Tag: Protest

Oh No He Didn’t!

Today is Sunday, 22Oct17, and the US Gran Prix.

I am a big fan of Formula One racing ever since in 1959 I was at the French Gran Prix….even though some of the best drivers in the world were American, especially in Formula One….Penske, Gurney, Andretti, as a matter of fact Andretti was the world champion in Formula One driving for Ferrari……the sport does not have much of a following here in the US any more.  Needlessly to say that means not much PR here in the states….but that could change today.

I bring all this up because of something that has been reported for this race.

By now every American knows about the “takin a knee” in protest….it is possible that it will make international news today.  Why?

Formula 1 championship leader Lewis Hamilton says he might take a knee in protest when the national anthem is played prior to the United States Grand Prix later this month.

The Mercedes ace has already spoken out against racism and voiced concern for the current political climate in the USA. President Donald Trump has recently criticized NFL players for what he calls a lack of respect in kneeling during the anthem.

Hamilton suggested, in an interview with The Sunday Times out of the United Kingdom, that he could very well do the same on Oct. 22.

“I’ve not even thought about that race, but of course I will have to start to think about it — what would be right for me to do, or do I even need to get involved?

“It’s not my national anthem, but the issue that is in the States … well, it’s not just in the States, it is a global thing. It’s more focused and probably at its worst perhaps in America. I think we all do need to stand together.”

This could be the only report of the United Stats Gran Prix….that is if he carries forth his threat.  That should make F1 the talk of the town and Lewis Hamilton as well……
We will see if this Mercedes driver has the cajones to go through with the protest.
Personally, I will enjoy the race with or without this show of defiance.

Disrespect Our Soldiers?

There is so much stuff out there but the one that irks me the most is the fake crap about how people are disrespecting out troops….and then he does not know protocol of those troops….

After he had repeatedly railed against professional athletes over perceived slights to the American flag and military, President Donald Trump joked on Wednesday about a bugle call that is part of the armed forces’ time-honored tradition of showing respect for the Stars and Stripes.

The bugle call occurred during Trump’s interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity, conducted in an airplane hangar used by the Pennsylvania Air National Guard in Harrisburg and before the president’s address on tax revision.

“What a nice sound that is. Are they playing that for you or for me?” Trump said before turning to the audience. “They’re playing that in honor of his ratings,” he added, referring to the popularity of Hannity’s news program.

Trump went back to speaking about economic growth as several audience members behind him stood up. The bugle call was “Retreat,” which signifies the lowering of the American flag on a military installation. Although Trump attended a military high school, the commander in chief appeared unaware of the music’s meaning.

3 replies 17 retweets 10 likes

Closing Thought–26Sep17

Throw Red Meat And They Will Come!

The Congressional investigations do not seem to be going well for the Pres. and his cronies……almost nightly something new and possibly more damaging is released in one form of another…. so how do you change the the conversation?

Over the weekend Trump did what he must……

Throw some red meat to the devout.

President Trump says NFL owners should fire players who kneel during the national anthem. And he’s encouraging spectators to walk out in protest. In an extended riff during a freewheeling rally speech in Alabama Friday night, Trump also bemoaned that football games have become less aggressive, the AP reports. “They’re ruining the game,” he complained. Several athletes, including a handful of NFL players, have refused to stand during “The Star-Spangled Banner” to protest of the treatment of blacks by police. Trump says those players are disrespecting the flag and deserve to lose their jobs. “That’s a total disrespect of our heritage. That’s a total disrespect of everything that we stand for,” he said, encouraging owners to act.

“Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, you’d say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out! He’s fired,” Trump said to loud applause. Trump also predicted that any owner who went through with his encouragement would become “the most popular person in this country”—at least for a week. Trump, who was in Alabama campaigning for Sen. Luther Strange, also blamed a decline in NFL ratings on the nation’s interest in “yours truly” as well as what he described as a decline in violence in the game. He said players are being thrown out for aggressive tackles, and it’s “not the same game.” But Trump said the anthem protest was the top reason NFL viewership had waned.

Of course all eyes turn to the NFL and the Sunday games……

Even Carl Rove sees this situation as a losing fight for the president…….

Figures from the worlds of politics and sports took to the Sunday talk shows to weigh in on President Trump’s call for NFL players who protest during the national anthem to be fired.

  • Steve Mnuchin told ABC’s This Week that NFL owners should create a rule forcing players to stand for the anthem and that athletes “can do free speech on their own time,” Politico reports. The Treasury secretary said the issue isn’t race or free speech but “respect for the military and first responders.”
  • “I wish that some of these players that get on one knee to protest this country and all the sacrifices that make it great would get on both knees and thank God that they live in the United States of America,” Mediaite quotes Mike Huckabee as saying on Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures. The former Arkansas governor said liberals only defend athletes attacking the country, not those praying for it.
  • Karl Rove told Fox News Sunday that Trump should have picked a better battle or at least a better tactic, Mediaite reports. “He could have come away the winner,” the former White House adviser said. “Instead, he is walking away from this a loser in the minds of the American people.” A better move would have been to be an “aspirational figure” reminding people what’s good about the country, Rove said.
  • Rex Ryan, who introduced Trump during a rally last year, said on Sunday NFL Countdown that the president’s comments are “appalling.” “Lemme tell you: I’m pissed off. I’ll be honest with you. Because I supported Donald Trump,” CBS Sports quotes the former NFL coach as saying. Ryan said he’s proud of the players he’s known and they aren’t “SOBs.”
  • “I’m not sure if our president understands those rights, that every American has the right to speak out and also to protest,” Sports Illustrated quotes Terry Bradshaw as saying on Fox NFL Sunday.

This accomplished what Trump intended….a diversion for awhile…..

Trump as usual cannot kind in mind that he is the president of all of the US not just his piddly 33%

The Meaning of Political Protest

On this day in 1784 America’s first daily newspaper, Packet and Daily, hits the streets.

For most of my adult life I have been on the front lines of political protest….not so much these days….age and a handicap  has kept me sidelined with only words and moral support have been my only tools.

In the past I have been a protester on many issues….labor, war, military spending, etc…..I think that there is no greater stand than to stand for something good…..

The younger generation is not as committed as us old farts…they protests but it is more about their personal relationship with the economics of the state….not about principles…..

Political protests are the foundation of what makes this country what it is and without the ability to protest and make ones voice heard, we continue down this dangerous path of conflating the true meaning of the word democracy while condemning its actual practice. People who only identify themselves as patriotic by standing up during the national anthem or saluting the American flag when it’s presented before them are falsely identifying what it means to be an American.

Patriotism can reveal itself in different ways and does not require the application of standing for a song that has racist historical roots, or standing for a flag of a country that was started under the contradictory promotion of freedom and slavery. Our country has a complicated history and to be a patriot in the most basic terms one is allowed to look at the country with questionable pride and demand that things can be better and you want that change for everyone. The idea of only connecting patriotism to the the military belittles the true flexibility and development of freedom and oversimplifies the identity of what makes America the country we all speak of.

Source: The Meaning of Political Protest

Millennials have a singer, John Mayer, that had a hit song “Waiting for the world to change”………My advice is do not wait for change….force it!

The Great Congressional Sit-In

Last week the Dems in the House did something special….they had an old fashion sit-in.  They took it upon themselves to protest the old fashion way….some techniques never grow old.

Democrats are calling their sit-in protest on the House floor a success, even though it hasn’t led to the votes on gun-control legislation they demanded. About two dozen lawmakers were still taking part Thursday morning, even after House Speaker Paul Ryan adjourned the chamber about 3am until after the July 4 holiday. It was unclear how long they’d stay, but the Hill says it has the potential to be a “days-long demonstration.” If nothing else, Democrats say the protest is raising awareness of the issue around the world, the AP reports. “We crossed one bridge,” says protest leader and civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis of Georgia. “We have other bridges to cross.” In other coverage:

  • Ryan made a move to end the standoff with what the New York Times calls the “remarkable step” of calling a vote on an appropriations bill around 3am without any debate. The bill, which includes $1.1 billion to fight Zika, passed 239 to 171.
  • Rep. Katherine Clark of Massachusetts came up with the idea for the sit-in and recruited Lewis to lead it, reports the Washington Post. Lewis “gave us all the resolve and the grit and determination to see this through when we are back in July,” Clark says.
  • Republicans shut off House cameras after the sit-in began just before noon Wednesday, the Hill reports, but C-SPAN used Periscope and Facebook Live to keep broadcasting the protest. The protesting Democrats ignored GOP leaders’ reminders that lawmakers are banned from using electronic devices to broadcast House proceedings.
  • Ryan told CNN Wednesday night that the protest was a “publicity stunt” that would do nothing to make America safer. “This is not about a solution to a problem. This is about trying to get attention.”
  • Politico looks at how Democrats angered by the lack of action after the Orlando mass shooting planned and carried out the dramatic protest. “We said at the beginning of this week that we would use every tool in our toolbox,” says Rep. Steve Israel. “We said some of those tools involved hammers. Some of those tools involved screwdrivers. Some are blunt, some not. We’re going to keep using every single tool.”

This was all the rage for a couple of days and it ruled the news cycle……and then with this “success” under their belt the Dems ended the protest on Thursday of last week……

Democrats ended their gun-control sit-in at the House of Representatives on Thursday after more than 25 hours on the floor, the AP reports. According to Reuters, Democratic lawmakers, who had stayed overnight while chanting and singing, were trying to force a vote on legislation to expand background checks and stop people on terror watch lists from buying guns. They left hours after Republicans shut the House down for the Fourth of July holiday (a move that resulted in chants of “shame”). By the time the sit-in ended, not as many Democrats remained on the House floor as had started the protest, and the energy from Wednesday was missing, Politico reports.

Democrats rallied with supporters outside the House after ending the sit-in and declared victory despite failing to get Republicans to hold a vote on gun-control legislation. “Just because they cut and run in the dark of night, just because they have left doesn’t mean we are taking no for an answer,” the AP quotes Rep. Nancy Pelosi as saying. Rep. Steny Hoyer says the Democratic lawmakers will use the holiday to increase support for gun-control legislation in their districts. “We are going to win this struggle,” the AP quotes Rep. John Lewis as saying. Meanwhile, the Senate will vote Thursday on two competing pieces of gun-control legislation introduced by Republicans, Politico reports. Both focus on stopping people on terror watch lists from buying guns, and both votes are motions to table the opposing legislation.

They were getting the message across pretty well….then why end it after 25 hours?  Would it have been more dramatic to keep it up for awhile longer?

They ended it because their theatrics was about to be overshadowed by the “Brexit” vote…they figured they could not compete with the news of that vote.

But more because it was going to cut into their weekend…..you see Congress ends on a Thursday for travel home and reconvenes on Tuesday allowing Monday for travel also….

I sorry but I feel I need to agree with Ryan…this was only a stunt…..none of them wanted to continue into the weekend and cut into their time off…..amusing considering that they are a part-time body anyway……again…what did they accomplish?

I would have been more impressed if they had continued….now they just look silly to me.

I mean if wave after wave of gun violence involving deaths cannot bring a sane discussion what part of a sit-in would do it?

Seriously……

Yes We Have An Intifada!

Please take some time and learn about the situation developing in the Palestinian territories…….this is an event that the world would like to ignore….please do not let them win.

The Palestinians have decided enough is enough….after decades of the world ignoring their plight and the media only reporting news after a Jew is attacked or killed…..the people have taken it into their own hands to do something about an uncaring world…….

Intifada in English is translated as uprising, rebellion or resistance…….the Palestinians have had at least 4 in the history of the Palestine-Israel conflict…..

In the past I have tried to keep my readers abreast of the situation and alerted to the possibility of further violence and counter-violence…..but if you need a refresher course…..read my past post……

Source: Remember The “Intifada”? | In Saner Thought

  • In the Israeli-Palestine conflict:
    • First Intifada, a Palestinian uprising against the Israeli occupation lasting from December 1987 to 1993
    • Second Intifada, a period of intensified Israeli-Palestinian violence, which began in late September 2000 and ended around 2005
    • Silent Intifada, a series of violent acts and attacks in Jerusalem in 2014 sometimes referred to as the “Third Intifada”
    • “Al-Quds Intifada” or “Wave of Terror” – 2015 escalation in Israeli-Palestinian conflict, sometimes referred as the “Third Intifada”

Recently the Palestinians have once again decided it is time for some real resistance and stop waiting for a fickle world to do the right thing…..we are having another round of violence….but this time the media and the world seems to be more alert to the situation……

Source: Of Course, It Is an Intifada: This Is What You Must Know by — Antiwar.com

This time around the Palestinian people are doing this on their own……it has not been the master plan of some leader……there was no master plan of what to do and what results were acceptable…..of course the media is running around trying to find the leadership so that they can get some type of scoop…..but there is a problem with this type of thinking…..NO one knows who to contact…..Two weeks into the outbreak of security clashes between Palestinians and settlers in Jerusalem, Palestinian factions have yet to step in and lead the popular uprising.

Source: Who is leading the intifada? – Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East

What I have seen in this edition of an intifada is that the Palestinians are doing things to get the Israelis to overreact…..so far it is working……because of the overreaction the media has become more involved than normal…..unlike past intifadas and even without leaders….the Palestinians are coordinating well…………..

Source: The ‘smartphone intifada’ – Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East

This is a people that have been driven to violence…..below is the face of the conflict that the wold should remember…..a people mistreated into facing tanks with children…..

Time for the world to stand up to Israel and demand that they begin a withdrawal of Palestinian territories……and to end their genocidal tendencies…..

Thanx for caring enough to look at this situation……

Do Not Try This At Home!

In my many years I have protested many things and in many places—I even attempted a street theater protest—–none of which were very effective—-and then there are brave souls that set themselves on fire or stand in the way of a tank……… but this protest I never considered……….then while surfing my many news outlets I came across an article about the ultimate protest tidbit…….

(Newser) – Never let it be said that Pyotr Pavlensky isn’t committed to his work. The 29-year-old Russian artist stripped naked and then nailed his scrotum to the cobblestone of Moscow’s Red Square yesterday afternoon, just outside of the Lenin Mausoleum, the BBC reports. He sat that way for an hour and a half before police took him to the hospital. He faces up to 15 days in jail, on charges including “explicit contempt for society accompanied by swearing in public,” and “humiliation,” according to RT. Pavlensky called the piece “Fixation,” and described it this way:

  • “It’s not a bureaucratic mess that deprives society of its ability to act, but fixation on our own defeats and losses that nails us to the Kremlin’s pavement stronger and stronger, creating an army of apathetic idols out of people.”

Pavlensky is something of a glutton for physical punishment. His previous works have included sewing his lips together in solidarity with Pussy Riot, and wrapping himself in barbed wire outside of Moscow’s parliament.

My first reaction was a grimace and then a loud…OUCH!

Please my friends, if you feel the urge to try your hand at protesting…promise me one thing……DO NOT TRY THIS!

Could Not Happen In Days Gone By

We all are well aware of the knee jerk reactions of those ditterheads on the Right……remember back in the good old days when the Tea Party was having all their protests around the country?  All the “Don’t Tread on Me” rhetoric and flags……(is there a reason that flag has a YELLOW background?) We got a front row seat thanx to the MSM……and we got to see the gun nuts show up with their loaded handguns and assault weapons…….and they were allowed to demonstrate their particular grievance……all the while carrying a loaded weapon…..

All this got me to thinking back in the days when I was a strong radical and protester……I got to thinking what would have happened if anyone of us had showed up with loaded weapons while protesting the war?  Would we have been met as some sort of hero?  Very doubtful!  And yet these same people are protesting the government and threatening to carry out some sort of armed resistance….Is that not what you were worried that us “pinkos” were trying to do?

                

Why would I bring this up today?

(Newser) – There’s a pretty disturbing result in a new Fairleigh Dickinson University poll on gun violence out today: 44% of Republicans say they believe that “in the next few years an armed revolution might be necessary to protect our liberties.” To be fair, Republicans aren’t alone—27% of independents and 18% of Democrats agreed with the statement as well—but the GOP was the only group in which more agreed with the sentiment than didn’t.

The poll raises some “disturbing” questions, writes David Sirota at Salon. Like, how many Republicans “are buying weapons to arm themselves in order to foment an armed revolution? Maybe none, but maybe a lot. I don’t have an answer, but this poll suggests the question should at least be aired.” Second, can democracy even exist “when almost one-half of one of the major parties seems to support the concept of violently thwarting it?” You could argue that these people are only hypothetically supporting a revolution “to protect liberties.” But then, in the “incendiary language” the conservative media uses, “everything in the Democratic/liberal agenda is an assault on ‘liberty.'” Click for the full column.

And now there is a plan for thousands of gun “people” to show up on the Mall in DC on the 4th of July with loaded guns as a protest against the government…..

When is enough enough?

sorry I could resist this image…..

What would these douche bags have said if a Leftist had showed up with a gun?…..would they have accepted the 2nd amendment argument?

These people are making me sick.  They are the sole protectors of so-called “liberty”….a term that few understand or embrace…….it is a con job, one that has been used numerous times in history to do what is unpopular……a dangerous game is being played by the NRA and others and in the end innocents will pay the price……