Stand up for the anthem or take a hike

I am sick up to here with the media droning on and on about the overpaid, pampered sports figures who suddenly consider themselves spokesmen for the entire country concerning patriotism, the flag and the value of being an American.

Team owners seem ambivalent about what to do. They have their rules for the teams – and heaven knows, they enforced them stringently, until now. But since so many players are taking things in their own hands and spitting in the face of Uncle Sam with their insults to the flag, the national anthem and our country, too many owners are backing off and seemingly siding with them.

Actually, even one franchise owner is "too many." It shouldn't happen at all.

Why does it?

Is it because the players are such well-paid employees? Is it because, if the teams lost them, franchises would suffer financially and lose their viability?

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Warriors coach Steve Kerr said it clearly: "We're just playing basketball. It's a business." He's got that right.

Is it because the owners subtly agree with the slaps at patriotism, this country, the flag –and, oh yes, President Donald Trump?

Or – pardon me for being crass – is it because so many of the players who are dissenting are black men who claim their dispute is with the racially charged atmosphere in the country especially involving the police, and the owners are afraid if they don't support those players, they'll be accused of "racism"?

Gee, that couldn't be it, could it?

Unfortunately, the bottom line of all of this is race.

And we thought Jackie Robinson put an end to that.

It appears that no matter what this country does, it will never be enough to satisfy the race-baiters.

The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution don't satisfy them. The Civil War doesn't satisfy them. The Civil Rights Act doesn't satisfy them. Affirmative-action, social programs, welfare and all the other nods to race don't satisfy them.

Consider Dr. Carol J. Baker, a pediatric infectious disease professor at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. Speaking to a medical group in Atlanta, she complained that minorities tend to get more inoculations than whites. She said she had the solution: "Let's just get rid of all the whites in the United States."

You may laugh. Maybe she considered it a joke. But no one is laughing.

Do you think people would be laughing if she had said, "Let's get rid of all the blacks in the country"? I doubt it, and it would have made national headlines.

But when it's said about white people, it's scarcely noticed.

It isn't funny, and the truth is that there are those who would support that point of view about whites.

Look at the attitude today toward white police. To hear the rhetoric, you would think white cops are out in force to destroy all blacks and other minorities.

The Black Lives Matter group certainly supports violence against police and whites in general. Look at the civil uprisings we've seen recently; I have no doubt it will get worse before it gets better because people are so politically correct that they're afraid to speak out and be accused of racism.

President Trump fueled that fire with his profanity about firing those who "take a knee" for the national anthem at ball games.

Sorry gang, I agree with him. If you're the boss of the team, you have a right to have standards for their behavior while in uniform, and paying patriotic attention during the national anthem seems like a minimal requirement.

If they won't do that – don't take a knee, take a hike.

Donald Trump calling them SOBs is mild compared to the insults hurled at the president, his wife and family, to say nothing of his administration.

To have people call Colin Kaepernick "the leader of a social-equality movement" is ludicrous on the face of it. He is a mediocre player with an attitude, fed by the color of his skin and the size of his hair.

No doubt he thought he could get a rise out of people and hide behind his excuse that it's an effort to draw attention to police brutality.

Other players joined the bandwagon because they knew people would be afraid to call this what it is – a racist attack on this country because they think it's too white and want it changed.

The one part of this scenario they forgot – or ignored – was the reaction of the fans. It was assumed the fans would support what they did because it was benign and non-violent and they would support those poor guys who were being abused by the system.

Hah! The fans want games played and won. They know those players – regardless of color – get paid millions and have the perks to go with it all. Fans pay exorbitant prices for tickets, refreshments and parking to see those games. It's a venue they want free of politics of any stripe.

If the fans tune out of media coverage – and ratings are already down – and stop going to the games, the players will soon be out of a job.

They may think they're untouchable, but they're most vulnerable in the pocketbook, as are the franchise owners

No fans? No teams. It all comes down to money.

Colin Kaepernick can afford to be the biggest mouth in the game. What is he risking? No one picked up his contract.

It's sad to see so many well-employed people risk their careers for one silly, selfish, unemployed, skinny guy with big hair.

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