When Colin Kaepernick first began his on-field protests against racial injustice in America, his first action was to sit on the bench while the National Anthem was played. That was, indeed, an act of disrespect, and it was so aggravating to a former Green Beret, and Bronze Star honoree, Staff Sargeant Nate Boyer, that he took it upon himself to get in touch with the 49ers QB and discuss the matter. It was, in fact, on the suggestion of Sgt. Boyer that Kaepernick began kneeling, instead of sitting, during the Anthem. Kneeling, said the Sargeant, was inherently respectful.
And then, along comes corrupt king donnie, telling everyone who cares to listen (and, as it turns out, very few care to) that taking a knee during the Star Spangled Banner shows disrespect for our nation, our flag, and the military that he, personally, took steps to avoid serving in. Saying that anyone who does so should be fired - a direct breach of 18 U.S. Code § 227 - Wrongfully influencing a private entity’s employment decisions by a member of the executive branch.
So I thought I'd take a little time to look into the practice of "taking a knee," in MANY contexts and examine what is represented by the action. This was first inspired by what happens at the end of every NFL football game. After the final gun sounds, players from BOTH teams gather at midfield, join hands, TAKE A KNEE, and pray their thanks that none of them were injured in that day’s contest, and to pray for the speedy recovery of any player, on either team, who may have been injured. Again - they TAKE A KNEE, and they PRAY. From this alone, it would appear that getting down on one knee is a pretty respectful posture.
But let's look at some other situations - at what other times do we kneel? Historically, one knelt in the presence of a Monarch (yes, DJT does consider himself one of those, but (a) he's NOT!, and (2) that has no beraing on this discussion!) When one is about to be knighted, he TAKES A KNEE before the Monarch, who performs the knighting ceremony. Here, again, we see that kneeling shows respect, amirite?
Are any of the men reading this piece, by chance, married? I am - have been for 42 years, now, to a very wonderful woman, whom I honor and respect more than anyone els on this planet. So when I asked that wonderful lady, all those years ago, to spend the rest of her life with me, guess what position I assumed? Yup, you got it, first try ... I TOOK A KNEE, and asked for her hand. Believe me, that was not a show of disrespect, all right?
Take a moment yourself, now, and see if you can think of other situations in which one might drop to a knee. What is being shown by the action in YOUR scenario? Is it disrespect? I'm gonna wager NOT!
crooked donnie is just plain wrong on this subject, in every way imaginable. The thing is, though, that he doesn't even CARE whether he's right or wrong about this. He's creating a faux controversy, and it consumes news cycles, bandwidth and public attention. If we're talking about NFL players, and whether or not they're disrespecting the flag, then we're not talking about Russia-Gate, The Mueller Investigation, North Korea, Iran, Puerto Rico, etc., etc., etc. I've just written nerarly 600 words on this stupid subject, instead of any of that other, really important stuff - and that's exactly how djt & his minions WANT IT!