Murdering Decency

Move on along- there's nothing to see here, no larger issue to consider.

The National Football League's $44 million man has spoken.  He has written in part

Like many of our fans, we believe that everyone should stand for the National Anthem. It is an important moment in our game. We must honor the flag and our country, and our fans expect that of us We also care deeply about or players and respect their opinions and concerns about criticial social issues. We need to move past this controversy, and we want to do that together with our players.

Building on many decisions with clubs and players, we have worked to develop a plan that we will review with you at next week's League meeting.

One Twitterer responded "All black ppl asked is for the cops not to kill us & if they did, that they be held accountable. That's it. And America descended into chaos.

Pushy, pushy. You can't get more arrogant than expecting someone to be held accountable for shooting and killing someone else. Or so it's apparently believed by the Vice President of the United States, who plays Charlie McCarthy to the President's Edgar Bergen.

Mike Pence, you may have noticed, is the stuntman who carried out his plan to fly from Las Vegas to Indianapolis to stay a few minutes at Lucas Oil Stadium, pausing briefly to put his hand over his heart, then flew to Los Angeles for a fundraiser for Republicans, including Putin ally Dana Rohrabacher.While costing the taxpayers several hundred thousand dollars for air fare, security, and related expenses, Pence issued two tweets:

While everyone is entitled to their own opinions, I don't think it's too much to ask NFL players to respect the Flag and our National Anthem.

I stand with @POTUS Trump. I stand with our soldiers, and I will always stand for our Flag and our National Anthem.

So much for the concepts of free speech, honoring soldiers by kneeling, and addressing issues of police and criminal justice reform. Now less than nine months after Donald Trump began his presidency by attacking "American carnage," pro football players are the ones, he and his puppet tell us, who hate America. Getting lectured by Trump (or even Pence) about patriotism is akin to being lectured by Richard Dawkins on the power of religious faith.

After Colin Kaepernick sparked the controversy (exacerbated by President Trump) by sitting on the bench during the Anthem, former NFL player and Green Beret Nate Boyer contacted Kaepernick and

We sorta came to a middle ground where he would take a knee alongside his teammates. Soldiers take a knee in front of a fallen brother’s grave, you know, to show respect. When we’re on a patrol, you know, and we go into a security halt, we take a knee, and we pull security.





Quiet dignity, however, died on December 8 and its life has been scorned and derided by Trump-Pence.  Journalist Ta-Neheisi Coates, who has written extensively and prolifically about racism and discrimination, entitled his recent book "We Were Eight Years In Power." But if- and that's a huge if- there was a significant eight-year break in the power of white supremacy, it has come roaring back with the leadership of Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy.





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