When Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the playing of the National Anthem I believed that was wrong to do so because the flag deserved our respect and the flag represented our nation. Prior to him and a handful of others doing so I had never heard of him.
When Trump went to the draft board with a fake (his favorite word) letter from a podiatrist attesting to an injury that did not exist I believed that was wrong to do so because those who serve in the military represent our nation and a deceitful action to avoid doing so is wrong.
I am left with weighing the balance when considering the action of Kaepernick when compared to that of Trump. Whose disrespect of the flag is greater – one who kneels when the National Anthem is played; or one who concocts a lie to avoid doing his obligation to a nation
First, I ask what was the purpose behind the action? Was it done to benefit oneself or to benefit others? Was it noble or disnoble? Was it done in the full light of day or under the cover of darkness? Was it done with the knowledge there may be serious consequences to it or knowing that none would follow?
Kaepernick’s action was open, noble, unselfish, purposefully done for the benefit of others, in the face of dire consequences.
Trump’s action was hidden, craven, selfish, done for himself, with no consequences.
Thus Trump’s disrespect for America was a many times worse than Kaepernick’s when considered in that light.
Second, I ask did the action adversely affect another. Kaepernick did not directly or indirectly affect anyone else. Trump’s action may have led to the death of another who because of Trump’s villainous behavior was destined to be taken into the.military and sent to Vietnam to die in combat.
No matter how you twist or turn it Trump’s action defamed and showed the lack of respect for our nation and the flag many times worse than Kaepernick’s.
We would not even be considering this except that Trump has brought it back up. Why? Does he think we forgot about what he did? Or is it he knows that no matter how much worse his actions were his folk will try to point the finger at others to hide them?
I said at the time I believed Kaepernick was wrong. Then the more I thought of it I realized I was wrong to think that way. His action was magnificent. He hurt no one. He profoundly expressed his belief that African-Americans were treated wrongly in America by whites. That the American flag did not deserve his respect until America changed. He did it knowing white America would see that he suffered for expressing his personal belief in such a public arena.
He did suffer. The white team owners like the overseers on the slavery plantation drove him from their fields and ensured he could not exercise his trade again. His fellow brethren stood by silently complicit in the team holders actions thus betraying him.
Kaepernick has suffered since. The NFL owners and players are now recognizing Kaepernick’s cry for help while the Great Hypocrite Trump attacks them as he did before. Had we listened to Kaepernick before perhaps Floyd George’s death may not have occurred. Is this another death we lie at Trump’s feet?
wa-llahi! I’m addicted to Gunsmoke, especially, the early episodes, those shot before 1960.
Comedy Central is making time available for Glorious Leader’s speech on race relations. Trump, and, Stephen Bormann, are concocting an excuse for the sad state of relations in this country.
Now that fascism has resurfaced in the news, some of you folks might want to refresh your understanding of the term. Fascism isn’t just a political ideology, it also imposes a peculiar economic state. It establishes a neo-feudal court that bestows wealth and power on individuals at the discretion of the autocrat. Sound familiar?
wa-llahi! Bill, Kap graduated from the University of Nevada with a four year degree. Where did you earn your BA/BS?
As far as the VN War goes, do you have the medals and ribbons to back up your goofy bullshit? You have no idea about what went down in those days.
Bill, why do have all these weird ideas about VN? Were you there? Have you ever been in the military? If you had had those experiences, I don’t think you’d write the things you do.
Kha Lid. just engages in name calling. The definition of a Racist is a person who wins an argument with a liberal. So they just call him a name.
Did you ever see any Blacks mistreated in Norfolk County? Any racist Police? This is the third time I’ve asked for names of racist cops. Whereas you haven’t provided any I assume there are none. Blacks stay in America because they know it is superior to all other countries.
Would the cops killed in Texas, Louisiana and elsewhere five years ago be alive if Obama weren’t a cop basher and race baiter? See Ferguson and Baltimore. Would Dorn and Underwood two Black cops be alive today if Antifa and BLM hadn’t run their smear campaign against the Police? Where are the racists cops? Any in Norfolf County? Obama couldn’t even stand up to the Cambridge Police. He was weak. Putin saw it and seized Crimea and started the conflict in Donbass. Obama’s response was to send non lethal support ( blankets) Trump sent anti tank missles. 2. The entire claim that Blacks are mistreated in America is bogus.America isn’t racist and neither are the cops. How many Blacks leave America every year? None or a few. Millions are trying to get in. It is the land of opportunity. It is the best country with the best cops in the world and the critics are clueless. Nothing is perfect in this world but what country is better?
As usual you miss the point. I asked who disrespected Ameria more? You ran away from that a mile.
Further your post seems to indicate you think blacks are different. Why should blacks leave America? Isn’t it their country as much as whites. As for them not being mistreated, you have to be kidding.
MTC, as usual you miss the counterpoint.
Institutional racism was ended with the Civil Rights Acts of the 1960s. Later, discrimination based on sex was made illegal, too.
Government Agencies, Businesses, Unincorporated Associations (YMCAs, Schools, Churches) are prohibited from discriminating based on race or sex.
NC’s question hits your Kaepernick analogy right in the chest, and you have fumbled NC’s well thrown ball. Since there is no lawful discrimination in America, why is Kaepernick refusing to respect and honor the American Flag . . .the flag of the Country that banned discrimination across the board?.
Kaepernick is demanding EQUALITY OF OUTCOME; it is an illusion. It cannot be legislated. All that can be legislated is equal treatment, equal application of the laws, equal opportunity, fairness. Affirmative Action we tried for twenty years or so; it may have had some good remedial affects; but the Supreme Court said while schools and others may take race into consideration in admissions, it cannot make admissions decisions based solely on race. The Supreme Court basically abolished Affirmative Action in favor or more race neutral decision making; that is, color blind decision making, that is Martin Luther King’s dream that we judge persons by the content of their character not the color of their skin.
CONSIDER THE REST OF THE POST FROM “LOCKDOWNED MAN” who has nothing better to do but OPINE. I like my ideas. Some don’t. So what?
There’s no discrimination in Government, Federal, State, Local, in the Military (some leftist Admiral complained that there currently were no black four star generals; That proves nothing as Colin Powell, a black, was the highest ranking man in the military, blacks are generals in charge of many departments and contingents, for example a black general is in charge of all Special Forces, and blacks occupy every rank in the Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force. We’ve seen Doctor Adams frequently on television these last few months as he is the Surgeon General of the United States Public Health Service, the PHS being one of the seven uniformed branches of the services.
Someone said there’s only one black on the U.S. Supreme Court: blacks are only 10 or 12 percent of the American people; making sure that 10% of every position is occupied by a black IS NOT A COLOR BLIND SOCIETY . . .IT IS AN AFFIRMATIVE ACTION SOCIETY . . . .blacks are over-represented in Sports, in Music, and perhaps in other professions (social workers, public health personnel) . . .Jews may be overrepresented in certain professions . . .Germans in others . . .Asians in others . . .none of that means racism or discrimination . . .sometimes it means talent and interest, certain fields are more attractive to certain ethnic groups for sundry reasons (psychological, historical, sociologic). . .
You see, why Matt can’t name the racist lawyers, judges, clerks, probation officers and cops he’s worked with over the years, is because they either don’t exist or they are so few and far between, so inconsequential that they’re not worth mentioning . . .
There’s a small percentage of liberals and a small percentage of conservatives who have hatred in their hearts, and that hatred may manifest itself as racism or sexism . . .Khalid, who posts on these pages, manifests a hatred of whites . . .he’s expressed that hatred . . . .he thinks that it is O,K. to hate white people, to hate his fellow man, to call for their killing . . . he wants to get even with whites because he thinks he’s been persecuted or unfairly treated by some white people
Newsflash: I too have been unfairly treated by some white people, but I don’t engage in GROUP THINK, GROUP BLAME . . .
The term to become familiar with is PAROCHIALISM . . . .people living in tight knit neighborhoods can become clannish . . .everyone outside the neighborhood is treated as “less than” . . .so Brooklynites or Beacon Hillers or Back Bayers or Roxburyites or Charlestowners or Presbyterians from Medfield or Westfield, for examples, may stick together and look down upon everyone else . . .most folks as they age and move out of the neighborhood or away from the local church for work, school, the military, etcetera, become less Parochial, and more receptive to differences . . .we all cheered for the local high school teams, but as we aged we began to cheer for all the high schools . . .we certainly did not discriminate against folks based on their high schools or neighborhoods or other group identities (of course, if you want to hire or admit an art student, you probably look first to Walnut Hill; and we know some high schools are better academically than others; the Poor Schools are a function of close minded teacher unions who oppose school choice, and the role that parents, neighbors have in insisting on improved schools is something everyone in America can address and redress; the role that single parents play, that drugs and crime in a community play, are factors also to be addresse. I’ve referenced before the book Well by Sandro Gallo, B.U, Dean of Public Health. Many factors contribute to disparate outcomes in education and in health. The Welfare State is a major contributing factor; it is a leftist-liberal creation.
Surely there is work to be done along many fronts. But “systemic racism” is not an explanation, is not a reality. Again, folks confuse equality of outcomes with equality of opportunities. I finger Systemic Liberalism as a major contributing factor to social dislocation, public health disparities and educational disparities.
As NC has said, there may be individual haters out there scattered among all neighborhoods and all classes and all ethnic groups and all racial groups, but there is no systemic hatred, systemic racism, systemic sexism in America . . It is a myth . . . .a convenient myth for leftists to advance their liberal socio-political agendas.
There is systemic liberalism that infects a large part of America (perhaps 30%), that believes America is a bad country, that we need more government, a bigger Welfare State, that Whites need to apologize for helping to create the greatest country in human history . . .Group Think and Group Guilt typify Leftists’ thinking . . . .Gratitude for all the blessings of liberty conferred on all the American people by the concerted efforts of all the American people throughout its history . . .by Whites, Blacks, Browns, Yellows, Redmen . . .by every race, religion, ethnic group . . .by the good people . . .Gratitude is replaced by Griping in leftist-liberal circles . . .all people should be grateful for the blessings of modern medicine, modern telecommunications, modern engineering, modern housing, modern food processing, modern farming, modern aviation, modern small businesses etcetera . . . we have all been the beneficiaries of our nation’s advances . . .
Are there defects in our systems, is there room for improvement? Yes. Certainly we’ve seem defects in systems of justice? Mainly because of power abusing corrupt individuals, like the power abusing corrupt federal prosecutor, the Jihadi Javert Fred Wyshak. There are individuals who abuse and misuse power. Police brutality is an abuse of power. Politicians who become filthy rich in office and use their office to benefit family and friends can be rightfully criticize. But these are individual abuses, not systemic.
There is no systemic racism. There is systemic equal opportunity. It’s the law.
I repeat: Read Thomas Sowell’s Ethnic America and Cosmic Equality and all his essays and articles. Read Shelby Steele. Read the great freedom loving pro-American conservative writers out there. You do understand that many brilliant people disavow liberalism?
Stop listening to the those who do nothing but engage in name-calling, finger-pointing, character assassination, mud-slinging. The holier than thou crowd. The prophets of doom and gloom.
Listen to the optimists, the hopeful, the hard working, the faithful, the loyal, the patriotic . . .turn a deaf ear to the merchants of fear, the hate-mongers, the malcontents . . . .open your hearts and minds to the new day dawning
wa-lahi! NC, do you don Klan robes before you type these ridiculous racist screeds? It’s hard to determine who’s the bigger imbecile you, or, Bill. I’d say it’s neck-and -neck, except for Bill’s typing trip. He’s got a slight edge because of the sheer volume of his silliness.
Once again, Khalid, you resort to name-calling.
Matt:
Colin Kaepernick’s kneeling is rightfully condemned as is his ignorance-based hatred of the Betsy Ross flag, the original flag of the 13 rebelling colonies, whose courageous fight brought the USA as a country and the Constitution as our framework into existence. Recall that it was Kaepernick, a multi-million dollar poster-boy and adviser to Nike, who persuaded Nike to remove the flag with 13 stars and 13 stripes from their sneakers and advertising. Kaepernick called our country’s first unifying battle flag, our Nation’s first flag, a symbol of OPPRESSION, didn’t he? He is a historical ignoramus, or at least a historical revisionist; he makes millions defaming America and the American flags so many have sacrificed to defend.
Kaepernick is a poorly educated race-baiter. Too bad Nike holds him and his anti-American biases in high regard. Nike made a cold-cash bet that supporting Kaepernick and kowtowing to him would increase their sales, and it did. Too bad!
2. Once again, your illogic is towering. You seem to argue that if only the NFL kowtowed to Kaepernick, there would have been no killing of Floyd George. This is analogous to those who have argued that the flap of a butterfly’s wings in the Amazon may have caused Hurricane Katrina. Far fetched. Way out!
3. Of course, with your background in medicine and orthopedics, you have surely scrupulously reviewed the contemporaneous notes of Trump’s Military Doctor’s and Personal Physician’s Physical Exams and seen among those notes the doctors’ handwritten statement that Donald Trump did not have bone spurs.
4. If a doctor, after conducting a physical exam, concluded in writing that you had high blood pressure or flat feet or an anxiety disorder making you unfit for military service, you as a young man would of course have overruled that doctor’s decision and pleaded with your local Draft Board to draft you anyway. Also, I am quite sure that Draft Boards did not routinely reject physicians’ expert opinions, and draft guys anyway during the Vietnam War years.
5. What would you have advised young men circa 1968-1970 who were diagnosed with bone spurs, high blood pressure, flat feet, high blood sugar, or other physical or mental health disorders to do? Who the hell wanted to be drafted into what many considered an immoral war, anyway? What’s your evidence that Donald Trump asked or persuaded his personal physician or the military doctor who gave him his physical fitness examination to write and file a false report with the Draft Board?
6. Do you label all men who were classified ineligible for the draft COWARDS, CRAVENS, SELFISH, or only Donald Trump?
7. Who made the Draft Rules during the Vietnam War? Congress, the Military, or young persons Donald Trump’s age?
Some Facts: From a Michigan University web site. “During the Vietnam War era, between 1964 and 1973, the U.S. military drafted 2.2 million American men out of an eligible pool of 27 million.(Where all those other 25 million not drafted “cravens”, “selfish”?) Although only 25 percent of the military force in the combat zones were draftees, the system of conscription caused many young American men to volunteer for the armed forces in order to have more of a choice of which division in the military they would serve. (Many volunteers joined the National Guard; were they all “cravens” and ”selfish” . . . On December 1, 1969, the first draft lottery since 1942 began, but college deferments were kept intact. . . . The draft received even more resistance as dissenters became more frustrated with the system. Finally, Nixon ended the draft in January 1973, but by then the war was almost over.
FACTS ON TRUMP DEFERMENTS (FIRSTLY, EVERY AMERICAN IN COLLEGE RECEIVED A 2S DEFERMENT for up to four years or more. Certain graduate schools, Medicine for example, received an additional four years. No one I know who enrolled in Pre-Med and busted his hump for four years in college and four more years in medical school did so to avoid the draft. Moreover, once they got their MD or DDS degrees, they were eligible to be drafted as doctors or dentists and many were. Friends I know volunteered to serve in the Army, Navy and Air Force Medical corps. Sue Larsen volunteered in early 1970s to be a flight surgeon and Joe DiFinizio volunteered to work at Walter Reed as an Army Doctor in the early 1970s.)
“1968:
Trump received his fourth and final college deferment on 16 January 1968. After graduating from Wharton, he was reclassified 1-A on 9 July 1968. Trump underwent an Armed Forces physical examination (with a result listed only as “DISQ”) on 19 September 1968 and was reclassified 1-Y (qualified for service only in time of war or national emergency) on 15 October 1968. (1-Y was for bone spurs in both heels.)
“While attending the University of Pennsylvania’s prestigious Wharton School of Finance, Mr. Trump received a minor medical deferment for bone spurs on both heels of his feet. The medical deferment was expected to be short-term and he was therefore entered in the military draft lottery, where he received an extremely high number, 356 out of 365. (N.B.: I got 303; one of my brothers got @170; Uncle Sam only drafted from about the first one-hundred numbers.)On 17 February 1972 Trump was reclassified 4-F (not qualified for military service), presumably because the 1-Y classification had been abolished in 1971.
So by December 1969, Trump’s high number in the lottery excluded him from the draft. He was one of 20 million plus so excluded. Moreover, his underlying bone spurs would have kept him deferred anyway. I know folks who were declared 1-Y for high blood pressure, but on a subsequent physical were reclassified 1-A, eligible for the draft. However, they drew a high number on the draft lottery, and were never drafted.
Matt, how many famous people eligible for the draft were not drafted and how many famous people were declared 1-Y or 4-F after a physical exam during the Vietnam War Years? Were they all “cravens”? What about those former military personnel who failed to re-enlist during the Vietnam War years? Were they all cravens, too?
President Trump was one of twenty-five million or more young men who were not drafted.
Kaepernick was one of a handful who volunteered to disgrace the National Anthem and to continue to disgrace the American Flag while raking in millions of dollars from Nike. Like Benedict Arnold, Colin Kaepernick was paid richly for his disservice and dishonoring of the American Flag. Want to sincerely protest? Protest after the game or before the game. Burn the flag in protest, if you want, the Supreme Court has declared that a “free speech exercise”, but so too it is a free speech exercise to condemn those who burn the flag or dishonor it.
We condemn Colin Kaepernick for stealing the limelight from the flag and National Anthem where it properly belongs, and for shamelessly shining it upon himself.
Matt, thank you continuously for giving me and others the opportunity to express our opposing viewpoints on your blog.
As usual you miss the point. I asked who disrespected Ameria more? You ran away from that a mile.
Further your post seems to indicate you think blacks are different. Why should blacks leave America? Isn’t it their country as much as whites. As for them not being mistreated, you have to be kidding.
Trump never had bone spurs. The pediatrician who sent the letter never examined him. He didn’t know what foot they were on when asked. Do my analysis and you’ll see Trump is deserving of censure for his act.
I do not talk of those with legitimate medical reasons. Only those who fraudulently avoid serving like Trump. As to whether there are good or bad wars play no part in a cowardly decision. If Trump objected to it he had other resources than fake injuries.
If you were African American would you think the flag that represented the nation at that time that enslaved people like you was an oppressor’s flag? Do you have any idea of the black experience with slavery or Jim Crow or separate but equal or the refusal of the national government to outlaw hangings and allow KKK marches in its capital. Perhaps if you walked in the shoes of one you would understand more.
Once again, Billy is a bigot. No compromise. No problem. It is the total lack of understanding in the minds of these bigots that pisses me off. I don’t care if they are bigots. Like I said, I am one. We all have some of it. Now Billy will reply and within five sentences he will run amok and prove he is not by listing every woman he ever dated and every ethnicity of the guy he was covering in a BNBL game and put another grammatical 17 car pileup onto the blog that has absolutely nothing to do with your question. Ridiculous.
I hope Kap gets a second chance in the pros. He more than deserves it, and, I think he’s still got a Super Bowl in him. If he took a lackluster team to the top, it would be the comeback story of all time. In terms of magnitude of conscience he ranks up there with Muhammad Ali, another guy who sacrificed his career for his beliefs. Bravo alek, Kap, and, Ali.
I always liked Cassius Clay and Mohammed Ali. Ali’s grandmother was Irish.
My favorite boxers, in this order, were Roberto Duran, Marvin Hagler, and Vinny Pazienza, the Pazmanian Devil. I shook hands with Vinny. I went ot many of Marvin’s fights, and my niece met Marvin at a club downtown and said he was a real gentleman . . .a class act . . .I have a picture of me shaking Tommy Hearns’ hand (the Hitman was another favorite) and in the background of the picture is Roberto Duran.
I learned recently that John L. Sullivan, world heavy weight champion, attended Boston College, and also attending Boston College and playing together on the B.C. football team was Rocky Marciano’s nephew and Joe DeNucci’s son. What a privilege to have known all these great athletes.
Rocky Marciano, the only undefeated heavyweight champion in history, was supposed to have attended the Sports Night at B.C. High when we, freshmen and sophomores on the BC High Boxing Team were supposed to be sparring. He was unable to attend at the last moment.
Anyway, my godson and nephew, who sparred in Somerville, told me of that great soon to be heavyweigh champion Johnny Ruiz originally from Chelsea, and our friend and doorman at the Bulldog’s Lounge in Savin Hill was the former heavyweight contender, Tommy McNeely,
So, yes, all those boxers make us think of what a great multi ethnic, multi racial country we are blessed with . . . .God Bless America, land that we love
HOnest ABe, one again you resort to name-calling. A typical liberal tact. No matter how many times you say that I stink, your aspersions do not change a single solitary fact on the ground.
Today’s Liberalism is anathema to true American values.
An excellent retort, Bill. Name calling. Really? So you absolutely do not read your own posts. High crimes and misdemeanors. Name calling.
So tell us, is your post on boxing validation that you don’t have a racist bone in your bod? You’re not a racist,Billy. We know that.
On a serious note, what’s your favorite TV show or shows?
The picture you paint of Savin Hill above the biases of the rest of the world is pure hooey, and you know it. How many times did you hear the word nigger in discussion on busing?
The objectivity of the Selective Service System is another delusion. The privileged, connected and elites skated. An example is when I asked you, when Secretary of Defense Mel Laird’s kid was four F because of an excess
of uric acid in his blood, how bad is that-medically, you looked at the number and said “Hutch, with that reading, if you were going to live to 100, you’ll only get to 95”.
No Senator’s kid, no Congressman’s kid etc. You cannot be serious when you extol the even handedness of the draft.
It wasn’t the protests that stopped the war; it was the fact that Dorchester, Southie, Charleston etc. were depleted and Biff up at the country club and CHaney et al were going over. (Chaney explained that “VietNam was not a priority for him at that period of his life.” Mummy and Daddy got on the phone and instructed the power people that maybe this war was not a good idea.
Kapernick is a poorly educated race-baiter? As opposed to who? You? What’s your academic experience? What degrees did you earn?
You mean, “as opposed to whom?”