NBCNews.com has a “Think” section larded with left-wing commentary, and they loaded against the new NFL policy that prevents players from kneeling on the field during the national anthem. Former Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe, a cantankerous “social justice warrior,” wrote “On Wednesday, the NFL — in all its buffoonish, antebellum "wisdom" — decided that a league built on a foundation of disposable black bodies needed to officially silence those black players who dared speak up against injustice.”
NBCNews.com also recommended “Why forcing on-field players to stand for anthem is authoritarian,” an AM Joy video.
Like many leftists, Kluwe wants to pretend the flag isn’t a symbol of national pride ("blind nationalism"), it’s a symbol for the “dispossessed” and self-righteous protesters:
The American flag, our flag, is the symbol of the dispossessed; the huddled masses, yearning to be free; the plucky immigrant making it against all expectations; the beaten and weary, offered shelter and succor at last.
The American flag represents the knowledge that you, as a citizen, have every right to protest against your government when you feel it has wronged you, and to expect that wrong to be righted. It is what our military bleeds and dies for. It is emblematic of our right to not be forced to stand and salute, to not have to worship at the altar of blind nationalism, to not be shot dead in the street for the crime of having black skin….
It is quintessentially American to point out that black Americans pay their taxes, vote in elections and send their children off to fight and die in foreign lands, all with the expectation of not being gunned down in their own homeland.
Yet, somewhere along the way, the NFL owners lost sight of this bedrock truth.
Kluwe then turned his rhetorical blunderbuss at the “petty tyrant” in the White House:
Instead of upholding every citizen’s right to kneel, the owners showed their bellies to the orange-hued occupant of the Oval Office and his sycophantic enablers, praying that their prostration would keep the money flowing. Instead of standing up for what's right, they chose to snivel at the feet of a petty tyrant.
The owners of the NFL are cowards.
It is long past time for us to stop catering to the intolerant and bigoted in this country, who are more than happy to call their favorite player’s name on Sunday and then call the cops on him on Monday....
They could have stood up to a bully, looked him square in the eye and said, No. The America you want — a nation of fear and hate and unchecked greed dragging all of us deeper into the muck every day — is not what we’re willing to embrace. (Italics his.)
PS: As a lifelong Green Bay Packers fan, I found the credit line amusing: “Chris Kluwe played in the NFL for the Minnesota Vikings for eight years, during which he set numerous team records.” It doesn’t say he was a punter….and setting team records for punting means what? It means your team’s offense was terrible while you played.
