Anthem Protest Bengals

[*Nately120*]

(08-24-2017, 07:04 PM)oncemoreuntothejimbreech Wrote: As a former service member, I'm not upset they are exercising their rights service members fought to secure. Although, I don't like the method they chose to protest. I think it is ironic the so called patriots get upset at them for the exercising their rights. Personally, I'm more embarrassed by Mike Brown's menagerie of miscreants like Pacman Jones, Joe Mixon, and et al.

Agreed.  I feel as though your zeal for freedom isn't really tested until you have to grit your teeth and accept people's rights to do something you can't stand.  My issue with the "respect the flag" mantra isn't the sentiment itself, but the possibility that we believe people fought and died for "the flag" more than the other aspects of this country.

My cynical side sees this move towards elevating the flag as a symbol above all else as a tactic to minimize the concept that people fought and died for freedoms the government is trying to oppress (with lots of support, in many cases), the actual air we breathe, the water we drink, and the soil upon which we live and so on and so forth.  Not only is it NOT an insult to veterans when we rape the very land we claim to love, many patriots cheer the removal of the laws that protect it.

It just leads me to thinking that certain political entities want us to respect the flag above all else because then they can salute the hell out of that thing while they compromise the freedoms and the land people fought and died defending.  I'm not accusing the "Stand up while the anthem plays or get out of my country" types, so much as I feel like they are missing the bigger picture.

Again, we each have our own lives and experiences. My ol man was a hippie veteran and my best pal is an ultra-liberal black major in the army. Both of them had a list of stories where armchair patriots had no qualms telling them what REALLY happened "over there" and why the narrative the media sells us is the right one and blah blah blah. Meh, I just feel like saying they fought for "the flag" opens to door to minimization of what they really fought for. Well, my ol' man was in Nam so he just fought for his damn life, I guess.