Cenk Uygur
@TheYoungTurks·6.5M subscribers·72.8K videos
How The Pentagon Paid For NFL's Patriotism
Posted
September 26, 2017
Views
78,266
Likes
2,650
Comments
406
Engagement
3.90%
September 26, 2017
78,266
2,650
406
3.90%
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4:48Now PlayingThink NFL players always stood for the National Anthem? Think again. Cenk Uygur, the host of The Young Turks, tells you the real history. Tell us what you think in the comment section below.
“I interrupt this bitchfest over how unpatriotic those ungrateful NFL players are to bring you the national anthem story you should actually be outraged over. The American government pays the NFL to tell its players to stand during the national anthem. That’s right.
It turns out that from 2011-2014, the Department of Defense spent $5.4 million in contracts with 14 NFL teams for flag ceremonies. The National Guard got in on the action too, and gave $6.7 million to the NFL for the same kind of thing from 2013 to 2015.
For those of you whose heads are beginning to spin, let me lay this all out legally. The First Amendment prohibits any government entity from forcing an individual to say anything. That’s the basic concept of freedom of speech. In a related story, forcing people to salute a flag or swear an oath of loyalty to the government is pronounced, “tyranny.” However, private organizations, including employers (like the NFL) can require employees to say or not say whatever they choose, so long as that speech doesn’t offend some other law. The NFL is well within its rights to require, as a term of employment, that every player sing the national anthem, stand during its playing, or salute the flag; it’s basically the same rule that allows T.G.I.Fridays to require its servers to ask, “is this your first time dining with us today?” when you sit down to order wings. If employees don’t do what’s expected, they’ve breached their contracts. It’s that simple. It’s also not a First Amendment issue, because again, private employers are not government guarantors of Constitutional rights. Of course, the First Amendment implications become murkier when you throw in interference from POTUS, but that’s a whole ‘nother topic.”
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Hosts: Cenk Uygur
Cast: Cenk Uygur
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Young Turk (n), 1. Young progressive or insurgent member of an institution, movement, or political party. 2. A young person who rebels against authority or societal expectations.(American Heritage Dictionary)
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