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they're so stupid, your honor.

national anthems aren’t just a nice song meant to celebrate american people; they always have and always will be inherently tied to politics and nationalism. governments and other people in power have historically weaponized nationalism and patriotism (and will continue to do so), and symbols of national pride like flags and anthems are direct conduits of that pride from government to citizen. there is no removing their political nature just because they’re being performed in the context of hockey, and to expect people to ignore what a country’s government is trying to do to them is naive and, frankly, a little insulting.

so no, brad marchand, montreal was not booing the american players during the anthem. matthew tkachuk, i’m sorry you “didn’t like” the boos, but given that you seem to have no interest in saying anything about what the american government is doing to cause all of this, your complaints about a political song being received poorly due to current politics come off as out of touch and petulant.