OPINION:
Nike is a company that manufactures great products, but it will no longer get my business. I want to explain why.
Since the beginning of our republic, Americans have sacrificed “their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor.” Young men and women have gone to war under the banner of the American flag since 1776. They died for freedom. They believed America was and is the last best hope for humankind.
Did we have shortcomings? Did we really mess up or make horrible mistakes? You bet. But we have overcome again and again.
Look back at history. All countries have done terrible things to some of their people, and in some cases to all their people. Totalitarian governments come in all shapes and sizes. Russia, Cuba, Venezuela are just a few communist experiments that repress and enslave their people. Hitler, Mussolini and Tojo not only caused repression and terror to their people, but through their lust for power they literally destroyed their countries.
America had slavery, a blot on our history. But men and women fought and died to end that scourge. President Lincoln was assassinated because he signed the Emancipation Proclamation and freed those who were chained by slavery.
The great thing about America is we have been willing, since our beginning, to fight to correct the many terrible mistakes we’ve made. Are we perfect? No. But we’re so much better than any other country I know of. Do we have more work to do to continue toward “a more perfect union?” Of course. But we need to do it together.
We have the right to complain, to speak out and to demonstrate in order to correct our mistakes. We even have the right to elect our leaders and hold them accountable at the ballot box. But after all is said and done, we must understand that we live in the greatest country in history and we must obey the law and honor our country.
We must honor those who died to make America free. We must honor those who fought to preserve the union. We must honor those who saved the nation in our world wars. And even if you disagree with our positions in other wars, we must honor those men and women who had their bodies and minds destroyed and those who died fighting for what was believed at the time.
Did I say we’ve made mistakes? Yes. But after we did we worked and tried to correct those where we have made those mistakes. After the wars and other involvements, our fighting men and women came home and we should always honor them.
Leaders in government may have made the wrong decisions, but not the fighting men and women who carry out the orders and come home maimed or in a casket. We strive for perfection, but we are human. We sometimes fail, but in the end we’re Americans and when it’s over we must realize we are a free nation.
When leaders fail, we can throw them out in the next election, but in the meantime we need to stand tall and be happy we live in a free country. Those who fight for our freedoms must know we’re with them, that we’re behind them on the battlefield and when they come home. One way to do that is to honor our flag that so many of them have died for.
I don’t mind the demonstrators or the spoken or written words opposing our policies, even if I disagree. But when I see people showing disrespect, or destroying the flag that our men and women carry into battle, I get furious.
Nike, though a great company, has shown support for those who oppose our flag, and as such showed disrespect to our fighting men and women, and therefore doesn’t need my business. I’ve used Nike golf balls, used their shoes and even their golf clubs, but no more. If they support those who by their actions oppose America then in my opinion Nike is guilty by association and they get no more from me.
• Dan Burton is a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives.
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