OPINION:
Sunday, Vice President Mike Pence walked out of the Colts-49ers football game after players fell to their knees in protest of the national anthem.
Shortly after, the NFL Players Association released a statement of support for the kneelers. Make that: The tone-deaf NFL Players Association released a statement.
The union, the players association, just doesn’t get it.
They’re worse than blind — they’re outright rejecting fans.
They’re outright disrespecting the nation.
“Our men and their families are also conscientious Americans who continue to be forces for good through our communities and some have decided to use their platform to peacefully raise awareness to issues that deserve attention,” the statement read.
OK. But we in the World of Fandom only tune in to see them play — not protest.
It goes on: “It is a source of enormous pride that some of the best conversations about these issues have taken place in our locker rooms in a respectful, civil and thoughtful way that should serve as a model for how all of us can communicate with each other. We should not stifle these discussions and cannot allow our rights to become subservient to the very opinions our Constitution protects. That is what makes us the land of the free and the home of the brave.”
It’s a bit disingenuous for football players to paint themselves in the same vein as the real patriots of America who fought for “the land of the free” and “the home of the brave” — yes?
But truly, these ’disses of America’s symbols — of the anthem, the flag — for reasons that are rooted in false leftist notions of widespread, rampant police brutality against minorities are past wearisome.
Pence took a stand and left after the anthem played — and after watching several San Francisco 49ers kneel during the playing of the song.
“[I] will not dignify any event that disrespects our soldiers, our flag, or our national anthem,” he said.
And now Pence is being blasted by several NFLers for what they’re claiming is a vice presidential “PR stunt.”
Well, note to NFL players: That’s pretty much how America regards your on-field shows of anti-Americanism. Pence? He’s an American patriot who took a stand on principle and did what the rest of fed-up fans have been doing for weeks now — turned his back on the game.
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