{"id":9283,"date":"2017-10-24T18:59:29","date_gmt":"2017-10-24T22:59:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wasobamaborninkenya.com\/blog\/?p=9283"},"modified":"2017-10-24T18:59:29","modified_gmt":"2017-10-24T22:59:29","slug":"nfl-anthem-protests-are-not-a-first-amendment-issue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wasobamaborninkenya.com\/blog\/nfl-anthem-protests-are-not-a-first-amendment-issue\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL Anthem Protests Are Not a First Amendment Issue"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Photo: AP Images<\/strong><\/h6>\n

The New American<\/strong>
\nby Steve Byas
\n10\/9\/2017<\/p>\n

Excerpt:<\/strong><\/p>\n

From the print edition of<\/em> The New American<\/h5>\n

Recent comments on CBS\u2019 NFL Today program are illustrative of a common misunderstanding of the purpose of the Bill of Rights, particularly the First Amendment\u2019s protection of free speech. Bill Cowher commented on the decision of the Pittsburgh Steelers to not participate in the National Anthem: \u201cWhether you\u2019re kneeling and whether you are standing it\u2019s an individual right.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Former Dallas Cowboys receiver Michael Irvin added that President Donald Trump was denouncing players who were just \u201cexercising their First Amendment right.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

It is true that freedom of speech is protected in the First Amendment, but that protection is from the government. The First Amendment states clearly that Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech. Most of the reactions to Trump\u2019s remarks (that owners should fire players who refuse to participate in the Anthem) miss the point that an owner of an NFL team would be perfectly within his rights to remove a player from the field, and ultimately dismiss him from their team.<\/em><\/p>\n

The reality is that individuals are fired every day in America for their political or social views. Brendan Eich, the CEO of Mozilla, was forced out because he had donated money to the referendum in California (Proposition Eight) that had placed into the state\u2019s constitution that marriage is between one man and one woman.<\/em><\/p>\n

People on the Left tended to support that firing, arguing that the expression of such views can hurt the public image of the company.<\/em><\/p>\n

But when it comes to dismissing players for refusal to stand during the National Anthem, many of these same individuals argue that this cannot be done because it would somehow be a violation of their free speech rights, protected by the First Amendment.<\/em><\/p>\n

…………………………………………….<\/p>\n

View the complete article including comments at:<\/strong><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.thenewamerican.com\/print-magazine\/item\/27086-nfl-anthem-protests-are-not-a-first-amendment-issue<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Photo: AP Images The New American by Steve Byas 10\/9\/2017 Excerpt: From the print edition of The New American Recent comments on CBS\u2019 NFL Today program are illustrative of a common misunderstanding of the purpose of the Bill of Rights, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9283","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wasobamaborninkenya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9283","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wasobamaborninkenya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wasobamaborninkenya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wasobamaborninkenya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wasobamaborninkenya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9283"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.wasobamaborninkenya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9283\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9285,"href":"https:\/\/www.wasobamaborninkenya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9283\/revisions\/9285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wasobamaborninkenya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wasobamaborninkenya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wasobamaborninkenya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}