Kneeling

COLIN KAEPERNICK'S genuflections of yore and lore were not, it should be obvious, displays of disrespect of anthem and flag. Give credit to the QB for knowing a rousing beer drinking song when he hears one, one with a tidy set of revised lyrics, suitable for American patriotism, and an attractively decorated piece of rectangular cloth, decorated with tri colored stripes and stars, symbolizing unity of many, purity, courage, and nationhood. Colin Keapernick means no disrespect to flag or anthem. he has nothing against them, for he knelt on neither. Colin Kaepernick intended much more; he intended to express disrespect for a country. Or rather, he intended to express disrespect for a nation whose behavior often merits it, and always has. it is not unpatriotic to disrespect one's nation when the disrespect is merited. One can love one's nation, or one's parents, or one's friends while failing to respect their behavior. Such disrespect still leaves much to love, much to respect. The world advances only because of those who oppose it, said Goethe. All revolutions, American, French, French, Russian, explode into existence through collective anger, accumulated rage. Only when those unaffected by circumstances behave as if they are, to paraphrase Franklin, do revolutions succeed, let alone start. Where law is injustice, resistance is duty, someone said. Only change brings progress, and change often requires more than resistance; it requires revolution.