"You don't like what Kaepernick has to say? Then prove him wrong, BE the nation he can respect."

[kpete]

Jim Wright (Stonekettle)
August 28 at 3:43pm · Pensacola, FL ·

......................

__________

AS A VETERAN, what do I think about Colin Kaepernick's decision to sit during the National Anthem?
As a veteran?

Very well, as a veteran then, this is what I believe:

The very first thing I learned in the military is this: Respect is a two-way street. If you want respect, true respect, sincere respect, then you have to GIVE IT.

If you want respect, you have to do the things necessary to earn it each and every single day. There are no short cuts and no exceptions.

Respect cannot be compelled.

Respect cannot be bought.

Respect cannot be inherited.

Respect cannot be demanded at the muzzle of a gun or by beating it into somebody or by shaming them into it. Can not. You might get what you think is respect, but it's not. It's only the appearance of respect. It's fear, it's groveling, it's not respect. Far, far too many people both in and out of the military, people who should emphatically know better, do not understand this simple fact: there is an enormous difference between fear and respect.

Respect has to be earned.

Respect. Has. To. Be. Earned.

Respect has to be earned every day, by every word, by every action.

It takes a lifetime of words and deeds to earn respect.

It takes only one careless word, one thoughtless action, to lose it.

You have to be worthy of respect. You have to live up to, or at least do your best to live up to, those high ideals -- the ones America supposedly embodies, that shining city on the hill, that exceptional nation we talk about, yes, that one. To earn respect you have to be fair. You have to have courage. You must embrace reason. You have to know when to hold the line and when to compromise. You have to take responsibility and hold yourself accountable. You have to keep your word. You have to give respect, true respect, to get it back.

There are no short cuts. None.

Now, any veteran worth the label should know that. If they don't, then likely they weren't much of a soldier to begin with and you can tell them I said so.

IF Kaepernick doesn't feel his country respects him enough for him to respect it in return, well, then you can't MAKE him respect it.

You can not make him respect it.

If you try to force a man to respect you, you'll only make him respect you less.

With threats, by violence, by shame, you can maybe compel Kaepernick to stand up and put his hand over his heart and force him to be quiet. You might.

But that's not respect.

It's only the illusion of respect.

You might force this man into the illusion of respect. You might. Would you be satisfied then? Would that make you happy? Would that make you respect your nation, the one which forced a man into the illusion of respect, a nation of little clockwork patriots all pretending satisfaction and respect? Is that what you want? If THAT's what matters to you, the illusion of respect, then you're not talking about freedom or liberty. You're not talking about the United States of America. Instead you're talking about every dictatorship from the Nazis to North Korea where people are lined up and MADE to salute with the muzzle of a gun pressed to the back of their necks.

That, that illusion of respect, is not why I wore a uniform.

That's not why I held up my right hand and swore the oath and put my life on the line for my country.

That, that illusion of respect, is not why I am a veteran.

Not so a man should be forced to show respect he doesn't feel.

That's called slavery and I have no respect for that at all.

If Americans want this man to respect America, then first they must respect him.

If America wants the world's respect, it must be worthy of respect.

America must be worthy of respect. Torture, rendition, indefinite detention, unarmed black men shot down in the street every day, poverty, inequality, voter suppression, racism, bigotry in every form, obstructionism, blind patriotism, NONE of those things are worthy of respect from anybody -- least of all an American.

But doesn't it also mean that if Kaepernick wants respect, he must give it first? Give it to America? Be worthy of respect himself? Stand up, shut up, and put his hand over his heart before Old Glory?

No. It doesn't.

Respect doesn't work that way.

Power flows from positive to negative. Electricity flows from greater potential to lesser.

The United States isn't a person, it's a vast construct, a framework of law and order and civilization designed to protect the weak from the ruthless and after more than two centuries of revision and refinement it exists to provide in equal measure for all of us the opportunity for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The United States is POWER.

All the power rests with America. Just as it does in the military chain of command. And like that chain of command, like the electrical circuit described above, respect must flow from greater to lesser FIRST before it can return.

To you the National Anthem means one thing, to Kaepernick it means something else. We are all shaped and defined by our experiences and we see the world through our own eyes. That's freedom. That's liberty. The right to believe differently. The right to protest as you will. The right to demand better. The right to believe your country can BE better, that it can live up to its sacred ideals, and the right to loudly note that it has NOT. The right to use your voice, your actions, to bring attention to the things you believe in. The right to want more for others, freedom, liberty, justice, equality, and RESPECT.

A true veteran might not agree with Colin Kaepernick, but a true veteran would fight to the death to protect his right to say what he believes.

You don't like what Kaepernick has to say? Then prove him wrong, BE the nation he can respect.

It's really just that simple.

https://www.facebook.com/Stonekettle/posts/1084172264951509
http://americannewsx.com/hot-off-the-press/vets-respect-compelled-bought-inherited/

[malthaussen]

1. Yep, love me some Jim Wright.

As the old saying has it, one must command respect, he cannot demand it.

Much ado about nothing, IMO, but every teacup needs its storm.

There is a question of courtesy, but somehow, I don't see the world shifting on its axis because a quarterback was discourteous.

-- Mal

[CanSocDem]

2. There you have it.

Simple answer but still too complicated for the low-brows...


k&r


.

[Taitertots]

3. A great nation that took an abandoned interracial child and raised him to be a multimillionaire

His own life proves his idiocy wrong.

America is worthy of respect.

[ProfessorGAC]

7. By Standing During A Song?

That makes no sense. Apparently, it's not just the right wing that has fully embraced the militaristic parts of our zeitgeist.

[heaven05]

10. it's the god bless america

right or wrong crowd. Personal integrity and right thinking takes a back seat to their patriotic blindness. Period.

[ProfessorGAC]

19. Then We Agree

You put a nice point on it. The sentiment is so nonsensical i couldn't bring myself to say any more than i did. Now that you capped it, i don't need to.

[Skittles]

22. he can do what he wants

but he cannot stop people from thinking he is just an asshole

[ProfessorGAC]

29. Nobody Said Otherwise

I'm one of those that don't think that. You obviously are. I think the whole concept of playing the anthem at a football game is just silliness anyway.

[yuiyoshida]

31. Pssst.. give me the Raiders Quarter back..

Derek Carr, a class act

[Stellar]

32. "Veterans for Kaepernick hashtag blows up as QB receives support"

Colin Kaepernick is being slammed from all angles for protesting the national anthem by refusing to stand when it is played prior to his NFL games. The San Francisco 49ers QB is taking a stand on this matter because he wants to bring attention and change to what he feels is unjust conduct by some police officers towards black people.

Many have called Kaepernick “disrespectful” for his actions and have criticized his decision to protest the anthem. They say he is being particularly disrespectful to the military and other people who protect the country and the flag.

But one funny thing happened on Tuesday: Kaepernick began to receive support from the very people the masses said he was disrespecting. And the support came in the form of a movement on social media “#VeteransforKaepernick.”

As best as we can tell, the hashtag movement began with a Facebook post on Monday:

MORE: LarryBrownSports

[Skittles]

39. people can think what they want

some people think he is an entitled asshole

[Stellar]

41. Why would 'some people' think that. I'm confused.

Can you help me understand that?

[NuclearDem]

49. Because he's a multimillionaire whining about how oppressed people like him are.

It's funny that when you make a blanket, inflammatory statement about an entire country, specifically one that made you a multimillionaire, people who live there are going to be a little pissed off about it.

[Stellar]

52. Even Black multimillionaires like Colin get picked-on by the police too, that's how he knows.

For affluent blacks, wealth doesn't stop racial profiling

http://money.cnn.com/2016/07/14/news/economy/wealthy-blacks-racial-profiling/

But high-earning professional black men say, they too, face challenges when dealing with police -- though sometimes the slights are less violent and more subtle. Wealth "helps, but its not a complete insulator," Sullivan said. "Race is still seen as a proxy for criminality."

Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, one of three black Republicans in Congress, revealed Wednesday that he had been pulled over seven times over the course of one year. "The vast majority of the time, I was pulled over for nothing more than driving a new car in the wrong neighborhood or some other reason just as trivial," he said in a speech on the Senate floor.

In Both Rich Places And Poor Places, Black People Get Killed By Police More

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/6/19/1540556/-In-Both-Rich-Places-And-Poor-Places-Black-People-Get-Killed-By-Police-More

[KMOD]

59. He's a black man who is tired of racial injustice.

There is no logical reason for anyne to be pissed off.

[Glassunion]

69. Your premise is ill informed. He is not whining about how oppressed people like him are.

In fact he has stated otherwise. That he counts himself lucky, and he has a voice. However, his concern is with those who are not lucky, and have no voice.

[heaven05]

8. I even respect

your attempt to distract from the truth this individual is keeping in front of all the good americans. If trumpenfuhrer comes even close to winning in November then I WILL know there are millions out there that don't respect me and wish me dead. I will never stand again for an anthem that truly was penned by a racist bigot that defended slavery passionately as D.A. of early Wash D.C. The unsung stanza about enslaved runaway people of color fighting for their freedom, with the British, is telling to me.

[Taitertots]

16. You think millions of people wish you were dead?

This is an indication of mental problems, not a reasonable interpretation of reality. This isn't a healthy mental state.

[heaven05]

20. of course

you can't adddress realityb you have to go to a place youv feel safe. Nothing wrong with me and maybe only a few million nationwide and I'll say, they couldn't give a damn about any unarmed kid laying in the streetv dead, with a police bullet in their head. Clearer? I doubt it. Nice try at distractiong from the point and trying to diminish me. But I expect nothing more and even less.

[KMOD]

60. Way out of line, and very rude.

You clearly do not understand the systemic racism in this country and how it affects black people.

[Taitertots]

64. It's an reasonable/accurate response to their post

Thinking millions of people want to murder you is a symptom of mental dysfunction. It's unbelievable that this is a matter of contention.

[KMOD]

65. Doubling down, huh.

No it's not reasonable, it's rude.

Have you seen trump rallies? Have you listened to trump supporters? They are clueless about the Black Lives Matter Movement. They reject the racial injustice that is happening. If trump were to be elected, the Black Lives Matter Movement will be ignored, and black men and women will continue to be at risk of injustice and the potential to be the next Eric Garner, Freddie Gray, Walter Scott, etc. will still be there.

What is unbelievable is how you continue to refuse to acknowledge that systemic racism exists, and especially within the justice system.

[Taitertots]

66. That's an interesting and mostly factual post that is a complete non-sequitur

Do you think millions of people want to murder you?
The post you're responding to is about the fear that millions of people want to kill you.

Do you want to discuss the posts you responded to or just post an unrelated diatribe about issues over which we already agree?

[KMOD]

67. Do you have any fear when you or a loved one are pulled over

by the police?

That's what it is referring to. I don't know why you are saying murder, as that word was never used.

If trump wins it will mean that millions of people don't care about racial injustice, and don't care if black people continue to die when encountering police.

[LanternWaste]

9. It's both odd and ironic that when calling him an idiot, you confuse "evidence" with "proof."

It's both odd and ironic that when calling him an idiot, you make the elementary mistake confusing evidence" with "proof."

And to be accurate, two parents adopted him, not a nation, convenient and situational ethics aside...

[LittleDuckie]

18. Thank you!

Finally, someone said the obvious. This guy has led a privileged life & has nothing to whine about. He's an empty-headed attention seeker, not some kind of brave warrior fighting for the allegedly oppressed.

[clarice]

21. uh oh.... was that just common sense I read????!!!!! nt

[JI7]

23. doesn't football cause brain damage ?

[pangaia]

37. "A great nation that took an abandoned interracial child and raised him

to be a multimillionaire."
"View profile
His own life proves his idiocy wrong."

Are you kidding me? Do you have any idea at all what this is about?

There is a brilliant article in THE ATLANTIC.

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/08/kaepernicks-true-sin/498122/

It ends thusly --

Kaepernick’s true sin is his rejection of the faustian bargain offered to black people who reach elite status in America––that their success comes at the price of ceasing to criticize the racism in the system that allowed them to thrive as exceptions. Many Americans would prefer that black elites not remind them of America’s unfulfilled promise that all are created equal, but rather pretend it has already been realized, or be silent about the ways in which it has not. The only thing that would satisfy Kaepernick’s critics is apathy.

But by sitting wordlessly on the bench, Kaepernick has refused to be silent, and is now paying the price.

[Taitertots]

42. You think he is an exception. He is not.

Anyone who made the same choices as Kaepernick would be in the same situation as Kaepernick.

He is just shitting on the country whose lack of racism opened every door needed for him to become a 0.1%er.

[pangaia]

45. Well, we will just have to dsagree.

[LeftyMom]

46. This argument is racist and disrespectful to adoptive families.

[Taitertots]

47. No it isn't. N/t

[NuclearDem]

50. No, it's not.

Kaepernick is interracial. He was abandoned, and his adoptive parents took him in. These are facts.

[KMOD]

58. Black lives are worthy of respect.

[Taitertots]

63. I agree.... N/T

[backscatter712]

70. Kaepernick knows perfectly well he is the exception.

It's obvious to him, and it should be obvious to us.

We do not have a nation full of millions of millionaire black NFL players. If Kaepernick's experience was typical of black men, wouldn't we have millions of NFL quarterbacks raking in the bucks?

We have a nation where millions of black people are forced into poverty, repressed for the crime of being black and poor, treated like animals, and then told to sit down and shut up and appreciate their Freedom(TM). Hell, it took a full-scale war to put an end to the formal practice of treating black people literally as property.

America has not lived up to the ideal.

[Stonepounder]

4. Very well said!

In a quote widely attributed to Voltaire:

"I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."

[jalan48]

5. I have a feeling Kaepernick will be sitting during the National Anthem for a new team soon.

[ProfessorGAC]

6. Thank You. Mr. Wright!

I've been mortified at the reaction to this event and i've seen that unfortunate reaction right here at DU.

[pangaia]

27. It is right here in this thread.

Unbelievable....

[ProfessorGAC]

30. You Said It!

As you said, unbelievable.

[pangaia]

35. I was away for about 12 days, in Norway sailing.

Nothing but wind, the sound of the sea, friends, catching mackerel off the back of the boat and immediately preparing sashimi.....


I come back, have a look in here. And it seems to me that either this place has suddenly become quite a bit more... hummm.. lets say, 'conservative'... than before. Or-- it has been that way since the primaries ended and I just didn't notice.

[Cryptoad]

11. Even with all it problems,,,,

I will stand in respect for a country that allows me to sit if I want to.

[Sunlei]

12. Kaepernick can do what he wants but it's a distraction to his team & an unnecessary lack of respect.

[Glassunion]

14. If he had made a spectical of it, then you might be approaching a point.

However, he quietly sat, not in the middle of the field, but instead at a bench buried in the sidelines.

Why should he stand?

[ripcord]

48. It wasn't a spectacle the first three times he did it

People only noticed when he suited up to play.

[pangaia]

36. Lack of respect for...what?

He is standing up, or rather sitting down, as a quiet protest against the racism that still exists in the US of A.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

13. The real travesty

All these NFL fans have the disposable income and time to support the career of someone who became a millionaire despite his relative mediocrity among his peers.

[Moostache]

15. I am fundamentally opposed to very little...I loathe fundamentalism in ALL its guises, but

in this case, I stand or rather I sit with Kaepernick.

The absolute right of freedom of speech is clearly meant to protect citizens from the government's attempts to silence or intimidate or imprison them for dissent. In that regards, the oh-so-offended members of law enforcement, the one's whose itty-bitty feelings are hurt when they are greeted with anything short of instant fealty and endless praise - NOT ALL COPS MIND YOU!!! Just the grandstanding idiots who play to the authoritarian reptile brain crowd of police worshippers - attempts to silence expression or dissent or protest is utterly odious and not deserving of respect.

Who do I respect?

Simple, the cop who is on the beat day-in and day-out and doing his job while trying to work WITH the community he SERVES, NOT the assholes who demand instant obedience or they go to force, yet has the courage to stand up and say what is right and obvious to any rational person - SOME PEOPLE ARE NOT FIT TO EVER BE POLICE, AND YET TOO MANY OF THEM ARE STILL ON FORCES TODAY!

NOT the guy who shows up at an 84 year old woman's house and uses force (pepper spray) on her.
http://abc7.com/news/video-police-pepper-spray-84-year-old-woman-in-oklahoma/1490033/

NOT the cops who showed up and executed Tamir Rice in 4 seconds.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2014/nov/26/cleveland-video-tamir-rice-shooting-police

NOT the cops who shoot a fleeing man in the back AND THEN try to plant evidence at the scene while blatantly contaminating the crime scene in the process.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2015/apr/08/us-police-fatal-shooting-south-carolina-phone-footage-viral-video

There are so many more cases that DON'T get on the news or that I am not going to link to here to ignore this problem. The attacks against Black Lives Matter and the attempts to rebrand them as "domestic terrorists" by the Faux Noise crowd and the Trumpster Fire himself are simply further proof that the issue is real and that there is a significant portion of the population (mainly older white people like myself...the over 40, white males that so often are discussed these days in context of the overt racism that some are resorting to now) that simply wants to believe untruths because the truth is painful to confront.

There is horrifying systemic racism throughout the criminal justice system. From the street cops to the district attorneys to the private prisons to the appellate courts and all the way to the SCOTUS itself. Denial of the problem and failure to confront it is not working. People are dying and injustice anywhere truly IS injustice everywhere.

So, to shine light on the issue...to take heat on one's self in service of others with less access to media coverage, with less of a platform to draw attention is in my estimation a profound service from Colin Kaepernick. At great personal loss (his endorsement future died with this decision) and at great threat to his personal safety (the death threats and crazies are really ginned up about this), a young man whom I was not particularly fond of as a player, has earned my respect and made it front and center in our national discussion once more. It is going to take the courage of 1,000's of Kaepernicks though to truly move the discussion into action and the action into change.

Kudos, Colin...I was never a fan of yours before, but I sit with you on this issue and applaud your efforts to do more that offer platitudes and fake respect to people who have not all earned what they seek without exceptions.

[CanSocDem]

17. Excellent. My hat is off to you. n/t

[JanMichael]

24. I have turned a corner on CK as well. Will be an open supporter now. nt

[Stellar]

33. Don't forget the Vet's that are coming to support him!

http://www.oregonlive.com/articles/19197132/veterans_stand_up_for_colin_kaepernick_veteransforkaepernick.amp

Veterans stand up for Colin Kaepernick's national anthem protest

[Duval]

25. Wish I could rec this 1000 times.

kpete, you have a knack of looking at a situation and delivering a rational, reasonable response. I've always thought so.

[magicnpoetry]

26. Michael Jordan And Tiger Woods

It seem to me high profile are often criticized for not using their platforms to illuminate social injustice. When someone actually does, the response shows why there was hesitation to begin with. I find the freedom lovers the most ironic on this. They want freedom that can be gotten by guns in hypothetical tyranny, but they don't want you to use your First Amendment rights for what they were designed for, protest speech...

[Travis_0004]

28. Honestly, I don't care

There is a high probably he will soon be sitting on his couch at home when the 49ers play the national anthem.

He's not playing well enough to be a distraction to his team. Just cut him and move on.

[Stellar]

40. No empathy at all...

You don't give a fug as long as it doesn't involve you and your family, just get the game on? Sad...just sad, don't give a fug about humanity - JUST THE GAME. smdh!

[Travis_0004]

43. I want him cut because there arw better options

Thats how sports works. Put up or shutup.

The 49ers have better options at QB for less money.

[Stellar]

44. So, this is just about football (the game) with you and not about this thread...Or is it.

Title thread: "You don't like what Kaepernick has to say? Then prove him wrong, BE the nation he can respect."

Never mind I have my answer.

[Stellar]

34. hear, hear!

http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/31/us/veterans-for-kaepernick-trnd/index.html

#VeteransForKaepernick trends as vets defend NFL player

[TipTok]

38. Meh...

You can't please everyone. Especially the hyper sensitive...

I'll work on earning respect from those I think deserve it.

[NuclearDem]

51. There's no winning with them, anyway.

Give them an inch, and they'll call you a racist and a misogynist because you didn't give them a lightyear.

[KMOD]

61. Wanting equal justice and treatment in the eyes of the law is not being

hyper sensitive.

[StevieM]

53. If Colin want to be shown respect then he should show respect to his first (birth) mother. (eom)

[Stellar]

54. You mean the mother that gave him away at six week old even though his grandparents wanted him,

she still gave him away. So now that he's being paid - she's back?

[StevieM]

55. She succumbed to the relentless efforts of the adoption industry. And she has been pained by it

ever since. It devastated her for years. And she still carries the pain.

Ironically, after Colin's rejection of her she once again returned to the talking points of the adoption industry about her proper role. They destroyed people and then tell them how to go about surviving the destruction.

[Stellar]

56. link...

[TipTok]

57. I honestly don't know what you are talking about...

I thought there is a high demand for young, white healthy babies.

I was also under the impression there was significantly less of a 'market' for babies and children of color.

Yes? No?

[StevieM]

62. Excellent question and I am glad that you asked it.

It is absolutely true that babies are priced based on race and ethnicity. And babies of color are cheaper to adopt than white babies.

But all available children are coveted, to some degree or another. There is also a tremendous market for minority children.

[TheSarcastinator]

68. are you a fishmonger?

'Cuz that is one stinky, rotting red herring you just tossed out.