Videos of the senior’s performance are racking up hundreds of thousands of views on Facebook and YouTube.
“I’m an American, and I’m proud of my country,” he said on Saturday.
Dean added that once he graduates from high school, he’ll be hitting the road and performing. “We’ve got some things in the pocket that have been working that I can’t really talk about,” he said.
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Better than Drudge Report. Check out Whatfinger News, the Internet’s conservative frontpage founded by ex-military!
As if I needed another reason to despise the NFL.
From Fox News (by Todd Starnes): The National Football League has rejected a Super Bowl advertisement from American Veterans urging people to stand for the national anthem. The nation’s largest veterans service organization had been invited by the NFL to place an ad in the Super Bowl LII program. AMVET’s advertisement included a two-word message – “#PleaseStand.” “It’s a simple, polite request that represents the sentiment of our membership, particularly those whose missing or paralyzed limbs preclude standing,” wrote National Commander Marion Polk in a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.
American Veterans accused the NFL of outright censorship by rejecting the advertisement.
NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy defended the league’s decision to ban the American Veterans’ advertisement noting that the game day program “is designed for fans to commemorate and celebrate the game, players, teams and the Super Bowl.” “It’s never been a place for advertising that could be considered by some as a political statement,”McCarthy told Army Times.
So, the NFL believes that politely asking people to stand for the Star-Spangled Banner is akin to making a political statement?
The NFL has been rocked by national anthem protests throughout the season — leading to a massive decline in television viewership and game day attendance. Still, the NFL and most team owners refused to order players to stand for the national anthem.
Instead, the commissioner and many owners shamefully turned a blind eye as football players took a knee and disrespected not only the flag, but the brave men and women defending our freedom. Perhaps the Goodell was concerned that a “political statement” in the game day program might take away from the “political statements” being made on the football field when players take a knee.
“Freedom of speech works both ways. We respect the rights of those who choose to protest, as these rights are precisely what our members have fought – and in many cases died – for,” Polk wrote. “But imposing corporate censorship to deny that same right to those veterans who have secured it for us all is reprehensible and totally beyond the pale.” McCarthy told Army Times they gave American Veterans the option of changing their proposed advertisement to read, “Please Stand for our Veterans.” But the NFL said they never heard back from the group.
It’s becoming increasingly clear that the NFL’s disdain for American patriotism is not just isolated to the gridiron. It’s apparently infested the front office.
“Veterans are good for more than just military aircraft flyovers, photo opportunities during halftime, or props to sell camouflage-style NFL apparel; although, the NFL’s stance on not allowing the veterans’ unfiltered voice to be heard says otherwise,” Polk wrote to Goodell.
I wholeheartedly concur and might I suggest that freedom-loving Americans stand up to the National Football League by turning off the Super Bowl.
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Rather Annoying Communist Inspired Silencing Tactic.
From Philly.com: A gun range in Camden County is resisting calls to take down two billboards that activists say aggravate racial tensions and mock NFL players who take a knee during the national anthem. “It has absolutely nothing to do with race,” said Wesley Aducat, owner of the South Jersey Shooting Club in Winslow Township, which put up one of the billboards several weeks ago near Route 73 in Voorhees Township. The second appears on a digital sign near Routes 73 and 130 in Pennsauken. “It’s just support for our veterans.”
The signs say: “The only time we take a knee…” and show the silhouette of a person shooting a rifle, with the website of the club at the bottom. Aducat said he supports the right to protest but doesn’t agree with kneeling during the anthem, particularly since many of the club’s members are veterans. He said he has no plans to remove the billboards.
That has upset the NAACP’s Camden County East chapter. It says the signs twist the message of kneeling, which is meant to bring attention to systemic racism and police brutality against people of color.
“We’re talking about police murdering unarmed black people,” NAACP member Keith Benson Sr. said. He called the signs racially divisive and has encouraged people to call the club to complain. “They deserve all the disrespect they’re going to get as a result of putting it up. But they probably thought they were clever. They probably thought they were strong, patriotic Americans.”
South Jersey Women for Progressive Change, a group that formed after the 2016 presidential election to empower women, has also told its members to call the club. Susan Druckenbrod, one of the group’s members, said she recently talked to an employee: “I told them the billboard was offensive, and he said, ‘That’s nice,’ and he hung up.”
Druckenbrod had one word for the billboards: “Racist.”
“We’re living in a very difficult time right now. People are trying to stand up for black and brown people to say, ‘Hey this is not right,’” she said. “That sign really is just mocking the idea of taking a knee.”
The shooting club, which says it is affiliated with the National Rifle Association and requires members to join the NRA, operates along Piney Hollow Road in Winslow, just off the Atlantic City Expressway. (Carmen Console, the club’s membership director, said he had nothing to do with the billboards, despite being named in social media posts as the person to call).
On the club’s Facebook page, people left comments both supporting (“Love the sign on 73!”) and criticizing the signs. One woman wrote, “I’m sure there’s a way to advertise responsible common sense firearm training and use that’s not offensive.”
Read the rest of the story here.
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After all the damage that has been done to the NFL under his leadership, Goodell has the nerve to ask for this (if true). Wow.
From Fox News: NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell reportedly has requested nearly $50 million per year in addition to the lifetime use of a private jet amid contract negotiations with the league.
Goodell, whose proposed contract with the NFL currently is undergoing an approval process, asked the league’s compensation committee in August to raise his salary from $30 million to $49.5 million per year, ESPN reported Sunday. Goodell also reportedly asked to use a private jet for life, and also requested lifetime health insurance for his family.
The commissioner currently is embattled with Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who has threatened to sue the NFL if negotiations regarding Goodell’s contract extension are finalized without approval from all NFL team owners. An unnamed NFL owner told ESPN that there are “several owners in this league who don’t make $40 million a year.” The owner added: “That number for Roger just seems too much. It’s offensive. It’s unseemly.”
Goodell has made headlines in recent months for his handling of league players protesting during the national anthem ahead of NFL games. He said last month that “we want our players to stand” during the anthem, but stopped short of imposing a rule for players to do so.
One team owner, regarding the possibility Goodell possibly would leave his position, said “the problem” with the NFL is “no one is talking about games anymore.”
“It’s about concussions, Jones vs. Goodell, [Ezekiel Elliott’s suspension], the anthem. No one is talking about football. It’s just killing the game,” the owner told ESPN.
Another owner told the sports network that “Roger is defiant,” and they don’t believe he’ll “take a pay cut” or resign as commissioner of the NFL.
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That’s how we roll in Oklahoma!
From KOCO (Norman, OK): A local radio station held a free car wash for veterans in Norman amid a nationwide debate over NFL players kneeling during the national anthem.
The online rock station owner said several people attended Saturday’s car wash, as the event was busy for the full three hours.
“We met some great people, heard some wonderful stories from the veterans and their spouses,” Blake Wolney, owner of Bladerunner Radio, said in an email. Wolney said the idea of this kind of car wash sparked when people at the radio station wanted to replicate another social media trend to help people in need.
“We started off with the idea of doing an ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, and we thought we’ll take a bunch of NFL gear and destroy it and start it on fire and burn and donate money to veterans, like they do with ALS,” Wolney said Friday. “And then we thought, you know, there’s so much negativity and animosity the way it is.”
The radio station used the NFL jerseys and merchandise to wash the cars instead of burning them. “It’s not so much a political statement as it is just an opportunity to exercise our rights and show our American veterans some respect,” Wolney said.
h/t Breitbart
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Seahawks player Bennett (l) and his buddy the cop-hater Kaepernick.
They aren’t getting a dime from me. Donate some of that millions of dollars the “oppressed” players make.
From MyNorthwest.com: Amid a national conversation about NFL protests during the national anthem, the Seahawks have created a charity to “help build a more compassionate and inclusive society.”
An announcement Friday states: In an effort to create lasting change and build a more compassionate and inclusive society, we are launching the Seahawks Players Equality & Justice for All Action Fund to support education and leadership programs addressing equality and justice. We invite you to join us in donating and taking action. The announcement is short on specifics of exactly how the fund will contribute to “education and leadership programs addressing equality and justice.” The effort, however, is a component fund of the Seattle Foundation, which supports philanthropic remedies to disparities between rich and poor.
To get the fund going, the Seahawks are reaching out to 12s and all football fans to donate in a crowdfunding-style campaign. Fans can give once or set up a monthly donation. Donations can be made here.
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Keep it up libtards. You are well on your way to getting Trump re-elected.
From American Military News: A photo that has gone viral while circulating among the online military community shows a man at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery, kneeling down on one knee reportedly during the playing of taps, and is sweeping across America, outraging thousands.
“Taps” is a bugle call played at dusk, during flag ceremonies, and at military funerals by the United States armed forces and is regularly played at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Not standing for Taps is incredibly disrespectful.
The picture is sparking intense outrage on social media. It is unclear exactly why the man seen in the photo is kneeling during taps while everyone else is standing, but most people online are assuming it is in protest.
If that is the case, it follows in the footsteps of NFL players’ protests – close to 200 NFL players and coaches took a knee during the U.S. national anthem on Sunday. The protests were started by football player Colin Kaepernick last year to protest what he believes to be problems in America, namely police brutality and black inequality. Kaepernick was not signed by a professional football team this year. Protocol at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is that you stand, and many times the Soldiers who guard the Tomb will directly address people who are not standing and demand they stand.
“Someone actually had the nerve to [take a knee] at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. That is the definition of absolute trash,” one Twitter user posted.
“I support everyone’s right to free speech, but I feel in in the shadow of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier it is inappropriate,” Zachary Bell tweeted.
The photo is captioned: “This photo was taken by my daughter yesterday at the tomb of the unknown soldier while they were playing TAPS. Words cannot express my anger right now.
The picture shows everyone there standing, virtually all with their hands over their hearts, except for the one man, who is seen clearly taking a knee.
The picture has appeared on Reddit, Facebook, 4chan and elsewhere.
Attempts to gather more details about how long the man kneeled, if he made any other signs, and other details have not turned up anything.
Read the rest of the story here.
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Bennett (l) and his buddy Kaepernick. Turning the NFL into full-time social justice activism.
If the NFL goes full SJW for BLM, kiss the league goodbye.
From MyNorthwest.com: Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett is one of four NFL players that have sent a letter to the NFL requesting support from the league, general managers and owners for community outreach and social justice efforts on the part of its players. The players have also requested that the NFL recognize November as activism awareness month.
“We always have different months (when) we recognize different people or different issues in America, and we felt like that was a big issue,” Bennett told reporters Wednesday when explaining the idea. “We wanted to find a way to recognize it and be able to have that conversation (where) people can find information about things they want to get involved with.”
The 10-page memo, obtained by Yahoo! Sports’ Charles Robinson was reportedly sent to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in August by Bennett, Philadelphia Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins and wide receiver Torrey Smith, and former NFL wide receiver Anquan Bolden. The players requested the following of the league: “To be clear, we are asking for your support. We appreciate your acknowledgment on the call regarding the clear distinction between support and permission. For us, support means: bear all or part of the weight of; hold up; give assistance to, especially financially; enable to function or act. We need support, collaboration and partnerships to achieve our goal of strengthening the community. There are a variety of ways for you to get involved. Similar to the model we have in place for players to get involved, there are three tiers of engagement based on your comfort level.”
Bennett has been an advocate for social justice issues and routinely speaks out about police brutality, racism, and inequality. This season, Bennett has chosen to sit for the national anthem, telling reporters the gesture is an effort to use his platform to oppose segregation and oppression. Several teammates, including center Justin Britt, defensive ends Cliff Avril and Frank Clark, running back Thomas Rawls, and cornerback Jeremy Lane, have shown public support for Bennett during his silent protest.
“I don’t know what the chances are (that the league accepts our proposal),” Bennett said. “Hopefully, the chances are 100 percent, but we’ll see. It takes a lot for a business or organization to get behind certain issues, and we’re hoping to keep pushing it to see if we can ever get to that place where we can be comfortable with talking about the issues that are going on around the country.”
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I’ve told you about this NFL player before. He’s writing a book entitled, Things That Make White People Uncomfortable (due out next year) and he won’t stand for the national anthem until he “feels like everything is equal.”
This past Wednesday he went public with an incident he had with the Las Vegas Police Department in August. We know there are two sides to every story yet it’s quite interesting that Mr. Bennett omitted a couple important details from his story. Read on…
From MyNorthwest.com: Michael Bennett addressed reporters Wednesday afternoon, hours after he posted an open letter to Twitter detailing a disturbing encounter with Las Vegas police during which he was forcefully held to the ground and handcuffed by an officer. (From Bennett’s Twitter post: ““A police officer ordered me to get on the ground,” Bennett wrote. “As I laid on the ground, complying with his commands to not move, he placed his gun near my head and warned me that if I moved he would ‘blow my (expletive) head off’.”) “A lot of people of color have dealt with this before,” Bennett said. “And I hate that it happened to me, but I’m lucky to be in the situation to have the platform to continuously speak on injustice.”
Bennett said he told his family, teammates and head coach Pete Carroll about the incident after it happened in late August. After seeking advice about how to handle it, Bennett ultimately decided to make a public statement. “There’s a lot of people who experience what I experienced in that moment,” Bennett said. “And they’re not here to tell their story.
“It’s an emotional moment for me. I know a lot of people are like, ‘Oh, did he want this on himself?’ I didn’t ask for this moment. It just happened to be me… any moment, I could have made the wrong decision. Whether move or (make the officer feel) like I was resisting or doing something wrong, and (the Seahawks) would be wearing… the patch with the No. 72 on it.”
A clearly emotional Bennett stood at the podium at Seahawks headquarters in Renton and fielded questions for nearly seven minutes before pausing during a question about his family. The question was about a statement he made last year about being a black man in America – how even great accomplishments or fame cannot protect or make people of color immune from racism, racial profiling or police brutality.
“I try to tell my daughters every single day that they matter, and that…” Bennett said, before quietly walking out of the auditorium.
Cornerback Richard Sherman, who spoke to reporters shortly after Bennett’s exit, said Bennett’s own encounter is evidence in itself for the causes Bennett publicly supports — including his controversial decision to sit during the national anthem.
“Mike is literally sitting, taking a stand, doing everything he can to combat the same thing that he experienced,” Sherman said.
“And people are so worried about him sitting down during the national anthem that they completely miss that message a lot of the time. They want to be more angry at the action than the message. And that’s an unfortunate part of the world we live in nowadays. I wish that people would take it for what it is and make a difference.”
And what exactly did the Las Vegas Police Department have to stay about the incident that occurred in late August? From USA Today: Las Vegas police said that there is no evidence to Seattle Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett’s accusation that he was racially profiled by the department during an incident outside a casino.
Las Vegas Police Department undersheriff Kevin McMahill held a news conference Wednesday to respond to Bennett’s allegations, which he revealed earlier in the day.
“Many of the folks today have called this a incident of bias-based policing, police officers focusing solely on the race of an individual that they’re going to stop,” McMahill said. “I can tell you as I stand here today, I see no evidence of that. I see no evidence that race played any role in this incident.”
The officer who apprehended Bennett didn’t have his body camera on and it was not immediately clear why, McMahil lsaid. He added there are 126 videos from the officers that will be reviewed, and if those reveal that “any policies or training was violated, those officers will be held accountable.” In a social media post, Bennett claimed he was singled out for “simply being a black man.” He added that “the officers’ excessive use of force was unbearable.” Officers responded to reports of a possible active shooter in the casino around 1:30 on Aug. 27 after the Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor fight. While searching for an active shooter, an officer noticed Bennett crouched near a gaming machine. Two officers gave chase when the individual (later identified as Bennett) ran out of the casino and onto the strip. Both officers were armed with handguns, and the arresting officer did not turn on his body camera. “You hear the officer approaching the door saying, ‘There he is.’ He gives chase, Mr. Bennett jumped over the wall, our officer jumped went over the wall immediately there after,” McMahill said. He said Bennett was detained for 10 minutes and released. Bennett said he was not given “any justification” for his apprehension.
So Mr. Bennett is “crouching” during an active shooter situation? Understandable if he knew what was occurring. But if he didn’t know it might be an active shooter situation, then why is he crouching behind a gaming machine?
Even if Bennett didn’t know of the active shooter situation, why would he choose to run from a police officer? Guess it’s just one of those things that might make us white people uncomfortable.
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NY Daily News: Not even hip surgery could keep Lady Gaga away from performing at New York’s Gay Pride Parade Kick Off Rally.
In her first public appearance since she was forced to cancel her tour due to injury, the “Born This Way” singer, 27, joined throngs of fans to celebrate the start of pride weekend.
The diva, known for her vocal support of the LGBT community, gave a stirring speech about how much the support of her gay fans has meant to her.
“When I was in high school and grade school and younger, I was considered to be an outcast and I just couldn’t find my place,” she said. “Where did I fit in? And I look back on that time and I remember feeling that I was cut from a different mold. ”
“There was a particular crowd who did accept me,” she continued. “There was a particular crowd who made room for me at their table, who held me up when I felt I couldn’t, who loved me for exactly who I was. It was you. ”
“You saved me, my friends in the LGBT community, time and time again. And I saw God for the first real time in all of you.”
The New York native, born Stefani Germanotta, praised the last week’s Supreme Court ruling overturning the Defense of Marriage Act and slammed recent homophobia-spurred attacks in the city. “The violence that has taken place towards LGBTs in the past moths is unacceptable here and anywhere,” the singer announced.
“We are not a niche. We are a part, a big giant part of humanity,” Gaga said. “It’s time for us to be mainstream. I demand the rights! To safe streets!”
Gaga closed her appearance with a version of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” substituting a lyric to commemorate the ocassion: “Oh say does that star-spangled flag of pride yet wave.”
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