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Symbolic politics - standing up for real democracy

On both sides of the Atlantic, we need to stand up for genuine democracy and against a system that cynically defends itself by wrapping itself in flags.

By Peter Bloom
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indianapolis colts.jpg
indianapolis colts.jpg

Indianapolis Colts kneel during the playing of the national anthem, September 2017. PA Images/All rights reserved

The refusal of American football players to stand for the national anthem in protest of systematic racism and police brutality continues to divide the country and capture the attention of the world. Adding fuel to the fire, in a widely derided PR stunt, Vice President Mike Pence even left an NFL game early to show his anger with the protesters.

It is tempting to chalk this whole episode up to another politics of distraction. Trump’s original ramping of up the rhetoric coincided with the failure of his latest attempts to repeal Obamacare, and his controversial massive increase in defense spending.

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Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0