https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/sports/colin-kaepernick-national-anthem-protests-and-NFL-activism-in-quotes/?utm_term=.209ad7d520df
When you have finished reading all of the recent comments published in the Washington Post newspaper address shown above you will likely come to the conclusion that one football player’s deliberate attempt to make a point has been achieved. The ongoing protest is viewed by some as a beacon leading to change and equality for a particular group. There is also a counter group brimming with anger and it questions the how, when and where ethics of the unpatriotic demonstrators. The potential for growth or for loss for the country is being played out with no apparent end in sight in all of our media. In addition to those who have spoken and have been quoted daily, there are countless other men and women who are apparently quietly accepting or rejecting his decision and the consequences of that decision. Do the unmeasured and unheard voices present a potentially different unseen and unheard outcome?
One thought concerns me greatly. I have not considered it before and yet it exists in plain sight and it is troubling. Separate the freedom of speech language from the total First Amendment language and it reads "Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech”. What happens when and if a decision is made to abridge the law by individuals and groups of people and not Congress? What happens when people exercising their rights stop other people exercising their rights? Some of you will say, "That cannot happen." Really?
Our amended Constitution does not say you have to like, approve or support what someone does or says or where and how they choose to say it. You have been granted both the freedom of speech and a great personal responsibility which you must learn to master. The real challenges to this nation are not the demonstrators or the demonstrations or the language used or who says it. The challenge is how the nation chooses to address the issue being protested. I choose to follow the Constitution because it is the law of the land and without it we merely exist and are literally not unique as a people or a nation.
When you have finished reading all of the recent comments published in the Washington Post newspaper address shown above you will likely come to the conclusion that one football player’s deliberate attempt to make a point has been achieved. The ongoing protest is viewed by some as a beacon leading to change and equality for a particular group. There is also a counter group brimming with anger and it questions the how, when and where ethics of the unpatriotic demonstrators. The potential for growth or for loss for the country is being played out with no apparent end in sight in all of our media. In addition to those who have spoken and have been quoted daily, there are countless other men and women who are apparently quietly accepting or rejecting his decision and the consequences of that decision. Do the unmeasured and unheard voices present a potentially different unseen and unheard outcome?
One thought concerns me greatly. I have not considered it before and yet it exists in plain sight and it is troubling. Separate the freedom of speech language from the total First Amendment language and it reads "Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech”. What happens when and if a decision is made to abridge the law by individuals and groups of people and not Congress? What happens when people exercising their rights stop other people exercising their rights? Some of you will say, "That cannot happen." Really?
Our amended Constitution does not say you have to like, approve or support what someone does or says or where and how they choose to say it. You have been granted both the freedom of speech and a great personal responsibility which you must learn to master. The real challenges to this nation are not the demonstrators or the demonstrations or the language used or who says it. The challenge is how the nation chooses to address the issue being protested. I choose to follow the Constitution because it is the law of the land and without it we merely exist and are literally not unique as a people or a nation.
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