I’ve been trying to articulate the angst, disappointment and frustration about the framing of free speech/Trump issue, and so of course, I find what I need in the sports pages, where on most days lives a newspaper’s best writing and perspective. A quote from Kurt Warner:
“We have this narrative that these protests are contradictory to our flag and contradictory to our military,” Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner said Sunday morning on the NFL Network. “I don’t see them that way. I see them as complementary to the ideals to the flag, to the military and what they fought for — the servicemen and women and what they fought for. I have not heard one player that has not been more than grateful to our military. This isn’t about that at all; it’s about standing up for the ideals of the flag.”
I can’t reconcile my understanding of the flag’s representation and the way the president and his supporters say how it MUST be seen. Any challenge to their idea is seen as unpatriotic, disrespectful and ungrateful. (And, Lord have mercy, there is so much “stuff” attached to that “ungrateful” characterization of black professional athletes.)
I see a lot of things when I look at the flag. I hear a lot of things when I hear the anthem. But based on what I hear from the president and others other the last few days, the flag is all about respecting veterans and first responders. That’s cheap and narrow.
We seem to be living in a moment of historic revisionism about a banner. Again.