A Rousing Defense of Untrammeld Free Speech Offered by... Don Lemon

Tucker Carlson notes, correctly, that this is straight-up lying, because Don Lemon and the CNN gang have shown a strong interest in speech policing speech they don't like in the past.

Video at the link, but transcript below. After playing a clip of Don Lemon claiming "No American gets to tell another American how to express their love of this country."

See, by kneeling to protest The Natiaonal Anthem and flag, they're "expressing their love of this country.

Brandon Eich and James Damore say hi! So does the guy who did the silly WWE/Trump meme who CNN kinda threatened to dox if he ever insulted them again.

TUCKER CARLSON: did you hear that? 'No American gets to tell another American how to express their love for this country.' If only that were true. But it is not true, not even close. It is disingenuous nonsense.

The same people lecturing you about free speech would be the very first to call for your job if you dare to stray from the approved script of the acceptable public discourse they so assiduously maintain. They're the word police. they demand control over what you think or say. They could care less about free expression, or individual conscience, much less the First Amendment.

Stop insulting us with this lying. And if you don't believe it, consider what would have happened if the flag had been different. Imagine what would have happened if athletes had been protesting the Mexican flag, which, if anything, is a more potent symbol of inequity and institutional racism than our own.

Imagine player taking a knee in protest as the Mexican anthem played. Would they be lauded as heroes on CNN? Are you kidding?

They'd be denounced as bigots and fired if they persisted.

American elites are more comfortable attacking their own country than others for the simple reason that they love it less. That's the story here. Of course, the president's tweets have been incendiary and ham-handed -- they almost always are.

But how remarkable is it that our ruling class --the most privileged group in human history, whose job it is to run this country-- is willing to dismiss our national symbols as evil and illegitimate. And that is supposed to be so entirely acceptable, good, and unremarkable, that the mere act of criticizing it is a sign of bigotry.

No country can continue with elites this corrupt and stupid. And normal people recognize that.

PJ Media's Morning Brief contains a bunch of stories about the blowback the NFL is getting, several stories down.

Among them:

Anheiser-Busch announced it was disatisfied with the league's handling of domestic violence and other criminal offenses by NFL players. Radisson ended its sponsorship of the Minnesota Vikings.

And the NFL's ratings have been low enough -- not meeting the rating that the networks showing the games promised advertisers -- that the networks have had to pay out "makegoods" to the advertisers, giving them free advertising on other shows or giving them some money back.

Oh, maybe the best part -- DirectTV is now offering to permit subscribers to cancel their previously-ordered NFL package, if they're upset about the flag protests.

So this is a real thing. When you're talking about money, and companies making nice with clients by giving them money back to cancel a service, you're talking about a real thing.

Meanwhile, the jersey-burning protests continue.

Baseball used to be, by far, the most popular sport in America. Sometime during the seventies (I think), the NFL surpassed MLB.

Boxing used to be the only fighting sport that was widely viewed; now the MMA is nipping at its heels. Some might say the MMA has already eclipsed boxing; others think it's just a matter of time, as younger people (more into MMA) replace older people (more into boxing).

Public tastes can shift. They often do.

The NFL has been losing viewers for years over excessive duration of games (and excessively long commercial breaks), rules changes that are just baffling, rules changes to make the sport even more pass-oriented and one-dimensional, etc.

Now they've decided to repudiate several central attractions to the sport -- that it is manly to watch it; that it is an apolitical and escapist and unifying, permitting conservatives and progressives who normally could not speak a word to each other to grin or gripe together about a team's last game; and that it is, as baseball used to claim undisputed title to, as unapologetically American as apple pie -- and see how that works out for them.

I don't think it'll work out well. TV watching is an indulgence, maybe even a vice if indulged excessively, and people do it partly because they justify it as imparting some secondary benefits -- having a shared social vocabulary, feeling united with other fans, feeling that watching football on Sunday is a shared civic ritual celebrating some worthwhile aspects of the American secular religion.

Take away that goodwill, and rely only on the eleven total minutes of actual football action during a four or four and a half hour game -- and, well.

You do you, I guess."

By the way, the last thread has provided some really good suggestions about how to cut the cable cord.

Check it out if you're interested in that topic.

Also do avail yourself of the collective wisdom of the Horde -- there are a lot of cord-cutters present on the site right now, and they're more than happy to answer questions.

On Antennas: Although you can get fairly cheap cable-style signal delivery over the internet with PS Vue, Sling, etc., you might not get local channels, or you might want to not pay for TV at all.

gNewt sends this info:

These sites locate where the broadcast towers in your local are and give advice on what type of antenna is best for your location.

www.antennaweb.org/

https://lifehacker.com
/how-to-choose-the-best-over-the-air
-antenna-for-free-hd-1569752514

http://www.antennasdirect.
com/blog/10-digital-tv-antennas/

posted by Ace at 03:31 PM

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