AnmilesMom
09-11-2016,
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kapaernick has been widely attacked for his refusal to stand for the US National Anthem in order to protest police brutality against African American men , women and even children(mainly by the so-called "keepers of the patriotic flame" to paraphrase the title of a 1942 film with Spencer Tracy such as Rush Limbaugh, the "dirigible of drivel" who has neither seen combat or even military service), but I think that far from being unpatriotic, he is in fact arguably a better patriot than some of his windbag critics( as past and present veterans of the US armed forces note, see the hashtag #VeteransForKapaernick, now trending on Twitter).
I have long noted(and been deeply disturbed) by the propensity of certain pundits and politicians(in both the US and UK) to adopt an "our boys can do nothing wrong", be they wearing Army khaki or police department blue.
To quote Cardinal Cathal Daly during the NI"Troubles", authority needs to make itself respected and not simply feared- either the armed forces or law enforcement may be the most respected institutions in the country but that does NOT make them infallible or beyond criticism.
"Patriotism" literally means "love of one's country"- what Kapaernick wants is to have a country that is worthy of his love( and like any other form of love it has to be freely given and cannot be coerced).
I have long noted(and been deeply disturbed) by the propensity of certain pundits and politicians(in both the US and UK) to adopt an "our boys can do nothing wrong", be they wearing Army khaki or police department blue.
To quote Cardinal Cathal Daly during the NI"Troubles", authority needs to make itself respected and not simply feared- either the armed forces or law enforcement may be the most respected institutions in the country but that does NOT make them infallible or beyond criticism.
"Patriotism" literally means "love of one's country"- what Kapaernick wants is to have a country that is worthy of his love( and like any other form of love it has to be freely given and cannot be coerced).