Can someone tell me what’s wrong with me when I get so darn outraged when I see these highly paid National Football League players disrespecting our unanimously esteemed national anthem; with the latest stunt of sitting on an orange cooler and nibbling on a half-eaten banana during the anthem.
How are we as proud Americans of our nation and all that it stands for, including our soldiers who gave their lives during our wars, for our veterans and for our rights and privileged democracy supposed to respect “their cause” when they view our national pride so dismissively and disdainfully.
Our newest Kaepernick wannabe, is Marshawn Lynch of the Oakland Raiders. Marshawn seems to have forgotten that it is our very hard fought for democracy that gave him the right to protest as he did through our First Amendment of freedom of speech.
I believe we all can justifiably find fault with the way many things are handled in our country and it is incumbent on us as citizens of our democracy to address these injustices if they truly exist by subjecting them to our laws, our courts and the principles of justice available to all of us.
Maybe the answer for this is to give Colin Kaepernick and Marshawn Lynch a government paid extended stay in Russia and North Korea and maybe they would come back being able to see why everyone else in the stadium is standing and respecting our anthem.
Peter Pinette
Woodland
