More Biased Bbc Reporting

[Khandro]

Donald Trump says that sportsmen who make public personal protests during the playing of the American national anthem should be fired. For the BBC, the news isn't the protest, or even that Trump retaliated, no, the news is spun in such a way that it is that his patriotic statements have been 'condemned by various sportsmen'. Or have I got it all wrong?
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41376317

[-Talbot-]

apparently*

[jackthehat]

Goodness only knows what DJT, jnr would have made of that, jno. :o)

[Khandro]

jno; // but the response was a stampede for the exits when the first note sounded. //

I don't know to where you refer or at which period, but I can assure you that at the ABC Forum Cinema, Northenden (it's a suburb of Manchester) circa 1945 -55 when the anthem was played everyone stood and nobody left until it finished.

Regarding the OP, it is clear from the responses that if like the BBC, you are anti-Trump, you see nothing wrong but if you are pro or impartial, you see that he is right.
When I lived in the USA, - some time ago now - the flag and anthem were highly revered, school children paid homage to them every morning - I don't know if they still do, but it hangs outside every public building and is nowadays worn on the lapels of everyone commemorating 9/11.
You may have to be an American to understand what it means.

[youngmafbog]

I think that is the problem Khandro, many commenters on here dont understand the way the US revere their National Anthem.

In the US I think DT will make many friends with his stance. Trying to argue he should be concentrating on hurricanes instead is laughable. That would only be the case if he was ignoring the other topics, but he is not.

[ToraToraTora]

the problem is YMB that the British right on lefty brigade automatically hate their own country so they cannot comprehend how anyone can be any different from them. The US no doubt has it's equivalent but they are much rarer than here.

[youngmafbog]

True, even most of their ardent Lefties still love America.

I think the 'sportspersons' may live to regret this. Mind yu the bloke interviewed on Sky News didnt seem to be carrying a full load.

[Spicerack]

It's a protest against racism in the US.
Average pay in the NFL- $1.9m
70% of NFL players are black.
Hey-ho.

[Spicerack]

The head of Ofcom says the BBC lack diversity of thought.

[andres]

Khandro is right .At the end of the cinema performance in the 40s/50s everyone would stand for the National Anthem. No-one even sat down . At least that's what used to happen in our local picture places.It was probably the late 60s when they stopped doing it because so many people started making for the exit as soon as 'The End ' came up on the screen.

[jno]

Andres, another factor was that films started to screen lengthy credit lists at the end so audiences were induced to stampede from them instead.

[ichkeria]

This reminds me of the scene in an episode of Dad's Army where Captain Mainwaring is trampled under exit stampede fron the cinema as God Save King strikes up at the end of the film.

[Khandro]

ichi; Not being a fan of the series I don't know that, but the series was set in the wartime 1940s and rushing from the cinema is a complete anachronism, the writers Jimmy Perry and David Croft would have know that and would have been playing for laughs to an audience of the late 60 to mid 70's by which time the anthem had long gone from cinemas.

[mikey4444]

The BBC is just reporting the news.

You can always tell when the right wingers get the wind up....they start by criticising the BBC.

[jourdain2]

I definitely remember that up at least the mid-60's you stood for the National Anthem. jno is probably right and it was the long list of credits the exits. I don't like our Nat. Ath. and would prefer something different; but it would be unifying to start this practice again, and to ensure that all children know it and respect it. I know that many do neither. I'll be in school on Tues., respectable seaside town, and will start checking.

[jourdain2]

^^ 'that prompted the early exits'

[jim360]

What's particularly pathetic about Trump's comments is that, before he spoke on this, it was apparently ten NFL players protesting at most. And the man who started it, Colin Kaepernick, had been left out of this season's draft, although almost certainly because he'd had a bad season than because of the protest*. Oh, and the other thing is that the whole taking of the knee thing emerged because someone saw Kaepernick's initial sitting-down protested, wrote a letter explaining how upset he was to see Kaepernick dishonouring the flag in that way -- and then Kaepernick met this person and they came to a compromise where he would kneel rather than stand. (Source: The Times yesterday)

So at that point it was a fine example of respecting the right to free protest while seeking understanding from both sides, and the issue was going away. Perhaps sadly because there are legitimate reasons why you might want to protest the still-extant race issues in the US, but a quiet and very minor protest that was largely ignored and confined to just a few people.

Then Trump opens his big mouth and whole teams are at it -- as well as the owners, some of whom contributed to Trump's campaign. If he wanted to kill the issue then he was going the exact wrong way about it.

Berk.

[vetuste_ennemi]

Berk?

Yes, I think the idiot should step down.

[jim360]

Perhaps this is actually Trump's clever way of recognising that the protest deserved more attention than it was getting, so in a remarkable strategic double-bluff he criticised it, knowing that the outraged response would lead to far more coverage of the issue.

[Khandro]

jim; Donald doesn't do "strategic double-bluffs" what he says is what he means, you should be getting the hang of it by now.