Republican and meaningless, performative bullshit- We're not going to fix things, so....

When you have no plans to make things better, why not try to make things even worse??

I thought we were past the “athletes must stand at attention rigidly during the playing of the National Anthem” crap. What difference does it make if athletes stand at attention or are in their dressing rooms before the start of an athletic competition? Except for Right-wing politicians bent on enforcing rote, thoughtless patriotism, does anyone care about what happens during the National Anthem?

My take on it is simple- everyone should have the right to do what they feel is appropriate during the playing of the Anthem. NO ONE should have the right to order or expect them to do something simply because it’s a social/cultural/political/ideological expectation. I don’t want someone telling me how I’m required to respect the flag and Anthem, and I certainly don’t have the right to do the same to anyone else.

It seems Louisiana’s MAGA Republican Governor, Jeff Landry, didn’t get the memo.

He’s playing to his Right-wing supporters by taking a hard line about how LSU athletes conduct themselves during the playing of the National Anthem.

It’s also low-hanging fruit, a cheap chance for him to play the patriotism card, and no MAGA Governor is going to pass on that chance.

Louisiana’s Republican governor has called for the scholarships of college athletes who are not present for the national anthem before games to be revoked. His announcement came after the LSU women’s basketball team were absent during the pre-game ceremonies on Monday night ahead of their eagerly anticipated NCAA Tournament contest with Iowa.

Jeff Landry, the former state attorney general backed by Donald Trump whose victory in October’s gubernatorial primary denoted a hard-right shift in Louisiana’s politics, took to social media on Tuesday to criticize the Tigers and their head coach, Kim Mulkey, for not being on the court when the Star-Spangled Banner was played.

“My mother coached women’s high school basketball during the height of desegregation, no one has a greater respect for the sport and for Coach Mulkey,” Landry posted on X. “However, above respect for that game is a deeper respect for those that serve to protect us and unite us under one flag!

That’s one person’s opinion, and that’s great, but enforced patriotism is meaningless patriotism. Does Gov. Landry really believe that enforcing his edict upon LSU’s women’s basketball team will make them more patriotic? Does he think it will make them appreciate our country and its flag more if they’re forced to stand at attention during the playing of the Anthem?

How is enforced patriotism supposed to instill that respect in student-athletes? All it’s really going to do is allow Gov. Landry to say that he’s standing up for flag and country…and cheap, meaningless symbolism.

“It is time that all college boards, including Regent, put a policy in place that student-athletes be present for the national anthem or risk their athletic scholarship! This is a matter of respect that all collegiate coaches should instill,” he wrote….

Mulkey, who has won four national titles as a head coach and was inducted to basketball’s Hall of Fame in 2020, said afterward that her players were undergoing their regular pre-game preparations on Monday night when the anthem was played.

“Honestly, I don’t even know when the anthem was played,” Mulkey said after the game. “We kind of have a routine when they’re on the floor and they come off at the 12-minute mark. I don’t know, we come in and we do our pre-game stuff. I’m sorry, listen, that’s nothing intentionally done.”

Of the four teams playing in Monday’s NCAA Tournament games, the Tigers were one of three who were not on the floor for the anthem.

It’s not uncommon for coaches to keep their teams in their dressing rooms to maximize the time they have with their team before tip-off. It gives coaches an opportunity to maintain a few more moments of peace and quiet before they take their teams out into the pressure-packed atmosphere of the arena.

The National Anthem is normally played several minutes before tip-off, and many college coaches see no reason to have their players out on the court when they can spend a few more quiet minutes in their dressing room going over their game plan.

The LSU men’s and women’s teams have operated this way for years, as do most college programs…but now it’s a problem?

Oh, of course; there’s a MAGA Republican Governor in office, and he needs to look as if he’s defending the flag and being appropriately patriotic.

Landry’s broadside represented a dizzying twist for Mulkey, who has previously come under fire from left-leaning critics over her perceived traditional views, including allegations that resurfaced in a recent Washington Post profile which alleged she has ostracized former players over their sexuality, including Brittney Griner.

The episode has kicked off a furore on the right-wing corners of social media, who have branded Mulkey as ‘woke’ for her role in the apparently unintentional episode.

A spokesperson for LSU’s athletics department said that Monday’s protocol was no different than what has occurred in recent years with both the men’s and women’s basketball teams.

“Our basketball programs have not been on the court for the anthem for the last several seasons,” the school’s associate athletics director Cody Worsham said in a statement on Tuesday. “Usually the anthem is played 12 minutes before the game when the team is in the locker room doing final preparations.”

Gov. Landry probably figured the LSU women presented an easy target, playing on a national stage in the NCAA tournament. Besides, they’re women…and it’s not like they’re going to fight back, right? Perhaps it would help his argument if Gov. Landry were to educate himself on why the LSU women- and many other teams- aren’t on the court when the National Anthem is played. It’s about not lack of patriotism, disrspecting the flag, or any of the other performative, pointless bullshit that Republicans get their panties in a wad over.

It’s about game preparation. They’re trying to win a basketball game. That’s it. That’s all.

If this issue is so important to Gov. Landry, I have one question I’d post to him: I wonder how often he’s been at the concession stand buying a beer and a hot dog when the National Anthem has been played? Hmm? If he’s honest, like any of us, he’s become caught at the concession stand, the souvenir stand, or sitting on a toilet after some bad tacos when the Anthem’s playing.

Does that make him less of a patriot? Does it means he disrespects the flag and/or hates America? Of course not. It just means he needs some Pepto-Bismol and a fresh roll of toilet paper…and for his security staff to clear the restroom for the comfort and safety of everyone present- ‘cuz he’s gonna drop a bomb, yo. No one needs to be within a hundred feet of that unpleasantness.

Patriotism can’t be coerced. We all love our country (or not) in our own way for our own reasons. Forcing someone to stand at attention while the National Anthem is played might make the person issuing the requirement feel good, but what’s the point of it? Coerced patriotism isn’t patriotism at all. You can force a person to stand at attention, but that’s not going to make them respect the flag or love their country. In come cases, it may create the opposite reaction.

Then again, all Republicans like Gov. Landry care about is that they’re perceived as taking a hard, show-no-mercy-take-no-prisoners line on patriotism. Because, since the Far-Right has claimed the market on patriotism and displays of patriotic fervor, people like him now believe they should also determine the appropriate manner in which Americans display their love of country.

But what if someone, say a Palestinian-American, loves their country but hates what it’s doing? What if it loves America but hates that its government is complicit in Israel’s genocide in Gaza? What if they cannot in good conscience stand and honor the flag of a country participating in the destruction of their homeland? As an American citizen, they have the right under the 1st Amendment to express themselves as they deem appropriate. That’s not to say those around that person have to appreciate or approve of whatever that expression may be, but that expression cannot be stifled.

Gov. Landry is denying the student-athletes and staff of the LSU women’s basketball team their 1st Amendment rights. He’s refusing to allow them to express themselves (or not) as they see fit. But, more than that, it’s about game preparation, and Gov. Landry is inserting himself in something he has no knowledge of or expertise about.

Perhaps instead of making this about himself, it’s time for him to stop grandstanding and applaud the fantastic season LSU’s women had. They represented LSU and the state of Louisiana well.

It’s more than can be said for Gov. Jeff Landry.

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