The Politicization of Everything

[mountaineer]

The Politicization of Everything
Everybody loses in the Trump-NFL brawl over the national anthem.
Wall St. Journal Editorial Board - EXCERPTED
Sept. 24, 2017

Healthy democracies have ample room for politics but leave a larger space for civil society and culture that unites more than divides. With the politicization of the National Football League and the national anthem, the Divided States of America are exhibiting a very unhealthy level of polarization and mistrust.

The progressive forces of identity politics started this poisoning of America’s favorite spectator sport last year by making a hero of Colin Kaepernick for refusing to stand for “The Star-Spangled Banner” before games. They raised the stakes this year by turning him into a progressive martyr because no team had picked him up to play quarterback after he opted out of his contract with the San Francisco 49ers.

The NFL is a meritocracy, and maybe coaches and general managers thought he wasn’t good enough for the divisions he might cause in a locker room or among fans. But the left said it was all about race and class. ...

American democracy was healthier when politics at the ballpark was limited to fans booing politicians who threw out the first ball—almost as a bipartisan obligation. This showed a healthy skepticism toward the political class. But now the players want to be politicians and use their fame to lecture other Americans, the parsons of the press corps want to make them moral spokesmen, and the President wants to run against the players.

The losers are the millions of Americans who would rather cheer for their teams on Sunday as a respite from work and the other divisions of American life.

Read the entire editorial at Wall St. Journal.

[mountaineer]

Perhaps we never should have started playing the national anthem before sporting events. It's not just the NFL, and not just professional sports.

I regularly attend meetings of local town councils, school board, county commission, etc., and they all start with the pledge of allegiance (some even begin with prayer). Does it even mean anything to anyone, or is it just something to race through, e.g., "an' for the republic forwhichitstands..."?

How long before someone raises a stink about that, too?