[Jack_]

Originally Posted by Maru

Business-wise, they're probably doing it to protect their viewing numbers. The NFL has been taking a ratings hit and some suspect it's do with the politicization... it has 0 to do with being Right-wing. Politics has seeped into every TV show, every life performance, etc... some of my favorite shows became heavily politicized and I stopped watching because it took away from the immersion in some cases. It's not that I don't care about politics, I listen and watch to a lot of different forms of political media in my own time, but it's gone way overboard here in the States and is ruining entertainment...

I think the NBA did the same thing. Good call imo... if they want to be an activist for some cause, do it in their own time and not on someone else's dime. It's a little bit different than a player being interviewed and someone asking what their cause(s), opinions are... that I think is OK... but during a live show, it's literally preaching and it's gone quite a bit overboard in the US as far as live entertainment. It's become quite toxic.

The problem is the national anthem is always already political. So too is a flag. Hell, acknowledging the existence of national borders is political. There is no "true" escape from politics because it exists all around us. So really, forcing people to 'respect' a national anthem is a political move in and of itself.

This would be a lot worse if there wasn't an option for players to stay in the dressing room (and hopefully it's done on a mass scale for maximum embarrassment), but it still doesn't sit well with me that in a country that is supposed to be one of the bastions of western democracy, people are being told they can't peacefully protest during a political song.