NFL ready to kick off political statements

[NeoConsSuck]

The NFL is making sure performers such as Green Day, Kanye West and the Rolling Stones focus on their music rather than criticizing President George Bush for his handling of Hurricane Katrina during its Opening Kickoff 2005 concert show on ABC tonight.

The league is insisting on a 10-second tape delay for the 8 ET show for the second consecutive year, according to ABC spokesman Mark Mandel.

The Stones accuse the president of being "a crock of s—-" on their new album, A Bigger Bang. Green Day wails about the "redneck agenda" in their Grammy-winning album, American Idiot.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/2005-09-07-nfl-tape-delay_x.htm

[DoYouEverWonder]

1. So much for freedom of speech

Can't criticize the fuhrer can we now?

[Hosnon]

38. Ummm...it's a private organization.

I can tell you what you can and can't say in my house.

[Lindacooks]

39. That is using public airwaves.

[rkc3]

43. And how many stadiums will get a fly-over from military aircraft

on Sunday?

How long will bush be allowed to speak on the jumbotrons before kickoff at each?

If CBS/NFL wants entertainers to stay out of politics, then scrap the flyovers and bush as well. Otherwise they should shut the fuck up.

[leftofcool]

2. The Constitution is dead.

Not worth the paper its written on.....except for the right to keep those automatic weapons.

Left of Cool

[leftchick]

3. they would do this for a Democratic president too Right?

:sarcasm:


fuck AmeriKa! All of our Rights are gone. I think all of those bands should say no fucking way am I playing if I can't speak the truth.

[Berry Cool]

4. Don't tell me, the Stones won't be allowed to perform "Sweet Neocon"?

Hmm. If I were them, I'd decide to play my old "classic" "Let's Spend SOME TIME Together." That would send the message quite effectively: "Hey, everyone...we're being censored *again*!"

[Kolesar]

5. The league that welcomed Rush Limbaugh to Monday Night Football

Blatantly political (not to mention insane)--they did not put him on a 10s tape delay.

[LTR]

6. In their defense, that was ESPN

The NFL had nothing to do with it. ESPN hired the flaming gasbag and fired him as well.

I just think the NFL is trying to minimize anything controversial. They are always looking out for their image. That is why they are so responsive when it comes to wrongdoings by their players (drug violations, touchdown celebrations, etc.).

The NFL is just trying to appeal to everyone, with as little controversy as possible. I can't blame them for trying to put the emphasis on entertainment rather than politics. Can't we just get away from it for one night and enjoy a game?

[WCGreen]

19. Just in case you didn't know...

ESPN is owned by Disney which, last time I looked, owned ABC as well.....

[Bill McBlueState]

26. but Disney doesn't own the NFL

so the poster you're responding to still has the same point.

:shrug:

[WCGreen]

29. Just clarifying who owns what .......

[Kolesar]

25. The Pete-Rozelle-ization of the NFL

Parity between the teams, no unsponsored sweatbands on Jim McMahon's head, and the "Mark Gastineau rule" at at time when a USFL team had the "ants in the pants touchdown dance". Gotta love it.

[Annoyingly Logical]

49. re: In their defense...

Actually ESPN and ABC are the same company (have been for years).

Was the NFL trying to avoid controversy when they had the whole T.O/Desperate Housewives skip

As far as escaping "it" and enjoying the game for a night, I am sure that would be something that the victims of the Hurricane would love to do.....oh that's right they can't.

[SlowDownFast]

7. Fuck the NFL.

Yep. Fuck them too.

we seriously gotta keep a record of all those who gripe against free speech....

that way when revolution hits, we know who to aim for...

[jamesinca]

8. This is what just grabbed me

I am reading this thread and it occurs to me that no other president has needed a 10 second delay built into a football game. I understand the NFL wanting it to be about the football game and not the president, but has any other president been so disliked to the point that a delay has to be put into a game of football?

I don't agree with censorship, and I think the NFL should be about playing football. I do think this is really a statement about the political atmosphere here. The fact that Bush is alive, is such a disturbance or potential one, that a delay must be put into a football game. What does that say about him? I believe that ABC is covering for him and will use censorship, but what does that say about him as president if they feel they have to plan for this.

[The Icon Painter]

10. Thank You

We are so accustomed to despising this thing sliming up the Oval Office, we sometimes forget the ordinary American is beginning to see what we have always seen. Your comment brought this fact strongly to my attention. You are right. When has an American leader(?) required so much protection from the people he is purported to lead? When one stops to think about it, this is an astonishing situation. He cannot move freely amongst the people; he cannot speak to the masses; he must be shielded from the populace in every way. To this we have come.

[northzax]

27. right, the NFL is full of crap

they say they don't want 'controversy' but to appeal to a wider demographic, they hire a band who just wrote an entire album bashing Bush, another band, not known for politics, who's last single was a scathing criticism of him, and a rapper who called him a racist on national telelvision last week. I don't see Toby Keith on the bill, do you?

[FreeStateDemocrat]

9. Don't forget the anti-Kerry remark by RW Al Michaels on MNF last year.

The NFL should have fired the biased bastard but he's still broadcasting for the NFL’s MNF. The NFL is just another corporation with an agenda of pimping for tax cuts and corporate welfare. They have extorted billions of local, state and federal tax dollars for stadium construction and team subsidies, Their next ignominious trick will be to kick New Orleans when it down by moving the Saints to another city for a payoff of a new stadium and massive relocation bucks. The last I heard the billionaire owners had collectively made through the NFL the monumental contribution of one million to the disaster relief fund. That’s after sucking hundreds of millions from the citizens of New Orleans for decades. They may have increased that by now since I’m sure they have been publicly embarrassed by this miserly initial contribution. The NFL is just exposing your typical lowlife neo-con corporate BS.

[nolabels]

13. I am watching football and I don't care

A lot of these rich old white men need their ass kicked in, but in ways things like football are one of the few ways the stereotyping gets blown to hell and shown for that pure B.S. that it is.


As for Al Michaels, the dude's stuff is weak so muting the tv sound and hooking up the local radio works for me

[JerseygirlCT]

11. I'd refuse to perform under those conditions

an artist has to be free to express himself/herself. Stifling that only creates mediocre work that usually can't be called art.

But then again, after all the silliness CBS was exposed to (sorry) after a simple boob, the problem goes deeper than the network, doesn't it?

[ikojo]

12. So much for Green Day being alternative and punk

Way back in the 1960s Ed Sullivan did not want the Doors to say the line "we get higher" or something like that. Supposedly Jim Morrison agreed to the corporate terms but when they performed the song the so called offensive lyric was there.

Musicians are so wrapped up in the corporate structure I doubt any of them will stray from what the NRFL (national REPUBLICAN) football league have set up as the terms for their performance.

I have lost what little respect I had for Green Day as musicians and people of conscience.

[UofIDem]

14. You know...

Some people watch football to get away from politics. Just like many here weren't a fan of Rush on NFL Gameday, a lot of football fans are Republican. The NFL isn't an advertising group. They are there for the best ratings they can get which means maximum entertainment with the least controversy.

As an aside, I wish people would stop bringing free speech into this because it isn't a free speech issue. The NFL is not prohibiting Green Day or anyone else from saying anything they please. The league just isn't going to pay them for it and it's not going to be said on the league's program.

Freedom of speech is not to say whatever you want whenever you want and be free from all consequences including censorship of a private actor for whom you are performing a service. It's to say whatever you want whenever you want and be protected from GOVERNMENT intrusion and forcible censorship from others who have no relation to you other than to disagree with your sentiment. The NFL, like it or not, can do whatever it wants.

[nolabels]

16. "The NFL, like it or not, can do whatever it wants"

Yea, and did you see Janet's, like that star thing at halftime was really cool :crazy:

[Mike Daniels]

17. Thank you.

Green Day, Kayne West, the Rolling Stones, etc... can book a press conference at any time, call in the media and say whatever they want to say about Bush.

As the party that invited them, ABC and the NFL should be able to dictate that they will control the message coming over their program. If Kayne, Green Day, etc don't like it they can choose not to appear.

I want to know where the posters on this board were when ABC/Disney fired Michael Graham for making some (admittedly tasteless) comments about Islam and Muslims. After all, wasn't he exercising his right to free speech at that time? Of course, they would have stated that ABC/Disney didn't censor his right to free speech, they just opted not to pay him to do i on their station.

The NFL/ABC scenario is the exact same thing and anyone complaining about suppression of free speech in this case if they were cool with what happened to Michael Graham is being a flaming hypocrite.

[Robb]

18. No, it's a free speech issue all right

You seem to forget who allows these people to use public airwaves and beam into my home.

If that isn't public speech, then nothing is. If a company that gets the air says "we're not showing black people on TV any more," then gets to keep the air, the government is in tacit approval.

Say what you like, the NFL is not a yacht club.

[Mike Daniels]

20. So I presume you're going to insist that ABC/Disney rehire Graham?

because your argument can't be applied differently just because you don't like the message.

[UofIDem]

22. I didn't forget that at all...

However, this has nothing to do with the argument all. The government has licensed the network (and the public airway) to a private third party actor, and the third party has paid for the rights to those airways. You can't be serious in arguing that simply because someone bought property from the government that they should be treated like the government in using that property.

The network is not breaking a law. The government is not infringing on First Amendment rights by allowing the network to run its programming in a manner that the network deems appropriate, Green Day does not have any right to this airtime.

However, your argument here holds even less water because the NFL is, in fact, just like a yacht club. They are a totally private actor independent of ABC. ABC has bought the rights to air the NFL but likely left a large amount of control to the NFL over the content of the programs. If ABC tries to exert unauthorized control over the programming, the NFL could take that programming to another network.

This may suck for those of you who want your football with a side of political commentary, but if that's what you want, mute your TV tonight and listen to AAR. The NFL does not need to give Kanye, Hannity, or even a President airtime if they don't want to. Nor for that matter does ABC. Get over it and enjoy the game.

[Viking12]

50. You confuse "Free Speech" with the "1st Amendment"

Your position holds up in a legal argument grounded on the 1st Amendment, but not in an ethical argument grounded in Free Speech principles.

[onenote]

34. withholding judgment on Green Day

The fact that they won't be able to make a statement doesn't necessarily bother me. What will interest me is which song they choose to play. If they do their cover of "We Are the Champions" I'm going to be disappointed. If they do just about anything from American Idiot, good for them. And watch to see if they wear anything or do anything else to "send a message."

onenote

[mtnester]

35. I still think they will get one out there, we will have to watch or listen

look for it to be code, or possibly 20 seconds of silence with some type of hidden sign on the drums, etc.


Stated the same in Post 32

[Lost4words]

15. Wouldnt it be nice if each entertainer went on and on about dimson

for most of their alloted time, what would the NFL do show a loop of the Star Bangeled Banner?

The NFL made me suffer with that half wit comedain on Monday night (who the hell was that?) Miller something?

Then the hillibilly junkie limpballs.

They could save allot of cash by doing without the big acts as I watch for the football.

Oh yea Dennis Miller was the jerks name. PUKE!

[wallwriter]

21. Sadly, even this liberal realizes that the NFL can

do just about whatever it wants. It just happens to be stupid of them to compound so many mistakes. Why get performers who might make controversy? Why have a tape delay? Why publcize such a thing? NFL entertainment is always so lame anyway. Why not just skip straight to the football?

Go Steelers.

[northzax]

28. they publicize it

for the wingnuts who can't stand to hear criticism of Dear Leader. This way they know they can listen to music without it challenging their political bubble.

Will they also mute "God Bless President Bush"? that's an interesting question.

[NashVegas]

23. Bunch of Whores All Over the Place

The bands want the money and the exposure. The network wants the ratings.

Vacuous, all of them.

[saigon68]

24. The SHEEP love to get drunk and watch the game

They could care less unless its someone in their family who gets killed in Iraq-Nam or become homeless in NO.

[paineinthearse]

30. To anyone attending the concert/game

Video record the event and create an avi file for DU.

[Ron Mexico]

31. Actually, at the risk of being flamed I don't blame them for this.

I couldn't agree more with the Stones (I am not familar with what Green Day says because I'm not a fan of their music, and I've never even heard of Kanye West), but when I turn on a sporting event I want to FORGET about politics. If the ten-second delay was imposed on Toby Keith, I'd send the NFL a thank-you note, so when it comes to sporting events I say even the Repugs deserve a break from political discourse.

I'll say it flat out: I don't give a fuck what celebrities think, even when they're spouting stuff I agree with. And for those who aren't on "my" side, if I like their work (Drew Carey, for instance), I'll still watch. I'm not inclined to boycott, and if I turn on a TV and I want political discussion, I'll turn to a political show. When I want to be entertained, I really want celebrities to shut the fuck up about politics. I've been a member of DU for about half a year and do my learning here, but as you can tell by my low post count, I can't take constant bombardment and don't need 24/7 reminders of what I believe in. I don't need Mick Jagger to tell me Bush is an asshole, I already know Bush is an asshole.

A more pressing issue to me is why we even have these concerts at all. One poster said something like "screw this, just go to the football," and I couldn't agree more. Who here honestly got pumped up about Paul McCartney at halftime during last year's Super Bowl? I can't even remember the last time I watched a halftime show or an NFL opening day concert. But if I were inclined to watch one, I really don't need some celeb validating beliefs I already know are valid.

Go ahead and flame me if you must, but does anyone agree with me?

[underpants]

33. I agree with you

Ron Mexico

That cracks me up, great name.

I posted somewhere else that I am glad the NFL didn't BAN them but then either way the whole purpose of this press release is for publicity and attention. God knows the NFL needs it.

But over all I agree with you.

[onenote]

36. agree, but with a caveat

I tend to agree that if the NFL wants to control the content of its program, that's fully within its rights. But I also agree with the post that pointed out the fact that it says something that this President is so disliked that the NFL is concerned that someone will speak out and that the NFL's fear (whether it is of alienating the government or just as likely of alienating a portion of its audience) has driven it to insist on the 10 sec delay. The fact that ABC doesn't have the balls to fight the NFL on this, given that the FCC has those balls is a regulatory vise, doesn't surpise me (but it does sadden me).

onenote

[mtnester]

32. Look for Green Day to use "code"

they won't do it without a statement, Billy Joe just won't let the opportunity go by, I feel it in my bones.

[KansDem]

37. Bring back the half-time shows!

Marching bands were always fun to watch!

[Media_Lies_Daily]

40. Dictatorships always control public communications.

[Field Of Dreams]

41. They can start by putting a muzzle on Al Michaels.

I know many of us at DU wrote to the network and Monday Night Football last year complaining about his not-so-subtle pro-Bush digs.

[Arbiter]

46. My thoughts exactly.

I never did like Al Michaels, but what he said last year took the cake.

Although, I'd like to see John Madden with a muzzle too. He can't announce worth junk.

[tom_paine]

42. Of course, you can bet your ass that the Emperor will be allow on

Probably on Thursday, and of course the NFL Kickoff will on 9-11 will milk the dead thousands and do it's work for the Imperial Family.

And if it was a Democratic Emperor (which will never again be allowed, I think), you can bet also with 100% certainty that "political statements" WOULD MOST DEFINITELY BE ALLOWED!

[SomewhereOutThere424]

44. God forbid

They point out the emporer (bush) has no clothes...and they spot a NIPPLE :eyes:

Seriously, I think they should be allowed to speak out. It isn't like it isn't fitting the motif of american thinking. Will telling the truth once in a while really disrupt the NFL's ability to play football?

[Dr Fate]

45. Welcome to Stalinist Russia.

n/t

[goforit]

47. NFL owners?......Sure yah wanna do this?

[goforit]

48. In memory of 1776, Have an NFL tea party &Throw the owners overboard!

[PatsFan2004]

51. The NFL seems to be sensitive to its demographics as noted

by the reaction of the Patriot crowd. Apparently, they booed West throughout his performance. This is in the heart of Kennedy country, Massachusetts, with a very liberal electorate.

[FightinNewDem]

53. A Pats crowd is going to be conservative

The reaction isn't surprising. The crowds at Pats games have always had more of an Archie Bunker uality to them. Now, with the tix so expensive, its a mix of "Boston Herald Republicans" and corprate dead wood using the season tickets for the night.

It's a different vibe than you feel at Fenway or at the Gaahden during a B's game. Those have more of a blue-collar feel, even in this day of $20 bleachers and $10 nosebleeders.

[sarcasmo]

52. Green Day rocked in concert. American Idiot a great song for this

White House.

[neuvocat]

54. I'm sort of torn on this.

On the one hand, they have the right to freedom of speech, but on the other hand, they're not forced to play either. Maybe they could have refused to play under those circumstances and have a press conference to tell everyone why.