So, a nine year old Australian girl is being pilloried for her peaceful protest in not standing up for the national anthem. She sounded quite sensible in her newspaper interview – concerned about the government\u2019s treatment of Australia’s indigenous people, as demonstrated in their anthem \u201cAdvance Australia Fair\u201d ie may the white people prosper, and also references to it being a young country when actually people had lived there for many thousands of years before the Johnny come latelies and convicts of the last few centuries. Is peaceful protest not a civilized behavior, and a right, in a democratic country? Apparently not, according to a number of politicians who are happy to be quoted as being horrified and wishing they could kick her in the backside. \u201cIt\u2019s disrespectful to our soldiers!\u201d Oh! I didn\u2019t realize that\u2019s what they were fighting for. \u00a0\u201cDon\u2019t worry about what those Nazis are up to, boys – let\u2019s make sure our grandkids are forced to stand for the anthem!\u201d Is that what democracy is about? I like Australia, it\u2019s a nice place to visit (apart from the heat and the flies), and some of my best friends are Australian (not really), but you have to agree, it\u2019s a hotbed of sexism, racism, and nationalism. The former two were clearly on display this week in the cartoon published twice in an Australian newspaper (once inside, and then again, after the international uproar, defiantly on the cover) of the tennis champion Serena Williams. OK, she was having a bit of a temper tantrum, but I well remember the days of John MacEnroe (\u201cYou cannot be serious!\u201d), and in the words of the immortal Tana Umaga \u201cIt\u2019s not tiddlywinks mate!\u201d. OK, not an entirely relevant quote but i like it and it does show that when it comes to top sporting events, the players blood is up and they\u2019re really feeling it.<\/p>\n
The most famous peaceful protester around the world at the moment is of course Colin Kaepernick (sorry, Ghandi, but you haven\u2019t been signed with any internationally recognizable sports team in even longer than two years – I\u2019d hate to think what any sponsorship deal you managed to pull might look like). I\u2019ve been wearing my Nikes proudly all week. Not that I think the company has developed any sort of super ethical corporate awareness all of a sudden (I\u2019m sure sweatshops are still a thing), but hopefully they can see which way the wind\u2019s blowing. Colin is a hero for today, and heroes sell shoes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
So, a nine year old Australian girl is being pilloried for her peaceful protest in not standing up for the national anthem. She sounded quite sensible in her newspaper interview – concerned about the government\u2019s treatment of Australia’s indigenous people, as demonstrated in their anthem \u201cAdvance Australia Fair\u201d ie may the white people prosper, and … <\/p>\n