Colin Kaepernick isn’t Unpatriotic, Levi’s Is
By Thom Hartmann A...
Even the though the season doesn’t start for another two weeks, the NFL is already embroiled in controversy.
The latest lightning rod for sports radio hot takes is San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who surprised pretty much everyone last week when he refused to stand for the national anthem during a preseason game against the Green Bay Packers.
When asked why he did what he did, Kaepernick said he was trying to raise awareness about the fact that this country isn’t living up to the motto of “liberty and justice for all.”
He also said that would continue to sit through the national anthem “until there’s significant change” and the “flag represents what it’s supposed to represent.”
Not surprisingly, Kaepernick’s protest has sparked a firestorm of outrage, quite literally so in the case of one 49ers fan, who burned the QB’s jersey and then put a video of it on Facebook.
Conservative pundits in the media haven’t gone quite so far as that one 49ers fan -- no on Fox So-Called has burned a jersey live on air, not yet at least -- but they’ve been just as fierce in their criticism of the San Francisco quarterback.
According to these conservatives, Kaepernick’s decision to sit during the national anthem is deeply unpatriotic because it’s disrespectful to the military and the police who’ve given their lives to keep us safe.
Former presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson gave a version of this argument during an appearance on Fox this weekend.
This is the standard conservative argument that comes up every time someone “disrespects” the flag or “insults” the military, and it’s just as wrong as now as it was the hundreds of other times someone used it to condemn a legitimate protest.
Right-wingers would never admit it, but what Colin Kaepernick did is actually the most patriotic thing you can do.
This country was founded in protest and on egalitarian ideals, and using our constitutional protest right to take a stand for something you believe in is as American - and as patriotic - as it gets.
It’s quite literally the type of thing this country was founded on and for.
You’d think conservatives would understand this, given how they’re always going on about the Constitution and "personal liberty," but apparently they only mean that for white people.
Unnoticed in most of the media is the ultimate irony of all this: Levi’s, the clothing company that bought naming rights for the 49ers’ stadium, is way more unpatriotic than Colin Kaepernick will ever be.
Even though it likes to portray itself as a salt-of-the-earth American company, Levis’s, like most of corporate America, has taken advantage of the so-called free trade era to send most of its manufacturing jobs overseas.
Only one line of Levi’s jeans, the 501 classics, is now made here in the U.S..
Meanwhile, the company’s finance, customer relations, and IT departments are now also all handled abroad, mostly in India.
The outsourcing of Levi’s financial department alone cost 500 jobs.
And, according to Citizens for Tax Justice, Levi Strauss is sitting on over $100 million overseas to avoid paying US income taxes on the money. Very patriotic!
In other words, while Colin Kaepernick risks his career (and possibly his life) to take a stand for people who live and work here in America, Levi’s exploits its reputation to participate in and contribute to the death of the middle class while enriching its executives and shareholders.
But you won’t hear anything about that from Republicans.
They’ve been on Levi’s side all along.
They’ve supported so-called free trade deal after so-called free trade deal, all while talking tough about God, country, and the flag.
For conservatives, patriotism is just a slogan, and their crocodile tears about Colin Kaepernick prove it.
Comments
#2
Years ago, 1970's, a Canadian named Gordon Sinclair wrote and published a song called "The Americans"; it was about his frustration and shame at all the 'America-bashing' by other countries, including Canada, that was happening at that time.
I used to enjoy listening to that song when it would come up on the playlist, feeling proud to be an American, but now, I'm so ashamed of what America has become, I just skip over that song.
Yeah, I wish I could move to Canada, Australia, or New Zealand.
#3
The Reader Supported News article "The National Anthem Is a Celebration of Slavery" points out that the third verse of the Star Spangled Banner is HIGHLY RACIST as was its author, Francis Scott Key (who himself was a slave owner). Interestingly, that article points out that it was the United States Government's (President Madison's) attempt to militarily annex Canada into the Untied States that STARTED the US War of 1812 which among other things resulted in the British sacking Washington DC (including the Whitehouse).
I highly recommend you read that article, because it reveals A LOT that has been omitted from our history books.
#4
I'll tell you what is unpatriotic...a presidential candidate who tells the citzens he's against free trade, but turns around and picks a tea bag religious nut who is entirely for it....but hey, the media won't bring up a dichotomy like that. The fascist press is about to lead us into nuclear holocaust, and I'm not being bombastic....fear is real now! Dangerous Donny called for a hit on Hillary and everyone forgets it.....WTF!
#5
Trump will win based on what the corspe media is doing right now...trying to make it a close race.....I'm currently working over my local board of elections regarding digital voting, and it's obvious that digital voting is built in election fraud ...everyone must question this...if the election is only within five points in favor of Clinton, Trump will win....I'v'e went over this many times with my friends who hack.
#6
just saying and hanging reality out there
#7
Fairness Doctrine: Required broadcast licenses to both present controversial issues in honest, equitable and balanced ways. Eliminated in 19 fnnnn 87!!!!!!
#8
huuuuh? I've never heard a right winger complain about that????? , elimination of the fairness doctine????..wonder why????
.........T J was right...a bone stupid voting populous equals a country that will never see a real democracy. Mars help us!
#9
levi's could go back to making the original from Hemp .Better quality longer lasting by far and could be made in America at a tenth of the cost .Hemp could be used for so many products that protect the planet and are sustainable .Unlike Dupont's Hydrocarbon synthetic materials that cost the Earth .
#10
It is inappropriate to characterize legal behavior as patriotic or not patriotic. How "patriotic" someone is just an opinion. We do not fight & die for patriotism... we do it so that we can be governed by a fair and **equitable system of laws. We do it, as Americans, because in our hearts we believe that all men are created equal. And that each person on Earth deserves a fair shot at life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Hitler demanded patriotism. Just saying....
**equitable
It is but equity, besides, that they who feed, clothe, and lodge the whole body of the people, should have such a share of the produce of their own labour as to be themselves tolerably well fed, clothed, and lodged.
#11
Levis is indeed unpatriotic. I try very hard to buy American. The internet has helped greatly. I buy American-made New balance sneakers ( although most others will spend the same money on cheaply made Nike and Adidas because of the endorsement od some multi-millionaire idol. I buy texan Jeans that are reasonably priced, and American, but the American consumer still goes for the flash. I buy American -content and manufactured cars. I do not hire contractors that use illegal immigrant help. I don't shop at Wal Mart, but people will buy cheap stuff for "price". I don't eat Hershey chocolate of Oreos. rather than complaining, US consumers need to go on-line to see what American products are available, and buy them. Those who spend over 80 bucks on a pair of Nikes are just plain lazy or ignorant. Don't complain if you are part of the problem.
As for Kapaernick, I think he's just mad he's not starting. Up until this summer, and especially when he was a popular starting quarterback who the fans liked, he raised not one peep about the National Anthem. Did this country change over the last four or so months, or did his attitude? They joke that a conservative is a liberal who has been mugged. Is a race warrior a mouse-quiet quarterback who has been benched?
Another millionaire, has-been athlete, ingrate.
#12
Stecoop-what is stopping you? Canada is a very beautiful country with great people and a good economy. They have single payer health care. It is a very modern, clean, technologically literate nation with a good education system. There are no guards or walls at the borders-either on their side or ours. Those that suffer needlessly are called masochists. Why suffer needlessly when our good English/French speaking neighbors to the north are immigrant friendly? It would be stupid to stay in a country you obviously feel is beneath your high standards and enlightenment. I'm certain we can get along without you.
#13
Quote Tom Dorricott:Stecoop-what is stopping you? Canada is a very beautiful country with great people and a good economy. They have single payer health care. It is a very modern, clean, technologically literate nation with a good education system. There are no guards or walls at the borders-either on their side or ours. Those that suffer needlessly are called masochists. Why suffer needlessly when our good English/French speaking neighbors to the north are immigrant friendly? It would be stupid to stay in a country you obviously feel is beneath your high standards and enlightenment. I'm certain we can get along without you.
So, you're happy that America has become a country of greedy, arrogant bullies run by criminals and outlaws?
As for why I don't move, I'm hoping America will go back to being the great country it once was - the standard bearer for justice and equality.
I'm also too old and too poor to move, a reality you obviously can't comprehend.
#14
stecoop 1 America is still the greatest nation on earth. I am a very happy person who has thrived in this country by working hard, getting a good public school and state college education, and battling for my union. i put in the hours on the Railroad with a very diverse group of employees who also succeeded. America, like it has for millions, has provided the opportunity and freedom needed for me to pursue and achieve happiness.
Maybe you could get a go-fund-me account that would give you enough to get to Canada. As I said, a great place.
If you are of golden years and not as strong as you once were, I will caution you: when you get to the border and go North, don't get trampled by all of those trying to emigrate through Canada. ( Canadians are justifiably happy where they are, but there are millions in the world that want to enjoy the opportunities offered.)
I wish you luck, and that your opinion of this great nation changes.
#15
VoteVets.org
Sign the card: Support Colin Kaepernick's right to protest
http://action.votevets.org/page/s/kaepernick
Only the weasels wrapping themselves up in a plastic flag are against Kaepernick's right to protest. The flag they bought at MalWart's. Made in China with Iraqi and Iranian crude oil. Sewed by kids in sweatshops taking an American job. Plastic Patriots are unAmerican.
Levi chemical cotton sucks.
90 million pounds of poison used on the US cotton crop yearly.
I prefer organic blue jeans that don't abort pre-babies in the bible belt..
http://www.dashhemp.com/Hemp-Pants-s/27.htm
#16
☛ The Missing Verse of the Star Spangled Banner
That May Change Your View of Our Anthem
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore,
That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion
A home and a Country should leave us no more?
Their blood has wash’d out their foul footstep’s pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave,
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEl9gUOgvZQ
The Star-Spangled Banner' and Slavery 'snopes.com
Like so many of his compatriots, Francis Scott Key, the wealthy American lawyer who wrote "The Star Spangled Banner" in the wake of the Battle of Fort McHenry on 14 September 1814, was a slaveholder who believed blacks to be "a distinct and inferior race of people, which all experience proves to be the greatest evil that afflicts a community." It goes without saying that Key did not have the enslaved black population of America in mind when he penned the words "land of the free." It would be logical to assume, as well, that he might have harbored a special resentment toward African Americans who fought against the United States on behalf of the King.
☛ Head of police organization: Colin Kaepernick’s socks ‘disrespectful’ and NFL at fault
The executive director of one of the largest police organizations in the country blasted Colin Kaepernick and the NFL on Thursday after learning that during training camp practices in August, the San Francisco 49ers quarterback wore socks that bear the image of cartoon pigs wearing police hats.
They may have a point.
Cops are more like the Animal Farm attack dogs, not pigs.
☛ Napoleon – The pig who emerges as the leader of Animal Farm after the Rebellion. Based on Joseph Stalin, Napoleon uses military force (his nine loyal attack dogs) to intimidate the other animals and consolidate his power.
☛ Political Commentary: Fuck the Pigs!
☛ Court OKs Barring High IQs for Cops
A man whose bid to become a police officer was rejected after he scored too high on an intelligence test has lost an appeal in his federal lawsuit against the city.
This might be a good idea for Cop Boot Camp…
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I am a California native and was brought up wearing Levis. 501's are now made in Egypt and Haiti. Cost $39.99 and are rarely on sale. They do not hold up like they use to. But I still like the fit.
Shipping our jobs overseas has been the biggest crime in America. If Levis shuts down a factory of 1000 employees. 1000 lose their jobs. 1000 in another country get jobs. We lose the property tax. We lose the income tax. The CEO is the only one that makes money out of the deal. We do not even make tariffs on the imported goods. Our inner cities are cesspools of crime because we do not have manufacturing jobs.