Freedom's just another word for...

In America, we get bent out of shape when people destroy things in protests. We also get bent out of shape when people protest silently. Which one is it, America? Would we rather Colin Kaepernick set things on fire in protest, scream and give the middle finger during the national anthem, or sit down silently in protest? Or would we rather no one ever say anything that paints us in a bad light?

Personally, my vote is for sit down silently in protest. There's no honor in staying silent about things that matter. With silent, peaceful protest, there's no destruction of property (an illegal and asshole move even during protest) and no disrespect (legal during protest but off-putting), there's just taking a stand and he is getting fucking roasted for it because the Internet is a hotbed of hate and we absolutely love to label people as anti-American.

Unfortunately for the rabid Internet dwellers, peaceful protest against your government or its entities and what you think they represent is very, very American.

When members of America's armed forces defend those first amendment rights we hold so dear, they do so for ALL of us. Not just those of us with the most popular opinions. Are you guys familiar with blogger and veteran Jim Wright? He is an awesome writer, so you should check his blog out here, but also check out his thoughts on Kaepernick here.

Look, I hate the Westboro Baptist Church and the KKK and everything both of those shitbag hatefucker groups stand for, but I absolutely support their right to speak freely and to peaceably assemble, even though their speech and assembly are in utter opposition to every fiber of my being. I may not like what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it.

Of course this issue is not technically about anyone infringing on Kaepernick's freedom of speech because the lynch mob coming after him is not the government, but his fellow citizens. We don't want our government to infringe upon our freedoms but we will gladly dance all over each other's. That's not really how it's supposed to work. 

What I feel for America is an innate love that comes from deep in my bones. I truly believe the quote that goes something like there is nothing that is wrong with America that can't be fixed by what is right with America. Even when something shameful happens here - and there have been many shameful things that have happened here - I still have an intense love of this country.

And I love that other people feel so strongly about what happens here that they take to the streets or in this case, the bench, to let their feelings be known. In the past few years, it has become the very pseudo intellectual/faux patriotic/snide smug superior person thing to do to hate on protesters. We have opinions on how they protest and where they choose to protest. If we're with them, we support them. If we're not, we bitch about them wasting time and resources.

We'd all do well to remember that we would be sipping tea, celebrating Boxing Day, and singing God Save the Queen if some guys sat on their asses instead of protesting back in the 1700s. This country was birthed out of the vagina of a protest and it's one of the only way changes have occurred throughout the years. Protesting is as American as apple pie.

It takes guts to take a stand against something that is largely accepted by your fellow citizens. This man sat down because America is not that great to him right now, and we hate him for it. But many of us love Donald Trump who has stood at podiums across this 

land saying that America is not that great to him right now, but he'll make it great again. Are we okay with that because he stands during the National Anthem?

The thing about love of country is that we all show it differently. I don't put my hand over my heart during the anthem, something quite a few have come under fire for in recent years, but I would wrestle you to the ground if you accused me of not loving and respecting my country. Pointing out problems we face as a nation, whether you do it at a podium, on a football field, on the street, in writing, in a crowd, or by yourself does not make you un-American.

You know where you have to grit your teeth and act like you love and respect your anthem even if you don't feel like it represents your ideals for your government and your country? Nazi Germany. Nothing perks up your civic pride like being watched during the anthem with rifles pointed in your general direction. In America, you don't have to pretend. Well, technically you don't have to but the Internet wants you to. It seems like a lot of us want everyone to fall in line, and we want to scream and call out and label and cart off those that don't. Sort of like a technology age version of the Secret Police.

Why would I want someone to stand with me during my anthem if they didn't feel like it represented them? I don't want to stand next to pretenders who look the part but have hate in their heart for this land or the roads we're travelling down. I definitely want everyone to love my country like I do, but I know that we do not all come from the same circumstances and that it might be harder for others to salute this flag and sing this anthem. Group Think does not become you, America. That's not what this country is about. It's the anithesis of what we're about.

I think it is extremely disrespectful to talk or be on your phone during the national anthem. I've seen both more times than I can count and I'm betting many people bitching about Kaepernick have done one of those two things. In my eyes, you might as well be sitting down. Good thing you're not famous, right?

I respect Kaepernick's right to sit during the anthem for what it does not represent to him at this time as much as I respect my own right to stand and be moved to tears by what it represents to me. His protest does not threaten me. It doesn't threaten you either. It doesn't make him un-American. It makes him someone who thinks differently than you do and expresses himself differently than you do. And in America, those things are not a crime.

Not yet, anyway.