The Kaepernick incident reminds us of just how far right our country truly is...

[kentuck]

They talk a lot about freedom and liberty but they don't practice what they preach.

You will stand up when the anthem is played or we will vilify and destroy you.

You must respect the flag at all times.

You should never speak ill of our military or any wars that our military may be drawn into.

You must accept the Christian God as the only God.

You must assume that Republicans are always right and Democrats are always wrong. Unless you are a Republican, you are immoral and evil.

You must not question a group of armed men marching down the street with military-type weapons, no matter how dangerous they may appear.

Compromise and tolerance are unacceptable.

There is little room for freedom of speech or freedom of religion in our country today. Whether they realize or not, Americans have been silenced to a large degree by right-wing fanatics and this is why a person like Donald Trump has a chance to be the next President of our country.

[forest444]

1. Reads a lot like the 14 characteristics of fascism.

https://ratical.org/ratville/CAH/fasci14chars.html

Although in some ways the GOP are even worse, because other fascist regimes at the very least believed in - and usually made great strides in - public works.

[kentuck]

2. For real !

Absolutely!

[forest444]

3. "We lost the war," Hitler lamented.

"But we shall win the peace."

I think we now have some idea of what he meant.

[melman]

12. rense?

That's a neo-Nazi site.

[forest444]

16. It's a convenient link, that's all.

It's the content - and the primary source (Dr. Lawrence Britt; originally published in the secular humanist journal Free Inquiry) that counts.

There are several variations of this same list; you don't doubt its veracity I hope.

[melman]

17. It's a Nazi site

'Do not reference hate sites or other extremist/fringe sources.'

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=termsofservice

[kentuck]

18. Even a broken clock is right twice a day...

Technically, you are correct. Substantively, you are wrong.

[melman]

20. No

I'm not wrong at all. Linking to Nazi sites is against the TOS.


And rense.com is a Nazi site. https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2015/04/27/jeff-rense-his-own-words



http://the-last-blog-left.blogspot.com/2011/01/rensecom-mouthpiece-for-neo-nazi-lies.html


http://profpan.blogspot.com/2008/05/jeff-rense-is-nazi-scumbag.html

This is on the front page of the site, ffs [img][/img]

[kentuck]

22. As I said...

Technically, you are correct. Go ahead and alert if it bothers you that much.

[forest444]

23. The link was edited, per your request.

You can come off it now.

[Stainless]

24. When I click the link, I see nothing about Nazi's

I am invoking "Godwin" here, so let's move on! Incidentally, every one of the 14 points cited in the link are now in play in this election cycle and need to be noted, examined and dealt with or eliminated from rational discourse before the election.

[Bluzmann57]

4. Next to the last line of the verse

"Oer the land of the FREE..." Repukes seem to forget that.

[Divine Discontent]

5. Hey, kentuck!

May I cross-post this over at (the real) DU? LOL. I had to sign in and and rec this great original piece, my friend. This is excellent and would make a great Op-Ed in local papers about how the quick to anger mentality of many over Colin's silent action of sitting, isn't being very Christ-like. Christ is nothing like the bizarro world of Republicanism, anyhow. In their version, He's holding an AR-15 in one hand and the American flag in the other while screaming, "America is the GREATEST nation!"

Kudos on this, it is well-done and so true.

[kentuck]

7. Thank you!

Appreciate that !

[bravenak]

6. I agree

[niyad]

8. k and r

[mnhtnbb]

9. I have generated a shitstorm on fb to a comment I posted about an article on the Kaepernick incident

posted by CommonDreams

http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/09/03/frog-no-longer-boiling-its-dead

Here is what I wrote:

This Medicare card carrying old white woman decided years ago to stop singing the Star Spangled Banner because she didn't like the fact that it glorified imperialism and war. I had no idea about the other verses. Now that I know, I intend to remain seated whenever it is played--whether at a concert or sporting event--until this country matches the reality of social justice--for all--with its rhetoric. And my Veteran husband (Major, USAF, Retired) has no problem with that position.

My comment has had 70 "likes" and a ton of people making critical comments. One guy even double-downed suggesting that I probably don't even watch football. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised
to see a sexist comment like that, because, gee, women don't even WATCH football.

I decided to turn my comment into a LTTE and sent it to our local Raleigh paper today. I'm serious. I'm no longer standing for the National Anthem and I'd love to see others remain seated, too.

[Kath1]

38. I just saw this and wanted to thank you.

This 58 year old white woman remains seated. And I will continue to do so until there is serious change and social justice for all.

THANK YOU!

PEACE!

[mnhtnbb]

39. Peace right back at you, Kath1!

[Kath1]

40. I applaud you and thank you.

I used to mindlessly stand. I was at an outdoor concert with my girlfriend a few years ago that started off with the national anthem. She stayed seated and said she hates "war songs." I stayed seated too and it felt SO right. I have never stood for it since. My 27 year old daughter never stands, either.

"Bombs bursting in air" is not something I want to glorify.

Maybe I will if there is ever true equality in this country but I don't see that any time soon.

[mnhtnbb]

41. The Raleigh paper published my letter and a few days later they published

a letter from some guy who accused me of being "selfish, indecent, and dishonorable" because I wouldn't stand for the national anthem.

I figured he was probably some Trumpite. They later published this excellent LTTE from a local vet, which should have pretty well shut the guy up.

The continuing criticism of Colin Kaepernick’s refusal to stand during the singing of “The Star Spangled Banner” demonstrates clearly the hypocrisy of false patriots. They deny him his right to independent thought and action, while demanding his unquestioning respect for a song that extols our nation as the “land of the free.” But are we truly free?

Our prison population surpasses that of all others, and too many of our residents – disproportionately people of color – spend years in jail for nonviolent offenses, exercising their right to dissent, or simply being too poor to post bail.

An open-minded study of U.S. history demonstrates that our current world dominance has been built on the backs of the enslaved, the exploited and those robbed of their cultures when white European imperialists conquered their territories. And a thoughtful reading of our national anthem’s lyrics demonstrate it to be a crass glorification of war and empire-building. It celebrates the fact that our flag “yet waves,” as it did when the lyrics were penned in 1814, over once-sovereign territories that the U.S. conquered by military might.

As a U.S. combat veteran, I applaud Kaepernick’s courage in bringing this hypocrisy to the world’s attention.

http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/article101610692.html

[Kath1]

42. That LTTE says it all.

I'm seeing more of it. Glad to see people thinking for themselves.

<img src="?resize=1200%2C781" alt="Image result for MSU anthem protest"/>

[ThoughtCriminal]

10. Here's how it works

[kentuck]

11. Slowly they all stood up...

Just like the Democrats and Republicans will do at the first State of the Union speech by Herr Trump.

[colsohlibgal]

13. At Least 30% Are Far Right

A big reason is the right wing propaganda machine enabled because of the Fairness Doctrine bring done away with.

Then there is the Corporate MSM. Even before corporations took over the media idiots like Krautheimer griping about the "liberal bias" in the media worked. So they tried to hard not to sound liberal.

Nobody big anchor today would dare do what Uncle Walter did....Cronkite turned the tide against the stupid Vietnam War with a special comment, saying, after going over there himself, that we were not winning anything over there.

[Ilsa]

14. And not standing for the flag/anthem means

you hate and are being disrespectful to the military, according to the fascists.

[Blanks]

29. Except the military supports dissent..

The underlying theme is that he is excercising freedom of speech, which is WHY we serve, or served (in my case).

I find that those who served (among my Facebook friends) support his right to sit, while those who 'had better things to do' are offended.

[kentuck]

31. I think we have to be strong enough to withstand dissent...

especially when it comes to free speech. We should not let it bother us so. We need to understand more about why he may be dissenting. But it should not interfere with our right under the First Amendment.

[Blanks]

35. Images of the German people yelling...

"Sieg Heil" and then the subsequent history of WWII contribute largely to why I personally support free speech as a method of dissent.

It is the miliary that is called to action when nationalism runs amuck and we select a place to point our weapons.

I think that's probably among the reasons why so many veterans and folks currently serving support free speech against our national symbols. It can be pushed over the edge, we saw some of that during the Bush administration with the "you're either with us or against us' mentality.

[Ilsa]

32. Oh certainly, but the trumpette chickenhawks

Think they can speak for you and vets and those currently serving. They are itchings for you to be upset by K.

[ffr]

15. And supported by brainwashed common folk

who should know better, but like the comradery of chumming with people who have no obligation toward their best interests. Typical RW upsidedown world.

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

19. This could have been written in the fifties or sixties.

All those same feelings then.

[kentuck]

21. one major difference...

Joe McCarthy was not running as President.

[HereSince1628]

25. It's human nature to scorn behavior that rejects your identity.

And the angst toward Kapernick is mostly that.

We've been publically going rah-rah for America for decades and have a population in which individuals strongly identify with the notion that each of us is supposed to be a warrior defending national pride.

You reject the national anthem you consequently reject the basis of tribal identity.

I'm not too worried about how this will end. It's important for the nation to once again think about what's really important... no one really thinks it is thoughtlessly mumbling 'Jose can you see?' while holding a hand over your heart.

[oberliner]

26. Completely disagree

In fact, I think it shows the exact opposite.

That a bunch of noisy right-wingers are yelling about it on Twitter is not at all surprising.

That he has received so much support for his actions across a broad spectrum of the population, including many veterans, shows just how far left our country truly is.

[kentuck]

27. I think it depends on what the definition of "left" and "right" is?

We will know on election day, won't we? Most folks get their news from television, in my opinion. If true, then they are getting a Bachnalian feast, as of late.

[oberliner]

28. True

I just think the internet perhaps amplifies the voices of a small number of cranks.

[kentuck]

30. Perhaps?

I tend to think the Internet (us) is a reflection of the people that are on it...

[stopbush]

33. Can we cut to the chase?

It all stems from their being fundy Xians. The sense of knowing "the truth," the belief that they are chosen, the belief that only their God is real, the belief that no matter what they do their God will forgive them. All of that crap fills them with a sense of entitlement and infallibility.

[Odin2005]

34. In high school I refused to stand and recite the Pledge to protest the invasion of Iraq...

...and I got called a "terrorist-loving traitor" and had violence threatened against me, not only by my fellow students, but by adults.

[JimGinPA]

36. I don't think it's especially "far right" to find his particular form of protest objectionable nt

[Ishoutandscream2]

37. You're correct, Kentuck

Of course, I live in red hell. I was bold enough to do this podcast this week. But I had to say it.

http://boomerbantering.podbean.com/e/boomer-bantering-episode-9/?token=5aafad5bf6376d95b44a3bd2b526039c