An Unforced Error By President Trump

Post 31

The national anthem protests are back in the spotlight because of President Trump's response to the NFL's new policy that teams could be fined if players were on the field and did not stand and show respect during the national anthem. I have long been critical of President Trump's response to the kneeling by players during the playing of the national anthem. I have also defended the President in the midst of the criticism he received based on his response to the violence in Charlottesville. See my post on September 18, 2017. In that post, I explained that the President was right to condemn the violence by both the white supremacists and the counter- protesters because of his obligation to maintain order in our society being that he is the Commander-in-Chief. My criticism of the President in the past for his stance on the national anthem protests has been that this matter does not concern national security or maintaining order in our communities. I stated that this issue is about freedom of speech and expression of NFL players and that this was a matter best resolved by the powers that be in the NFL and capitalism. I suggested that the President should stay out of it. Certainly, the NFL's new policy seems to be a balancing act between protecting the players rights to free speech and expression and the league's concern that its would lose some of its fans and therefore lose money. 

In comments made on Fox News that aired on Wednesday afternoon May 23, 2018, President Trump stated his approval for the new NFL rule and said that players who don't stand for the national anthem perhaps should not be in this country. This is one of the most unfortunate statements that the President has made in a long list of unfortunate statements. This statement not only shows a lack of regard for the NFL players right to freedom of speech and expression; but it also shows a lack of regard for one the most fundamental rights we have as a citizen. That is the right to protest against what we believe is injustice on the part of government. The right to protest against tyranny and oppression by agents of the government is what separates our nation from totalitarian states. While I understand that the President's love for this country runs deep and he is very patriotic, he would be wise to understand that some citizens of this country have not always been treated with dignity and respect and that they might, rightly or wrongly, have a much different view of the flag and national anthem as others. The President should understand that you can't force NFL players or other citizens to be patriotic. His position that players who don't stand for the national anthem perhaps shouldn't be in this country seems to give a little credence to his critics belief that the President is trying to be a dictator. This statement is clearly an unforced error. Rather than focusing on NFL players that don't kneel during the national anthem, the President should be focusing on corrupt officials in the FBI, DOJ and the federal courts that are destroying our constitutional republic because of their flagrant disregard for the rule of law. He can start by calling for an investigation into the criminal misconduct by the US District Court and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that I have addressed in this blog. Drain the swamp!