NFL Forces Patriotism, Disrespects Flag

[bigtree]

Joy Reid @JoyAnnReid 1h1 hour ago
Former NFL player lays waste to the league's hypocrisy on the American flag with one perfect photo

Writing on Twitter, the former player attacked the new NFL initiative by saying that “forced patriotism is the opposite of freedom.”

Rosenfels then dropped the hammer on the NFL itself by quoting the official U.S. flag code that was established in the 1940s.

“The flag should never be used as wearing apparel, bedding, or drapery,” the code reads in part. “The flag should never be used for advertising purposes in any way whatsoever.”

He then posted a photo of an official player jersey being sold by the NFL that incorporates the flag into a player’s number — which is a direct violation of the U.S. flag code.

Link to tweet

read: https://www.rawstory.com/2018/05/former-nfl-player-lays-waste-leagues-hypocrisy-american-flag-one-perfect-photo/#.WwabtTQJlks.twitter

Link to tweet

[oberliner]

1. Sage has been great on this

[Blue_Adept]

2. I get the intent but the code isn't law

as it's just guidelines and suggestions.

And the boat sailed on pretty much all of it ages ago, especially being used for things. We, as a nation, disrespected the flag ages ago.

[cyclonefence]

3. This started in the 1960s

when cops began sewing little flag emblems on the upper sleeves of their jackets, in response to what was considered by the RW the lack of patriotism among protesters of the VietNam war. Until then, you very rarely saw the flag itself--bunting or separate elements of the flag, but not the flag in toto--used in any inappropriate way. It seems once the RW gets its filthy claws into something that belongs to all of us, they can't help but use it to wipe their asses.

We were taught in grade school and in Scouts to observe the rules about how the flag should be treated, and I continue to feel that way about it. It gives me a genuine pang to see our flag out in the rain, or dragging in the dirt. I don't consider my feelings to be patriotic in the ordinary way; I just think we owe it to this symbol of our freedom to treat it the way it should be treated, whether it's the law or not. There shouldn't nave to be a law to make us respect this symbol of our right *not* to treat it the way it should be treated.

[bigtree]

6. I get it

...they need to be coerced into the tenets of the code with penalties before they square their hypocrisy.

It's obviously not meant to be compulsory. That's the point.

[Lars39]

4. And how much is the Pentagon paying

the NFL for the hyper-nationalistic displays?

[muntrv]

5. Oh Benedict Donald!

Excerpt from the article:

Jackson emphasizes that free expression overrides the goal of national unity. A compulsory flag pledge goes against the fundamental values of the First Amendment, which protects freedom of expression and thought from government intrusion in all but the most extreme cases. He concludes his opinion with a stirring reflection on the dangers of forced “unity” and the importance of individual liberty:


The case is made difficult not because the principles of its decision are obscure, but because the flag involved is our own. Nevertheless, we apply the limitations of the Constitution with no fear that freedom to be intellectually and spiritually diverse or even contrary will disintegrate the social organization. … [F]reedom to differ is not limited to things that do not matter much. That would be a mere shadow of freedom. The test of its substance is the right to differ as to things that touch the heart of the existing order.

If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion, or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein. If there are any circumstances which permit an exception, they do not now occur to us.

SEE MORE AT LINK BELOW

https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/west-virginia-v.-barnette-the-freedom-to-not-pledge-allegiance

[Stuart G]

7. k and r...nt