Oh, You Still Respect “The Flag”?

I saw one of those “I stand” additions to a profile picture and wondered what the best possible interpretation of that could be. I mean, the person is obviously trying to say that unlike those that protest by kneeling during the national anthem they instead chose to…what? By this time anyone with either half a brain or the willingness to listen to the issue realizes that these protest kneelings made most famous by Colin Kaepernick have absolutely nothing, I repeat NOTHING, to do with the military or the sacrifices those people make for this country, right? For many with no other reason to really disagree they hide behind the idea they now firmly believe that somehow “disrespecting the flag” is synonymous with “disrespecting the military.”

This country has come a LONG way since the way it treated Vietnam veterans, which are really the last group of military veterans who received public backlash for being involved in a war. (If I am wrong and there is an instance where this is not true, it is an oversight, not a dig.) But now the pendulum has swung too far the other way. Just like ever single other person on the planet, you can do something good and still not be completely above reproach.

I obviously have a great affinity for those in the military and what they sacrifice. Well, maybe it is not obvious, but I do. I don’t need to list relatives in the military or anything else to prove this. You can either believe it or not. But to say, at this juncture, “I stand”, I can honestly say I have no idea what logical, reasonable argument you have for doing so.

Let’s say that those who are kneeling (which, if you recall why, was to protest, amongst other things, treatment of minorities and was done when a former Green Beret told Colin Kaepernick it was more respectful form of protest than sitting) are somehow incorrect in that there is no mistreatment of minorities. (Seriously big “if” there.) By vehemently declaring you stand, which is the opposite of what the protestors are doing, you are saying that they are wrong in these beliefs and to spite them, you will stand. Instead of trying to figure out how this can be remedied, your response is “Oh yeah! Well, I’m standing to say that every single thing you could possibly be protesting is a-ok.” That slap in the face has nothing to do with loving your country or loving the flag (ignoring the false idols portion of that whole action) and everything to do with just doing the opposite of someone whose main point you misunderstand.

We live in a country where 1/3 don’t believe the Holocaust happened the way it did. We live in a country where one entire political party has become just a few goosesteps away from backing the next genocidal, monomaniacal, dictator all under the guise of remaining in power. Decorum, rule of law, precedent, ethics, morals, and decency have given away to…well…the opposite of that.

Every single day of the previous administration had 14 different people breaking some law, some rule, some treaty, some code that if Obama had done would have fueled the next racist, ignorant three-word chant in some rural red county for weeks. But as they continued to dip their toes in deeper and deeper to see how much more than can getaway with next, and continually get zero pushback from the GOP you have to come to grips with the fact that the days of shame, of mortification, of publicly condemnation, or, most importantly to most of them, the inability to make a buck off of all of this, are coming to an end.

So, cool, you respect some dyed cotton. Maybe think about respecting basic human rights.