Nike pulls Betsy Ross flag shoes for 4th of July

[Fartsniffage]

Well that's just fucking stupid innit

and, of course, it's from the man who's a mediocre at best football player but very skilled fit-thrower

Acckkkkshually , Kaep has made his stance against the American flag quite clear, which is why we have this broohaha in the first place.

IIRC didn't he bitch about the national anthem too?

Hopefully you can answer this for me as no one else ever has. Kaep took a knee while the anthem was played and as far as I know that's a gesture of respect NFL players give to another player that's injured. He did it because he thought the US is a bit broken right now. How is that such a bad thing? It seems to be an incredibly respectful gesture of protest.

[Rojava Free State]

Somehow, Kaepernick’s the SJW, despite the governor being the one throwing a tantrum.

They both can be snowflakes. They governor is a snowflake for preventing the creation of thousands of new jobs in his state over this controversy and kap is a snowflake for looking at a flag no one else finds offensive and saying "oh yeah that's totally racist and anyone who flies it is literally evil."

[Vassenor]

Somehow, Kaepernick’s the SJW, despite the governor being the one throwing a tantrum.

They both can be snowflakes. They governor is a snowflake for preventing the creation of thousands of new jobs in his state over this controversy and kap is a snowflake for looking at a flag no one else finds offensive and saying "oh yeah that's totally racist and anyone who flies it is literally evil."

#butbothsides

[Nova Cyberia]

Well that's just fucking stupid innit

and, of course, it's from the man who's a mediocre at best football player but very skilled fit-thrower


IIRC didn't he bitch about the national anthem too?

Hopefully you can answer this for me as no one else ever has. Kaep took a knee while the anthem was played and as far as I know that's a gesture of respect NFL players give to another player that's injured. He did it because he thought the US is a bit broken right now. How is that such a bad thing? It seems to be an incredibly respectful gesture of protest.

Well, he also wore socks depicting cops as pigs, so he was quite obviously trying to be provocative.

[The Two Jerseys]

Well that's just fucking stupid innit

and, of course, it's from the man who's a mediocre at best football player but very skilled fit-thrower

Acckkkkshually , Kaep has made his stance against the American flag quite clear, which is why we have this broohaha in the first place.

IIRC didn't he bitch about the national anthem too?

I swear to God, if someone says anything negative about the "hireling and slave" lyric I'm gonna fucking scream...

[Nova Cyberia]

They both can be snowflakes. They governor is a snowflake for preventing the creation of thousands of new jobs in his state over this controversy and kap is a snowflake for looking at a flag no one else finds offensive and saying "oh yeah that's totally racist and anyone who flies it is literally evil."

#butbothsides

You're right. One side is worse.

At least the governor actually respects America.

[United States of Natan]

I'm a progressive, but even I think this is going a little too far. The fact it was used during the era of slavery (in fact, all new flags up until the admission of WV were) doesn't mean the flag actually has anything to with slavery. It only represents the # of states at the time, as well as the 13 colonies. I mean, GB/UK also had slavery at the time their current flag was adopted, as did numerous other countries. Should their flags be abolished? The U.S. flag is basically the same now as it was back then, just with a different # of stars and a different pattern in which they're arranged. Should it be abolished? Just because something existed during an era of racism, doesn't mean that it represents racism itself. I mean, dozens of states were admitted on the principle of "one free state, one slave state". Does that mean all the states admitted between 1800 and 1861 should be abolished and reorganized, simply because they were the product of the institution of slavery? I am a progressive, but it's "issues" like these that demonstrate that the problem in this country is the far left AND the far right. Extremism, no matter what side it's from, is never healthy for any country. Far leftism is NOT progressivism, it's regressivism, not much different from far rightism. The far right may be a lot more violent, but it doesn't absolve the far left of their own massive issues (which INCLUDES bigotry).

I agree with you too as a fellow progressive. This shit needs to stop. They need to stop wasting their time getting outraged over nothing and focus on more important things.

Exactly right. The extremists spend far too much time getting outraged and trying to piss the other extremists off in order to score political points, but in the end, nobody wins. The far left could be focused on achieving progressive policies, but instead, on top of proposing unrealistic, unviable policies just for attention and talking points, they waste their time getting outraged at the far right instead of ignoring them. The far left wants media attention, not progress.

Also, another issue with the far left: they let the far right control the narrative. If the far right says ANYTHING, they must immediately jump up and proclaim to be the antithesis of that thing. The far right loves the 13-star flag? "It must be a hate symbol!". The far right does this too, of course, but they're unfortunately a lot better at controlling the narrative.

I'm a realist progressive. I want a government that focuses on achieving progressive policies in the most pragmatic, fiscally viable way while still helping as many people as possible, not one that wastes time getting outraged over who's using an old version of the U.S. flag.

[The Two Jerseys]

#butbothsides

You're right. One side is worse.

At least the governor actually respects America.

I'm confused, I thought that Vass thinks that governors unilaterally exercising their power to put people out of work is a good thing...

[United States of Natan]

#butbothsides

You're right. One side is worse.

At least the governor actually respects America.

I disagree. The governor supports a President widely viewed as a bigot, who had a large degree of support from bigots, and who's party tolerates the president's actions and comments which are widely viewed as being bigoted. Both extremes are certainly bad, and one is certainly worse, but it's not the far left.

[Nova Cyberia]

You're right. One side is worse.

At least the governor actually respects America.

I'm confused, I thought that Vass thinks that governors unilaterally exercising their power to put people out of work is a good thing...

Only when it's a multi-billion dollar company like Nike is it a bad thing.

Because, ya know, leftists really hate giant corporations, right?

[Paddy O Fernature]

You're right. One side is worse.

At least the governor actually respects America.

I disagree. The governor supports a racist, bigoted President and a party who's base is bigots that murder people because of their identity, and run over people who protest against nazis. Both extremes are certainly bad, and one is certainly worse, but it's not the far left.

My, what a lovely wide brush you are using here to paint that canvas.

[Nova Cyberia]

I disagree. The governor supports a racist, bigoted President and a party who's base is bigots that murder people because of their identity, and run over people who protest against nazis. Both extremes are certainly bad, and one is certainly worse, but it's not the far left.

My, what a lovely wide brush you are using here to paint that canvas.

Look at his sig: "Anti-bigotry"

Anti-bigotry except when it's Republicans.

[Paddy O Fernature]

My, what a lovely wide brush you are using here to paint that canvas.

Look at his sig: "Anti-bigotry"

Anti-bigotry except when it's Republicans.

Oh my....

[Vassenor]

#butbothsides

You're right. One side is worse.

At least the governor actually respects America.

Throwing a tantrum because someone said a thing is respecting America?

[Chestaan]

Full title: Nike pulls Betsy Ross flag shoes for 4th of July after Kaepernick complains, social media battle ensues, Nike loses deal with the state of Arizona, Twitter lights itself on fire, etc, etc, yadda yadda yadda.

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-48840608



TL;DR: So here's the scoop. Nike was going to release some shoes for Independence Day with the 13-star colonial American flag, yknow, the Betsy Ross one. Apparently (and I didn't know this until today), this flag is also used by white nationalists? So Colin Kaepernick complained. Nike pulled the shoe in response, which made a lot of people angry- I'm going to guess mostly conservatives- and a lot of people happy- mostly liberals. Ted Cruz is boycotting Nike. So is the Governor of Arizona. In other news, Vans salesmen are reported to be rubbing their hands together with glee.

What do you think? Personally, it's kind of just... sad. I'm not angry, but then again, I wear nothing but Converse anyway. While I usually agree with Kaepernick vis a vis the flag protests and his social activism, I have to go with some of the conservatives on this one. It's getting to the point where historical revisionism is trumping common sensibilities. Whether or not the Betsy Ross story is true (just like Washington and the Cherry Tree), the thirteen star flag is something very special to a country that looks to its past for inspiration. When activists start to say that the use of the flag is unacceptable because of its association with a time when slavery existed, it begins to set a precedent of writing off the first ninety years of the country's history. And that's what I'm seeing now. I always try to give due consideration to these issues- is my perspective different because I'm white? Sure. And I've found myself initially disagreeing with a lot of progressive backlashes and later coming around to see the point. But the more this goes on, the more I start to feel like society is just giving up on preserving things that radical minorities have tried to appropriate. The Betsy Ross flag has immense symbolism in it that represents the American fight for freedom against the tyranny of the British crown. And we should be taking in everything from that- the goods and the bads, the democracy and the disenfranchisement. I'm not a fan of slippery slope arguments, but this one seems to be fulfilling itself.

Anyway, discuss.

Trust me, this WILL lead to the slow death of Nike. Eventually, all companies spreading SJW propaganda WILL go out of business: it's just a matter of time. I call this the "Go Woke Go Broke" theory. The more SJW a company is, the less successful they'll be. It also works the opposite way, as the less SJW a company is, the more successful they'll be in the long run.

Companies do not give one fuck about being sjw or not. All they care about is profits and the reason they are acting "sjw" is because their market research has indicated that it is profitable to do so. It's the same thing with the rainbow flag. None of these forms genuinely care about LGBT people one way or the other, it's just basically riskless to.fly the flag and leads to people supporting the company and buying their product more.

[The Two Jerseys]

I'm confused, I thought that Vass thinks that governors unilaterally exercising their power to put people out of work is a good thing...

Only when it's a multi-billion dollar company like Nike is it a bad thing.

Because, ya know, leftists really hate giant corporations, right?

Doesn't Nike also run sweatshops, where working conditions are like those in migrant detention camps?

[Nova Cyberia]

You're right. One side is worse.

At least the governor actually respects America.

Throwing a tantrum because someone said a thing is respecting America?

Criticizing a company for disrespecting the country is definitely respecting America, yes.

[Nova Cyberia]

Only when it's a multi-billion dollar company like Nike is it a bad thing.

Because, ya know, leftists really hate giant corporations, right?

Doesn't Nike also run sweatshops, where working conditions are like those in migrant detention camps?

Yep. They use Chinese child laborers to manufacture their shit.

But they hired Kaepernick so Nike good.

[Vassenor]

]

Throwing a tantrum because someone said a thing is respecting America?

Criticizing a company for disrespecting the country is definitely respecting America, yes.

So what is the disrespect in deciding not to put a flag on things in a pointless attempt to monetise nationalism?

[Saphria]

If you think the Betsy Ross flag is racist we should probably just ban public display of everything that existed while slavery existed...

[Nova Cyberia]

]

Criticizing a company for disrespecting the country is definitely respecting America, yes.

So what is the disrespect in deciding not to put a flag on things in a pointless attempt to monetise nationalism?

Because they caved to pressure from morons like Kaepernick who say the flag represents slavery.

The flag of the Thirteen Colonies, the symbol of the American Revolution and everything that makes us quintessentially American, is now apparently a symbol of slavery.

And by the way, do you think they were monetizing social justice when they hired Kaepernick?

[The Two Jerseys]

If you think the Betsy Ross flag is racist we should probably just ban public display of everything that existed while slavery existed...

Don't give them any ideas.

[Proctopeo]

Well that's just fucking stupid innit

and, of course, it's from the man who's a mediocre at best football player but very skilled fit-thrower


IIRC didn't he bitch about the national anthem too?

Hopefully you can answer this for me as no one else ever has. Kaep took a knee while the anthem was played and as far as I know that's a gesture of respect NFL players give to another player that's injured. He did it because he thought the US is a bit broken right now. How is that such a bad thing? It seems to be an incredibly respectful gesture of protest.

From what I remember, his reasoning was dumber, more self-serving, and more controversial than "the US is a bit broken".

I do remember, though, that the whole situation really kicked off once he was, well, kicked off of his team, as the cost of his controversial nature started to outweigh his limited benefits.

[Paddy O Fernature]

If you think the Betsy Ross flag is racist we should probably just ban public display of everything that existed while slavery existed...

Don't give them any ideas.

Seriously...

[Vassenor]

]

So what is the disrespect in deciding not to put a flag on things in a pointless attempt to monetise nationalism?

Because they caved to pressure from morons like Kaepernick who say the flag represents slavery.

The flag of the 13th Colonies, the symbol of the American Revolution and everything that makes us quintessentially American, is now apparently a symbol of slavery.

And by the way, do you think they were monetizing social justice when they hired Kaepernick?

Are you going to just resort to meaningless buzzwords like this every time you're challenged?