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Freedom behind flag?
Football players who don’t stand for the national anthem are exercising their right to do so. The NFL doesn’t penalize for not standing, but God help those who don’t. I love “The Stars and Stripes Forever,” but I don’t make people listen to it.
It’s difficult for me to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, as we clearly don’t have liberty and justice for all. So saying it is an insult to tens of millions of Americans who don’t. We have turned into a nation of braggers who shout “USA! USA! USA!” to express our misplaced patriotism.
Football players don’t celebrate after they fumble or miss a field goal, but we have no trouble claiming to be the greatest nation and sing about bombs bursting in air.
The negative reaction to the football player not standing is proof that freedom from a practical sense doesn’t exist. In America you are free to protest until you are hit in the head with a nightstick, sprayed with tear gas and arrested for assembly without a permit. I fly the flag, but these days there doesn’t seem to be much freedom behind it.
Pete Scobby
Newport