Quote:Trump-allied nonprofit tells supporters: Turn off the NFL
A nonprofit group run by allies of President Trump launched a Facebook ad Sunday aimed at millions of people across the country that urges them to stand with the president by turning off National Football League games.
“Rather than watch the NFL disrespect our country,” the ad reads, "turn on something that honors the great men and women who make sacrifices to protect our freedom and what our Great American Flag stands for.”
Notice once again the conflation of the flag with the military (as opposed to, say, firemen, teachers, nurses, doctors, social workers, community organizers, volunteers handing out clean needles, artists, musicians, etc etc etc. It's the most brain-dead and dangerous form of jingoism. But take a look at this notion as well...
Quote:“The right to free speech comes with great responsibility and a duty to honor what is sacred,” Erin Montgomery, a spokeswoman for the group, said in a statement.
WP
When anybody insists that a thing is "sacred", they are insisting that YOU and EVERYBODY ELSE must behave and think in very tightly constrained ways about that thing. You are not allowed to even reflect upon, and certainly you are not permitted to criticize or alter that thing (ask Tindale). The etymology of "sacred" descends from "holy" - that is, it considered to have a unique and inviolable status which derives from a real connection with God or godliness. That's the power of the term and that's the notion behind it and that's the way it is commonly used to coerce the community into acting and thinking in such constrained ways (which, quite conveniently, support existing structures of power and dominance).
When someone tells you a thing is sacred, the proper civic response is to smile and in a light-hearted manner give them licence to go **** themselves.
