Retweet!!

Seems like Kaep's protest is working. Everyone is talking about it. The president has even been forced to comment on it. I think he's getting just about exactly what he wanted from this.

His kneeling would of been ineffective if we all forgot that he was doing it.

BTW I'm Canadian so I don't have a pony in this race.

it might be my uninformed opinion but here it goes. it's a shame, that Americans for whatever have this great loyalty to the flag and their military. can't think of any other country that so blindly supports its leader and the war machine that has been so constant in American lives. it is so difficult for Americans to want change when they have heard since they were born, "The USA is the greatest country to live." politicians say this during speeches regularly. so for the average American, why change anything, when you have been so conditioned believing you live in the greatest country. by any measure especially in the western world, for the average person, the usa isn't the best place to live.
so any protest against the flag, goes against the primal indoctrination that so many american believe as fact. as a Canadian I kinda wonder at time what holds this country together, but right or wrong somehow we have stayed together. except for geography, the usa seems to have many more conflicts within that seem not repairable, under the current social/political structure. is "the flag" enough to keep the country together in a meaningful way. right now, yes. another two hundred years? probably not.

This whole thing has kind of snowballed into something bigger. It started as CK kneeling because of police brutality against non-whites, then it turned into oppression of non-whites and now its seems to be more about racism in general. Of course this past weekend, more player knelt just to stick it to Trump, but that's a different discussion. I'll admit at first I thought it was disrespectful not to stand (if you could), but then one day it hit me....If I'm home watching a game and the anthem comes on, I don't stand. Why is it ok for me to sit at my house during the anthem, but its not ok for people at the game to?

I'm not saying I agree w/ how CK started/handled this, in fact I think it continued to divide the country and that's the exact opposite of what he's trying to do. At the end of the day though he has a right to free speech and expression and he (along with others now) are exercising it.

I don't personally agree with their decision not to stand, but I do support their right to protest how they see fit, which includes sitting/kneeling for the national anthem. Just like how I don't agree with flag burning, but the Supreme Court has ruled it constitutional, as it is a form of free speech.

Having said that, owners and sports organizations are free to handle players how they see fit, as they are private entities. They are (generally) free to bench them or not sign them. The Bill of Rights only protects against prosecution from the government, not private entities, who generally have their own set of bylaws (the CBA).

Exactly, people are getting all tight cuz of the players kneeling. How about the camaramen? People at home? Etc.. It really is not that big of a deal on the macro side of things.

I feel like this thread should be in The Box section...

Its pertinent to hockey, as the original question poses who will be, should there even be, the first NHL player to not stand for the National Anthem

That feel when protesting the national anthem is more offensive to our President than ACTUAL ******* NAZIS IN THE 21ST CENTURY...


But in all seriousness, it's a peaceful protest that is covered under the 1st amendment, though you're under no obligation to like it. If athletes want to protest the anthem, they're entitled to that. And if you feel offended by their acts of kneeling, you're entitled to feel that way. It's a free country, or at least it should be.

When Steph Curry is a "son of a *****" and an alt-right Neo-Nazi is a "wonderful person", you know this country is in big trouble.

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You cannot and will not outlaw racism and prejudice. But what you can outlaw is discrimination when he comes to jobs, education, housing etc. Kaep's actually protest was against shooting by a white policy officer on a black man. In Canada why have had some dreadful, I would say murderous police killings in recent years. The cops and get judicial seem to be able to cover up most of these via their own corrupt investigations and just the facts they seem to have the right to shoot. It seem to worse in the US where so many more people are armed so police are so much more edgy when they pull someone over in a car or almost any situation.
Heck, in Florida a few years ago, a private citizen (I forget his name) shot and killed Taywon Martin because, he felt threatened. Felt threatened by an unarmed kid walking 60 feet from him. And that was a justified defence.
When folks protest against the flag, it seems politicians and some media somewhere pervert the meaning and make it a protest against ALL American values and the personnel in the military. This factual incorrect of course, and it drives the away any constructive discussion on the real issues.
I can remember the 60s when Governor Wallace ordered his police to let dogs loose on protesters, the sometimes violent anti Vietnam protests, and burning of Detroit where apparently 800 people died.
And the US president is so thin skinned that he and others can't handle some people kneeling? Seems like years ago, America tried to solve problems, and weren't afraid for change for the better. Now it seems so many Americans are afraid of any discussion and would prefer to hide within their tribe.

It would appear that Joel Ward has expressed interest in doing this

JT Brown also hasn't ruled it out, even receiving threats on Twitter because of it:
https://twitter.com/ChristineLRM/status/912337317779697664

And good for them. It literally doesnt matter whatsoever.

except they are protesting the wrong thing...

What? Rasicm?

Great discussion. I think some are starting to get the point now.

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Crime/killing through crime will happen. Crime rates are high in the black population. And you're right, the culture has to change and helping inner-city communities get "better". Trump said he would do this, he has done nothing (again).

The problem is when police officers make life threatening issues out of non life-threatening conditions. They take the law into their own hands and deliver what they feel is justice. That's what all this is about!!!

Contrary to what the folks at Breitbart, Daily Wire, Daily Caller, Redstate, and Fox News, among other sources, might tell you, blackness itself is not the issue. Poverty is the lurking variable; poverty leads to poor education, which inevitably leads to crime. Moreover, if you're clustered around many others of your race, chances are that if someone commits a crime against you, they'll look like you. But nobody talks about white-on-white crime.

Also, contrary to what those sites want you to believe, BLM does care about all blacks who get murdered, no matter who the perpetrator is. As one example, they held a vigil for a young girl who was gunned down in Georgia. There are many other instances that the mainstream media won't show.

As for why they protest, when Jarome kills Devante in the hood, Jarome goes to jail for it. But when Officer Mike Smith kills Devante for no reason, Officer Smith gets paid leave and labeled a hero by the conservative media b/c "his life was in danger" (when it wasn't). Accountability, dude.

Very well said Icegirl