I appeared on The Michael Koolidge Show on 1440 WROK Talk Radio on September 26, 2017.
We discussed several of my posts about the NFL “take a knee” protests:
Here are some excerpts from the interview:
“The NFL was the one place where you didn’t have to deal with politics. As somebody who writes about politics all the time, I really appreciated that. That I could just watch the game and enjoy it. That’s gone. It has become so politicized, with kneeling down during the National Anthem, and players joining together doing it, making political statements on the field.And what we know, of course, the NFL doesn’t allow all political statements. When the Dallas Cowboys wanted to wear stickers on their helmets honoring the Dallas policemen who were killed … they wouldn’t allow that…. Not all political messages are acceptable in the NFL. The only one that seems to be acceptable in the NFL now is one that is Black Lives Matter, left-wing, to some extent anti-American, not completely. The whole thing has just sickened me….As if most people on their job are allowed to hold a protest. Can you imagine if you’re working in a restaurant, and the waitresses and waiters get together and say, “We’re going to hold a protest in the restaurant.” Or if you’re working in a supermarket or a department store. That doesn’t happen to real Americans, it only happens in the NFL and other major league sports with multi-millionaire spoiled athletes who are pushing a left-wing agenda. And that’s what’s so disgusting.For me personally to see the Cowboys do it like that, and they tried to play it cute, which is even worse. They tried to play it cute by doing it before the National Anthem, so they could say “we weren’t protesting the National Anthem.” Long story short is I don’t care. You injected politics onto the field in a game. That’s it.It’s not even that I’m angry. I just don’t care about them anymore…. I’m just indifferent to the NFL now. Emotionally I’m not connected to it anymore. I’m not boycotting it… I’m just done with it. I’m sick of it. I don’t care anymore.”
I then discussed whether there is a “legal right” for the players to make their protest. I made the point that “freedom of speech is not freedom from criticism,” and we have as much right to criticize them as they have to make their protests. I also made the point that while they are on the job, the employer has the right to preclude protests:
“Probably not a legal right, unless the employer approves. And the employers approve.”
We then turned to the topic of my post about the Doctor:
“The progressive movement, left-wing, whatever you want to call it, insists on pushing politics into every aspect of our life. You can’t watch a football game anymore….We are headed towards a society which resembles, in many ways, Eastern Europe under communism. Where every aspect of your life was political. And you could not express a view that was contrary to the prevailing political view, and you were monitored. Except now the monitoring isn’t necessarily being done by the government, it’s being done by your co-workers who are going to Out you on social media. It’s just a very depressing direction we’re heading, when every aspect of our life is put through these political litmus tests.I think that’s why people are reacting to the NFL. Because that was a place where we thought we could get away from it. And now we’re being told we can’t….”
And then my summation:
“The NFL to me is emotionally dead. It’s like a loveless marriage now. I really don’t care about it. And I think that’s worse for the NFL. If people hate it and are angry and upset, they’re still going to watch the games and still get emotionally involved. I’m not emotionally involved with the NFL and that’s contrary to my entire life. Most of my life growing up, the NFL was such a critical part of it. Now it’s just something I’m not interested in.”
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