kaepernick and the few who accompanied him starting more than a year ago had a single purpose for kneeling during the national anthem - which is still the worst anthem on the planet, an unsingable paean to violence and imperialism and just a fucking song - and that purpose was and remains this:

Protesting the police murders of unarmed black men and women.

And the general racism and inequality that pervades American society.

Not protesting the flag, which is just a fucking flag.  Not protesting the Orange Menace, as much as it deserves vigorous, widespread protest.  Not showing solidarity - that's what your union is for.

Colin Kaepernick's kneeling is about protesting racism and police brutality against black people.

Even paying attention to anything else taking place on the football field is promoting the distraction from the real issue.  Let's keep our eyes on the prize.

Bill Barnwell at ESPN:

There just isn't a strong enough case for teams to pass on Kaepernick, given the desperate public outcries for useful quarterbacks and the nature of his protests. Even if you disagree with his stance, it's bizarre to contrast his peaceful political dissent as a crime that should keep him off rosters in a league in which even marginal players embroiled with confirmed or alleged incidences of domestic and/or sexual assault can sustain careers.

Watching so many NFL teams willfully make ignorant choices and then complain about the lack of quarterback options while leaving a clearly qualified candidate on the sidelines makes it seem like the quality of decision-making in the modern NFL is far worse than the quality of play.

And veterans, who literally fought for Kaepernick's right to protest, know what the issue is.

U.S. Army veteran Richard Allen Smith felt like he was walking with a rock in his shoe all day. In the aftermath of Colin Kaepernick’s protest of the national anthem, Smith heard a lot about how he had been disrespected by what the San Francisco 49ers quarterback had done and said from a lot of folks who never served in the armed forces.

Kaepernick has been sitting during the singing of The Star Spangled Banner the entire preseason, although it was only noticed last Friday when he was dressed to play. In an exclusive interview with NFL.com’s Steve Wyche, Kaepernick explained his protest: “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color. To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way.”

Smith said that people burning the quarterback’s jersey “with the troops and veterans being the reason seemed ridiculous.” Being used wasn’t a new feeling. Smith said politicians and corporations often use the military and its servicemen and women for promotion. That leaves some veterans, like Smith, feeling like props for people who haven’t made the sacrifice, but want to cloak themselves in their credibility.

By writing this letter, which was written on Medium, it was an opportunity for him and other vets to counter that rationale. Although the 31-year-old works as a media strategist with the National Education Association, the letter was thought of, created and crafted as something entirely outside of his job and among some of Smith’s friends and colleagues.

One of the most important things about the letter is the diversity of the people signing it and the reasons that they are putting their names on it.

“I wanted to put something out there in the world … to say that ‘There are veterans who not only agree with Colin Kaepernick’s right to do that, but also agree with the substance of the action,’ ” Smith said. “And are willing to stand up and say Black Lives Matter and this is an important issue that we need to address in our country.

“This is an incredibly diverse list of people. I didn’t know how many signatures I was going to get – if I’m going to get five or 10 signatures on this letter. … There’s diversity in service – every branch of the service is represented here – there are black people, white people, Latinos, a Native American person on here. Gay veterans, straight veterans, female veterans, male veterans from both coast to southeast, to southwest, the heartland, pretty much any sort of identity you can imagine, it’s signed onto this letter in the form of one person or more.”

---

In 1947, former Army officer Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball. Robinson experienced taunts, epithets, and threats of violence for simply standing up to the status quo of segregation in America.

Since 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick engaged in a silent protest to bring attention to the state of emergency facing people of color in America, a chorus of detractors have lined up to denounce his stand, or more accurately his sit. Fans have burned his jersey. A presidential candidate suggested he leave the country. Many have claimed his protest disrespected American veterans.

Jackie Robinson isn’t here today to tell us what he would think of Kaepernick’s protest. But he did convey the same sentiment about the national anthem as Kaepernick in his 1972 autobiography, writing, “I cannot stand and sing the anthem. I cannot salute the flag; I know that I am a black man in a white world.”

As military veterans, we write to express our support for the tradition of advocacy by athletes that is embodied by Jackie Robinson and carried on by Colin Kaepernick.

For generations, American athletes have used their public voice to force our collective attention towards the crises and issues that challenge our national conscience. Jackie Robinson, Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown, Tommie Smith, John Carlos, Ariyana Smith, the Minnesota Lynx, the Missouri Tigers football team, and stars across professional sports declaring that #BlackLivesMatter, are all part of a brave tradition of protest by athletes. Far from an anomaly, athletes leading on social change has been the norm in America.

The right for those athletes, and all Americans, to protest is one we all pledged to defend with our lives if necessary. Far from disrespecting our troops, there is no finer form of appreciation for our sacrifice than for Americans to enthusiastically exercise their freedom of speech.

While we would not all personally choose to protest in a manner identical to Kaepernick, we respect and honor his choice, and whole heartedly join him in stating unequivocally that BLACK LIVES MATTER. The current state of affairs for people of color in America is unsustainable and unacceptable. According to analysis by the Washington Post, black people in America are two and a half times more likely to be shot and killed by police than white Americans. Far too often, people of color are dying at the hands of law enforcement personnel in the streets, our jails, and their homes. Indictments are rare and convictions are essentially nonexistent.

This status quo outrages us as men and women who raised our right hands and pledged to defend, with our lives if necessary, a Constitution that proclaims intent to “establish justice, insure domestic tranquility,” and “secure the Blessings of Liberty.” Those ideals are simply not being upheld for all Americans.

As veterans, we implore all Americans to find your own way to challenge this status quo and advocate for “a more perfect union.” Your method of protest may not be to refrain from the traditions surrounding our national symbols, and it doesn’t have to be. You have the same right as Colin Kaepernick to choose whether and how to advocate, a right we support and served for. However you choose to use your voice, please do so with an understanding that many veterans do not condemn the protest of activists like Jackie Robinson, Colin Kaepernick and everyday Americans seeking justice. Indeed, we see no higher form of patriotism.

All You Need to Know

about Dear Leader:



Stolen from TPM commenter antisachetdethe.

Colin Kaepernick Deserves a Medal

The Muhammed Ali Speaking Patriotic And Racial Truth to Power Medal.  With Telling Jingoistic NFL Greedheads to Fuck Off and Die Cluster.

Think Progress:

On Saturday night, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick remained seated as the national anthem was played during the team’s preseason game against the Green Bay Packers.

“I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,” the 28-year-old told reporters after the game.

His action — or, rather, inaction — sent shockwaves throughout the NFL community. In the past 48 hours, Kaepernick has been called “unappreciative” and “ignorant” by former NFL players; others, including a former teammate of his, have said that he was disrespecting the military and being downright unpatriotic.

And in a league that has extremely close ties with the military and nationalism, there are few things worse than being perceived as anti-American.

But while Kaepernick might not be displaying the one-size-fits-all patriotism that the NFL likes to heavily promote, he is showing patriotism nonetheless.

“I have great respect for the men and women that have fought for this country. I have family, I have friends that have gone and fought for this country,” Kaepernick told reporters on Sunday. “And they fight for freedom, they fight for the people, they fight for liberty and justice, for everyone.”

Kaepernick’s desire is for liberty and justice to be applied uniformly to all American citizens. He is willing to lose his job and lose endorsements in order to speak up for those that he does not feel are getting a fair shake in his country. That is his version of patriotism.

Compare that to the NFL, which treats patriotism as a brand.

Last year, it was revealed that the Department of Defense had paid NFL teams $6.1 million between 2012–2015 for military tributes at games, including the field-sized American flags, flyovers, and fireworks. (The NFL announced in May that it was returning $724,000 of that.)

While the league stages and heavily promotes military family reunions without providing full context, it also fines players, such as former Carolina Panther Josh Norman, for wearing patriotic cleats that do not fit into the NFL’s very strict uniform guidelines.

SNIP

All in all, Kaepernick fits the official definition of patriot — “a person who regards himself or herself as a defender, especially of individual rights, against presumed interference by the federal government” — far more than than the NFL does.

“This stand wasn’t for me. This stand wasn’t because I feel like I’m being put down in any kind of way,” Kaepernick said. “This is because I’m seeing things happen to people that don’t have a voice, people that don’t have a platform to talk and have their voices heard, and effect change. So I’m in the position where I can do that and I’m going to do that for people that can’t.”

Of course, that doesn’t mean that Kaepernick hasn’t experienced racism. On Sunday he spoke about helping a friend move, only to have cops come and point guns at him and another black friend, assuming they were intruders. When he was named the starting quarterback for the 49ers, there wasracially-charged criticism of his tattoos and leadership skills.

But Kaepernick knows that compared to most, he has it good. He sat during the national anthem because black Americans are 2.5 times as likely as white Americans to be shot and killed by the police. Unarmed black Americans are five times as likely as unarmed white Americans to be shot and killed by police. And far too often, there is no punishment for police officers committing these murders.

Kaepernick might not have a spot on an NFL roster for much longer — there are rumors that the 49ers will release him for “football reasons” — but as long as he has a platform, he plans to follow in the footsteps of athlete activists before him, most notably Muhammad Ali.

SNIP

For his part, Kaepernick plans to continue to sit during the national anthem until he sees significant progress.

“This country stands for freedom, liberty, justice for all, and it’s not happening for all right now,” Kaepernick said. “To me this is something that has to change, and when there’s significant change and I feels like that flag represents what it’s supposed to represent and this country is representing people the way it’s supposed to, I’ll stand.”

You know who is the most fanatic about making empty jingoistic gestures like standing for the anthem and saluting the flag?  Traitors, that's who.  Spies. Terrorists.  Because they know that pretending patriotism is the easiest thing in the world, and will guarantee them a pass from suspicion.

"A Call for Justice Shouldn't Warrant An Apology"

And cops who claim to be offended by a call for justice probably have good reason to fear real justice.

Read the whole brilliant, heartfelt, extemporaneous thing.

Because True Courage Deserves Respect, and Asshole Exhibitionism Deserves Ridicule

Of course Michael Sam is getting better treatment than Tim Tebow received. Defensive end Sam probably throws a better pass.

jesusfuckingchocolatecoveredchristonapogostick, there is literally nothing about which freakazoid conservatards will not whine.

Maybe it's time to give them something to whine about.

I mean, something more than this video. Unlike Tebow the Pharisee, Sam doesn't lie about having a sex life.

And no, Sam was not treated well by the NFL at all. Hey, SEC teams: are you going to stand there and take this insult to your conference?

NFL Executives Are On Crack

Of the many powerful reactions today to the egregious display of cowardice on the part of NFL executives, this one by Lt. Col. Robert Bateman hits the hardest.

Forgive me, Col. Bateman, for copying every word.

So it has recently been made apparent that a dude who is frickin' huge, fast, and hits people like they stole his tricycle, is gay.

News flash: So friging what.

Here is the most disgusting little bit of this "news" story. NFL executives apparently are telling journalists that this is not the time for a gay man to be in the NFL.

Really? Seriously? It has now been years -- not weeks, not months, years -- since gay men and lesbian women have openly laid down their lives for our nation in combat. And you, Mr. NFL executive who does not even have the slightest whiff of moral courage to even use your name, say that America is not ready for gay NFL players? Really? You think that the nation is cool with gay men dying in combat, in service to our nation, in desperate distant places, but you don't think the country is cool with them playing in your game?

Are you on crack?

Being a soldier, or being in any of the military forces, is about service. It means a lot to a bunch of people, about 1.4 million actually as of today. And there are about 27,000,000 veterans as well. Several years ago the decision was made that being gay did not matter anymore. (Prior to that point it was a crime.) Turns out there were tens of thousands of men, and some women, who served in silence prior to that day. Some of them won decorations for courage in combat that most people can only imagine.

Now look at the NFL.

They are "not ready" for a gay player? Regardless of how fking HUGE that motherfker is or how fast his ass can cross the field to lay absolute scunnion upon his foe? Are they that fking stupid?

A man is a man, regardless of how his genes inclined him. Some men are large. Some man are fast. Some men are large, fast, and violent. And some of those men are gay. Who the fk cares about the latter? When I am making my fantasy football team I could give a rats ass about the sexual inclinations of my preferred middle-linebacker. What I want to know is, "Can he make the mother of the fullback cry because he stuffed her little boy into last week?" THAT is what I want to know, just as with a soldier I want to know if they can kill, efficiently, when needed. Gay or lesbian does not matter, and maybe the morons leading the NFL might need to figure that out.

May I just add my voice to the many NFL fans hoping that the general manager of my favorite team will be smart enough to draft Michael Sam?  11.5 sacks and Defensive Player of the SEC - how could you NOT draft him?

The NFL and the Pentagon Team Up to Exploit Veterans and Sell Military Lies

For more about the fables the NFL is helping the Pentagon sell, check out Veterans for Peace.

 

David Zirin at The Nation: 

The NFL uses the military like Lourdes, all its sins of corporate welfare, medical malpractice and institutionalized racism are washed away in a red, white and blue cleansing courtesy of Uncle Sam. There is another side of this as well. Yes, the NFL benefits by cloaking itself in the military, but the military also benefits by linking arms with the NFL. It makes the military look like a game, an adventure, a burst of adrenaline. You are Marshawn Lynch in beast mode, only you’re holding an M-16 instead of a football. Sure, you will make 1/100 that of an NFL player, but you get the sense of teamwork and the rush you associate with the NFL on Sundays.

I spoke with Mary Tillman, the mother of NFL player turned Army Ranger Pat Tillman, who was killed in Afghanistan ten years ago this April. “I don’t like that ads for the military are shown at all on TV, especially during sporting events,” she said, “A feeling of camaraderie is important to all humans and I think the camaraderie of sport provides the most reward. Many young men join the military in order to get that feeling of belonging, that feeling of brotherhood. It is irresponsible to try to entice young people into military service with subliminal messages.”

Mary Tillman is absolutely correct. You hear what the NFL and the armed forces want you to hear. You never hear about what you might be asked to do overseas and how that might change you. One of my friends joined the military in the late 1990s for college money, not knowing the United States was about to enter a decade of war. He was one of the most gregarious people I knew, an athlete who was the sort of person that would break up daily scuffles on the court. After five years in Iraq and Afghanistan, he made it home. I saw him and although much quieter, he was still a kind, open person. He was so open, he told me matter-of-factly that his marriage ended because he could not stop choking his wife and screaming in his sleep.

I also was friends with a woman who joined the Army. It is in many ways a similar story. She thought that she could get money for college in the peacetime of the 1990s and found herself on the outskirts of Baghdad. Three years ago, she told me a story about being out one late night on patrol. She had to go to the bathroom far from any facilities. She knew fellow female soldiers that wore adult diapers because they worried that using the bathroom outside could leave them vulnerable to sexual assault from a supposed “brother” soldier. She would not do that and went to the bathroom and was attacked. She told me she fought off the soldier with three well-placed knees to the nuts, but spent her remainder of time looking over both shoulders, until she cracked from the pressure, as she put it, “of seeing crazy everywhere” and was sent home on mental disability. Sure enough, as of 2009, according to the government’s own figures, “prevalence of military sexual assault among female veterans ranges from 20-48%, and 80% of female veterans have reported being sexually harassed.”

The NFL and the Pentagon walk comfortably together not only because they present pumped-up versions of masculine invulnerability as admirable qualities. They also rely on dishonest narratives about what happens to the good people who go through their grinder. Just as we are only now finally waking up to the fact that generations of former NFL players end up penniless and suffering from tragic neurological damage, the Pentagon highlights people like Lt. Chuck Nadd, the people who make it home intact, with reservoirs of love, community and support systems. They say to young people, “You too could be Chuck Nadd.” They don’t say that, as a soldier, you are equipment, and like the NFL, the Pentagon is pitiless when it comes to damaged goods.

I Hope Jonathan Martin Sues the Shit Out of Incognito, the Dolphins and the NFL

All the macho motherfuckers defending Richie Incognito need to learn some lessons from the wide receiver in this video.

Erik Loomis at Lawyers, Guns and Money: 

How the NFL and its supporters have rallied around Richie Incognito over the hazing and threatening of Jonathan Martin is both disgusting and typical. Martin is essentially being drummed out of the league. It’s really hard to see how he returns to the league. It would take the right kind of coach, the right kind of locker room, one that seemingly doesn’t exist in the violent, homophobic, misogynistic NFL. Everyone on the Dolphins supports Incognito and is blaming Martin, saying he wasn’t enough of a man to just punch Incognito in the face, which evidently is the solution to all problems. Peter King is opening his site at Sports Illustrated to a former Dolphin who is basically saying the same thing (I love the “I’m only interested in the truth” line. Ah). What’s more, everyone is saying there’s no way Incognito can be called a racist. After all he did was call his black teammate a “half-nigger,” who could call that racist! We all know that the only real racists in American society are those who support equality for blacks and who therefore are racist toward whites. And while of course no one in the NFL is tying their explanation away or half-apologies for Incognito’s racist text to the modern conservative political definition of racism, they are in fact closely related. In our society, no one is a racist. The mom who dressed her kid up as a KKK member for Halloween? She’s just continuing a family tradition. Why, I bet some of her best friends are black! There evidently are no racists anymore. The word itself has become demonized, as if it doesn’t actually describe certain behaviors and is itself a term more offensive than “half-nigger.” It’s all horrifying.

Also, given all of this, anyone think a gay NFL player is possibly going to come out? And put up with the horrors of the locker room, not to mention other teams? What would Richie Incognito do to a gay teammate? I don’t really want to know.

Yet there are voices of dissent. Travis Waldron at Think Progress:

Stick to the code. Don’t go to others. Be a man. Handle it yourself. Do it any other way, Murtha and others are saying, and you’re weak, soft, not a man.

That’s not how Terrelle Pryor sees it, though. Asked about the Dolphins’ situation Thursday, the second-year Oakland Raiders quarterback applauded Martin’s courage to stand up against the bullies, even if he didn’t do it with his fists.

“I hope that we see [Jonathan] Martin playing again soon – I’ve watched some tape of him, he’s a good player,” Pryor said, according to Raiders.com. “Hats off to him for standing up and being a man.”

But that wasn’t all. Pryor also insinuated that there should have been leaders — men — in the locker room who stood up for Martin and spoke out about Incognito’s problems (which are only looking worse with each passing day).

“There are some situations where sometimes you have to do that, it’s minor things, but you want to cut things off,” Pryor said. “There are so many situations that pop up – your teammate has one drink or something like that and you want to say, ‘Hey, maybe you should take a cab, come take a cab with me,’ something small like that you just get so much respect from your teammate that you stopped and helped him. It’s just little things like that, it matters and that definitely comes in on a leadership role.”

The NFL could use a few more players with Terrelle Pryor’s definition of manhood. It’s a shame the Dolphins don’t seem to have any.

Somebody Tell Mitch: Do NOT Fuck With the NFL

Contrary to what GOP leaders appear to think, major-league athletes are not stupid. Many of them are also, um, you know - (whispers) black. Like the President. Who owns Obamacare.

Senate Republican leaders have sent letters warning six professional sports leagues not to provide the Obama administration any assistance in promoting Obamacare.

The letters, dated June 27, warn the chiefs of the National Football League, Major League Baseball, National Basketball Association, National Hockey League, Professional Golf Association and NASCAR that partnering with the administration to publicize the benefits of the health care law would damage their reputations.

“Given the divisiveness and persistent unpopularity of this bill, it is difficult to understand why an organization like yours would risk damaging its inclusive and apolitical brand by lending its name to its promotion,” wrote Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Minority Whip John Cornyn (R-TX).

The letters come days after Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said she’s spoken with the NFL about potentially partnering to let people know the benefits of the Affordable Care Act ahead of the implementation of its major components. (She said there was no deal yet.) The Republican senators rattled off a slew of conservative arguments against the law, stressing polls that signal its unpopularity with the public.

Yeah, about those polls. When you add the people who support Obamacare to the people who oppose it because it's not socialistic enough, you get a majority who want a public health insurance system.

Not that repugs are capable of telling the truth about anything.

NFL players, on the other hand, are trained to spot attempted fakes.

Apply NFL Rules to the Filibuster

Maybe Harry Reid's Hulk side is going to make an appearance and force the Cowardly Dems to eliminate the ludicrous and obstructionist filibuster once and for all.  But it's looking more and more that Reid and the reduced-in-number-but-still-disprortionately-powerful Senate Blue Dogs will water it down to nothing.

They should abandon all the complicated new rules and just adopt Occasional Plant's genius idea for fixing the filibuster:

Adopting the “Jimmy Stewart Rule” seems to be an improved way to limit the damage that the filibuster does to the will of the majority. But borrowing a procedure from the National Football League might be far superior.

The NFL has a rule stating that the coach of each team is able to throw a red flag on the field twice a game. The red flag indicates that he wants to challenge the referee’s ruling on the field. The coaches have to be judicious about throwing the red flags, because if their appeal does not result in the decision being overturned, the coach’s team loses a time out, which can be crucial to managing the clock.

The key is that there is a limited to the number of challenges each team can have per game.

How it would work

Suppose that this was applied the number of  filibusters the minority party could use in a session of Congress.

When Lyndon Johnson was Senate Majority Leader in the 1950s, Republicans engaged in only one filibuster. That’s right, one. Over the past six years, in which Harry Reid (D-NV) has been majority leader, Republicans have engaged in 386 filibusters. These filibusters are the primary reason why Congress has been in a state of gridlock ever since Barack Obama became president.

Suppose that the minority party was limited to ten filibusters (and “a hold,” – a topic for a future post) per year. The minority party would have to be extremely judicious about how they used their filibusters. Currently, they can use a filibuster for a wide expanse of legislation, ranging from the confirmation of judges or cabinet to funding an overseas military engagement. Frequently, Republicans have used the filibuster to stop important social welfare programs, such as food stamps, or extending unemployment benefits. In fact, they have often used it to block any effort to reach a budget accord aimed at reducing the national deficit through increased taxes and cuts in government expenditures.

Indeed, the filibuster is important to protect the rights of the minority party. Many of the issues that face the Congress are designed to protect minorities, whether they are in the field of civil and human rights, workers’ rights, women’s rights, LGBT rights, or other social issues. The Senate is often referred to as the deliberative house of Congress. It needs to remain that way. However, being deliberate is not the same as causing gridlock. With Democrats currently in the majority in the Senate, now is the time to reform the filibuster system. Senate rules allow one day, the first day of the new session in January, for changes to the rules. Maybe members of the Senate should spend their holidays watching NFL games so that they see the wisdom of putting limitations on the number of challenges.

How the Parasitic Rich are Ruining Fooball, Hockey and Public Schools

One set of rules for the asshole rich like Rahm Emmanuel, Roger Goodell et al, and another set for the rest of us.

 

Dave Zirin at The Nation:

And here once again we encounter the problem of rules. A contract is supposed to be an inviolate, legally binding agreement. That’s what working families were told when they signed onto the predatory loans that eventually claimed their homes. That’s what we are told when our cars are repossessed. That’s what the union autoworkers in the United States were told only to see their wages slashed in half in the much-ballyhooed auto-bailout. Instead not only NHL players but also all of us get sent a message that a contract is only worth a damn if those in power choose to honor it.

SNIP

There is no winning a game when the rules have been rigged but there is power in numbers. There is power in struggle. And there is power in pizza. The easiest way to support Chicago teachers is to order them a piping hot pizza pie.  You can get food to the picket lines by calling Gus or Daisy at Primo’s Pizza at (312) 243-1052. When pizza shows up to the tired picketers, everyone's spirits are lifted. It's read to them from which part of the country a pie was ordered and it makes them feel that much less alone. We don’t have the power of a Rahm Emanuel or Roger Goodell. But we do have numbers and perhaps we can even the score one pizza at a time.

Blatant Panders to Freakazoids Gain Beshear Nothing

For the millionth time, no matter how much a supposed "Democratic" candidate kow-tows to the repugs and freakazoids, they will never give him credit and never, never, ever vote for anyone with a D beside his name.

The $40 million tax dollars Steve Beshear unconstitutionally promised to the moronic backers of the Flintstones Truther Park weren't enough to save him from accusations of commiemuslinterrism.

From the Herald:

A state lawyer's recommendation that the Bell County school district stop allowing prayer over the public-address system at football games has sparked controversy in Kentucky's gubernatorial election.

Republican David Williams, who is challenging Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear in the Nov. 8 election, urged Beshear in a news release Friday "to denounce this attack on prayer at public functions and lead the efforts of state government to defend our citizens' right to voluntarily pray anywhere they choose."

Do I really have to explain that Bell County citizens - and all Kentucky citizens - still have the right to demonstrate their stupidity by muttering demands to an invisible sky wizard anywhere they please? That it's only the government that's not allowed to endorse religion by leading or promoting such idiocy?

On Friday night, Bell County High School's underdog football team managed to beat powerhouse Lafayette High School with no apparent divine intervention.

How the NFL Players Union Beat the Owners

Seems to me the lessons here are clear: perfect solidarity, refusal to settle for less, ability to exploit current social, political and economic conditions, and a fighting, competitive spirit. Also, having as your opponents owner/management scumbags everybody hates really helps.

Dave Zirin at The Nation:

First and foremost, the players, led by NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith, stood together. The hundreds of athletes showed extraordinary solidarity, considering that a typical pro career lasts only 3.5 years; the pressure to get back to work must have been intense. Divisions were more apparent on the ownership side, where many chief executives started to grumble that they were killing the golden goose, especially after a court ruled that they couldn’t receive network money for games that weren’t broadcast.

Second, the owners were wildly off in their prediction that fans would turn on the players. That’s the way it has always been in sports labor conflicts. At best, fans have seen it as “millionaires versus billionaires”; at worst, fans have jeered at anyone who would complain about “getting paid to play a game.”

But not this time. The most obvious reason for the profound shift in fan sentiment is that it was a lockout, not a strike. The players’ slogan, “Let us play,” reflected the fact that they—just like the fans—were happy with business as usual.

Also, there is far more consciousness now among fans about the physical toll—including concussions as well as the deadly disease ALS—that football takes on the human body. This is a sport with a 100 percent injury rate. The fact that commissioner Goodell would express sympathy for the physical plight of players even as he demanded two extra games in the season (which, according to polls, fans didn’t even want) seemed immoral and greedy.

Also, there is far more consciousness now among fans about the physical toll—including concussions as well as the deadly disease ALS—that football takes on the human body. This is a sport with a 100 percent injury rate. The fact that commissioner Goodell would express sympathy for the physical plight of players even as he demanded two extra games in the season (which, according to polls, fans didn’t even want) seemed immoral and greedy.

And finally, workers across the nation have taken it on the chin at the hands of big business. This lockout would have sent to the unemployment lines stadium workers, parking lot attendants and everyone else who scrapes by thanks to NFL Inc. Steeler All-Pro Troy Polamalu seemed to capture the moment when he said, “It’s unfortunate right now. I think what the players are fighting for is something bigger. A lot of people think it’s millionaires versus billionaires, and that’s the huge argument. The fact is, it’s people fighting against big business. The big-business argument is, ‘I got the money and I got the power, therefore I can tell you what to do.’ That’s life everywhere. I think this is a time when the football players are standing up and saying, ‘No, no, no, the people have the power.’”

Standing strong together and going for the win is an attitude NFL players have been taught from day one. It served them well in a lockout that no one predicted they would win. In fact, one anonymous source in the union said, “These guys are so competitive, some of them don’t want to settle for a bigger piece of the pie. They want the whole bakery!”

Winning this battle didn’t only secure for the players a fair collective bargaining agreement. It didn’t only increase the earnings of veteran athletes, strengthen benefits and mercifully keep the season at sixteen games. It also raised even more important questions, which NBA players should be asking as well: What do we need owners for? Players are the game—no one shows up at Cowboys Stadium to watch Jerry Jones pace imperially up and down the sideline. We should be asking why we can’t have more fan-owned teams, similar to the Super Bowl Champion Green Bay Packers—that’s a team with 112,000 owners. Why can’t players get equity and even ownership of the franchises themselves? And why can’t a big chunk of the revenues that players produce go back to the communities where they play? A thick percentage of all proceeds at Green Bay’s Lambeau Field goes to local charities. Given the current state of our cities, this would be a huge benefit to urban America. Also, think about how this argument combines the logical and the radical. It opens up discussions about economic democracy that the people who run the NFL—and the people who run our country—would prefer we not have.

Pro football is a players’ and fans’ game. The fans come to see the players, and taxpayers build the stadiums. The one irrelevant element is the owners. It’s time for a change.

Such a victory will be much more difficult for NBA players.

Ari Paul in The Nation:

Despite the fact that many fans dismiss sports labor conflicts as squabbles between billionaires and millionaires, the current struggle between the National Basketball Players Association and the owners has much in common with classic labor disputes, including a misrepresentation of owners’ losses and so-called worker excess. The union, meanwhile, claims that at no point during this round of bargaining has it asked for anything more than a firewall against givebacks, and argues that the owners are using a weak economy to further erode the NBPA’s power.

SNIP

But there is a broader class struggle in this dispute, and it extends far beyond the basketball court. It won’t just be the players who will lose paychecks if there is no resolution. The owners will also be effectively locking out a vast labor force surrounding the game. This includes everyone from the highly paid sportscaster to the low-wage coliseum parking-lot attendant to the part-time concession stand worker, all of whom contribute in some way to BRI, and all of whom have rent and mortgages to pay. Michael McCann, director of the Sports Law Institute at the University of Vermont, points out that without a season people may be less likely to buy sports apparel, a blow to the retail sector. And what will happen to servers at sports bars who depend on big tips on game night? “They’re the most vulnerable victims, because they have no seat at the table,” he said.

Through that lens, the struggle is really not about billionaires versus millionaires but billionaires versus everyone else—including consumers, some of whom perhaps need to revisit a scene from the classic comedy Airplane! A young boy visits the cockpit of an airliner mid-flight and discovers the co-pilot is basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who denies his identity despite the boy’s adulation. But the star buckles when the kid says his father believes Abdul-Jabbar’s defensive game is lacking and that he only gives a hundred percent in the post-season. Insulted, Abdul-Jabbar grabs the boy’s collar and says, “I’m out there busting my buns every night. Tell your old man to drag Walton and Lanier up and down the court for forty-eight minutes.”

Basketball fans demand the best from players, and that makes sense. Fans are entitled to expect that if they are paying—whether through pricey tickets, premium TV or the tax dollars that finance stadiums—they should get the most bang for their buck. But basketball is work. And just as Abdul-Jabbar described, it is hard work the average person is incapable of doing. It requires constant practice, carries the specter of injury and can only be performed in an athlete’s youth. The same can be said of many other professions, such as firefighting. And while one might scoff that we don’t need basketball the way we need first responders, the reality is that any work stoppage in a major sports league has enormous and harmful economic consequences.

The reality here is that the owners are using a recessionary market to justify economic restructuring that would put more money in their pockets, taking it from the highly skilled laborers who make the product so singularly mesmerizing. There is an impulse in the United States to say to skilled workers that they can afford to take some cuts. But that impulse typically stops at CEOs and owners. Maybe this high-profile labor struggle is an opportunity to confront that logical inconsistency.

Liberals know that the real drivers of economic growth are workers, and liberals always take the side of workers against owners.

A Real Fight for Worker Rights ... in the NFL

If you love football, then you should hate the owners and the arrogant, our-way-or-the-highway deal they're trying to force down players' throats.

Dave Zirn at The Nation:

There was only one problem. The owners had not voted to accept a negotiated, collectively bargained agreement. They were doing little more than voting to approve their own deal. Neither the NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith, nor NFLPA President Kevin Mawae, nor any of the player reps had even seen the agreement the owners voted upon. It reportedly includes a series of provisions that hadn’t been discussed or bargained. It was a power play aimed at using the deadline for a settlement to get their wish-list on the player’s backs. Eric Cantor would have been proud.

Mike Silver of yahoo sports wrote, that the owners were doing little more than "....daring the players to swallow terms that have not yet been negotiated." Washington’s player rep Vonnie Holiday tweeted, "Look guys I have no reason to lie! The truth of the matter is we got tricked duped, led astray, hoodwinked, bamboozled!"

SNIP

Despite the awesome weight of ownership, media, and personal financial pressure, the players are holding firm to actually reading and discussing this mammoth 10-year labor agreement before signing off and good for them. I fully expect the lockout to end shortly. There is too much money at stake, too much expectation for football to go forward as planned. But after a 132 day lockout, the players have every right to actually understand in full what it is they're voting upon. The owners would be lucky if the NFLPA doesn’t look at the number of publicly funded stadiums, look at the star-power of their own players and say to the owners, “Why do we need you again?”

This is bigger than the NFL. This is about the arrogance of Capital in a period of austerity. The actions of the owners are little different from the arrogance of the Republican leaders of congress, Governors Scott Walker of Wisconsin, John Kasich of Ohio, Jerry Brown of California, Andrew Cuomo of New York and all who believe that it's belt-tightening time for everyone but the fat-cats and to hell with democracy, due process, or any semblance of thought for the greater good. This is about those at the top of society who want "socialism" for the rich and an apocalyptic Ayn Randian nightmare for the rest of us. As Troy Polamalu, the All-Pro safety for the Pittsburgh Steelers said,

“I think what the players are fighting for is something bigger. A lot of people think it’s millionaires versus billionaires and that’s the huge argument. The fact is its people fighting against big business. The big business argument is ‘I got the money and I got the power therefore I can tell you what to do.’ That’s life everywhere. I think this is a time when the football players are standing up and saying, ‘No, no, no, the people have the power.”

I wish Barack Obama, in his own set of negotiations, had half of their backbone of the NFLPA. We should stand with their basic right to not have their future force-fed to them like animals, but to be treated like men.