[anothersteve]

Originally Posted by ColdNoMore

That line was added to the pledge in 1954, 62 years AFTER... the Pledge of Allegiance was written.

OK, I'll bite......so?
Steve

[Northwoods]

Originally Posted by BS Beef

What is he apologizing for?

What professional athlete has done more for a city (any city, any sport) through their acts or financially?
I'll wait.....

JJ Watt. He started with $100,000 of his own money and ended up raising a record $41.6 million for Hurricane Harvey recovery efforts. The crowd-sourced fundraising campaign has become the largest of its kind.

He doesn't live in Houston, he lives in a small town in WI. But he plays for the Houston Texans. He's a wonderful person. I have so much respect for him.

[Marvic 1]

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby

The flag is a SYMBOL representing "with liberty, and justice for all." That is what the flag means, in our country. If there is no liberty and justice for all, then the flag's meaning is obscured, and it is actually DISrespectful to stand for it, until liberty, and justice for all is restored.

Their is Liberty and Justice for ALL, just that their is a percentage in ALL ethnic groups that don't care for one another and that can not be changed at this time...
Maybe 50 years from now when everyone is basically equally educated, have fathers in the home, dignity and respect then things might look up for the better...

.......... ALL LIVES MATTER ..........

[Bob in Fishers]

Nothing to apologize for

[Miguel 1952]

Originally Posted by Stuart Zaikov

Our flag is sacred and should never be disrespected in any manner at all.

Other ways to protest.

Many ways to protest, kneeling for our National Anthem is a disgrace and I will never condone it. I will not apologize for feeling this way.

[DrBrutyle109]

Typical. You only have the right to say something if your on the same side as the people who are complaining. Even if you both sides have a point

[Heyitsrick]

Originally Posted by JimJohnson

I disagree. I’m a 22 year Army Veteran and have great respect for what Kaepernick did. He had a large audience to bring an incredibly important issue to the forefront. God Bless Kaepernick.

I'm a four-year honorably discharged Vietnam War era veteran. There's no issue whatsoever of highlighting an important cause. It's the manner in which he chose to do it.

What many people seem to forget is that we all do have constitutionally guaranteed rights. And those rights absolutely include disagreeing with - and voicing disagreement with - the actions of others. If a person chooses to act in a certain way, that person must accept that he/she will possibly be judged by those actions. That's part of the deal.

Kaepernick's the same guy who tweeted this out in January after the drone strike on Iran's General Soleimani:

Originally Posted by Colin Kaepernick

There is nothing new about American terrorist attacks against Black and Brown people for the expansion of American imperialism. America has always sanctioned and besieged Black and Brown bodies both at home and abroad. America militarism is the weapon wielded by American imperialism, to enforce its policing and plundering of the non-white world.

Call me crazy, but if I had a career in military service, I'd take that as an unequivocal insult to both me and my country. But hey, that's just me.

And now he's essentially promoting violence over the George Floyd murder:

Originally Posted by Colin Kaepernick

When civility leads to death, revolting is the only logical reaction. The cries for peace will rain down, and when they do, they will land on deaf ears, because your violence has brought this resistance. We have the right to fight back!

[camaguey48]

This person (who shall remain nameless) who plays football for a living should have stayed silent if he was going to take back his comments which I thought came from his heart. Now he is just a mealy mouthed coward. I suppose that his receivers would drop his passes on purpose and his blockers would somehow miss their block as payback, not to mention the millions he would lose in endorsements. Should have kept his mealy mouth shut. Now I know who you really are Mr. Quarterback. Go find your spine.

[coalminer]

Kaepernick was simply trying to get a message out in a peaceful way. Of course the racists ignored the message by wrapping themselves in the flag. Now we have hundreds of cities across America witnessing the effect of that. The country is in turmoil and only we can stop it. It's time we recognize that white privilege is real

[alfredpopcorn@gmail.com]

Yea sure lol

[Neils]

Originally Posted by JimJohnson

I disagree. I’m a 22 year Army Veteran and have great respect for what Kaepernick did. He had a large audience to bring an incredibly important issue to the forefront. God Bless Kaepernick.

Kaepernick Is another example of a pampered overpaid millionaire that is somehow being oppressed while living in luxury in America. He is part of the top 1%.
MLK wanted all people to be equal. No be singled out by color for different treatment. We need to follow his thoughts and stop all the special advantages programs given to some groups

[Heyitsrick]

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby

The flag is a SYMBOL representing "with liberty, and justice for all." That is what the flag means, in our country. If there is no liberty and justice for all, then the flag's meaning is obscured, and it is actually DISrespectful to stand for it, until liberty, and justice for all is restored.

No matter which "side" you're on (because of course some people will insist there are sides, which is what creates division in the first place)..if you don't believe there should be liberty and justice for all, then you need to either a) move somewhere that is known for not having liberty and justice for all - like North Korea, for example, or b) continue standing for the flag and rejecting the first amendment right to kneel if you disagree that it no longer is what it's supposed to be.

That's interesting. See, I never knew that the flag was a symbol for perfection. Using the description I'm reading above, no one and no entity should ever fly the American flag, nor stand for the anthem. Why? Because we're all flawed, and because it's not a perfect nation. It never will be a perfect nation. We can strive to be better in the areas we need to collectively be better in, but we won't absolutely get there. It's a nation of human beings.

I have no idea what "rejecting the first amendment right to kneel if you disagree..." means. I have to assume that means that you either have to "love it or leave it". Sorry - that's not how it works here. No one restrained Kaepernick from kneeling. He knew that kneeling during the anthem would upset a lot of people. He could have knelt at any time, but he chose a specific time and place. And no one restrained him from doing so.

There's this strange notion that some have that people can't be judged for their actions. I don't know where that comes from, but if anything, that's more like what one would find in a totalitarian state vs. a nation that has guaranteed rights. Kaepernick wanted to make his own statement and in a particular way. He was free to do that. And every American had and has the right to weigh in on the manner in which he chose. To reject that right of other Americans would really speak volumes. If we ever got to that place as a nation, it really would be over.

[Rich42]

The man had absolutely nothing to apologize for!

[bonrich]

This is your right to demonstrate as you choose. But what happens when you stand up? We are not under multiple flags of all ethenicities in our country, but one flag for all of us that unites us as USA. What programs do you try to start in the neighborhoods that need help and guidance, groups, clubs, organizations? For all the millions in paychecks that are made to play basketball and football, If you stand then embrace that flag that flies over all of us, and try to make lives a little better for those who look up to you as the person they want to be like. Donate your money to fund programs and most of all your time to embrace all that you touch.

[72lions]

Originally Posted by JimJohnson

I disagree. I’m a 22 year Army Veteran and have great respect for what Kaepernick did. He had a large audience to bring an incredibly important issue to the forefront. God Bless Kaepernick.

Thank you for your years of service. You are absolutely correct that his stance, pun intended, was a nonviolent protest that needed to be made. For those on the site who continuously suggest that there are other ways to protest, I submit that many of you are the very same people who suggested the current protests are disgraceful.

I can’t speak for this veteran, but I suspect he believes he served his country in part to ensure that freedom of expression, guaranteed in the constitution, will not be eliminated.