Fine! No football for you!

A few weeks ago, President Trump targeted former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick for his protest against police brutality (Kaepernick didn't stand for the national anthem last season), referring to him as a "son of a bitch." [Source] In response, players across the NFL made their own displays of solidarity.

Some stayed in the locker room. Others linked arms during the anthem. [Source] This week, several 49ers (and a few cameramen) modeled what Kaepernick started doing after a conversation with former Army Ranger Nate Boyer, and knelt.
Well, Vice President Mike Pence didn't appreciate that, and walked out, writing, "I left today’s Colts game because [President Trump] and I will not dignify any event that disrespects our soldiers, our Flag, or our National Anthem." [Source] - (By the way, that PR stunt cost us $242,000)

I know there are a lot of people out there who feel similarly, but here's what I think:

1. The president should listen to Donald Trump. The president wrote that, "Sports fans should never condone players that do not stand proud for their National Anthem or their Country. NFL should change policy!" Yet in 2013 Donald Trump wrote, in reference to Obama's comments on a Redskins name change, "...our country has far bigger problems! FOCUS on them, not nonsense" [Source] In my opinion, the president should take his own advice and focus on one of those bigger problems.
   
   
2. Kaepernick's protest may be imperfect, but he's doing what he can. As he stated in 2016, "I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color. To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder." [Source] While I disagree with his method of protest, I sympathize with what he's trying to accomplish. The nation's got problems, and he wants to bring attention to them.
   
   Unfortunately, the League is now involved, turning what had been a social justice protest into a generic display of "solidarity" with an embattled individual. [Source] In an organization where 70 percent of players are black, 83 percent of viewers are white, and there's not a single black CEO, majority owner, or president, I don't really expect either viewers or owners to share the same perspectives as the players. [Source] But it's a shame so many people are seeing this as a respect-the-flag issue instead of Kaepernick's original intent.
   
   
3. It seems there's no good way for a racial minority to protest in this country. The two athletes who raised gloved fists in the 1968 Olympics were kicked out. [Source] If you say, "Black lives matter," you get drowned out by folks who insist that "all lives matter." And if you go to the streets, you're seen as violent or ungrateful.
   
   To me, it seems like black athletes are like modern-day gladiators: a subordinate class, paid to perform for others' amusement but not to confront them with uncomfortable realities. Muhammed Ali refused to serve in Vietnam, and was banned from his sport at his peak. Compare that with our president, who essentially did the same thing (four deferments for college, one for "bone spurs"). [Source] Does that not seem like an injustice?
   
   
4. I don't like others using my service to disparage protesters. While I wasn't happy to see Colin Kaepernick sitting down during the national anthem, I understood that it wasn't really about disrespecting me, the flag, or the country.
   
   Yet Fox commentator Jeanine Pirro felt he and other NFL protesters have no grounds to protest this way -- that their huge wealth precludes them from griping. "There are so many of you who make tens of millions of dollars," she said, "why don't you get together and take care of the social injustice instead of disrespecting our country?" [Source] As someone who is supposedly "disrespected," I disagree with this perspective.
   
   While I've seen some veterans make sarcastic comments like, "That's what makes America great -- the people who've died so others can say this kind of thing," I don't think that's right. We who fight in defense of the First Amendment have a choice -- we can either fight for others' freedome to say things we might disagree with (and be honored for the selfless act), or we pass judgement on what others say and disqualify ourselves from receiving honor. We can't have it both ways.

So while I understand why some veterans are upset, I don't feel Colin Kaepernick -- or any of the current protesters -- is out of line. Although I probably would have not chosen to protest the same way he did, it's not my place to determine how best to use the freedoms I help provide.