During the presidential campaign, then
candidate Trump told his fan base that only he could unite the country, only he
could bring the country together.
I have to say, I never thought there was a grain of truth to it. I thought there was a higher probability that the moon was made of cheese. But after the events of this weekend, I have to admit, I was flat out wrong. Donald Trump has exceeded even my jaded expectations and actually unified a large portion of America.
I have to say, I never thought there was a grain of truth to it. I thought there was a higher probability that the moon was made of cheese. But after the events of this weekend, I have to admit, I was flat out wrong. Donald Trump has exceeded even my jaded expectations and actually unified a large portion of America.
On Friday night at yet another one of Trump’s
post-campaign, political campaign rallies, in one of the reddest of all the
states, Alabama, in a clear attempt to placate his base of supporters, the
President said that the NFL owners should fire any NFL player who refuses to
stand during the National Anthem at the start of all the NFL games. He referred to “those people” as “sons of
bitches”, subsequently tweeted that the fans should boycott games until owners
take these corrective steps.
He was essentially advocating that the owners break the law and fire employees (many of whom are under guaranteed contracts) for exercising their constitutional right of free speech, by kneeling during the national anthem to protest against abuse of people of color by police.
In the process he turned a very small story on the political landscape into a much, much bigger one. What began as a protest by a few NFL players against the oppression of people of color, was transformed into a fight for the individual right of free speech. What followed were statements by the commissioner of the league, many of the team owners, including Robert Kraft of the New England Patriots, who contributed $1 million to the President’s campaign, in support of those individual rights of their players and for that matter, everyone.
And so this Sunday, across the league you had many teams protest the hate speech from the Commander-in-Chief by standing for the national anthem, arms linked together as a show a solidarity for their brothers who might choose to kneel for the anthem. Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, not exactly a liberal snowflake, took a knee with his players in front of a giant American flag as it was unfurled just before the singing of the anthem,
New York Jets chairman and CEO Christopher Johnson, whose brother, Woody, is the ambassador to England and one of Trump’s most ardent supporters, called it ‘‘an honor and a privilege to stand arm-in-arm unified with our players during today’s national anthem’’ in East Rutherford, N.J.
The Jets, who some said, wouldn't win a game this year, beat the Miami Dolphins on Sunday, 20 – 6. Unity certainly has a way of bringing out the very best of us
He was essentially advocating that the owners break the law and fire employees (many of whom are under guaranteed contracts) for exercising their constitutional right of free speech, by kneeling during the national anthem to protest against abuse of people of color by police.
In the process he turned a very small story on the political landscape into a much, much bigger one. What began as a protest by a few NFL players against the oppression of people of color, was transformed into a fight for the individual right of free speech. What followed were statements by the commissioner of the league, many of the team owners, including Robert Kraft of the New England Patriots, who contributed $1 million to the President’s campaign, in support of those individual rights of their players and for that matter, everyone.
And so this Sunday, across the league you had many teams protest the hate speech from the Commander-in-Chief by standing for the national anthem, arms linked together as a show a solidarity for their brothers who might choose to kneel for the anthem. Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, not exactly a liberal snowflake, took a knee with his players in front of a giant American flag as it was unfurled just before the singing of the anthem,
New York Jets chairman and CEO Christopher Johnson, whose brother, Woody, is the ambassador to England and one of Trump’s most ardent supporters, called it ‘‘an honor and a privilege to stand arm-in-arm unified with our players during today’s national anthem’’ in East Rutherford, N.J.
The Jets, who some said, wouldn't win a game this year, beat the Miami Dolphins on Sunday, 20 – 6. Unity certainly has a way of bringing out the very best of us
But the events of the day was summed up best
by Joe Lockhart, Executive Vice President of Communications when he said: “I’d
say looking at yesterday, everyone should know — including the president — that
this is what real locker room talk is,’’
Trump’s attempt to use a singular absolute
view of patriotism as a way to define himself as a leader and to denigrate
others who have a different opinion than he, offers a perspective that
virtually all NFL players and a significant majority of Americans find, pick
your descriptive term: baffling, absurd, wasteful, valueless, infuriating,
insulting, hateful, way beneath the dignity of any American, especially the
President, but was….pretty much just another day at the office for the 45th
President of the United States.
Trump’s perverse desire to divide Americans, while distracting us from the more important issues of the day: North Korea, Puerto Rico, our health care system, has had the energizing effect of motivating those, who previously found it safer, both literally and figuratively, to just stay on the sidelines, to, for the first time in their lives, take a position, to kneel or lock arms or speak out and jump into the fray because in many ways they know, that hell will freeze over before this approach makes America great again.
With all this being said, it is not lost on me that I need to apologize to my President, for ever doubting that he had the necessary skills to unite us all. I was terribly mistaken.
Trump’s perverse desire to divide Americans, while distracting us from the more important issues of the day: North Korea, Puerto Rico, our health care system, has had the energizing effect of motivating those, who previously found it safer, both literally and figuratively, to just stay on the sidelines, to, for the first time in their lives, take a position, to kneel or lock arms or speak out and jump into the fray because in many ways they know, that hell will freeze over before this approach makes America great again.
With all this being said, it is not lost on me that I need to apologize to my President, for ever doubting that he had the necessary skills to unite us all. I was terribly mistaken.
So, Mr. President, from the bottom of my heart, I offer my sincerest gratitude,
only you could bring the country together, only you could unite is, with that
singular focus on a common goal, to protest you Sir, to protest you.
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