Posted on May 31,
2018
Seahawks’ WR Doug Baldwin
“An idiot, plain and simple”
by
Daniel
Clark
The NFL announced its new policy regarding Star-Spangled Banner protests, and as
usual, President Trump became unnecessarily involved. “You have to stand proudly for the national
anthem or you shouldn’t be playing,” he said during a call-in to Fox & Friends “Maybe you shouldn’t be in the country.”
For this, Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Doug Baldwin
called the president “an idiot, plain and simple.” This from the man who was once fined for
pretending to excrete the football in the end zone during the Super Bowl. “There’s no explanation,” Baldwin responded. “You play this game so long, you go out there,
you have fun.” His attempts to justify
the anthem protests are equally thoughtful.
“For
[Trump] to say that anybody who doesn’t follow his viewpoints or his
constituents’ viewpoints should be kicked out of the country” is “not very
American-like,” Baldwin said. Actually,
what’s not very American-like (or “American,” for those of us who speak American)
is demonstrating against the flag and national anthem of the United States of
America. Trump never said that people
who do such a thing should be kicked out of the country, only that maybe they
shouldn’t be here, which is a perfectly fair criticism. If America’s as rotten as liberals say it is,
why don’t they all escape to one of the many socialist paradises they claim to
prefer?
Furthermore, all American citizens, including those of
us who didn’t vote for Trump, are his constituents. That’s the way a representative republic
works. If Baldwin ever has any desire to
become a little more American-like, maybe he’ll learn a thing or two about our
country before popping off next time.
“The demonstrations, the reason why we were even
having the conversation that we were having was because there was a loss of
life,” he said, “and it’s not – again, say what you will – it was never about
disrespecting the flag or the military or anything in that regard.” Whenever a liberal says, “say what you will,”
what he really means is, “contrary to the obvious conclusion one would
naturally draw.” Hence, one must not
conclude that many NFL players are disrespecting the American flag, even though
it’s plain to see that they’re doing exactly that.
Presumably, by “a loss of life,” he’s referring to
police shootings, and not to the violent crime that is almost infinitely more
prevalent. 
If
this is the case, an NFL player is perfectly free to organize a demonstration
at his local police station, at City Hall or the state capitol, or in some
other relevant context. An overzealous,
or even a racist policeman is not a matter of federal policy, so if that’s
really the issue, why should a demonstrator confuse the matter by directing his
protest at the wrong target? It utterly
defeats the purpose of a demonstration if you’re demonstrating a point you
don’t mean to make. When others take your actions at face value instead of
accepting your counterintuitive explanations for them, that’s your fault, not
theirs.
Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, the ringleader of the anthem protests, makes no
effort to hide the fact that he is motivated by his own hatred of America. Last November, Kaepernick
publicly observed “Unthanksgiving Day,” during which
he condemned “American systemic oppression.”
He has since become involved in a pseudo-educational campaign, through
which he is distributing copies of the late Howard Zinn’s infamous pack of lies
entitled, A People’s History of the
United States: 1492-Present.
Of course, the United States did not exist in 1492,
but that hardly matters, when the title already gives away the author’s
rejection of objectivity, in that he’s penning “a” history, instead of just
plain history. Not only that, but it’s
“a people’s history,” deliberately
employing that term the same way as in a “people’s court” (not the TV show),
“enemy of the people,” and “the People’s Republic of China.” Kaepernick is not
offering constructive criticisms of law enforcement; he’s preaching hatred of
America, and has no compunction about lying in order to do it.
Even though liberals refuse to acknowledge us as such,
Americans are a nationality, with as much right to take offense as anybody. When NFL players insult America – or make
lame and dishonest excuses for those who do – they have no business becoming
indignant over the fact that many Americans dislike them for it. Nothing about
that is unfair. Nor is it unreasonable
to suggest that if Doug Baldwin doesn’t appreciate our “American-like” country,
perhaps he should move elsewhere.
The Shinbone: The
Frontier of the Free Press