Legislators, like any member of society, can be incredibly stupid when they set their minds to it, as they all too often do.
But a story by Baton Rouge ADVOCATE reporter Elizabeth Crisp, excerpted from a Washington Post column by writer Catherine Rampell, establishes a new low for stupidity, intolerance, and a propensity for shooting off at the mouth, the facts be damned.
Now let it be established here and now that I am a military veteran and that I stand and face the flag every time the National Anthem is played or sung at a public event, no matter how badly a singer may be singing his or her interpretation of the Star-Spangled Banner (and believe me, I’ve heard some incredibly bad renditions). I don’t care if I’m at the concession stand outside Alex Box Stadium for an LSU baseball game, when the PA announcer asks the fans to stand for the National Anthem, I stop what I’m doing, remove my LSU or Boston Red Sox cap, and hold it over my heart in my right hand until the song is finished. No big deal, just something I do.
Why don’t I take a stand? Well, I do. I stand for the anthem and I respect those who choose, for whatever reason, not to. That’s because this is still America where freedom of expression is guaranteed in the First Amendment and every person in that ball park has that right, whether I happen to agree with them or not.
For that matter, how is taking a knee any less respectful than those who continue to talk or who refuse to remove their caps during the anthem? And believe me, there are literally dozens all around me who (a) continue with their concession stand purchases, (b) continue talking, or (c) do not remove their caps/hats. Taking a knee is an act of protest. Any one of the other three is indifference and just as disrespectful in its own way.
So, please, don’t waste my time telling me how unpatriotic it is.
But back to Elizabeth Crisp’s recap of the Washington Post column which, as the Saints stumble into the playoffs and LSU prepares to meet Notre Dame in the Citrus Bowl, is more than a little timely:
According to Post writer Rampell, a group of Louisiana legislators (much to their relief, LSU has refused to divulge their names, thus saving them considerable embarrassment) got their shorts in a wad and called LSU President F. King Alexander just before football season to threaten additional cuts to the higher-ed appropriations if any player took a knee in protest during the playing of the National Anthem before any LSU games.
King had to find a tactful way to remind the dumb-asses that LSU players remain in the locker room during the anthem and are not even on the field. If the legislators had ever used their free tickets to attend a game, they should have realized that.
Not that this is really relevant to this particular issue, but those brain-dead legislators apparently forgot how they kowtowed to Bobby Jindal and slashed higher-ed funding year after year for a cumulative 43 percent reduction in funding since 2008. Apparently, they had no problem taking a knee before Jindal so they could kiss his ring. And make no mistake, they are every bit as complicit as Jindal for the fiscal morass the state finds itself in today.
Interim Vice President of communications Jason Droddy told Crisp last Friday, “I can confirm the phone call occurred, but we won’t name the person, as that was an unfortunate comment that is better left in the past. We hope that in the future, LSU’s state appropriations will be tied to its performance in the classrooms and laboratories and its economic contributions to our state.”
It should also be hoped that in the future, legislators won’t be afflicted with diarrhea of the mouth just for the benefit of political grandstanding, but don’t bet the farm on that happening. Politicians, by their very nature, are grandstanding, running-off-at-the-mouth self-promoters who seldom let facts stand in the way of political expediency.
State Rep. Kenny Havard, for instance, wanted to pull state subsidies for the New Orleans Saints after Saints players knelt during the anthem before a pre-season game. “If it’s a state-subsidized sporting event, that’s not the place to protest,” he said.
And while I support pulling state subsidies for the Saints for an entirely different reason (mostly having to do with my distaste for supporting a billionaire owner’s hobby—and the requirement that state agencies rent expensive office space from that same billionaire), I would pose this question of Havard:
If a sporting event is not the place to protest, then is it the proper place to honor military personnel? While public support of our men and women in uniform is a noble gesture, it is, nevertheless, just as much a political statement as a protest. You can’t have it both ways, Rep. Havard.
I happen to support both the right to protest injustice and the right to honor our military personnel, even if I happen to disagree with our reasons for invading another sovereign nation. That is my right under the First Amendment. And it’s consistent.
I would suggest that Rep. Havard and those anonymous legislators who made that embarrassingly inadvisable call to Dr. Alexander step back and digest the words of my college classmate TERRY BRADSHAW who, in an NFL pre-game show on (appropriately enough) Fox Sports, a division of Fox Network, had this to say about Donald Trump’s tirade against NFL players who took a knee during the anthem:
It’s hard to believe that I’m going to say something about the most powerful man in the greatest country in the world, but probably like a lot of you, I was somewhat surprised that the President—the President of the United States came out attacking NFL players for them exercising the Freedom of Speech.
While I don’t condone the protesting during our National Anthem, this is America!
If our country stands for anything, folks—it’s freedom. People died for that freedom. I’m not sure if our president understands those rights—that every American has the right to speak out, and also to protest. (emphasis added)
Believe me—these athletes DO love this great country of ours.
Personally, I think our president should concentrate on serious issues like North Korea and healthcare rather than ripping into athletes and the NFL.”
Like Bradshaw, I feel legislators also have a few more pressing problems to address than football players taking a knee.
Louisiana is on the precipice of a $1 billion budgetary shortfall. This is largely attributable to the actions of the legislature in falling all over themselves for eight years to do the will of Bobby Jindal, the American Legislative Exchange Council, and Grover Norquist—and for failing in their responsibility to face up to the looming crisis. That, after all, is their job—not monitoring knee-bends at a football game.
So, do your damned job.
Instead, you’re worried about some college football player taking a knee and in a frantic effort to prevent that, you make a wildly reckless threat to cut funding even further.
And I thought Roy Moore was an idiot…
The fabled journalist H.L. Mencken, described as “an acerbic journalist, editor and social critic,” (an apt description of our Tom Aswell) is credited with the famous quote “No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public.”
To paraphrase, no one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of members of the Louisiana legislature. They bought trump’s calculated and successful strategy to deflect attention from russiarussiarussia by his screeching about an old non-issue like ball players exercising their First Amendment rights….and like so many other fools, some legislators took that ball and ran with it – and now we find out just how far they were willing to go. Too bad for voters that LSU is shielding the identities of the foolish legislators who made this wrong-headed threat. They should be removed from office posthaste.
Trump of course, channels that other great American showman, P.T. Barnum, who famously stated, “The bigger the humbug, the better people will like it.” And the unforgettable line: “There’s a sucker born every minute.” Louisiana legislators: suckers who love humbug – and are willing to destroy everything in our state to show solidarity with destroyers like jindal and trump. Save ourselves – vote blue in ’18. And 2020.
All i can say, Earthmother, is Amen and Amen!
Well, I have my own comments on this issue; kneeling during the anthem is against the NFL rules, plain and simple. There is a fine that can and should be levied. That being said, I have no problem with a player protesting on his own time, but I strongly object when they protest on mine. I cannot protest at my job;nor should they.
As for Earthmother, I can see that you think little of Trump. May I assume that you think Hillary was a worthy candidate ? If answer is yes, then you are one of the suckers born every minute. As bad of a politician Trump may be, in less than a year, virtually every economic indicator has improved.He will never be accused of being politically correct, and that is what not only USA needs, but the whole world.
What economic indicators? As bad as both Clinton and Trump were/are, it would serve both parties well to go back to the drawing board and take on the needs of their constituents for a change. The same for the Louisiana legislators. Let’s focus our attention to turning this state and this country around to meet the needs of the lowly citizens who happen to reside here and vote. Both parties have failed us!
AMEN, AS. Agree completely.
those economic indicators were on that upward trend before Trump came into office and all he can claim is that he hasn’t done anything to make it stop. So much of our increase this year came because the entire world finally is getting over the recession that began late in GW Bush’s term. But I wouldn’t blame that on Bush directly either. It was a bubble that took a long time to develop and the end result was predictable but not the timing. Bush’s policies didn’t do anything to stop the rampant greed and recklessness that was running through Wall Street and the mortgage industry at the time. Now it’s Bitcoin and it’s offshoots. Government can promote the general welfare and can try to smooth out the ups and downs of Capitalism but it can’t control the money people very well. Right now the artificially low interest rates are going to start trending toward the norm and that will slow things down. Hopefully not too much.
Too bad for you zoe1970 but you’re wrong on the NFL rule thing.
NFL rejects rule change that would force players to stand for the national anthem
Link::
https://www.sbnation.com/2017/10/17/16465366/nfl-rule-change-stand-national-anthem-player-protests
Another earlier article from Sept. 2017:
http://time.com/4955704/nfl-league-rulebook-a62-63-national-anthem-rule/
and from the Time link:
Fredster, not only the word “may”, but also the word “should”. Also, by playing the National Anthem, the league has provided a forum. This talk about workplace protest is also wrong. How many of us stood for the playing of the NA at the beginning of our workday? No, i am not a veteran, but my father served in the Army for 20 years, which included one tour in Vietnam. My older brother served 25 years, which included two tours in Vietnam. Finally, in the fall of 1973, i did my patriotic duty and registered for the draft, as i was required to do by law.
“I have no problem with a player protesting on his own time, but I strongly object when they protest on mine….”
If kneeling during the anthem is not “on his own time,” when is? And since when is your deciding to watch a game “your time”?
And being a fool should never be taken as simple political incorrectness.
“Political correctness” is a silly irritant of a term that means nothing more than “respect for others.” What I think the USA and the world needs is more, not less, respect for others. And that carries every bit as much weight as your pronouncement of what the USA and the world needs. Never forget, Trump is president because of the electoral college rules, not because of a mandate of the voting public. And by the way, if the players’ employers do not mind if they protest on their job, it’s none of your business.
Zoe1970 – first. to set this straight, I do not think little of trump. I detest him.
Second – Hillary Clinton is not a part of this discussion. She is not president, has not been president, and is not responsible for anything taking place in this country and is thus a non-issue. I love how trump supporters always bring up Hillary!! when trump is criticized. Nowhere in my comment did I indicate support for her. Just criticism of some of our current state and federal elected leaders. Nice try.
If you think trump is what the USA needs, much less the whole world, which is laughing at him, you are one of his suckers. trump is a disaster and a danger to my and your ability to exercise the liberties guaranteed in the First Amendment.
The Washington Post has literally written 10 articles this year that have been discredited. You need better sources.
https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/266714/anonymous-sources-washington-post-and-cnn-fake-daniel-greenfield
Since you obviously have such a low opinion of the WP, this probably won’t meant much to you, but I’m sending it along anyway:
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/president-trump-has-made-1950-false-or-misleading-claims-over-347-days/ar-BBHLU8e?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=iehp
To quote Ronald Reagan, there you go again. Always deflect from the central argument with a little misdirection. Your comment is about as germane to the subject as pointing out that your boy Donald Trump lies when the truth would better serve him.
Here’s a link to a story in National Review (certainly no liberal publication) about his lies. http://www.nationalreview.com/article/431755/donald-trumps-huge-lies
So, I respectfully ask, what’s your point?
Went to the link provided by Fairness and got a good laugh. It’s a rightwing rag that bears on its masthead, a quote by the founder of the conservative think tank The Freedom Center: “inside every progressive is a totalitarian screaming to get out.” That’s one of the more meaningless and absurd slogans thrown about by RWNJ types (who like to say things like Democrats can’t be Christian, among other uninformed lies designed to enrage their followers). The article was written by a man described as a SHILLMAN JOURNALISM Fellow at the Freedom Center. How appropriate! I wonder if the irony is lost on the Freedom Center staff?
Happy New Year, Y’all! Let’s all go eat some good southern blackeyed peas (can we still call them that, or is that moniker no longer PC? lol) and turnip greens to ensure health and prosperity in the new year. With the war on the poor launched by certain members of congress, as noted by the insightful writers at the site The Christian Left (yes, there is such a thing), http://www.thechristianleft.org/ we may soon be eating greens every day to survive. A dish well-seasoned.
the commies have a plan and they are sticking together. we might as well give up. oh well
Please excuse my rambling. Consider it a response to multiple columns.
So, the vantage point I stand from is simple. On the field, in uniform, the players are employees – not citizens free to exercise their right to protest. Employers absolutely can and should keep their product free of everyone’s personal protest issues. If the business owner understands that his customers aren’t paying good money to come see personal protests, especially one that is polarizing in nature and predominantly not popular with his patrons, then it’s that business owners right to prohibit protest in the work place – on their time and their dime the employee gets paid to work – not protest.
I’m of the opinion that no one in America is disenfranchised to the point of not having opportunity – hence we just had an African American President who graduated from Harvard, an African American Attorney General, an African American CEO of American Express – I could name countless examples ad nauseum, plus countless elected officials.
OF COURSE there will always be individual cases of racism as you can’t stop people who are prone to think this way from acting on their beliefs – no matter how abhorrent. What you can do is focus on institutional racism – which you would have to be completely disingenuous in your argument to put forth that the level of institutional racism in our country has done anything but decline in the last 50 years. Yes, there are still infinite areas we can try to improve upon such as educational opportunities in many areas, with many cause and effect factors contributing. But, aside from the above, it’s also complete and utter nonsense for the liberal media to portray that there are large volumes of white supremacists holding back protected classes and we all leave church waiting for the secret signal for our next meeting. The reality is there are very few of these nazi whack jobs and it pisses the majority of us off that if we have any inkling of a conservative view point then out comes the white supremacist card.
The blunt fact is we live in a world where the current climate is everyone is “outraged” about something. Opportunity exists for ALL who seek it. We ignore cultural issues that systemically inhibit the progress of many because they are too busy feeling sorry for themselves – this goes for all races and all sexes.
“The 1% is holding us back! Racism! Xenophobes! Misogynists!”
You can’t complain on one hand that your elected officials are committing graft and corruption and then on the other hand be upset when people want smaller government – with smaller taxes so these same corrupt politicians have less money to steal. I for one implicitly trust small, medium and large businesses to do right by their communities more than I will ever trust big government.
Please quit conflating the concept that because you disagree with the players protesting it makes you conversely not understand the fundamental aspect that America stands for the freedom to express your right of protest. I absolutely support anyone’s right to protest – even when I disagree – but in the work place the players don’t get to take the stage they are paid to perform on to use for their personal platforms.
What a pendulum swing we have had – liberal colleges that used to be the bastions of free speech now have “safe spaces” and attempt to ban and block the speech of conservative speakers like Ben Shapiro under the premise he’s a neo-nazi white supremacist (he’s an orthodox Jew who lives in California and graduated from Harvard).
Just because you disagree with the manner in which someone protests doesn’t make you an illiterate conservative nor someone who doesn’t understand the premise of free speech….
There is no 1st Amendment right to speak on a college campus
https://www.vox.com/the-big-idea/2017/10/25/16526442/first-amendment-college-campuses-milo-spencer-protests
Understood, but not my point. Colleges used to be the safe haven for free speech, no matter the viewpoint. When a non hate mongering conservative speaker such as Shapiro can repeatedly have his speaking engagement stifled by college administrators then we should all have indoctrination concerns – liberal colleges creating “safe spaces” and allowing the “hecklers veto” is inappropriate and should not be tolerated.
Personally I despise all that is far left and all that is far right. Tribalism is the enemy of an intelligent cohesive populace. I’m a staunch conservative but have no problem questioning many of the un-presidential actions of President Trump, just like a vehemently despise the liberal media bias.
We should all strive to call balls and strikes fairly – if your team makes a bonehead statement – then disavow it – anything less than this and our nation becomes what it has, polarized factions not able to work together.
Wow! great article and mostly great comments except for Mr. Savage, though well written, appears to use the “I” too much. to support his Republican worship of the $$, and rambles himself into a corner with nowhere to go, “someone who doesn’t understand the premise of free speech……?????love always ron thompson
Lol, ten paragraphs and 638 words and I used “I” seven times in the course of an overt personal opinion response.
But that’s what you get out of it. Yes, I was very specific in most of my comments without being snide – you bring no facts to your response just the passive aggressive stance of “well written” but worship of the $$$ and backs himself in a corner” without any explanation or substance to support your position.
Maybe that’s just what liberals do – they love to take an accepted moral principle and adopt it as their own as if they invented it (such as freedom of speech), and then they accuse conservatives of violating that principle so they can be “outraged”.
Instead of making your snide comment of “Republican worship of the $$$” try being a little more specific – such as you find fallacy in my statement that business owners are entitled to limit protesting by their employees while in the course of doing business – that isn’t a corner – it’s an open invitation for you to write a substantive counter argument instead of generic hyperbole.
The point in my response to Tom’s article is we aren’t a nation of victims besieged by oppression. We still have an amazing country, full of opportunity – and your personal freedom to express yourself and to protest is of course sacred – but doesn’t mean you get carte blanche to express yourself when in the employ of a privately held business.
Remember these businesses are important to liberals otherwise you’ll run smack out of other people’s money – but maybe then you’ll expound on the merits of socialism and we can then show you the empty shelves of grocery stores in Venezuela where dogs and cats are now table food…
Once you present an opinion different from those who have a socialist view, don’t expect sane responses from them. Unless you’re in agreement with what they say you are considered the idiot, not that they care you are entitled to your own opinions.However as far as these that kneel in protest, this too will pass!
Mr. Savage, did your employer play the NA at the beginning of your workday? By playing the NA, the league provided the forum.
I hope I don’t have to separate you boys. Everyone has an opinion and we all are given the opportunity to express ourselves on this forum. Let’s all try to respect that concept. It is, after all, in the First Amendment.
Excellent comment.
Respecting others’ points of view is becoming a lost art in today’s world, making civil discourse on controversial subjects a near impossibility. Unfortunately, this (including dismissal of opposing views by personal insult) is actively encouraged by the example of our very own U. S. President.
In his original post, Chris Savage presented his view of specific issues in a civil manner and in some detail. However, his views were attacked with generalities drawn by inference, and, in response, he seemed compelled to attack and paint liberals with a very broad brush, having drawn inferences of his own. Bud Daniels takes this to the next level, painting liberals as socialists with closed minds.
We will never, nor should we ever, all agree on every single thing – It is sheer folly to believe we ever will, or should. If we wrote people off every time they said anything with which we personally disagreed, we would all live in total isolation and the concept of the common good would be lost.