What Should Scare Us More than NFL Players Kneeling?

PERHAPS YOU’VE NOTICED. Right-wing thinkers love to spread the bullshit and stoke paranoia among the right-wing unwitting.

Remember when Obama didn’t have a birth certificate—and then, after five years, suddenly Donald J. Trump admitted he did? 

Remember Jade Helm? (Federal forces were going to come pouring out of tunnels under old Walmart stores and invade Texas.)

Remember Pizzagate and the fool who went in, guns blazing, to save the imaginary, enslaved kids? 

Remember when gay marriage meant marriage as we know it was dead, whereas Newt Gingrich and Rudy Giuliani and Donald J. Trump (three nuptials each) were going to stand as a bulwark and save the sacrament somehow?

Remember when Obama was going to take all our guns? In the eight years he was in office the right-wing unwitting ran out and stocked up on another 150 million weapons.

Just to be safe.

NOW WE HAVE BEEN WARNED—in twenty Trumpian tweets—that NFL players kneeling during the National Anthem are an existential threat. According to President Trump, who supported the flag personally, back in the 60s by racking up five draft deferments and avoiding serving under that banner, the player/protesters are sons of bitches. They deserve to lose their jobs. They hate America. They hate our soldiers. They hate our flag. They dropkick puppies at halftime for fun. I think he hopes the right-wing unwitting will rush out and by more guns.

And they probably will.

What’s the problem with players kneeling in the end? They’re not violent. They’re not insulting our military at all. They’ve made that abundantly clear. 

See, for example, the patriotic statement issued by the Seattle Seahawks team. That statement read: 

As a team, we have decided we will not participate in the national anthem. We will not stand for the injustice that has plagued people of color in this country. Out of love for our country and in honor of the sacrifices made on our behalf, we unite to oppose those that would deny our most basic freedoms.

And just because you don’t pay attention to what the players say, that doesn’t mean the president and the chuckleheads at Fox News are right.

FOR THAT REASON, in hopes of bringing perspective to this discussion, here’s a list of people and problems that I think should worry us more than NFL players kneeling in protest. You know: exercising their First Amendment rights.

1. How about these guys? They’re not only disrespecting the flag, they’re big fans of violence.

1. How about these guys? They’re not only disrespecting the flag, they’re big fans of violence.

Fledgling Fascist?

Also, this guy:

2. You shouldn’t trust anyone, like Hannity, who thinks only those who agree with his (or her) side have a right to protest and free speech.

Even despicable Nazis have a right to protest—peacefully, as determined by the U.S. Supreme Court—if they want.

Congressman Tom Marino; at least he had to resign his seat.

3. How about this guy, Tom Marino? He’s the dude who helped slip language into legislation to make it harder for federal agencies to staunch the flood of opioids in America today. He probably has more blood on his hands as a result than all the NFL players who ever lived—and that would include O.J. 

WHO AND WHAT SHOULD worry us more than NFL players kneeling?

4. O. J. out on parole.

5. An asteroid hitting Trump Tower.

6. Climate change and a president who can’t tell the difference between weather and climate. 

For example, if it’s cold one day, climate change can’t be real. A typical Trumpian tweet on the topic from July 28, 2014: “It’s late in July and it is really cold outside in New York. Where the hell is GLOBAL WARMING??? We need some fast!”

(Since my original post, 2017 has been added to the list of ten hottest years, 

coming in second or third according to slightly different measurements. 

In fact, the 20 hottest years on record have all occurred since 1995.) 

6. I’d also suggest we worry about Scott Pruitt, Trump’s handpicked fool and Big Oil tool, who currently heads the E.P.A. He’s doing his very best to eliminate regulations aimed at blunting the dangers of climate change. NFL protesters aren’t going to harm the future of the planet, the future of our children or the future of our grandchildren.

Pruitt very well may. 

(Since my original post, Pruitt has resigned from office, in part because he was the subject of at least 13 different investigations into unethical and potentially criminal behavior while serving as head of the E.P.A.)

Other far more worrisome individuals and trends:

7. Harvey Weinstein around women

8. Bill O’Reilly and Roger Ailes around other women

9. Lots of angry guys with guns: Stephen Paddock, Henry Bello, Emanuel Samson, Esteban Santiago-Ruiz, John Robert Neumann, Jr., Cory Godbolt, Jimmy Lam and Spencer Hight (all in 2017)

10. Really stupid individuals with guns. (See Pizzagate, etc.)

11. Terrorist assholes (I think we can all agree.)

12. Our trade deficit with China (I think they’re going to use our money to build up their navy and upgrade their air force.

13. U.S. companies that ship jobs to China (including Donald J. Trump and daughter Ivanka Trump).

14. Vladimir Putin and all his Trump administration friends—Paul Manafort and General Flynn, for sure; possibly, Carter Page, Roger Stone, Michael Cohen, Jared Kushner and Don Jr., too

(Since posting this: add Rick Gates and George Papadopoulos, who both pled guilty, to the list; also 25 assorted Russians indicted by Special Counsel Robert Mueller and his team.)

15. Kim Jong-un.

16. People who think Trump should bomb the shit out of North Korea and don’t think anything can go wrong. 

See, for example: Korean War; Vietnam War; Iraq War.

17. Ezekial Elliott: He’s Jerry Jones’ boy; and Jones is the one NFL owner who says if any Dallas players kneel they’ll ride the bench. Elliot? Domestic violence! No problem. He can play—as long as he stands.

18. The Pittsburgh Steelers (a pet peeve of mine), because they keep humiliating my team, the Cincinnati Bengals.

I love veteran's myself. I am one.
I respect Alejandro Villanueva, who served in Afghanistan.
When all the other Steelers protested by skipping the National Anthem he stood alone 
at the mouth of the stadium tunnel, hand over heart.
It's a free country either way, protest or not.

19. The Koch brothers, Charles and David. Even the ancient Greeks knew you had to fear oligarchy.

20. Finding a half-eaten spider in my Cheerio’s.

AND THE LIST of potential threats only grows longer:

21. Judge Roy Moore (now running for the U.S. Senate) a man who believes gay behavior should still be criminalized. He’s a big Bible man. I worry that he’ll dive even deeper into Leviticus and decide we need to stone adulterers again.

(So much for Bill Clinton, Donald J. Trump and many others.)

(Moore was defeated; although the president backed the alleged pedophile in a special election.)

22. Killer bees.

23. Killer sharks.

24. Killer wildlife, generally speaking.

25. Bigfoot getting me someday.

26. The whole Westboro Baptist Church. (See photo below.)

27. Tiffany Trump. (Has she been kidnapped by terrorists? When was the last time you  spotted her in public?)

Even jerks enjoy First Amendment rights.

28. Right-wing nut job Alex Jones as a dad.

29. Former cabinet secretary Tom Price. I wonder what he’s doing now that he has to pay for all his own charter flights.

(Recently, the Inspector General at Health and Human Services, where Price once worked, 

has ruled that the government should ask Price to repay at least $341,000.)

30. Ann Coulter, as she fades away. I worry that she’s still a virgin. After all, don’t all good conservatives save themselves before marriage? No wonder she’s always in a shitty mood. She’s not getting any younger. She’s 56 and never married. 

She has to be wondering, “What’s coitus like?”

31. Mitch McConnell, just because he’s inept.

32. The “War on Christmas”—also a fake right-wing threat—and may I say right here and now, Merry Christmas to all!