NBC Baseball Writer Says U.S. Flag at Sporting Events Is “Performance Patriotism”

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NBC Sports lead baseball writer Craig Calcaterra has a message for Americans – downplay the phony flag patriotism at sporting events, especially at the all-American sport of baseball.

The writer isn’t concerned about Beyoncé dancing to honor Black Panthers and the leftist hate group Black Lives Matter. Nor does he worry about sports announcers demeaning the Second Amendment or promoting leftist causes. He is however deeply troubled by anyone spending money to sponsor the flag or promote a pro-millitlary attitude.

But there has been some opportunism and performative patriotism at play at the ballpark as well. Most notably in the pay-for-patriotism scandal from a couple of years ago in which it was revealed that the government had paid teams to promote patriotic and pro-military initiatives for propaganda and recruitment purposes. Less craven than that but still calculated is the degree to which corporate sponsorship has seeped into patriotic activities. For the 2014 World Series, American flags were provided to every fan at the entrance of Kauffman Stadium. Major League Baseball made sure we knew in the press release, however, that they were “presented by Bank of America, the Official Bank of Major League Baseball.” There are many examples of this sort of thing.

The author wants “performative patriotism” cut back. Others of the hard-left on social media and elsewhere want the flag gone – it’s offensive and demeaning to all the foreigners whose culture we are supposed to adopt as multiculturalists.

He wrote that the following tweet was a simple joke and the right has abused him ever since. Even given that, he obviously finds this photo obscene. He’s not kidding about that.


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