The NFL and other pro sports leagues don't celebrate the military as gestures of patriotism. The only motivating factor is money
America’s major professional sports leagues – most notably the National Football League – have increasingly teamed with the military and corporations to serve up ugly forms of paid and forced patriotism. “The melding of sports and the military should be seen as inappropriate, if not insidious,” says William Astore, a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant-colonel…
While Canadians may embrace buying Canadian food products in retaliation for the trade dispute with the U.S., it won't come cheap
Canadians are encouraging one another to go “Trump-free” – that is, to shop for groceries without buying a single American product. Even restaurants are jumping on the bandwagon by serving “Trump-free” dishes. These are interesting reactions in the face of Washington’s somewhat contradictory foreign trade policies. In a nutshell, here’s what happened following the G7…
By taking on NFL players over their anthem protests, the president shows he understands their fans better than they do
The National Football League has recast its rules about kneeling in protest during The Star Spangled Banner. As is their wont, the NFL owners made things worse, not better, with their compromise. Stated simply, players and coaches must stand for the playing of the anthem before NFL games. However, those with objections are told they…
NFL owners are rich, not necessarily smart. Forcing players to stand at attention during the national anthem undermines basic rights
“Being rich doesn’t mean you’re smart, honest or fair. It just means you're rich.” That’s how John Feinstein ended his column about how former San Francisco 49er Eric Reid is getting punished by rich National Football League owners – in the same way former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick is – for kneeling during the playing…
If NFL owners cave in to public pressure and ban taking a knee, they will only be seen as kneeling to Trump
NFL players kneeling during the singing of the Star Spangled Banner is an issue that should have fizzled out in the United States, and probably would have except for the nation’s president. It started in August 2016, when NFL player Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the playing of the American anthem. He did it…
America’s major professional sports leagues – most notably the National Football League – have increasingly teamed with the military and corporations to serve up ugly forms of paid and forced patriotism. “The melding of sports and the military should be seen as inappropriate, if not insidious,” says William Astore, a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant-colonel…
