Veteran defends Colin Kaepernick's not standing for the National Anthem.

[saintmichaeldefendthem]

There are some thing one simply is expected to do in the name of common respect and decency. One salutes this nation's Flag and one stand when our National Anthem is played. One stops and pulls to the side when an ambulance or fire truck approaches with siren or horn sounding or lights are flashing. One stops whenever meeting a funeral procession on a roadway. Some of us will give up our seats to a lady, respect our elderly, and say grace before meals. There most somewhere remain a faint spark of human decency else we are nothing but brute beasts.

And all of those must be done voluntarily. If they are done to avoid being beaten, killed, fired or fined, they are meaningless. It is the difference between paying taxes to be used to help the poor and making charitable donations to help the poor. One is simply avoiding legal trouble. The other is a noble effort to help others.

I've never seen anyone beaten or killed for doing any of these things myself. How exactly does it help anyone by not standing for the playing of the National Anthem? Please explain. The only real way to protest is with one's vote. Not standing during the playing of the National Anthem changes absolutely nothing at all except to make your team look bad and cause some to not support your team. His harm was to himself, the 49ers, and the NFL. He helped no one at all. His protest changed nothing.

It is all over the news. There are 3 or 4 threads about it here. It raised awareness.

Also, I am not sure he did it to make changes as much as because it is what he believes.

The thing is, it's not news. Veterans are not a monolith. In fact, it was a veteran that killed those cops in Dallas. What Kaepernick did is not made ok because you found a veteran ambivalent to it. It was disrespectful and he should suffer consequences for it. He didn't do this on his own time in civilian clothes on the streets of San Francisco. He did this in uniform, during game time, while representing the franchise that pays him. He tarnished the brand. My boss would fire me for pissing off our customers like that.

 

[saintmichaeldefendthem]

Why do Leftists think that freedom of expression means freedom from any consequences of that expression. Remember Don Imas's "nappy headed hoes" comment? They were SCREAMING for him to get fired. Fucking hypocrites.

 

[mudwhistle]

Why do Leftists think that freedom of expression means freedom from any consequences of that expression. Remember Don Imas's "nappy headed hoes" comment? They were SCREAMING for him to get fired. Fucking hypocrites.

Well, that's different.

Talking badly about Democrats special interest groups is a no-no.

And whatever you do........don't openly state the obvious. Being 100% right on an issue is no shield against liberal persecution.

 

[the_human_being]

WOW!! Watch the Liberals throw him under the bus after this.

Wow! Look what Kaepernick said about Hillary that CNN didn't show

 

[saintmichaeldefendthem]

Why do Leftists think that freedom of expression means freedom from any consequences of that expression. Remember Don Imas's "nappy headed hoes" comment? They were SCREAMING for him to get fired. Fucking hypocrites.

Well, that's different.

Talking badly about Democrats special interest groups is a no-no.

And whatever you do........don't openly state the obvious. Being 100% right on an issue is no shield against liberal persecution.

Yep, he even used the N word and was fined $11,000 and the Left just yawned. He's half black, Muslim, down for the fake cause of protesting justified police shootings; he's golden on the Left. The only way he could screw this up is saying he will vote for Trump.

 

[saintmichaeldefendthem]

WOW!! Watch the Liberals throw him under the bus after this.

Wow! Look what Kaepernick said about Hillary that CNN didn't show

No, they won't.

 

[the_human_being]

WOW!! Watch the Liberals throw him under the bus after this.

Wow! Look what Kaepernick said about Hillary that CNN didn't show

No, they won't.

Sure they will. No one gets away with criticizing Hillary. Some have wound up dead for doing so.

 

[georgephillip]

That stanza which you use to justify the behavior of this whiny jackass was absolutely correct at the time it was written.
Not so much today, with the overwhelming and disgusting frequency and abundance of political correctness.

Kaepernick was right to sit, imho, but he should have been protesting the mass murder/mayhem his country has waged across the Middle East since 1991.

 

[saintmichaeldefendthem]

 

[reconmark]

I'm not going to waste time reading this. I'm just going to say Colin Kaepernick is a piece of shit and selfish prick.

Don't read it, you are too stupid to comprehend it anyway.

 

[reconmark]

I am not going to waste a lot of time arguing with people about this. But I found a perfect explanation of what I feel.

Jim Wright is a veteran and a blogger. Here is his response to all the threats of violence, harassment, and anger aimed at Colin .


"
AS A VETERAN, what do I think about Colin Kaepernick's decision to sit during the National Anthem?

As a veteran?

Very well, as a veteran then, this is what I believe:

The very first thing I learned in the military is this: Respect is a two-way street. If you want respect, true respect, sincere respect, then you have to GIVE IT.

If you want respect, you have to do the things necessary to earn it each and every single day. There are no short cuts and no exceptions.

Respect cannot be compelled.

Respect cannot be bought.

Respect cannot be inherited.

Respect cannot be demanded at the muzzle of a gun or by beating it into somebody or by shaming them into it. Can not. You might get what you think is respect, but it's not. It's only the appearance of respect. It's fear, it's groveling, it's not respect. Far, far too many people both in and out of the military, people who should emphatically know better, do not understand this simple fact: there is an enormous difference between fear and respect.

Respect has to be earned.

Respect. Has. To. Be. Earned.

Respect has to be earned every day, by every word, by every action.

It takes a lifetime of words and deeds to earn respect.

It takes only one careless word, one thoughtless action, to lose it.

You have to be worthy of respect. You have to live up to, or at least do your best to live up to, those high ideals -- the ones America supposedly embodies, that shining city on the hill, that exceptional nation we talk about, yes, that one. To earn respect you have to be fair. You have to have courage. You must embrace reason. You have to know when to hold the line and when to compromise. You have to take responsibility and hold yourself accountable. You have to keep your word. You have to give respect, true respect, to get it back.

There are no short cuts. None.

Now, any veteran worth the label should know that. If they don't, then likely they weren't much of a soldier to begin with and you can tell them I said so.

IF Kaepernick doesn't feel his country respects him enough for him to respect it in return, well, then you can't MAKE him respect it.

You can not make him respect it.

If you try to force a man to respect you, you'll only make him respect you less.

With threats, by violence, by shame, you can maybe compel Kaepernick to stand up and put his hand over his heart and force him to be quiet. You might.

But that's not respect.

It's only the illusion of respect.

You might force this man into the illusion of respect. You might. Would you be satisfied then? Would that make you happy? Would that make you respect your nation, the one which forced a man into the illusion of respect, a nation of little clockwork patriots all pretending satisfaction and respect? Is that what you want? If THAT's what matters to you, the illusion of respect, then you're not talking about freedom or liberty. You're not talking about the United States of America. Instead you're talking about every dictatorship from the Nazis to North Korea where people are lined up and MADE to salute with the muzzle of a gun pressed to the back of their necks.

That, that illusion of respect, is not why I wore a uniform.

That's not why I held up my right hand and swore the oath and put my life on the line for my country.

That, that illusion of respect, is not why I am a veteran.

Not so a man should be forced to show respect he doesn't feel.

That's called slavery and I have no respect for that at all.

If Americans want this man to respect America, then first they must respect him.

If America wants the world's respect, it must be worthy of respect.

America must be worthy of respect. Torture, rendition, indefinite detention, unarmed black men shot down in the street every day, poverty, inequality, voter suppression, racism, bigotry in every form, obstructionism, blind patriotism, NONE of those things are worthy of respect from anybody -- least of all an American.

But doesn't it also mean that if Kaepernick wants respect, he must give it first? Give it to America? Be worthy of respect himself? Stand up, shut up, and put his hand over his heart before Old Glory?

No. It doesn't.

Respect doesn't work that way.

Power flows from positive to negative. Electricity flows from greater potential to lesser.

The United States isn't a person, it's a vast construct, a framework of law and order and civilization designed to protect the weak from the ruthless and after more than two centuries of revision and refinement it exists to provide in equal measure for all of us the opportunity for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The United States is POWER.

All the power rests with America. Just as it does in the military chain of command. And like that chain of command, like the electrical circuit described above, respect must flow from greater to lesser FIRST before it can return.

To you the National Anthem means one thing, to Kaepernick it means something else. We are all shaped and defined by our experiences and we see the world through our own eyes. That's freedom. That's liberty. The right to believe differently. The right to protest as you will. The right to demand better. The right to believe your country can BE better, that it can live up to its sacred ideals, and the right to loudly note that it has NOT. The right to use your voice, your actions, to bring attention to the things you believe in. The right to want more for others, freedom, liberty, justice, equality, and RESPECT.

A true veteran might not agree with Colin Kaepernick, but a true veteran would fight to the death to protect his right to say what he believes.

You don't like what Kaepernick has to say? Then prove him wrong, BE the nation he can respect.

It's really just that simple.

Are we going to be a nation that goes the way of Rome and decides that all of the critics have a point, or are we going to be a country that stands up for it and all that it stands for?

These kids haven't been around long enough to know what this country has been through. The kind of people that would kick Colin's pampered ass are all dying out.

These kids don't know just how bad it is in other countries like I discovered when I was serving my country.

These kids are just thinking about a movement that is based on half-truths and outright lies. A movement that rewards you for showing hatred for the country you were born in and grew up in.

If this country was really as bad as they claim, they wouldn't even have the right to do what they're doing and say what they're saying. I've been in countries where they will lock you up for showing disrespect for it's currency. Step on a Baht which has a picture of the King of Thailand on it, they throw you in prison. In Singapore they'll beat you with a staff for vandalism. In some countries the players would have beat the crap out of him for not standing up. He can thank God for being born in a country that allows him to take a piss on everything it stands for. Where a political party and an ideology rewards people that act like him. I think that's his true motivation. Not that he's right, but that he will gain some recognition for this.

Yes, he can thank God he was born here and not in many other places.

But many of those "other places" would force him to stand. That is not him respecting anything. That is him faking it to avoid prosecution. We do not force people to show patriotism. That cheapens us and true patriotism. People didn't dare refuse to salute Hitler, Stalin, Mussilini, or Kim Jong-un. Those dictators forced people to salute and pretend to be patriots, whether they felt it or not.

I did not wear a uniform, swear and oath, and (potentially) offer my life for a nation that forces its people to fake patriotism. I did it to defend the freedoms to show respect only when it is real.

I will show contempt for anyone who disrespects my country. Is that clear enough for you.

No, you'll show contempt for people that understand the Constitution better than you...

 

[reconmark]

There are some thing one simply is expected to do in the name of common respect and decency. One salutes this nation's Flag and one stand when our National Anthem is played. One stops and pulls to the side when an ambulance or fire truck approaches with siren or horn sounding or lights are flashing. One stops whenever meeting a funeral procession on a roadway. Some of us will give up our seats to a lady, respect our elderly, and say grace before meals. There most somewhere remain a faint spark of human decency else we are nothing but brute beasts.

And all of those must be done voluntarily. If they are done to avoid being beaten, killed, fired or fined, they are meaningless. It is the difference between paying taxes to be used to help the poor and making charitable donations to help the poor. One is simply avoiding legal trouble. The other is a noble effort to help others.

I've never seen anyone beaten or killed for doing any of these things myself. How exactly does it help anyone by not standing for the playing of the National Anthem? Please explain. The only real way to protest is with one's vote. Not standing during the playing of the National Anthem changes absolutely nothing at all except to make your team look bad and cause some to not support your team. His harm was to himself, the 49ers, and the NFL. He helped no one at all. His protest changed nothing.

It is all over the news. There are 3 or 4 threads about it here. It raised awareness.

Also, I am not sure he did it to make changes as much as because it is what he believes.

The thing is, it's not news. Veterans are not a monolith. In fact, it was a veteran that killed those cops in Dallas. What Kaepernick did is not made ok because you found a veteran ambivalent to it. It was disrespectful and he should suffer consequences for it. He didn't do this on his own time in civilian clothes on the streets of San Francisco. He did this in uniform, during game time, while representing the franchise that pays him. He tarnished the brand. My boss would fire me for pissing off our customers like that.

He dosent work at Dairy Queen like you.