OK crazy uncle - let me see if I have this right.....

[Algernon Moncrieff]

You are outraged. You are outraged because you stand for the anthem to respect our troops. The players taking a knee should be fired; you've lost interest in professional sports; blah, blah, blah. Never mind that we don't play the National Anthem before movies, concerts (well, there was Hendrix at Woodstock), church, etc. By thunder, we are America, and we play before sporting events. To honor the troops and veterans.

Not to honor this (even though our troops all solemnly swear (or affirm) to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; to bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and to obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over them, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice....)



But to honor people like this:



What?? You didn't mean her? OK. I'll skip over that for now.

Now according to your logic, I should not oppose the display of the battle flag of the army of Northern Virginia



or the removal of rebel monuments. Those things are not disrespectful to these guys:



But if I'm understanding you right, the guys that made war on the country flying this flag:



(OK - not that flag. That's actually pretty disrespectful to the flag. Lincoln - go figure?)

Those guys aren't traitors. That's your story - these guys are OK?



...but these guys are bad

?w=525

A monument to this guy is good (even though he founded the Klan)



A monument to this guy is bad (because saying "We declare our right on this earth...to be a human being, to be respected as a human being, to be given the rights of a human being in this society, on this earth, in this day, which we intend to bring into existence by any means necessary." is clearly advocating violence)



These people are disrespectful to law enforcement



These people are just fine



This guy is bad




These guys are great

?scale=896&compress=80

So in summary: you like a flag that stands for white people, and you prefer actual traitors and a dictator dedicated to the destruction of America over Americans exercising their right to protest that is guaranteed in the Constitution. Do I have that about right?

[BigmanPigman]

1. I bet his little flag pin wants to jump off of the hypocrite in chief's suit

and run far away quickly.

[catbyte]

2. And I'm sure that it was made in China.

[MyOwnPeace]

3. You probably

had them all stuttering by the time they got to the third picture!

VERY well done!

[Algernon Moncrieff]

11. The post was inspired by extended family

...and their endless repetition of "disrespectful to the troops."

Thank you for the kind words.

[uponit7771]

4. K&R

[malaise]

5. Great post

Rec

[louis c]

6. This is exactly how I feel.

great post.

[George II]

7. Putin's thinking in that last picture, "I'm not touching that. Who knows where it's been."

[Algernon Moncrieff]

12. And he has the photos to prove it

(Thats my guess, anyway)

[yardwork]

8. Brilliant.

[N_E_1 for Tennis]

9. Awesome post.

Delighted to kick.

[iluvtennis]

10. Agree

[frazzled]

13. And something more about football and race

that this entire episode has made me think about, which goes beyond any discussion of patriotism or what the flag represents. It's really about what football represents, not just to Trump but in large measure to the (white) American public as a whole. And about why I've always hated football.

Why, I asked myself, does Trump think he has any right to tell NFL owners that they should fire protesting players? (And why did his Treasury Secretary, Mnuchin, chime in?). And it occurred to me, having recently read Seutonius' Twelve Caesars (on the recommendation of a friend, who said this old history of the Roman Empire and its horrific leaders would help me to understand Trump and Trumpism), that there is a great analogy between modern-day football and the old Roman games.

The gladatorial games were put on, and paid for, by the emperors for the entertainment of the people, both the elites and the commoners, often to celebrate imperial victories. The gladiators, of course, were slaves or "criminals" or other representatives of society's oppressed classes, who were made to fight, often to the death, in an arena, macing or chaining each other for the entertainment of the public. The victors would receive fame and glory and, most important, their freedom. Kind of like a multi-million-dollar contract.

Trump, I realized, sees himself as such an emperor, and these football "slaves" are there to run around and knock heads at his pleasure for the entertainment and glory of the empire. But wait ... there has been a Spartacus moment to protest the social order, and this weekend Spartacus got his colleagues to proclaim their "I am Spartacus" solidarity. The emperor, and his advisors and acolytes ... and the whole structure of their rule ... have been challenged. And it can't be tolerated.

It's not about patriotism or flags or respect for "country": it's about the slaves (in particular, the predominantly black football players who have won their fame and glory and freedom), whom you own and who are there to satisfy your lust for violent entertainment, rising up against Caesar himself.

It's about race and class and the absolute rule of the emperor ... and it's a threat to his singular power.

[MyOwnPeace]

14. THAT.........

is incredibly interesting - and makes SO much sense! (I can see Emperor Donny standing there in his robes and wreath on his head (woven into his other weave!), urging them on!!

Great post!

[billh58]

15. And like other would-be dictators

and despots, he is a total coward.